A property investor who bought a flat for £175,000 at the height of the housing boom has ended up in a negative equity nightmare after its value nosedived by almost 50 per cent. Maurice Conroy, who owns a string of buy-to-let flats, bought the ... Online mortgage applications are quick. An online application form takes about four minutes of your time filling it up. Approval can then be given within 24 hours. This is a far cry from the several business days it usually takes for traditional mortgage applications to be approved. In this regard, online mortgages are less time-consuming and even initially paper-free.