With the COVID pandemic, it doesn’t quite seem like we’re in the middle of pro football season, although apparently the folks in Jacksonville will do anything for their team. Speaking of which, I decided to finally get a COVID test, thinking it was a nasal swab. Imagine my surprise when I pulled into the building’s parking lot and saw a sign, “COVID Testing in the Rear.” COVID is running economies around the world, and in this country the FHFA announced yesterday that current moratoriums that were set to expire on December 31st have been extended another month. (The foreclosure moratorium applies to Enterprise-backed, single-family mortgages only. The REO eviction moratorium applies to properties that have been acquired by an Enterprise through foreclosure or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure transactions.) But wait, there’s more! The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) rolled out the agency's new schedule of loan limits for 2021 for its Single Family Title II forward and Home Equity Conversion (reverse) Mortgage insurance programs, effective for FHA case numbers assigned on or after January 1, 2021. Meanwhile, the jumbo and non-QM segment is active: more below.
Lender and Broker Services and Products
Retail loan originators are transitioning to the wholesale channel to best serve customers, especially in such a low-rate environment. If you’re a retail LO, now could be the ideal time to open your own mortgage business. Submit your application for AIME Spark's small business grant! To help fund Spark’s grant program, Home Point Financial contributed the first $1 million to establish more minority-owned and women-owned mortgage brokerages throughout the country. Applications for Spark are open now through January 31. For more information on Spark's programs and to submit an application, visit the AIME Spark website.
“We can’t get Loan Officers to stay. We train them and they are gone 5 months later.” Sound familiar? Hear from a Lender who has the solution. “Our Loan Officers have pure joy when they see that our company has their back. They literally say, ‘thank you for putting food on my family’s plate.’ Loan Officers expect to have Sales Boomerang. When they walk in the door, they ask if they have Sales Boomerang. It’s expected like a mandatory part of your toolkit. It's the gold standard. You must have it if you want to be in the mortgage industry.” (Kevin Peranio, Chief Lending Officer, Robin Clayton, Senior Digital Strategist, PRMG) Learn more about Sales Boomerang, the #1 Automated Borrower Intelligence and Retention system in the Mortgage Lending industry. Reward your Loan Officers with the highest converting and most profitable loans in existence.
Non-Agency, Non-QM, Credit Shifts
The industry has been waiting for non-QM products to account for a sizeable percent of the overall business. Maybe everyone is bored with Fannie, Freddie, FHA, and VA, but (for now) the margins and volumes are great. Non-non-QM business will be in the trillions again in 2020, and probably 2021. Still, despite a terrible March and April, it is good to know what is going on in that sector, and with lenders and investors specializing in non-Agency and non-QM products. By the way, many non-QM wholesalers can be found at www.mortgageelements.com – just type in the state and then the program.
The Non-QM market has bounced back after a brief pause earlier this year, and with operations ramping up, and thus the launch of IMN's Virtual Non-QM Forum is scheduled for January 21, 2021. This full-fledged virtual event will feature multiple panel sessions, exhibits, networking/online chatting, meeting scheduling, detailed reporting etc. Secure your spot for this January event to meet and network with an expected 500+ event delegation.
With Carrington Prime Advantage℠, Carrington Mortgage offers borrowers “a more flexible loan solution that is comparable to a bank Jumbo” - click here. Up to 90% LTV on Prime Advantage loans for FICOs above 720, primary homes only, full doc & 12 or 24 Month Bank Statement for Self-Employed, primary wage earner FICO used for loan qualifying and pricing, only 12 Month Housing History (not 24), no need to remove disputed tradelines, loan amounts up to $2.5 million.
LoanStream Wholesale is offering a 3-month special for New Brokers, a $995 closing cost credit on the first THREE loans. For any newly approved broker within the first 30 days following approval. Call to speak with an Account Executive at (800) 760-1833 for details.
AD Mortgage posted its Black Friday Sale on Non-QM products plus Conventional program updates.
PHOENIX is providing customers with one of the most competitive and efficient jumbo liquidity options in the secondary market by leveraging its partner, MAXEX. One set of guidelines, one contract, one annual certification.
PCF Wholesale announced the introduction of the new W-2 Only and Self-Employed Conventional products. The W-2 has a price improvement for its quicker loans (See Conventional Adjustments tab). Self-Employed products are the only option now for Self-Employed borrowers. Both products are available in 30-yr and 15-yr terms only. Visit the Broker Center for information.
PRMG has published a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) in regard to issues surrounding COVID-19 available in a special section at the top of the Resource Center page and can be referenced at any time. Also noted in PRMG’s Product Update 20-30, PRMG is currently requiring all credit qualifying loans for all self-employed borrowers on all products a P&L and two month business bank statements must be provided. Effective with loan applications taken on or after December 14, 2020 three months recent bank statements no older than the latest three months represented on the year-to-date profit and loss statement will be required.
Capital Markets
MCT announced the debut of upgraded MCTlive! Pool Optimizer functionality at its MCT Exchange virtual client conference. The technology enables secondary marketing managers to use both actual cash window execution for optimization on each individual loan rather than using a dealer survey for spec pay-ups, and MBS optimization, rather than solely MBS pooling or delivery, allowing for full pricing granularity specific to all available executions. To learn more about the MCTlive! Pool Optimizer, please contact MCT for more information. Separately, as part of MCT and Freddie Mac working together to ensure the best experience for their mutual clients, the two companies jointly released Non-Price Considerations in Your Best Execution Analysis, a whitepaper that identifies unexpected costs associated with your loan sales. Learn how you can identify operational efficiencies to consider when choosing a buyer, hidden costs of new investor approvals, and optimize seller relationship and loan sale processes.
Looking at the bond market and rates, with lots of competing headlines yesterday, it was no surprise that U.S. Treasuries and MBS prices chopped around yesterday. The U.K. became the first western country to approve a Covid-19 vaccine, President-elect Biden presented an undecided stance on Chinese tariffs and there are still unresolved issues in post-Brexit trade negotiations. There was a poor ADP jobs report, which showed the economy adding a mediocre 307k jobs last month, well off the 500k expected payrolls figure tomorrow. It looks like the rebound is losing steam, which will likely encourage the Fed to increase purchases. It could also portend more fiscal stimulus. Congressional Democrats yesterday threw their support behind a $908 billion bipartisan proposal as the basis for a new round of stimulus negotiations. That marks a retreat from their previous support for a much larger $2.4 trillion package.
Fed Chair Powell provided his second day of congressional testimony yesterday, indicating that there is no rift between the Fed and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin over the impending shutdown of emergency lending programs. The Fed chair said his only concern was that the Treasury's decision could be interpreted as the central bank stepping back, which is not the case. The Federal Reserve released its December Beige Book ahead of its mid-month December meeting, which described overall economic activity as expanding at a modest or moderate pace. Four Districts reported little or no growth while five Districts reported activity below pre-pandemic levels. Four districts saw a slowdown in activity in November. Separately, Dallas Fed President Kaplan said that the central bank should be discussing conditions for tapering asset purchases. Bonds and MBS have been a bit volatile looking for clues surrounding added Fed purchases.
Today’s economic calendar began with a couple labor market indicators ahead of tomorrow’s payrolls report. Job cuts from Challenger, Gray & Christmas (65k, the fewest since February), initial claims for the week ending November 28 (a surprise at -75k to 712k, a big drop) and continued claims for the week ending November 21 (5.52 million, down from over 6 million). Later this morning brings Final November Markit Services PMI, November ISM Non-Manufacturing Index, and the latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey from Freddie Mac. The demand side of the equation continues to be supported by the Federal Reserve as the Desk will conduct three operations which will target up to $6.4 billion starting with $1.3 billion UMBS15 1.5% and 2%, followed by $3.3 billion UMBS30 2% and 2.5% and $1.8 billion GNII 2% and 2.5%. Afterwards, the Desk will report on MBS purchases for the week ending December 1. We begin today with Agency MBS prices unchanged and the 10-year yielding .93 after closing yesterday at .95 percent.
Jobs
“Caliber Home Loans is searching for talent, the best talent. Are you a mortgage professional with at least one year of experience in Underwriting or Direct-to-Broker sales? We want to speak with you! If you have one year of experience in mortgage processing or collections or if you know someone with these qualifications, we want to speak with you! Come join a team that prides itself on providing best-in-class service and making home ownership dreams come true. We’re a great company to work for with an innovative, inclusive, and collaborative culture. Contact us today and empower yourself to elevate your career. Visit our website to view open opportunities. To be immediately considered for Operations or DTB Sales positions, email Jonathan Stanley or Lauri Appenrothrespectively.”
SimpleNexus is expanding its sales team with open Account Executive, Customer Success, BDR, and Solutions Engineer positions. The company is also hiring engineers in the SLC and Phoenix areas. From engagement to eClose, SimpleNexus is streamlining the homeownership journey with its best-in-class POS and native mobile app that connects LOs, realtors, borrowers, and settlement agents. SimpleNexus is seeking candidates that reflect its HIVE core values (Hungry, Innovative, Vibrant, Empathetic). SimpleNexus is the place to be in 2021 and beyond with excellent work culture and happy customers. If you are a high performer looking for a place you can call home for years to come, view open positions and apply here.
AmeriHome Correspondent continues to grow its Non-Delegated business, and its Non-Delegated team! AmeriHome is excited to announce that Jeremy Hebert has joined the sales team as a Non-Delegated Account Executive in the South Central and South East territories! AmeriHome is still growing and hiring, and now is a great time to join the AmeriHome family. AmeriHome is hiring for Non-Delegated Account Managers and several other positions, in Southern California, Texas, and remote! AmeriHome provides a great, supportive culture, career growth opportunities, and stability. One employee had this to say, “AmeriHome promotes a very strong culture of mentorship. Most of the training is very hands-on, and executives and upper management are very open to discussing career paths and encourage associates to seek growth within the company." Visit the careers page to view all open positions, and submit resumes to careers@amerihome.com to schedule an interview.
“Shamrock Home Loans develops its employees to be leaders. We invest in our Loan Officers or Branch Managers. Shamrock by offering Origination Coaching by some of the highest producing loan officers in the industry. We offer Social Media Coaching so you leverage next gen media tools offered by Shamrock to build engagement with partners and consumers and grow your production and personal brand along the way. Rather than building you up so you can achieve more, aren't you tired of mortgage companies simply taking advantage of you? Dean Harrington, founder of Shamrock Home Loans, has established an employment promise, to provide the culture and resources necessary so you can achieve levels of success you never thought possible. A company should not only provide you with a job, but it should change your life. If it doesn't, Come and See how Shamrock can. Aim for something greater by contacting info@shamrockhomeloans.com. Also, check out our Morning Huddle.”
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