Internal Audit, Marketing, Realtor-Facing, Fulfillment Products; Events and Training; Jobs and the Fed

How much would you pay for a company responsible for a funny video? How ‘bout $1.7 billion bones? Amazon, catching the eye of the FTC, has made an offer to acquire Roomba maker iRobot for $1.7bn. (Speaking of household goods, I occasionally am asked by LOs or employers about closing or referral gifts that are memorable or unique, unlike a bottle of wine or a doormat. I’ll often suggest Cutco knives (no, this is not a paid ad), as there is free engraving with the LO’s name & phone number, and point them to Luke Sasek for advice or to place an order.) I guess things are good in certain sectors of the economy, unlike residential lending. Plenty of jobs are being lost in residential lending, layoffs continue to occur weekly in big and small lenders and investors as companies grapple with volumes down 50 percent from much of 2020 and 2021. Rumors of impending closure of divisions by major lenders and investors (including wholesalers) continue to swirl, although fortunately jobs are being cut in a great job market. (Those impacted can always post their resumes for free here and employers can view them for several months for a nominal fee.) The 20 million jobs lost during the early months of the COVID-19 lockdown have been fully recovered. More Americans are working today than at any time in history. This remains one of the strongest job markets in the past 50 years, no comfort for those hoping for a slowdown which would reduce inflation and lead to a less aggressive path of rate hikes from the Federal Reserve or lower 30-year mortgage rates. (Available here, this week’s podcast is sponsored by SimpleNexus, an nCino company and award-winning developer of mobile-first technology for the modern mortgage lender. Today’s has an interview with Brian Miller of Planet Home on the current mortgage banking recruiting environment.)

Lender and Broker Services, Programs, Software

A lot of mortgage lenders are expanding their home equity offerings. You may know LoanCraft as a provider of mortgage automation and income calculation services. Did you know it has been a leader in providing services to Home Equity Lenders for almost 20 years? LoanCraft has a number of PPE, automation, and outsourced fulfillment options that can help you grow your home equity lending. Contact Ron George.

Do you want to be your real estate agents’ favorite loan officer? Host your own For Sale to Sold workshop and get valuable facetime with your best referral sources! MGIC provides everything loan officers need to guide agents through the mountain of information their buyers will face, helping you build stronger relationships and earn more referrals. Request your For Sale to Sold workshop materials to get started.

People are winning in niche plays. Let's compare how older data is doing today versus a year ago. Did you know that as many deals are happening with an origination date from 2 years ago, as deals that are happening with an origination greater than 9 years ago. Is your marketing company helping you to identify the older pockets of data that are in the money? What does this mean for you? There's still so much untapped potential in these spaces. In this market, it is highly critical to utilize focused data, and identify where consumers are transacting at the highest rates. Want to know more about what is actually working out there? Where to put your marketing dollars in such uncertain times? Let us know, we'd be happy to schedule a call to discuss.

Two reasons you need risk… And an internal audit. Risk has a place in every mortgage company. Without it, you can’t grow. But exactly how much risk can you tolerate? An internal audit from Richey May can help answer that question in two important ways: 1) Know your risk appetite. Every mortgage company has a unique risk appetite. An internal audit can help you understand what yours is and how to balance risk against it. It enables you to mitigate risk to a level that lets leadership feel comfortable and still achieve business objectives. 2) Protect your licenses and agency approvals. Mortgage lenders need internal audits because agencies and regulators require them. Waiting until you get hit with a finding is a bad risk. To stay compliant, you need to adhere to regulatory requirements. Manage risk and grow your business. Learn more here. Talk to a Richey May expert today.

Events and Training Through August

Are longer sales cycles, operating in the “unknown” and buyers deciding “not now” causing your team to struggle to stay in the game? XINNIX, the nation’s premier provider of mortgage sales, leadership, and operations training, is offering an open event to help you and your team. Share an hour with their friend and “Captain of Creating Mojo” Krish Dhanam for a one time only webinar, “Mastering Sales Motivation in Challenging Times,” this Wednesday, August 10 at 12 PM ET. XINNIX CEO Casey “Blade” Cunningham and XINNIX President Michael “Go-To” Norton will have a roundtable discussion with Krish, who is an author, mentor, a master motivator in sales and leadership. You’ll be inspired and learn so much but also have the chance to ask questions about how you and your team can get and stay motivated. Seating is limited. Reserve your seat today!

August 9th at 11AM PT we have Mortgage Pros 411 with Audrey Boissonou, Kevin Casey, and me discussing current mortgage news.

Tomorrow, August 9th, at 3PM ET, Wolters Kluwer is hosting a webinar this week on trends & best practices for HELOCS, eMortgages and other digital assets. Craig Focardi from Celent, Rick Sharga from ATTOM and James Milne from Rocket will be joining Simon Moir from WK on the panel

There are significant opportunities for lenders to grow their business through untapped equity and purchase business. Kristin Messerli of Experience.com and Dave Savage of Mortgage Coach interviewed over 25 highly successful and experienced industry experts to provide market insights and a practical guide to gaining market share in 2022 and beyond. Join Kristin and Dave on Thursday, August 11 for a special webinar where they will present the biggest takeaways from this influential report.

ICE announced new extension date and requirements for the I-9 form. Why are the I-9 form changes being proposed now? Register for Instrut’s Live Webinar August 11,

Speaker Margie Faulk current Compliance Advisor for HR Compliance Solutions, LLC., will identify some of the mistakes that are made which will assist in reducing errors and fines and penalties. Learn what changes are being proposed to the I-9 Form and what resources are available to help complete the I-9 form.

This Friday the 12th at noon PT is the next edition of The Mortgage Collaborative’s Rundown with Rich and Rob. We’ll will be covering current events in the mortgage market for 30 minutes starting at 2PM CT in “The Rundown with Rich and Rob”!

Would you like to learn how to Boost Your Pipeline in Today’s Market? Reserves your seat for a Complimentary Webinar from Black Knight on Monday, Aug. 15th at 2 p.m. EST.

What is the ROI for DEI? Join CMBA’s next Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee on Tuesday, August 16, 11:00 a.m. PST. Joined by members of the Diversity Crew team, this is a webinar you do not want to miss.

Join Mountain West Financial Wholesale for GSFA Platinum DPA Training on Thursday, August 18, 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. (PST) presented by GSFA's Danh Nguyen. Gain the knowledge to help more borrowers with the GSFA Platinum repayable and Platinum's new Assist To Own programs. The more you know about homebuyer assistance programs, the easier it is to match borrowers with the right products to fit their needs.

Helping to provide insight and actionable information of the benefits eNotes provides, DocMagic is sponsoring a one-hour live eNotes webinar, Thursday, August 18th 2:00 p.m. ET / 11:00 a.m. PT. Industry experts will discuss the benefits and myths around eNotes to advance your company’s digital mortgage origination strategy.

The Maximum Acceleration Conference is one day, Thursday, August 18. You’ll receive inside advice from the nation’s most accomplished mortgage pros. Turbocharging the day, amazing elite performers will show you what it takes to be your best. Industry legends David Luna, Megan Marsh, Shashank Shekhar, and Ken Travis are joined by NYT Bestselling strategist Nir Bashan and Navy SEAL Don Mann. Win The Race To Top Producer at the Maximum Acceleration Conference at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. Use code MAX200 and save $200. Plus, an added bonus, registering for the Maximum Acceleration Conference gives you free access to the entire Originator Connect Conference, happening August 19 - 20 at Planet Hollywood.

Capital Markets

The big U.S. job gains give the Federal Reserve a lot more work to do on taming inflation. At the moment, Fed officials are indicating that they expect the target interest rate to be lifted to a 3.50% to 4.00% range by the end of the year. The bond market, however, isn't reflecting that level quite yet, even after Treasuries sold off on Friday after the blowout July jobs report arrived. If the inflation reports were to surprise to the upside, speculation of an inter-meeting rate hike by the Fed could be stirred up and lead to some bigger moves in the bond market.

So yes, Friday’s strong jobs report gives credence to the argument that the U.S. economy is not currently in a recession. 528,000 new jobs doubled estimates and highlighted a tight labor market where the unemployment rate at 3.46 percent is just below the pre-pandemic low of 3.47 percent. Many businesses reported difficulty with filling open positions despite job openings declining for the third straight month.

Elsewhere, both the manufacturing and services sectors of the economy reported expansion and in both reports prices paid eased. July’s ISM manufacturing and services indices both showed a slowdown in the pace of hiring, however not an outright collapse. While many market participants are still concerned about the potential for a recession, the strong payrolls data quickly changed many minds about the potential for another 75-basis point rate hike from the FOMC in September. Prior to the payrolls data the probability was roughly 30 percent, but it now sits at near 70 percent. This week’s CPI report could help temper those thoughts if inflation shows signs of easing.

Inflation is front and center this week. In addition to the Consumer Price Index on Wednesday we receive an update on the Producer Price Index Thursday, and import prices on Friday. The Quarterly Refunding this week consists of $42 billion 3-year notes, $35 billion 10-year notes, and $21 billion 30-year bonds. The Desk will purchase up to $2.3 billion today through Thursday with a new two-week schedule along with the reinvestment purchase amount released on Thursday afternoon. Today’s operation sees the Desk purchasing up to $839 million UMBS30 4.0 percent through 5.0 percent. With nothing of note on the economic calendar today, we begin the week with Agency MBS prices better by .125 and the 10-year yielding 2.80 after closing last week at 2.84 percent.

Loan Originator Jobs

Established more than two decades ago, Supreme Lending has the knowledge, experience, resources, and resilience to serve branches and Loan Officers nationwide, regardless of market changes or challenges. Supreme’s value proposition is entirely focused on the Loan Officer: branch autonomy and local decision-making; in-branch processing; common-sense underwriting; limited layers of management; in-house AMC; choice of technology; customized marketing; and a dedicated recruiting team. Supreme is continually adding products to an already impressive portfolio that includes more than 20 non-conforming programs, like specialty products for non-warrantable condos and non-QM income; 80 state HFA and DPA programs; and Conforming, FHA, and VA renovation programs. In response to Loan Officer feedback and market demand, Supreme recently added a 2-1 Temporary Interest Rate Buydown and a Super Jumbo for loan amounts greater than $3 million. Why Supreme NOW? Visit besupremetoday.com or contact National Production Manager Ryan Baxter.

Synergy One Lending Welcomes Industry-Renowned Sales Coach, Scott Groves to the Team! Synergy One Lending (“Synergy”) is thrilled to welcome industry-renowned Sales Coach, Scott Groves and the Dallas and Scott Lending Team (co-led by Dallas Skinner). In addition to recently surpassing $100 million in production over the last 12 months, Scott is the founder of the Consolidated Coaching network and author of the best-selling book ‘Lead Generate: 61 Days to Double Your Pay.’ “The leadership and direction Scott brings to Synergy’s in-house coaching platform will not only elevate our existing loan officers but enable us to continue attracting the best mortgage talent across the country” says Synergy’s President, Aaron Nemec.

Asked why he chose Synergy, Groves said “Incredible technology, best sales leaders in the business, and the ability to cut through red tape and get things done!’ For more information on Scott’s coaching platform or the Synergy experience, reach out to Scott Groves or Ben Green anytime!