The first round of real estate transactions under the new TRID mortgage regulations have begun trickling in, and early reports are surprisingly positive, given the amount of anxiety leading up to the Oct. 3 implementation.

Loan originators report that they like the simplified, new loan estimate and closing documents and that transactions are going smoothly thanks to a lot of advance preparation. But, they say, real estate agents need more education on the new regulations.

Shant Banosian, manager of Guaranteed Rate in Waltham, said his office closed 10 deals under TRID in October. He said each deal went off without a hitch – because his team was well prepared for the new regulations. Instead of filing mortgage applications after the home inspection, as has been customary, he encouraged his clients to apply as soon as their offer was accepted.

“Everyone is trying to be as perfect as possible,” Banosian said. “When I put together the quotes, I made that one extra phone call and double-checked my work a little more. We’re starting earlier in the process, too.”

Banosian in the mortgage industry has been talking about TRID for so long, he’s had plenty of time to understand and prepare for it, but he thinks all the talk has scared some lenders.

“I think what’s happening is, most banks and mortgage companies are saying they’re going to need 60 days to close a loan, Banosian said. “We say 45 days and, depending on the deal, we can even accommodate 30 days. Going through it and getting repetition going forward will make it even easier.”

Banosian said that as long as the attorneys, real estate agents and loan originators do their jobs properly, transactions under TRID aren’t very different than before.

Preparation Is Key

At the time he was interviewed, Konstantinos Ligris, founder of Ligris & Assoc. in Newton, had closed two real estate transactions under TRID and both went smoothly, due in no small part to extensive preparedness.

Ligris presented more than 40 TRID preparation seminars to real estate professionals, and he said the level of preparedness can vary widely among agents.

“Both the lending industry and the real estate and settlement industries still have a lot of learning to do on the practical implementation of the regulations,” he said.

Ligris said many real estate attorneys are prepared for TRID, but will still face technical challenges, including effectuating transcription errors, effectively and efficiently sharing information and how to document it all.

“I tell real estate agents they have to ask more questions about practical things, like the name of the buyer’s attorney and who the lender will be,” he said. “Agents need to make sure the other professionals their buyers are working with have the resources to execute the deal, even if problems come up.”

Lessons Learned

Just over a month since the implementation deadline, originators have already learned a couple of lessons: New loan applications need to be filed as early as possible and stacked closings are best avoided.

Brian Koss, executive vice president of Mortgage Network in Danvers, said his office has handled a handful of TRID closings without incident. He has tried to dissuade people from 30-day closings while adjusting to TRID, but he conceded it’s sometimes unavoidable.

“Given the things that could potentially go wrong, it’s not in anyone’s best interest to close in that short a timeframe,” Koss said. “It’s like if you were sick and needed surgery. Do you want the fastest surgeon, or the best?”

Mortgage Network is discouraging borrowers from scheduling stacked closings. The chain can include six or seven transactions and a delay in the first one can affect them all.

“We had one closing that was stacked and it worked,” Koss said. “You can do it, but you increase the likelihood of something going wrong. We had multiple sets of eyes on those deals like air traffic controllers, making sure nothing went wrong.”

The real test will come when the market picks up in the spring, he said; with so many variables involved, interpretations of the 1,888 page rules will differ.

“We’re hoping the CFPB will give us updates,” he said. “The regulations are a little too gray in some areas and we’re hoping for clarity, particularly with construction loans where the regulations are silent on some issues.”

Smooth Sailing So Far

David Lazowski, managing partner of Fairway Mortgage in Boston, has closed several loans recently in less than 30 days. He said these TRID loans all closed without incident, though he pointed out that it is still possible that problems could emerge when the lender goes to sell the loan.

“There’s so much fear out there about the loans taking more time,” he said. “We were prepared, and that helped a lot. We’ve closed six TRID loans in 27 days or less. We closed one of those in 21 days.”

Lazowski said the rules have added some time to transactions, but not nearly as much as some predicted – as long as loan originators get the borrower’s financial information as early as possible and communication is clear throughout the process. He said delays will certainly come up if communication is weak and issues don’t surface until a few weeks into the process.

“There’s been this perception that TRID is going to cause these huge delays ,and I’m just not seeing it,” Lazowski said. “Has it added a little bit of time? Yes.”

Lazowski said his firm advertises they can close a deal in 30 days or less and he doesn’t expect TRID will change that, even when the busy spring market heats up.

“So far, it’s actually been a non-event,” Lazowski said.