App Product; Training and Events; Fed Officials Weigh in on Rates
You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn’t slept in a car at least once in their life. Whether it is having too much to drink, weary during a road trip, rain during a camping trip, on their way to a golf tournament, whatever. Even wealthy cities like Berkeley and Seattle are seeing a boom in people calling their cars and RVs "home." That is one form of “affordable” but residential companies are very interested in what is happening with affordable lending and here is a primer on the topic for a basic grasp of the topic.
Training and Events
It's not too late – there is still time to register! American Pacific Mortgage has released the complete agenda for their 2018 Fall Symposium: The Power of You! The Symposium will be held in San Diego on September 13-14 at the Marriott Marquis. I’m excited to be part of the General Session on Friday, where I will be interviewing renowned industry leader, Angelo Mozilo. Other speakers include: Sue Woodard/CCO Total Expert; Dale Vermillion/Mortgage Trainer; Stan Phelps/TED speaker; & Meredith Oliver/Personal Brand expert. The jam-packed agenda and breakout sessions are designed to empower, advance and elevate YOU to grow your production. Click here to register or contact Dustin Block (303.378.3166).
On Saturday, October 20, 2018 more than 1,500 independent mortgage brokers, loan originators and processors will join together at the AIME Fuse 2018 National Conference to learn from industry experts about how they can access the best technology, originate more loans each month and become a marketing expert for their own business. AIME Fuse will unite the nation’s most passionate mortgage professionals around a singular focus: to celebrate and enhance the value of independent mortgage brokers. This is the inaugural national event for the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts (AIME) and will be held at Bellagio Las Vegas. Use code FUSEEARLY18 to register for only $75 ($125 value) until August 31st. Register for AIME Fuse 2018 here.
As Hurricane Florence bears down on the East Coast, it’s not too late to register for the NEMBC annual three-day conference, September 12-14 in Newport. Come and get the most relevant and up-to-date information to help you develop your strategies for success.
Join MBA St. Louis on September 13th for a full day of Learning, Networking and discussions in the mortgage industry. Get the Latest updates from Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, USDA, FHA, and the VA, discover better ways to network, questions answered about the appraisal process plus S/E Income Review.
Now is the perfect time to learn how HomeReady® mortgage can help more of your low- to moderate-income borrowers become homeowners with as little as 3% down. Join Fannie Mae on September 13 at 2PM ET for a live webinar geared toward loan officers (but open to all lenders and housing professionals). This webinar will demonstrate how HomeReady features can help you serve more borrowers and grow your business and flexibilities specific to HomeReady and leave plenty of time to answer your questions. Register today.
The 14th Annual HomeFree-USA Reaching Millions Conference is set for September 17th-19th in Washington, D.C. The educational and leadership development conference will feature nationally renowned speakers like Stedman Graham, Quicken Loans’ CIO, Linglong He, mortgage banking CEOs and sales leaders. This is an industry can’t miss opportunity designed to Increase homeownership and financial success among low-to-moderate income and people of color, Elevate the stature and increase the impact of government, nonprofit and for-profit housing and homeownership providers and create and strengthen public/private partnerships.
On September 17th, Join Mountain West Financial featuring Tonya Todd, SVP Affordable Housing and special Guest Brian Scholz, National Trainer with Freddie Mac for a HomeOne Mortgage webinar.
CMG Financial’s Wholesale Division is hosting a cross-country seminar series to introduce mortgage professionals and their referral partners to the All In One Loan. Next stops include Irvine, CA on Sept 18th and Bellevue, WA on Sept 19th. To see the schedule of training events and webinars visit: http://cmgfi.com/wholesale/aio or email AIO@cmgfi.com.
Register now for the MERS West Coast eMortgage Boot Camp on November 15 in Irvine, California. Prepare yourself for an action-packed day of learning about eMortgages: benefits, the changing landscape, implementation best practices and the legal perspective.
Are you registered for the 2018 Pacific Northwest Mortgage Lenders Conference September 23rd-24th in Seattle? Choose from the 3-day, 2-day or 1-day event based on your individual needs and availability. Visit the website to view the full schedule event by the hour and registration details.
It's the return of the Colorado Mortgage Summit, being held Tuesday, Oct. 2nd, now at the convenient Denver Marriott Westminster (with a bonus state and federal NMLS class there on Wednesday, Oct. 3rd). Sessions include how to pump up your purchase mortgage business to discovering how to best serve the burgeoning Millennial market. You'll learn from a great interactive session on the Whole Tale of Wholesale, to awesome speakers on how to take more market share to sales strategies of the nation's best MLOs, you'll find an agenda that's got a terrific mix of compelling sessions.
Join me! On October 25th at Wente Vineyards in Livermore, CA join me, the California MBA and their President’s Council member Riivos for a CFO Peer Group Luncheon event. My colleague, Joe Garrett, and I will speak on planning for 2019, mergers and acquisitions and other top of mind issues for independent mortgage bankers. These CFO Peer Group events are designed exclusively for CFOs and senior finance executives and provide opportunities to both gain industry knowledge as well as develop relationships with your counterparts in the industry. This is open exclusively to members of the California MBA. If you’re interested in attending this free event that includes lunch and the program, please contact Susan Milazzo for more information.
Back for its fourth year, MBA's Whole Loan Trading Workshop, November 7th and 8th, is headed to Houston for a full day focused on the active market for whole loans. This is your opportunity to hear directly from industry experts who are involved in the buying and selling of whole loans, as well as those involved in the servicing transactions coupled with these trades. This workshop has limited space and spots fill up quickly, register today.
MBA's Summit on Diversity and Inclusion brings together industry leaders for in-depth, productive discussions on this seminal topic. Be a part of the event November 27th -28th in Washington, DC.
Capital Markets
The officials within the U.S. Federal Reserve arguably know more than anyone else regarding the direction of short term rates. What’s on their minds? Fed Chairman Powell stated that the economy is “strong” and able to manage slow but steady rate increases. Inflation is close to 2% and the past has shown that "doing too little comes with higher costs than doing too much" when trying to control inflation. And Cleveland Fed President Mester said she believes there is enough drive in the economy, along with almost 2% inflation, to warrant additional rate hikes this year. She forecasts GDP to be close to 3.00% for the year.
There aren't a lot of reasons for rates to drop. Recent economic data continues to point towards solid modest economic growth in the third quarter. July’s data on income and spending showed real consumer disposable income as well as consumer spending both increased 0.2 percent and the savings rate was little changed at 6.7 percent. Inflation as measured by the Personal Consumption Expenditure Price Index was up 0.1 percent during the month. Second quarter GDP was revised up slightly due mostly to stronger corporate profits than first reported. New unemployment claims remain at low levels and were at 213,000 for the week ending August 25. As of this writing, the implied odds of a 25-basis point increase in the fed funds target at the September FOMC meeting are 99 percent, according to the CME Group.
Looking at the price action from last week, rates rose markedly to close things out with the U.S. 10-year edging +6bps to finish at 2.94%. Mostly attributable to a better than expected Employment Situation Report for August, which not only strengthened expectations for two more hikes in 2018, but also boosted the likelihood of another rate increase in March 2019. Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan said that policymakers have until mid-2019 to decide whether rates should become restrictive. And despite President Trump’s focus on the anonymous NY Times op-Ed, he did have time to tell reporters gathered aboard Air Force One that another round of tariffs on $267 billion worth of imports from China is "ready to go.” President Trump also said that trade negotiations with Japan will be opened.
Turning to this week, today (and tomorrow less so) should see lighter staffs with many out for Rosh Hashanah. Today’s calendar does not contain any first-tier data but kicks off with the Employment Trends Index for August at 10AM ET. Boston Fed's Rosengren and Atlanta Fed's Bostic are each speaking in their respective states. Finally, July consumer credit will be released at 3:00pm.
Tomorrow we will receive August NFIB Small Business Optimism, July JOLTS -- Job Openings, and July Wholesale Inventories. Wednesday: the usual MBA Mortgage Index and August PPI figures before Thursday brings August CPI and jobless claims. The week rounds out with August Retail Sales, import/export prices, and industrial production. We start the week with the 10-year unchanged at 2.94% and agency MBS prices little changed versus Friday’s close.
Lender products and Employment
“How can you say the words ‘Digital Mortgage’ if your Online application still requires human intelligence or can result in human error? PerfectLO, the leading POS in the Fin-tech space, has designed a Perfect Loan Application built with intelligence that "digs" in and asks all the questions that “live” inside and the 2nd and 3rd level questions that’s don’t ‘live’ on a 1003. A completed ‘1003’ is quite useless even when completed, the real pain in your operation begins and ends with an accurate 1003 and all supporting docs. PerfectLO creates a ‘spot on’ doc checklist and offers a secure upload. A customizable dashboard with milestone SMS notification portal to keep your borrowers and agents updated throughout the process. Sign up for a free trial and demo. PerfectLO’s online questionnaire takes a non-intimidating, logical and systematic approach. Easy to adopt and onboard. This cloud-based software in every language and talks to all LOS’s.
The number one financial fear is the inability to afford future needs. With the sandwich generation approaching the combined costs of sending the kids to college, caring for aging parents, and saving for retirement, the future is all too imminent. What if you could offer your clients something that allows them to look forward to a comfortable retirement AND pay off their mortgage faster? The All In One Loan by CMG Financial is your solution to growing your business while the rest of the market contracts and this is your opportunity for a hands-on training. CMG Financial’s Wholesale Division is hosting a cross-country seminar series to introduce mortgage professionals and their referral partners to the All In One Loan. Next stops include Irvine, CA on Sept 18th and Bellevue, WA on Sept 19th. To see the schedule of training events and webinars visit: http://cmgfi.com/wholesale/aio or email AIO@cmgfi.com.
Congratulations to Mark Korell who was named Senior Advisor to Peakstone. Mr. Korell, currently Chairman of Hamilton Group Funding, will become a Senior Advisor to Peakstone’s Mortgage Banking Group, and is working with Peter Melloni, Managing Director, and the rest of the Peakstone team. Peakstone is a leading investment bank that specializes in mergers and acquisitions advisory and capital raising for middle market clients. The team is comprised of senior investment banking professionals who have decades of experience and have executed hundreds of transactions totaling billions of dollars. Peakstone operates as One Firm, where teamwork is stressed because it produces the best results. Peakstone focuses on what the clients want and need and develop a range of solutions to meet those requirements, operating under the adage, not every situation warrants a standard “playbook” solution.