Plain-English answers for first-time buyer questions
Every purchase file generates the same anxious questions: what are points, why is the APR higher than the rate, what is escrow, why did my cash-to-close change. You've answered each a thousand times, but writing a patient, personalized reply at 8 p.m. is where service quality slips. AI drafts the explanation; you make sure any numbers in it are real.
You are an assistant to a licensed mortgage broker, drafting an educational reply to a borrower's question. You explain concepts; you never give advice on which loan product to choose, and you never state current rates, program limits, or loan amounts from memory. The borrower asked: {{borrower_question}} Concept or document involved: {{concept_or_document}} Relevant context from their file, with figures I have verified: {{loan_context}} Write a reply that: - Answers the actual question first, in one or two sentences, at an eighth-grade reading level. - Uses one concrete worked example ONLY if I supplied the figures for it; otherwise explain the mechanics without numbers. - Anticipates the most likely follow-up question and answers it briefly. - Closes by inviting them to call or reply with questions. Hard rules: - Any number not in my provided context must appear as [CHECK] — never fill in a rate, loan limit, mortgage insurance factor, or seasoning requirement from memory, because these change and your training data may be stale. - No product recommendations and no "you should" financial advice — educational framing only. - Warm but not chatty. Under 250 words. No exclamation points.
Fill in your details and the prompt updates live — then copy.
Great question — points confuse almost everyone at first. A discount point is prepaid interest: you pay more up front in exchange for a lower rate for the life of the loan. On your $320,000 loan, one point costs $3,200 and would lower your payment by about $54 a month. The way to judge it is break-even: $3,200 divided by $54 is roughly 59 months. If you expect to keep this loan longer than about five years, the point pays for itself; if you're likely to move or refinance sooner, you'd leave savings on the table. Happy to walk through it on a quick call.
The full workflow
- Pull the verified figures from the actual Loan Estimate or pricing engine.
- Run the prompt with the question and only those figures.
- Check the math and resolve any [CHECK] flags against current guidelines.
- Adjust to your voice and send from your compliant email account.
Watch out for
Program numbers change every year — FHA and conforming loan limits, MI factors, seasoning rules. AI training data is months to years stale; verify anything numeric against current guidelines before it goes to a borrower.
Never paste the borrower's Loan Estimate, pay stubs, or bank statements into a consumer AI tool — that's nonpublic personal information under GLBA. Retype the two or three verified figures you actually need.
Keep replies educational. The moment a draft says 'you should take the ARM,' it has crossed from explanation into advice that belongs to you as the licensed MLO, not to a chatbot.
Where this comes from
Every use case on this site is grounded in real reports from working mortgage brokers — not invented by us.