Plenty of folks in our biz can be accused of having aprosexia. (No, I didn’t join some “Word of the Day” club.) But lenders and originators have to be pay attention long enough to figure out how to adapt to changes and trends. For example, while building affordable housing is a hot topic, new buildings only account for about a quarter of the affordable housing market. The rest is comprised of Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing, or NOAH, which falls between subsidized housing and high-rent buildings and it often makes sense to preserve it rather than build it. I spent some time in Chicago this week where unfortunately 10% of NOAH housing was lost from 2012-2019. Need leads, not stale ones (always be closing!)? Josh Friend with Insellerate, known for its CRM and lead management, recommends, “Don’t forget the most important thing when buying leads is having real time lead distribution and automated calling, texting, and emailing.” Dealing with “The All-Cash Phenomenon?” Yes, lenders must react or act: According to Curinos, May 2022 mortgage rate-lock volume was down 42% YoY and 6% MoM across all channels, while funded volume decreased 40% YoY and 5% MoM. Curinos sources a statistically significant data set directly from lenders to produce these benchmark figures and drills into this data further here. (Today’s podcast is available here and is sponsored by Black Knight, providing innovative solutions that are transforming the industry and that help lenders of all sizes benefit from cutting-edge technologies and automation. Listen to an interview with Andy Walden and Gunnar Blix on record tappable equity in an equity-centric market.)
Lender and Broker Software, Services, and Programs
In poker, being able to draw reliable conclusions about a player’s next move is an obvious competitive advantage. To get better at “reading” opponents, amateurs and pros alike turn to expert Zachary Elwood’s authoritative book on the subject. Anticipating a customer or prospect’s next move offers similar competitive advantages for mortgage advisors. When you can read the signals of homebuying intent, you can put the right offer on the table at the right time, helping more borrowers and winning more deals in the process. To get better at interpreting the signals of homebuying intent, hundreds of top lenders turn to the experts at Sales Boomerang. Learn which signals of loan-readiness are more reliable than others in this free eBook.
As home values continue to rise, homeowners want to take advantage of their increasing home equity. Recent tends show that borrowers are shifting away from cash out refis as mortgage interest rates have increased and are pivoting towards HELOCs, and it’s time that lenders do the same. But where to begin? Leveraging housing data from providers such as First American Data & Analytics will not only help lenders identify potential HELOC customers, but also aid in their due diligence of reviewing borrower documentation and minimizing risk. Their home equity suite of solutions does just that! One solution in particular, the TotalView report, is your single-source report that provides all the decision-making data you’ll need for granting HELOC approvals, giving you insight into property details, ownership information, encumbrances, market information, and more. You can easily get a complete picture with TotalView: Get a sample report here.
Do you have 30 seconds? In that time, iQualifi by Sprout Mortgage can select from over a million possible solutions to recommend Sprout programs and pricing that fit each scenario. Your time is valuable. Price more deals in less time, with no app or loan file needed. By doing so, you could provide information to clients and prospective customers earlier in your conversations! Simply visit us or message us to request a guest pass.
“We get to Conditional Approval 14 days faster, and our underwriters review 12 files per day.” Travis Rulle, COO, FBC Mortgage. At 1 bps per day, these Candor clients add massive margin to every loan. For a bullet proof underwrite whiplash fast they use Candor’s Loan Engineering System. “We’ve cut our cycle time in half,” Kenny Parkhurst, COO Get A Rate. The Machine as an Underwriter conducts: OCR, 1100 data crosschecks, income calculation, information scrutiny, condition generation & condition clearing. It renders decisions and backs each one with a warranty. How much profit could a faster manufacturing process Do the math. You can be a raving client in just 30 days. Schedule a demo.
Monster Lead Group tells us that direct mail continues to be a critical component of originating mortgages and has released a helpful guide on the best practices of direct mail marketing. This 12-page guide on the seven essential practices they use in every direct mail campaign explains their techniques for producing high return, high converting direct mail campaigns that led to more than 1,000,000 unique calls and $25+ billion in loan originations for their mortgage lenders since 2019. View the guide here.
Events, Meetings, and Training
Loan Officers! Time is running out to change your stress to success! We are all aware of the challenges of today’s lending environment. Numbers are down across the board and Loan Officers are looking for new ways to source business. From finding better ways to connect with agents to going directly to the consumer. If this sounds like you, then the LO Lifeline Event was built for YOU. In just seven days the Next Level Loan Officers community has come together to put on a NO NONSENSE super event that is hyper-focused on helping LOs overcome their challenges to win the rest of 2022. This highly tactical event will include expertise from actively producing mortgage and real estate professionals in the trenches every day. Learn what they do and how they do it so that you have the PLAYBOOK to win. No BS, no gimmicks, just straight value. Register today!
Johnston Thomas and The Mortgage Collaborative will be co-hosting a complimentary webinar at 10:30 AM PST today titled "Repurchase and Indemnification Demands in 2022 and Beyond: Trends and Tips to Successfully Resolve Agency and Investor Demands". (Click here to register and save your spot).
Friday the 10th is the next edition of The Mortgage Collaborative’s Rundown with Rich and Rob. Robert Senko, Founder & CEO of ACC Mortgage, will co-host the show along with Rich Swerbinsky, the COO of The Mortgage Collaborative, and me. We’ll will be covering current events in the mortgage market for 30 minutes starting at 1PM MT in “The Rundown with Rich and Rob.”
The private mortgage insurance companies offer a fine range of very cost-effective/free training: National MI University, Enact’s course catalog of on-demand webinars, MGIC, Essent, Radian, and Arch MI.
ACUMA’s Workshops are back! There is still room to register for a seat at the association’s Western Workshop, scheduled for June 14-15 at the Nines Hotel in Portland, Oregon. Topics include 2022’s Top 5 Mortgage Compliance Considerations, Mining the HMDA Disaster, Developing Effective Credit Union Advocacy Efforts and more.
While we are regularly faced with near-constant change, there has been an especially significant shift in how we live and work over the last two and a half years. Is it any surprise that the way we build leaders who manage the changing workforce has shifted also? The lack of required transformation in leadership is a costly gap and a part of today’s “Great Resignation” for many organizations. Join XINNIX on June 16 at 2 PM ET as they host “Transformational Leadership Development: The Antidote to the Great Resignation”, a live panel discussion with three of the nation’s leading experts on the topic Michael “Go-To” Norton, XINNIX President; Dr. Bryan Price, Founder of New Jersey-based performance coaching and mental skills training firm, Top Mental Game; and Dan Carusi, Co-Founder and Chief Adventurer at Red Paint Consulting, a firm specializing in performance improvement, change management and leadership development. Reserve your seat today!
The MBA of Hawai’i is hosting its Annual State Conference in Honolulu June 21–June 23. If you come, please say hello!
Video Marketing? If you think now is the time to start using video in your marketing, you want to register for the Mega Capital Funding Sponsored webinar on Tuesday, June 21st on “Using Video to Attract Real Estate Agents and Consumers”. Mega Capital is hosting industry leader, Ginger Bell, Edumarketing for an in-depth dive into how to use video marketing to leverage your expertise. Register here.
Homeownership for Veterans: In honor of Homeownership Month, you can join a special webinar to promote homeownership for Veterans. Join Ginger Bell, Edumarketing, Rick Bettencourt, Caliber Home Loans, Chris Bettis, Fluent Mortgage and Wade Betz, NEXA Mortgage on Tuesday, June 21st! Both originators and real estate professionals are invited to attend! Let's help veterans realize the joy of homeownership! Register Here.
Join the top dealmakers and private lending experts in the red-hot market of Dallas, TX for high level networking, deal flow exchange, raising investment capital and gathering of critical industry data on June 21-22nd at the National Lending Expo (NLE).
In Florida, the MBAF is offering the 18th Annual Eastern Secondary Market Conference and 68th Annual Convention June 21-23!
ServiceLink’s 2022 State of Homebuying Report offers a snapshot into buyers’ desires, what’s driving their decisions, generational tendencies, and an outlook on the housing and auction market. Join industry experts from ServiceLink, NAMMBA, Money and Bankrate as they discuss insights from this report to reveal how lenders can implement the findings to better serve the most influential demographic in today’s housing market. Register today for this insightful 30-minute discussion on June 23!
Be An Ultimate Mortgage Pro and celebrate Broker Independence on July 7th in New Orleans. From insight about Non-QM products, to a look at the truths and myths of reverse mortgages, to how to make big bucks with private capital products, lots of opportunity for attendees including taking a deep dive into how originators can make the most of their superpower: being the best agent for consumer choice. Plus, take advantage of the opportunity to complete your NMLS license renewal class for free. Use code OCNFREE* for comp registration. Don’t miss the special Build-A-Broker pre-show program on July 6th.
Lenders One summer events are open for registration. Lenders One’s 20-year mission is to help independent mortgage bankers, banks and credit unions improve their profitability. Registration is now open for the L1 Basecamp at the Whitewater Center, with Rob Chrisman as the Keynote Speaker, in Charlotte, NC, July 12. If you are a current member, reserve your seats today! If you are interested in how Lenders One membership can benefit your business, contact Tricia Migliazzo to learn more.
The CAMP 2022 Annual Conference & Gala Extravaganza, July 10th -13th, will be held at The Hyatt Regency Newport Beach. This event will offer education, networking, engaging speakers, a robust expo hall, and of course a good deal of fun. Check out the 4-day schedule of events, view the CAMP 2022 Annual Conference Agenda.
Capital Markets
2022 has seen mortgage rates rise on concerns tightening by the Fed may drain liquidity from the system, triggering higher borrowing costs and spikes in volatility. Sound concerning to your volume or profitability outlook? Despite the current environment, MCT helped clients earn an extra $230,000,000 in Q1 2022, or $750,000 in additional profit per client on average. Download the newest MCT whitepaper, Six Unique Ways to Increase Your Profitability Despite Market Headwinds, that explores how MCT is helping “Bring BPS Back” and covers the following topics: current market headwinds, bid tape AOT transactions, investor outlets and commitment types, digital competitive TBA trading, moving to mandatory executions, investor set optimization, and market volatility guidance. Also, be sure to utilize MCT’s new hedge advisory profitability calculator aimed to calculate your potential profitability and efficiency gains.
Rates were up yesterday, continuing a bumpy start to the week. Predictably, it is due to worries about inflation and measures by central banks to contain it. The World Bank cut its 2022 global growth forecast from 4.1 percent to 2.9 percent, noticeably lower than the 5.7 percent we enjoyed last year. The war in Ukraine, supply chain issues, and lockdowns in China are the big drivers of the downgrade.
There is also the risk of stagflation due to a combination of supply shocks and a prolonged period of highly loose monetary and fiscal policy. Any slowdown in growth puts potential pressure on the Fed to moderate its path of 50 basis point hikes. The Fed will be data-dependent, but the drop in new home sales is worrisome since housing has typically been a big driver of economic performance.
Today’s calendar kicked off with the latest decision from the ECB, where they left rates unchanged but announced the end of asset purchases and laid the groundwork for liftoff as soon as the July meeting. Our domestic calendar is also under way with weekly jobless claims (+27k to 229k higher than forecasts). Later is a Treasury auction of $19 billion reopened 30-year bonds. (Yesterday we had a dud of a $33 billion 10-year Treasury note auction, similar to the weak demand seen at Tuesday's 3-year note sale.) The NY Fed Desk will purchase up to $1.7 billion conventional MBS across 15-year 3 percent through 4 percent and 30-year 3.5 percent through 4.5 percent. We begin the day with Agency MBS prices worse .125-.250 and the 10-year yielding 3.06 after closing yesterday at 3.03 percent.
Employment and Transitions
Mountain West Financial, Inc., a midsized IMB, is searching for a VP of Compliance. This role will lead the compliance team and assess & advise on the company’s compliance, regulatory, and reputational risk. Monitor for compliance with new or amended laws, rules, and regulations; and participate in the development of policies, procedures, new products, and strategies. Additionally, managing the implementation of self-monitoring testing, conduct quality control reviews, prepare detailed analysis of results, and provide recommendations for corrective actions. The above will all be in the wheelhouse of this candidate. To learn more about this role, and joining the MWF Family, reach out to Michael Delehanty.
“ClearEdge Lending continues to expand our Wholesale & Non-Delegated sales team! We are looking for experienced AEs to join our team. We have openings in the following states - Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Connecticut, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Utah, Texas, Illinois, Tennessee, California, and Missouri. Investing in our employees is key to building the future of this company, we offer competitive pay up to 60 bps on Non-QM, excellent benefits and you will be supported by our amazing team. At ClearEdge, we provide training, mentorship, and a large database of loan officer leads to get you started right from day one! As a true end-investor, we support in-house credit and pricing exceptions made in minutes. We are known for our superior customer service so you can close loans quickly and have direct access to underwriters. Interested in learning more? Apply here or email us.”
REMN is hiring Account Executives nationally. For details see our recruiting page, or follow this link. REMN Wholesale is a game changer! REMN’S Simple Access (Investor Cash Flow Program) now allows for unlicensed MLOs in 38 states, and unlimited cash out on DSCR. These new enhancements apply to credit scores, LTV limits, reserve requirements, assets, income, and cash out. To access REMN guidelines click here. This is not a drill! REMN has reduced its minimum FICO requirement from 700 to 660 for PLATNIUM GOVERNMENT LOANS! Contact your REMN Account Executive for details, and don’t miss out on GREAT service. REMN knows reno! Renovation loans are perfect for “in season” upgrades, REMN (a top renovation lender nationally), offers renovation lending concierge service, combined with product and process expertise, making them an incredible for FHA 203(k) Standard, FHA 203(k) Limited, and Fannie Mae’s HomeStyle® Renovation loans. Open the door to your future!”
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