Home buying and mortgages covers the software used from the first search for a home to the last EMI of the home loan, and what happens if the EMIs stop. A mortgage is a loan secured on the home. In India, people usually call it a home loan.
Buying a home has five steps, and each step has its own software.
First, the buyer searches on a real estate portal, a website of homes for sale or rent.
Second, an estate agent, also called a broker, shows homes and handles the deal for a commission. Agencies run their agents, leads and commissions on real estate CRM and brokerage software. Some American agencies now offer an AI real estate agent that does part of a human agent's work.
Third, the buyer and the lender both need to know what the home is worth. An automated valuation model (AVM) works out a price from recent sales of similar homes nearby, without anyone visiting. In India, lenders usually still send an approved valuer to inspect the property.
Fourth, the lender decides whether to lend, and how much. The application runs through a loan origination system, and the lender checks the borrower's repayment record at a credit bureau. Deciding whether to lend, and at what rate, is called underwriting.
Fifth, the borrower repays in monthly EMIs, often for 15 to 25 years. Mortgage servicing software collects the instalments and keeps the loan's records. If the borrower stops paying, the lender can take the home and sell it at a foreclosure auction.
Two products here serve mainly the American market. In America, the company that collects the payments, called the servicer, is often a different company from the lender, so servicing is sold as a separate business. American home owners also pay a yearly property tax on a value set by the local government. A property tax appeal service challenges that value when it is too high.