Mortgage broker CRM

A mortgage broker CRM records what you tell it and waits. That is the right design for managing a case, and the wrong one for the four years afterwards, when nobody is telling it anything.

See pricing Book a demo

Mortgage broker CRM compared with monitoring: the Theo book view on a MacBook

Quick answer

A mortgage broker CRM stores client records, tracks cases through advice and application, holds documents and compliance evidence, and manages tasks. It is a system of record: nothing in it changes unless somebody changes it.

That is the right design for a live case and the wrong one for the years between transactions. Theo is not a CRM. It watches the mortgage itself, and most advisers run it alongside one.

A CRM isA system of record

Driven byWhat you enter

Theo isMonitoring

Software types

2

Record and monitoring

Questions to ask

3

Before choosing

Case files in Theo

None

By design

Book checked

Daily

Every client

What a CRM does well

CasesAdvice and application, tracked.
DocumentsEvidence in one place.
TasksWho does what, and when.

What a mortgage broker CRM cannot show: one connected client in full, with portfolio, push status and a suggested next action — Example screen from a live adviser ecosystem, client details hidden.

What a CRM cannot show you

One client in full: portfolio loan to value, equity, whether they can be reached, and a suggested next step, kept current by the client’s own app.

Ask of any CRM

ExportCan you take your data with you?
Quiet yearsWhat does it do when nothing happens?
Built forIndependents, or large networks?

Keep your CRM

Add what it cannot do.

Mortgage CRM against monitoring software

Not competitors. Different jobs, and most brokers need both.
	CRM (system of record)	Monitoring (system of change)
Driven by	What an adviser, client or lender enters	Market pricing, values, balances and dates moving
Best at	Managing a live case	Watching a settled book
During a transaction	Essential	Largely irrelevant
Between transactions	Static since it was last touched	This is the whole job
Question it answers	What is the status of this case?	Which of my clients should I call today?

Theo is not a CRM, and does not want to be

No case files, no documents, no compliance evidence. One job a CRM structurally cannot do.

WatchesThe client, not the case.
Kept current byThe client’s own app.
Surfaces, then stopsAdvice and the case stay in your CRM.
CheckedDaily, against over 100 lenders.

The signals it watches for are set out on opportunity detection.

See the signals

What a mortgage broker CRM is

Every broker needs one, not least because record keeping is expected under the FCA’s mortgage rules. Case tracking, documents, audit trail and tasks: a CRM does all of it better than a spreadsheet, and running a regulated advice business without one is painful.

The limitation is the category, not any product. A system of record reflects what it has been told. Between transactions nobody tells it anything, so a client whose property has risen, whose balance has fallen and whose fix ends in nine months looks identical to the day their case completed. That gap is where the money is.

Mortgage CRM against monitoring

A CRM is driven by input; monitoring is driven by external change. During a live case the CRM is essential and monitoring adds little, because the client is already in front of you. Between transactions the CRM is static and monitoring is the whole job: it answers which of your clients to call today, and why. Theo sits in the second category. See mortgage opportunity detection for what it watches.

Choosing a CRM for mortgage brokers

Does it let you leave? Client data you cannot export is a switching cost disguised as a feature, so ask what an export contains before you commit. What does it do when nothing is happening? Most answer nothing, which is fine as long as you cover that gap elsewhere. Who is it built for? Products for large networks assume a compliance team and an administrator; products for independents assume the adviser does everything.

When you do not need Theo

If your book is small enough to hold in your head, a diary and a good memory genuinely work, usually under about a hundred clients. If your clients will not connect, there is nothing to monitor. If your problem is case management, a better CRM will help more than a monitoring layer. And Theo will not replace your CRM: anyone selling one system that does both well is describing a roadmap, not a product.

Common questions

Is Theo a mortgage broker CRM?

No. Theo holds no case files, documents or compliance records and does not manage the advice process. It monitors the mortgages of connected clients between transactions and surfaces the ones worth contacting. Most advisers run it alongside a CRM: the CRM holds the case, Theo watches the book.

What does a mortgage broker CRM actually do?

It stores client records, tracks cases through advice and application, holds documents and compliance evidence, and manages tasks and communication. It is a system of record, and the right tool for managing live cases.

Do I need both a CRM and monitoring software?

If your book is too large to remember every client’s position, generally yes. A CRM manages the transaction; monitoring watches the years in between. Under about a hundred clients, a CRM and a good diary usually cover it.

Can a CRM tell me which clients to call today?

Only from what has been entered into it, typically a diary date set at completion. It cannot tell you that a client crossed a loan to value band last month or that market pricing now beats their rate, because nothing put that information in.

Will Theo import my existing CRM data?

Theo works from clients connecting to your ecosystem rather than a data import, because the client holds and updates their own record. That is slower to populate than an import, and it is why the data stays current without your admin time.

What should I look for when choosing a mortgage CRM?

Three things beyond the feature list: whether you can export your client data in a usable form, whether it is built for an independent adviser or assumes an administrator, and what it does when nothing is happening.

Next in this cluster

Opportunity detectionThe eight signals, and why suppression matters.

Mortgage client retentionWhy clients leave at fix end, and how to stop it.

Broker ecosystem pricingOne Adviser Ecosystem per adviser, from £99 a month.

Written by Jason Foord, CeMAP-qualified mortgage adviser and founder of Theo. Updated 22 October 2026.

Published by Theo App Ltd. Theo is software for regulated mortgage professionals. Theo App Ltd is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, does not give mortgage advice and does not recommend products to consumers. Opportunity figures shown in Theo are indicative, depend on eligibility, affordability and lender criteria, and must be checked with the client before advice is given. Advisers remain responsible for the advice they give and for their own regulatory obligations.