The short answer
A submission is checked for completeness, run through automated screening on the bank data, read by an underwriter who prices the risk, and returned as an offer, a counter or a decline — usually within a day on a clean file. Knowing which stage a file is sitting at is what lets you tell a merchant something useful instead of "I am chasing it".
Brokers experience submission as a black box, which makes every delay feel identical. It is not — the stages fail differently, and the stage a file is stuck at tells you what to do about it.
| Stage | Typically | A delay here means |
|---|---|---|
| Completeness check | Minutes to hours | Something is missing from your file |
| Automated bank screening | Fast | Rarely a delay; it either passes or flags |
| Underwriter review | Hours to a day | A real question about the file |
| Pricing and offer | Same day | Usually queue depth, not the file |
| Counter or decline | Same day | They are deciding whether to write it at all |
Most delays are the first row
A file waiting on a missing page, an illegible statement or an unanswered ownership question is not being underwritten — it is sitting in a queue with a flag on it. Asking which specific thing is outstanding, rather than asking for an update, resolves most of these in one message.
What to tell the merchant meanwhile
- Something specific and true. "It is with the underwriter, I expect a decision today" beats silence.
- A named time you will next update them, even if the update is that there is no news.
- Any stip you can collect now, so the gap between offer and funding is already closed.
- Never a predicted number. An offer that lands under what you guessed costs you the close.
The silence is what loses these deals. A merchant hearing nothing for two days assumes it has gone wrong and answers the next broker who calls.