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 |
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.
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.
Usually same day or next day for an offer on a clean, complete file. Longer than that is most often a missing document rather than a difficult underwriting decision.
A completeness check, automated screening on the bank data, an underwriter reading and pricing the file, then an offer, counter or decline.
Most often that something is missing or illegible and the file is flagged rather than being reviewed. Asking what specifically is outstanding resolves most delays in one message.
Something specific and true, plus a named time for the next update even if the update is that there is no news. Silence for two days is how these deals are lost to whoever calls next.
No. An offer landing below a number you guessed at costs you the close at the exact moment they were deciding, and you gain nothing by having said it.
We will tell you straight up if we cannot help you. No commission deals, no free trials, no chasing you for three weeks.