Time flies. Ringo is 80!? I bet he’s done some vacationing in the last 60 years. I gave my wife a dart and a poster of a world map and told her, “Throw this and wherever it lands I’m taking you on vacation when this pandemic is over.” Turns out we’re going to be spending two weeks behind the fridge. Will there be demand for summer vacations this year? There is certainly an ample supply of places to go and stay… Supply and demand rules all! For example, rents have declined dramatically in big cities like San Francisco and New York as WFH people have moved out & demand dropped, but landlords are beginning to lease up again as decreased rents appear to be enticing tenants to return to the city, or hold on to current residents. In Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens, the number of leases signed last month beat the record set in 2012 during the comeback from the global financial crisis. Things aren’t so fun on the buy side, however: research shows that out of 123 U.S. million households, over 21 million can’t afford a $100,000 home. audio version of the commentary, featuring an interview with Susi Shlenk, VP of MSR Services at MCT, is sponsored by MCT MSR Services.)

Lender Services and Products

DocProbe’s much-heralded Trailing Docs platform of People, Process, and Technology now supports over $230 Billion in origination. This didn’t happen by accident. Over 10 years ago, DocProbe was founded by lending industry insiders with years of experience and knowledge into the needs of everyone from the front-line processors up to the executives and investors. It was created with a passion borne out of a “been there done that” understanding of the Trailing Docs problems faced by lenders, and the know-how to help solve them. The constant iterations of the DocProbe technology are a product of a cutting-edge mentality looking to solve age-old challenges. The drive to make your document fulfillment more efficient and streamlined, has resulted in developing an incredibly scalable environment where over one million final documents were processed in 4th quarter 2020. Trust DocProbe to be your effective Trailing Documents partner. Email Nick to hear more or visit our site.

A new MBA report says we’re in the calm before the home-buying storm. As over 4MM millennials reach peak home buying age this year, they’ll flood the market in unprecedented numbers. And if MBA predictions hold true, purchase volume may reach new heights, and lenders may find massive opportunity in reaching the millennial audience. The best way to capture your share of that business is by closely following the changing market and preparing your marketing and loan pipeline appropriately. Want to learn why economists believe purchase volume will soar over the next several months? Click here to read leading digital mortgage platform Maxwell’s latest blog post, “Here Come Millennial Borrowers: First-Time Buyers to Flood the Market.”

The Mortgage Origination Checklist Manifesto could have been the name of a best-selling industry book. Perhaps it still needs to be written. From LOs and LOAs to Processors and Closers, everyone uses checklists to make sure things get done right. Checklists are easy to create, easy to understand, and easy to use. But they are often created for one person's needs and do little to enable the whole origination team to work together more efficiently. Now imagine an online, ultra-productive, collaborative checklist that proactively coordinates every detail and deadline for everyone working to move a loan file through the pipeline, and can even communicate with your CRM+POS+LOS. That’s what this division of American Pacific Mortgage did with TeamworkIQ. The results? After a quick implementation, efficiency jumped so much that 4x the loans got closed and revenues grew 280%. See the case study and test-drive a customized, actionable, online, collaborative lead-to-loan checklist for free.

Consumer satisfaction in key customer service areas, including loan processing time, ease of self-service interaction, and helpfulness of customer service have all declined in the last year according to a recent survey. With today’s buyers having more borrowing options than ever, the time to elevate your buying experience is now. When lenders leverage the power of real-time data to communicate with customers, they create a more personalized experience and help build lifetime financial relationships. Read on to learn how to improve customer satisfaction and boost referral traffic by 35%.

It’s March Madness time, and XINNIX has a winning opportunity for everyone in the mortgage industry. XINNIX can help you energize your next annual or quarterly meeting with a crazy good deal available this month only. Book a speaker in March for any of your 2021 meetings, receive half off the entire catalog of XINNIXspeaks sessions including XTalks, Keynotes and Workshops that will inspire and engage your team. These sessions can be delivered in-person or virtually and can be customized to fit your event. With an all-star lineup of speakers and 19 of the most-sought after and relevant industry topics, you’re sure to find the perfect fit for your next meeting. For more information and to view the XINNIXspeaks Catalog, click here or schedule a call with a XINNIX Account Executive.

As we move into the digital future of lending, momentum is everything. Discover how your organization can maximize innovation and progress at Forward, taking place from May 18-20. With expert keynote speakers and Blend insights fueling this digital summit, you’ll find everything you need to build your own momentum toward success. Save your spot today.

“Finance of America Mortgage TPO is at it again; pushing the envelope of product offerings and options for your borrowers to gain more purchasing power! FAM TPO is relaunching our Two-X Flex Suite of mortgage solutions for the unconventional borrower. These proprietary offerings qualify borrowers based on factors outside of standard loan requirements. The Two-X Flex Suite options include, Two-X Flex Full Doc, a product that qualifies with expanded guidelines. Two-X Flex Bank, a great option for self-employed borrowers - allowing them to qualify on bank statement deposits. Additionally, Two-X Flex Asset can qualify borrowers using their assets as income with no employment required or combine with Two-X Flex Full Doc to decrease their qualifying ratios. Finally, Two-X Flex 1 Year allows for only one year of income documentation to qualify. Join us on March 23rd to learn how this innovative product can help your borrowers or contact your FAM AE today to learn more!”

Wholesaler News

Fairway Independent Wholesale raised its jumbo purchase loan and refinance loan limits and is delivering a new Lock & Build Extended Lock Program to extend rate locks with float-down options, adding flexibility for brokers and their clients. This is in addition to the government, conventional, and jumbo loan programs already offered to brokers and valuable training programs. Fairway, which began business as a broker 25 years ago, funded $66 billion in 2020 of which less than 6 percent was wholesale. But that is expected to grow in 2021 as brokers have moved to Fairway. Steve Jacobson, CEO of Fairway, observed, “We appreciate the extra attention the last two weeks have provided and thankful for the extra opportunities we’ve been given. We've always believed in doing what is best for the consumer, and that will never change. For that reason, we will always support a broker's decision to work with any lender they choose, and we will continue to work every day to earn the trust and respect of all our origination partners. At the end of the day, we are all working for the borrower.”

As a reminder, Plaza Home Mortgage is now accepting the newly redesigned 1003 for all loan applications. “Our BREEZE LOS is set up to generate and deliver the new 1003 plus your typical broker disclosures. That means you don't need to use your LOS first - you can go right into BREEZE and have everything done in one place. recently recorded training video to learn more about the new 1003 and submissions in BREEZE.”

A pricing betterment for 30-day lock periods is back at loanDepot. View its Current Turn Times to determine the best lock period for your scenario. Pricing for all lock periods is available in the mello® Broker Portal. And LD’s weekly Announcement discusses its new Jumbo Advantage Program, FHA updates to Matrices, Extension of COVID-19 Guidance and IRS 4506-C, VA Lending Guide Updates for IRS Form 4506-C, plus VA Fixed / ARM Matrix and 4506-C updates.

Loan Level Price Adjustments (LLPAs)

Fannie Mae issued LL-2021-08  regarding the eligibility of loans secured by second home and investment properties. That sent price shock waves through lenders. Let’s take a random sample.

Effective immediately Franklin American Mortgage Company has updated the loan level price adjustments on its best-efforts rate sheet impacting Investment Property and 2nd Home transactions. The adjustments have been worsened by 250 basis points. Please see the rate sheet once published for the new LLPA adjustments.

Effective March 15, there will be a 50 bps LLPA assessed on all Conventional Second Home and Investment Properties. Land Home Financial will reflect the update on rate sheets published on and after March 15. All relocks, extensions or other modifications will have the 50-bps applied. mortgage without a required payment. The dollar amount of the assistance will remain the same as the grant.

Mountain West Financial Wholesale Loan Level Price Adjustments (LLPAs) are changing for Non-Owner Occupied and Second Home transactions effective immediately. View Bulletin 21W-022 for details.

Effective for Commitment Confirmations issued on or after March 15, Caliber Home Loans will update the Conventional Investment Property and Second Home loan level price adjustments (LPAs).

Wells Fargo Funding announced adjuster changes for investment properties on conventional Conforming Loans effective immediately. (Wells Fargo Funding reinstated conventional Conforming cash-out refinances, requirements for cash-out refinances remain the same.) And Wells’ correspondent group reinstated the overlay on Texas Section 50(a)(6) cash-out refinances for conventional Conforming Loans.

Fairway Independent let brokers know that, “Fannie is implementing changes to Second Home and Investment properties to manage to the 7% limit, as announced by the Treasury/FHFB in January. Based on these changes, all Second Home/Investment will now have a 50 bps LLPA.”

Caliber Home Loans announced a price enhancement for Conventional 15-year low loan balance transactions. Effective for Best Effort Commitment Confirmations issued on or after March 15, 2021. The price improvement will be reflected in the pricing engines. It will not be reflected on the Caliber lock confirmation at the time of the lock. The confirmation will be updated to show the improvement within 48 hours of lock. The improvement will be reflected as a loan level price adjustment labeled Incentive on your lock confirmation and purchase advice.

Capital Markets

Optimal Blue and Compass Analytics, now united under the Black Knight family, are bringing unparalleled expertise and innovative technology to better satisfy all hedge advisory strategies. Insights derived from last year’s $1.2T combined loans closed, of the overall $3.5T market volume, are benefitting all client types, and the companies’ depth of knowledge spans the capital markets spectrum. Whether you are considering a move from best efforts to mandatory delivery or preparing for the ability to add agency securitization to your delivery options, Black Knight can support the most sophisticated billion-dollar aggregators, as well as servicers and agencies. For financial markets prowess, proven technology, and individual attention to help you succeed, contact Mark Teteris, CMB, Director, Solutions Specialists at Black Knight.

Looking at the bond market, and thus rates, there wasn’t much to report from yesterday. Investors were awaiting today and tomorrow’s FOMC meeting, and there was limited economic data, though those preoccupied with rising borrowing costs will be glad to know that 10-year Treasury yields rallied from the more than one-year high reached last week. Speaking of that FOMC meeting, few expect to see any change in policy, but attention will be paid to the number of members seeing rate increases in 2023. And, of course, any remarks or projections around inflation will be closely watched. And yesterday Treasury Secretary Yellen reminded us that the inflation risk is "small" and "manageable."

Today’s calendar is underway with February retail sales (-3 percent but January was revised to +7.6 percent) as well as February import and export prices (+1.3 and +1.6 percent). The MBA’s weekly survey (covering 74 percent of the first-mortgage servicing market) showed that the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by 6 bps to 5.14 percent of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week as of March 7. According to MBA’s estimate, 2.6 million homeowners are in forbearance plans. Later this morning brings Redbook same store sales for the week ending March 13, February industrial production and capacity utilization, business inventories, and the NAHB Housing Market Index for March. Day one of the FOMC’s two-day meeting also gets under way. Today’s MBS purchase schedule is the lowest of the week and sees the Desk conducting two operations targeting up to $4.2 billion. We begin the day with Agency MBS prices unchanged from Monday’s close and the 10-year yielding 1.60 after closing yesterday at 1.61 percent.

Jobs

Are you ​an extraordinary recruiter, looking to work with and become part of a growth oriented executive team? A dynamic, 15-year-old independent mortgage lender, currently licensed in 10 states, is searching for a VP of Talent Acquisition. This is your opportunity to join a winning team that gives you a decision-making voice. The Executive Management Team has been together 14 years, and is focused on an employee-centric culture, fun environment to work, and providing ​"above and beyond" service to its mortgage partners. The average employee tenure is over six and half years. The ideal candidate is a talented recruiter who can attract top mortgage sales and operational talent. This can be a remote position with an attractive salary and bonus plan. If you have successful recruiting experience, entrepreneurial, able to work independently, with a proven track record, this could be the ideal position for you. Qualified candidates should send their resume in confidence to Chrisman’s LLC Anjelica Nixt.

Fueled by exceptional growth in 2020, Nations Lending is focusing that momentum on expanding its retail footprint in the western U.S. this year. “We have an immediate need for a West Coast Ops Recruiter and a West Coast Compensation Partner. Finding operations talent takes A-list performers who know their markets and possess rock-solid recruiting and customer service skills: If that’s you, then this is your opportunity! Additionally, Nations Lending is in-search-of a National Learning and Development Leader to develop our training department as well as advance our platforms to the next level of efficiency. If you’re interested in joining a company showing remarkable growth, and not willing to settle for “just good enough” – then Nations Lending is your next stop. Contact Talent Acquisition Specialist Justin Kelley (440.527.6546) to learn more about these career-making opportunities. #JoinTheNation

“Why are Mortgage Loan Officers joining Shamrock Home Loans , one of the nation's highest ranked mortgage companies to work for? The answer can be viewed by watching Ashley Messina and her video. Ashley was a Retail Store Manager for Victoria Secret turned high volume Mortgage originator based in Rhode Island. ‘Ashley is an outstanding example of how Shamrock's sales leadership and sales focused culture helps LOs grow their business despite a slightly rising rate environment,’ says Rick Roque, Corporate VP. ‘When you have serious loan officers operating under an aggressive underwriting philosophy, with the best marketing and technology tools in the industry, with a 'Get Deals Done' culture, our loan officers win… every time.’ Understand why Shamrock is the future of mortgage banking, email us or see our newest TV Ad designed specifically for Branch Managers and Loan Officers explaining our core purpose.”

John Forlines is Home Point Financial’s new chief risk officer. John had been Fannie Mae’s chief risk officer, and had only been with Fannie for 33 years.

Northeast Home Loan, a wholly owned subsidiary of Passumpsic Bank, has a new VP of Business Development and Account Management: David Johndrow. He will lead the strategic expansion of NEHL’s lending footprint throughout the Northeast.