LOs tell me that they are counseling potential borrowers. “If you’re in the market for a home, focus on the things you can control. Save for your down payment which can be less than 20 percent, but the more you can put down, the less you have to borrow and the lower your monthly payments. Consider your priorities. Can you live further from the city and save a little money? Do you need a fourth bedroom or will three do for now? Understand clearly your ‘wants’ and ‘needs’ and be ready to compromise. Shop around for your mortgage. Don’t just go to your primary bank or get a loan from the credit union your real estate agent recommends. Do the legwork to search for the best mortgage rate you can qualify for. Lower rates aren’t going to fix everything, but it never hurts to get one as low as possible.” (Today’s podcast can be found here. This week’s ‘casts are sponsored by JazzX, the first true end-to-end AI platform built for mortgage. From application to close, JazzX is a new operating model that helps you scale growth, boost productivity, and transform how your team performs. Today’s has an interview with NonQMVerifi’s Danny Flucke on how lenders can make faster, better-supported underwriting decisions without relying on hard-to-obtain CPA letters for non-Agency borrowers.)

Lender and Broker Software, Products, and Services

Affordability pressure doesn't disappear when the loan closes. It comes back later as repurchase risk. Your borrowers are stretched, leaving less room for errors in the file. Truework, a Checkr company, verifies income, employment, and assets before you close, replacing error-prone processes with fast, automated reports pulled directly from sources. Lenders see up to 50 percent cost savings on verifications, with faster turn times and higher accuracy. Learn more.

Somewhere in your CRM is a past client getting ready to move, refinance, or tap into their equity. Someone who already trusted you once and may be about to do their next loan somewhere else. Milo helps you find the opportunity while it’s still yours to win: A fully customizable, white-labeled home value report keeps your brand top of mind, while Milo's intelligence monitors activity across 2,000+ mortgage and home shopping sites, life events, credit and debt signals for signs that they're back in market. When those signals appear, Milo alerts your team and automatically follows up with the customer, turning intent into a conversation, all on autopilot. No new campaigns to build. No new system for your LOs to adopt. Just better retention, better timing, and more opportunities from customers you already earned. Get up to $1,250 in free credits to try Milo risk-free. No contract. No minimums: Mymilo.ai/start.

When airline pilots prepare for a flight, they don't rely on memory alone. Every departure follows a checklist designed to ensure nothing gets missed, no matter how experienced the crew. The checklist provides visibility into what's been completed, what's outstanding, and what requires attention before takeoff. Many home equity lending teams work without that same level of visibility. Applications move between systems, borrowers stall during the process, and loan officers are left tracking status through emails, spreadsheets, and manual follow-up. FirstClose XpressEquity with Lender Portal gives lenders a centralized workspace to monitor borrower engagement, track application progress, identify stalled loans, and keep applications moving forward. It's a better way to create visibility across the home equity journey, from initial inquiry through loan submission. Learn how FirstClose is helping lenders streamline home equity lending.

“Luxury Mortgage introduces Prime Access Non-QM: +75 BPS Flash Special! Your most qualified non-QM borrowers just got a lot more competitive. For a limited time, lock any new Prime Access Non-QM loan with a minimum 740 FICO and receive a +75 bps price improvement… at all eligible LTVs. Prime Access gives you expanded eligibility and sharper pricing across Full Doc, Bank Statement, 1099 Only, and DSCR: up to 80 percent LTV, loan amounts to $3MM (DSCR to $2MM). This won’t last: Lock in the improvement now. Contact your Account Executive or price your scenario with LuxPricer, our proprietary pricing tool built in-house by Luxury Mortgage.”

“Turn chaos into opportunity. Let's face it: acquisitions, product launches, compliance updates, and new markets expansion can sometimes feel like trying to assemble furniture without the instructions or the tools. That's where Agility 360 comes in. We help banks, mortgage lenders, and investors tackle business transformation projects without headaches, fire drills, or endless meetings that somehow last two hours. Agility 360’s experienced professionals jump in quickly to provide guidance, project management, business analysis, documentation, training, and operational support that propels your initiatives forward. Whether you're navigating market uncertainty, unknown volume levels, changing regulations, or launching new products, Agility 360 delivers solutions designed to minimize cost, reduce risk, and improve efficiency. Our clients enjoy flexible engagement models, access to specialized talent, and access to industry’s best practices that turn complicated challenges into a profitable action plan. Think of us as the business equivalent of GPS: we help you avoid detours, reroute around obstacles, and reach your destination faster. So, are you ready to stop herding cats? Contact Raj Sharma at Agility 360 to discover how our experts can help turn business transformation into business success.”

For a long time, mortgage data platforms have been designed around one assumption: the value lives inside their interface. Model Match is challenging that idea. Model Match is building what it describes as an intelligence layer for mortgage and real estate data, giving users multiple ways to put that intelligence to work. Its MCP brings Model Match directly into Claude and ChatGPT, where users can research agents and originators, analyze markets, identify refinance opportunities, work with CRM records, and turn questions into strategies without bouncing between reports and spreadsheets. Its API gives companies another path entirely, allowing them to build internal applications, workflows, and integrations directly on top of Model Match data. And unlike platforms where API access depends on being a “qualified enterprise,” or where “bulk export” comes with a credit-metered definition of bulk, Model Match is leaning toward fewer gates and more control for the customer. Use the platform, bring the intelligence into AI, or build something entirely your own. Get 14 days free at modelmatch.com and put the data to work wherever your team works.

AI in Production. Not in Theory. See the power of embedded AI in a lending workflow. Blue Sage customers are already using AI in production to move loans forward, from document intake and underwriting to condition management and borrower servicing, without relying on disconnected tools. SageVision reads, classifies, and analyzes documents. AI Studio evaluates documents against guidelines, connects them to open conditions, and surfaces what needs attention. Income analysis supports the workflow, while Voice AI automates routine servicing conversations. No sandbox. No pilot. No AI bolted on. This is AI working inside the lending platform lenders already use every day. Watch the live demo and see what AI can do when it’s built into the way lending actually works.

Chrisman Demo Day is a free perk for all Chrisman Marketplace members. If you're a technology or service provider and haven't joined the Marketplace yet, reach out to Jake Perkins at info@chrismancommentary.com to learn more.

The Chrisman Marketplace is a centralized hub for vendors and service providers across the industry to be viewed by lenders in a very cost-effective manner. We’re adding new providers daily, so check back often to see what’s new. To reserve your place or learn more, contact us at info@chrismancommentary.com.

Webcasts Fast Approaching

Live Webinar: Reach High-Net-Worth Clients with Pennymac TPO’s Asset-Based Loans! High-net-worth borrowers often don't fit into the standard underwriting box. If missing tax returns or non-traditional income streams have cost you deals, it’s time to expand your playbook. Join Pennymac TPO on August 25th at 10AM PT / 1PM ET for a complimentary webinar on leveraging our Asset-Based Loan programs. Learn to utilize stocks, bonds, retirement accounts, and liquid funds effectively to choose the right strategy for your clients’ specific needs. Register today, contact your Pennymac TPO Account Executive, or become a partner to learn more. We hope to see you there! (Equal Housing Lender, NMLS #35953)

The Last Word is today at 10AM PT. Brian Vieaux, Kevin Peranio, Christy Soukhamneut, and Coby Hakalir break down the week's biggest market signals, agency developments, and industry storylines.

Now Next Later, with Jeremy Potter and guests focusing on where technology is going and how lenders can best use it, is Monday at 10AM PT.

Mergers and Acquisitions

Luminate Bank announced today that it has acquired select assets from First State Mortgage Services. Many members of the First State Mortgage team will join Luminate Bank. The transaction represents a significant expansion of Luminate Bank's presence across the Midwest and the Central United States. “Licensed in all 50 states, Luminate Bank is recognized as one of the country's top 25 mortgage lenders, reflecting the trust customers and communities place in the company.

Capital Markets

The Treasury’s decision to expand long-end buybacks triggered a sharp but short-lived rally, with investors reluctant to chase the move because buybacks cannot address the true problem: the federal government’s enormous deficit and growing borrowing needs. The fading rally and renewed rise in 30-year yields suggest investors increasingly view buybacks as a short-term fix rather than a solution to the structural problem of $40 trillion in federal debt and rising government borrowing costs that are increasingly spilling into the broader economy. While the headline $40 trillion national debt is eye-catching, the more meaningful measure is the roughly $32.3 trillion held by the public, which is about 100 percent of GDP and therefore less concerning than the underlying fiscal trajectory (namely, a deficit running near 6 percent of GDP that continues to push the debt burden higher). That fiscal pressure is being reinforced by a weaker dollar and surging oil prices, both of which raise the risk of renewed inflation and further bear-steepening of the yield curve.

With July’s benign inflation and softer spending data not yet signaling a meaningful downturn, the market appears likely to remain focused on deficits, Treasury supply, and reflation risks through the end of August, leaving the long end susceptible to another move higher in yields even after the Treasury’s intervention. The intervention may actually shift the composition of issuance rather than reduce the fundamental supply of debt, leaving the long end of the yield curve vulnerable as investors increasingly focus on fiscal sustainability.

This week closes with an incredibly light economic calendar, the only releases of note being Flash S&P Global U.S. Manufacturing PMI and flash S&P Global U.S. Services PMI, both due out later this morning. We begin Friday with Agency MBS prices little changed from Thursday’s close, the 2-year yielding 4.18, and the 10-year yielding 4.68 after closing yesterday at 4.70 percent.