How much free time do you have? Not much? You’re not alone, as this story points out, "The rich were meant to have the most leisure time. The working poor were meant to have the least. The opposite is happening. Why?" An interesting skim for any junior economist. "Elite men (and women) in the U.S. are the world's chief workaholics. They work longer hours than poorer men in the U.S. and rich men in other advanced countries. In the last generation, they have reduced their leisure time by more than any other demographic. As the economist Robert Frank wrote, 'building wealth to them is a creative process, and the closest thing they have to fun.'"

New Products

The world of subservicing just got disrupted. The Money Source Inc. has launched SIME (pronounced Sim-mee), which stands for Servicing Intelligence Managed Easily. "SIME is a new web-based loan servicing platform that provides full transparency into your loan portfolio while giving servicers/lenders the tools for oversight they have been lacking with their subservicer. The Money Source is one of twenty GNMA-approved subservicing platforms, and recently received an above average rating with Morningstar for their servicing platform. To see how SIME can help your servicing business, visit getSIME.com."

"Need to increase your purchase business? Gooi Mortgage, Inc. can help. With the growing success of their mortgage fulfillment company, Gooi Mortgage is now offering Morelity, a platform created under the Gooi Global umbrella that offers data analytics to the financial industry. According to Gooi Mortgage's CEO Jeff Jensen, 'Big banks have and can afford teams of data scientists and analysts to help stay on top of their consumer targeting. We are bringing these same resources to customers to help them compete at an affordable price.' With the sharp decline in refinances, more emphasis is being placed on the purchase business.  Morelity helps you focus your marketing efforts on individuals most likely to need a new loan, and also helps reach borrowers before they apply with another lender. To set up a demonstration on how this platform may help your business, please contact Leah Roling, director of product development (515.865.6716) or Matt Allison, national accounts manager.

Industry leader enhances business with X-Ray intelligence platform. Rolanda Legg, VP of production with First Arkansas Financial/FirstTrust Home Loans, knows the mortgage industry often relies on outdated information to make critical business decisions, which results in spending too much time/money trying to collect data to forecast loan close times and provide loan status updates. "With the old way of doing things, you had to commit time to building reports with limited fields and then you were forced to filter and re-filter until you had the specific information you were needing," Legg said. Not anymore since FirstTrust started using X-Ray. "It assists us in identifying areas that need attention in terms of turn times in the milestones ... It gives us our time back as we no longer are tied down to manually preparing reports," Legg said. Is your mortgage company using the latest intelligence software? Visit specialagentx.com. 

Lendsnap announced Online Signup, making it easier than ever for lenders and brokers to offer their customers automated document collection. Get your free 15-day trial of Lendsnap before this offer expires! Lendsnap automatically gathers original bank statements, W2s, pay stubs, and tax returns, providing lenders authentic electronic statements directly from the source institutions. Whether the loan type is conventional, subprime, FHA/VA, or any non-agency, Lendsnap delivers the universally accepted documents you need to make a credit decision. Visit Lendsnap to start your free trial now, or contact Mike Romano to schedule a demo/conversation.

M&A

We've seen a lot of mortgage lender mash-ups in these past 24 months, but this is one to watch... Troy, Michigan's Flagstar Bank announced its intent and desire to acquire Opes Advisors, Inc., a $3.1 billion regional mortgage lender and wealth advisory firm with 39 locations in California, Washington and Oregon. The upside is huge for both parties - Flagstar, which did $32.5 billion in residential mortgage origination for 2016 with majority in wholesale and correspondent lending, now gets an instant retail boost with a respected, premier retail platform in strategic markets on the West coast. Opes Advisors will continue to operate with its name and brand, leadership, ops and current offerings; now with an expanded product selection including portfolio jumbo, construction loans, the ability to have national lending, and the strength of a top 12 national mortgage lender.

In depository bank M&A news...Inland Northwest Bank ($636mm, WA) will acquire CenterPointe Community Bank ($131mm, WA) for consideration of approximately $12.85 per share if electing cash (40%) or 1.0280 shares of common stock if electing stock (60%). FNB Bank ($373mm, AL) will acquire Peoples State Bank of Commerce ($157mm, TN). In Georgia PrimeSouth Bank ($373mm) will acquire Atlantic National Bank ($165mm). Midland States Bank ($3.2B, IL) will acquire investment advisory firm CedarPoint Investment Advisors (WI). CedarPoint manages $180mm in assets. Centennial Bank ($9.8B, AR) will acquire Stonegate Bank ($3.1B, FL) for about $778.4mm in cash (6%) and stock (94%). First Bank ($1.1B, NJ) will acquire Bucks County Bank ($198mm, PA) for about $27.2mm in stock (100%) or 1.24x tangible book. In Pennsylvania, Mid Penn Bank ($1.0B) will acquire The Scottdale Bank & Trust Co ($263mm) for about $59.1mm in cash (10%) and stock (90%) or about 1.30x tangible book. Synovus Financial Corp ($30B, GA) said it will collapse 28 locally branded banking divisions into the parent's name as it seeks to reduce customer confusion and increase awareness of broader capabilities.

The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals update

Driven industry professionals, top government officials, and high ranking housing and real estate executives convened for the NAHREP's yearly policy conference. The conference focused on educating attendees on important housing policy changes, the future of lending, credit access, diversity in the industry, and NAHREP's policy recommendations for the government. It is also the site for the unveiling of the annual State of Hispanic Homeownership Report, NAHREP's leading publication which highlights the homeownership and economic growth of Latinos in the United States over the past 12 months.

According to this year's report, the Hispanic rate of homeownership increased from 45.6 percent in 2015 to 46 percent in 2016, while the nation's overall homeownership rate decline to 63.4 percent, a 51-year low. "The Hispanic market is no longer a niche market," observed Maria Zywiciel, President of NAHREP Consulting Services, a consulting firm that specializes in the Hispanic market and lending. "This is a business development opportunity for all lenders and realtors. If a company doesn't have a Hispanic Market Strategy, they don't have a market share strategy." (For more information or to read the whole report, contact NAHREP Consulting Services at info@nahrepconsulting.com.)

Capital Markets

U.S. Treasuries, and along with them MBS prices, moved higher yesterday despite generally positive U.S. macroeconomic data as weaker-than-expected vehicle sales for March sent U.S. equities lower and sent investors scrambling into safe-haven assets. U.S. auto sales have been down year-on-year for nine of the last 13 months and there are concerns about a glut of used car supply causing problems for automakers who have to resell vehicle when they come off of lease. There is also a subprime auto loan market that some investors are worried about collapsing.

For good news, U.S. construction spending rose 0.8% month over month in February and was revised higher in January. Both private construction spending (+0.8%) and public construction spending (+0.6%) expanded in February; total construction spending is up 3.0% year-over-year. The 10-year yield hit a low yield of 2.33% which it touched right around the time of the European close before pulling back slightly with equities staging an afternoon recovery; it ended the day at 2.35%. Agency MBS and 5-year T-note prices improved about .250.

What happened overnight? Not much. The press is talking about the potential for a Trumpcare

revival and the soft March auto sales. There wasn't any major Tuesday overnight news or monetary policy headlines. In this country, this morning we've already had the February international trade situation (narrowing to a deficit of $43.6 billion), which I think has had a deficit for our entire history. The Redbook Same-Store Sales Index will be released, as will the March ISM-New York and February Factory Orders & Durable Goods. After the trade number, we find the 10-year yielding 2.32% and agency MBS prices a smidge better than last night's close.

Jobs and Announcements

Santander Bank is in the midst of an ambitious growth plan and is currently hiring for experienced, top-performing Mortgage Loan Officers across its footprint (MA, RI, CT, NH, NY, NJ and PA). As a major mortgage lender, Santander leverages the benefits of local processing, underwriting and closing, and provides its Loan Officers with outstanding sales management support from a team of experienced, non-producing Sales Managers. Santander brings many benefits to the table for its Loan Officers including a superb product line-up (including an attractive jumbo balance sheet product), competitive rates, exclusive assigned retail branches and referral opportunities, a competitive commission plan and a great menu of employee benefits (including medical, dental, vision and 401K). If you are looking to build your list of contacts and grow your career as a Loan Officer with Santander, please e-mail Matthew Oliveira (401-435-1265).

CMG Financial Wholesale Lending continues to grow and is looking for experienced Wholesale & Non-Delegated Correspondent Account Executives nationwide, with a focus in the following markets:  California (So & No), Washington, Texas, Wisconsin, Illinois, Florida and New York. If you are looking for a rewarding career opportunity, look no further. CMG offers a very competitive compensation and benefits package and makes it easy for serious professionals to transition. As an AE, you will be assigned to your own operations team to provide a consistently higher level of service to your clients.  In addition to FNMA, FHLMC, GNMA and Jumbo products, CMG offers our own proprietary All In One Loan, which substantially reduces the borrower's interest payments over the term of the loan. If you are interested in joining our employee-centric organization, please contact Raj Batra. For more information, click CMG Wholesale or the All-In-One Loan. 

Personnel News

Twelve 11 Media, the Publisher of Mortgage Women Magazine and Mortgage Compliance Magazine, announced that Kristin Messerli has been named Managing Editor of Mortgage Women Magazine. Kristin took over on April 1 and will be responsible for leading and overseeing all editorial content of the magazine as well as being the magazine's spokesperson.

Eagle Home Mortgage, a full-service residential mortgage lender, announced that industry veteran Paul Butler has joined the company as SVP of National Business Development and will "lead the company's rapidly-growing team focused on recruiting top talent that aligns with the company's high-quality growth goals and potential." Robert Bautista has been promoted to Vice President, Business Development Manager at Eagle.

The StoneHill Group, a national provider of quality control, due diligence, and mortgage fulfillment solutions for mortgage lenders, banks and credit unions, announced it has hired T. Gail Callueng as the company's new quality control manager. She will be directing quality control services for The StoneHill Group as well as overseeing QC reviews on behalf of clients.

Preclose announced the addition of long-time mortgage, SaaS exec, Scott Stein, to its leadership team as VP of Sales to help drive its mission of bringing real estate transactions 100% online. Preclose, the closing management software provider for real estate brokerages and teams, works with agents to bring transparency to a fragmented closing process and reduce transaction time for real estate agents, home buyers, and service professionals, such as mortgage lenders, title and escrow companies, and home insurance providers.