Borrowing Starts With Arithmetic
Most loan applications get filled out too early. The buyer who is three months from purchase and still deciding between two lenders doesn’t need an application — they need numbers: what would this actually cost per month, at realistic rates, over a realistic term? Ask them for the full document set at that stage and you lose them to whichever competitor answered the arithmetic question first.
This request form is the arithmetic stage, formalized. Four self-reported figures in, a repayment scenario back. No documents to gather, no credit file touched, no commitment made — and the form says all of that plainly, because the guarantee of no consequence is what makes comparison shoppers willing to raise their hands at all.
The Four Numbers
- How much, roughly. A number field with a tolerance note — an approximate figure is fine at this stage.
- Over how long. A dropdown of standard terms, so the scenario is calculated rather than guessed.
- Income, in bands. Ranges rather than exact figures — buyers share bands with a form that they would hesitate to type to a stranger, and bands are enough for scenario purposes.
- When. The intended timeframe, as a multiple choice — this month, this quarter, just exploring. The last answer is not a junk answer; today’s explorer is next quarter’s applicant.
That is the entire ask. Deliberately no document uploads — the estimate’s ceiling is the buyer’s own honesty, and documents add nothing at this altitude.
Why No Credit Check
The form states it explicitly: nothing here touches a credit file. This matters twice over — once for the buyer, who can shop several lenders in a week without each inquiry leaving a mark, and once for the lender, because a no-risk first step converts window-shoppers that a hard-inquiry process would scare off. Comparison is the point of this stage, and the form is built to be used three times in three inboxes.
What Comes Back
A human reviews the figures and returns a scenario: assumed rate, indicative repayment, and the costs to expect at each stage — delivered by email automatically via respondent notifications, with the assumptions stated on the face of the estimate. What the estimate is not, stated equally plainly: not a rate lock, not an approval, not an application. It is the arithmetic that decides whether the application stage is worth entering.
Reading Intent Behind the Inquiry
Tag each distribution link with hidden fields so the inquiry’s source page travels with it, and let a self notification flag near-term timeframes for immediate follow-up. Returning inquirers can be greeted with their original figures via recall information when they come back to convert the estimate into an application. The adjacent pricing-format shelf sits in the estimate collection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this a loan application?
No — it precedes one. It produces a scenario to shop with; the application only happens if and when the buyer chooses a lender.
Will my credit score be affected?
No. Nothing is checked, pulled, or recorded anywhere. That guarantee is printed on the form because it is the reason buyers use it.
Can I send this to several lenders at once?
Yes — and you should. Estimates exist for comparison; the spread between lenders’ scenarios is usually larger than any single estimate’s margin of error.
How accurate is the estimate?
Honest but assumption-based. It moves the buyer from ‘no idea’ to ‘roughly this per month’ — which is exactly the decision it exists to serve.