Borrower Satisfaction Products; Upcoming Events; Price Compression and High Rates

Plenty of vendors and lenders are focused on raising capital, merging, selling, or closing. It doesn’t take a brilliant detective to see the liquidity & earnings problems facing hundreds of lenders across the nation as warehouse banks and other counterparties ratchet up scrutiny and lenders race to reduce costs. How many ducats are in the bank account versus six months ago? Winter is coming. Mortgage rates are near 2-week lows but that’s not saying much since they are coming off the highest levels since 2011. Are we having fun yet?

Lender Products and Services

We are in the final stretches of 2018 and goodness knows it’s been a memorable one for the industry. Between changing market demands, margin compression, and many more challenges, 2018 will be one for the history books. In the complimentary Industry eBook, “2018 Mortgage Executive Year in Review,” Maxwell sat down with prominent industry executives to discuss their lessons learned in 2018 and how to apply those insights in your preparation for 2019. A must-read for all lending professionals and an exclusive to Rob Chrisman subscribers today, download your copy here!  

“The HomeScout® mobile real estate search and buyer reporting technologies bridge the communications void between consumers, lenders and real estate professionals, creating a collaborative home buying experience. HomeScout has helped thousands of loan officers and agents add 2-3 more transactions a month, while providing consumers 100% MLS listing data along with automated alerts for newly listed homes- driving them back to the app and the loan officer; keeping them off competitor’s sites. The HBM Dash monitors buyer activities and provides critical business intelligence through online activity reporting, automated alerts and one-touch communications to engage buyers and convert more purchase transactions. Build trust with borrowers by providing the right information at the right time, without the pressures they would experience from strangers who bought their information online.” Find out more by contacting them HERE  and scheduling a demo or give them a call at 952-831-0623.

PHOENIX (Denver, CO), the premier advisor for Trading, Mortgage Services and Analytics, welcomes Jason Eisendrath as SVP of Trading to the team. Eisendrath joins the PHOENIX MSR and Whole Loan desk with over 20 years of experience in the mortgage banking industry specializing in Whole Loan trading, portfolio management and securitization. Eisendrath previously served as Director of Loan Sale Strategies for eight years at Mortgage Delivery Specialists (MDS), a division of MIAC (for four of those years). PHOENIX brings on Eisendrath to expand its senior management team and continue to provide expert trading advisory, operational support and strategic solutions.

As a loan officer, how many times have you reached the end of a deal, had a successful closing and waited and waited for referrals that never came?  A new case study, “How Important Are Satisfied Borrowers to Growing your Business” tackles the Seven Commandments: the seven most impactful aspects of the loan process that can make or break a borrower’s likelihood to refer business your way. By combining The STRATMOR Group’s industry expertise and data analysis with insights from Certainty Home Loan’s top producers, you can learn how to measure and improve your customer experience and increase your referral base. Receive your free copy of "How Important are Satisfied Borrowers to Growing your Business?"

Here’s an analogy that might resonate with lenders selling their loans. Your borrowers feel like they’re being "passed around like a bottle of Crown" every time you sell your loans to an investor who will dump the loan to another in a matter of weeks. While this is a business of buying and selling loans, ignoring the customer service your borrowers will receive after you sell the loan to save a mere $20 on pricing will cost you a lot more in the long run. Hand over your precious homeowner to another lender who will value that customer, build loyalty, create trust and service that loan with total customer respect. If not, pass that bottle of Crown. Learn more by downloading the entire white paper for free here.

Upcoming Events

Today, Tuesday, October 30 at 10AM PT, Sierra Pacific Mortgage will share how S.M.A.R.T. goal setting can bring structure and trackability into your future goals. This is a perfect time to learn ways to use the S.M.A.R.T. process to increase your individual and professional goal setting skills. That means creating goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely. Finish the year out strong and start 2019 with a bang. Register today.

Webinar: Maximizing Construction Loan Efficiency with Ellie Mae and Land Gorilla. Construction lending has experienced 20 consecutive quarters of growth and recent stabilization of year-over-year growth rates indicates continued expansion for single-family construction. For financial lenders to profitably meet consumer demand, they need the right technology to maximize efficiency and minimize risk for construction loan origination and draw management. Join Ellie Mae® and Land Gorilla on November 6 at 10:30AM PST to understand the current construction lending landscape, and learn how to leverage the integration of Encompass® and Construction Loan Manager™ to create a powerful end-to-end solution. Register today!  

Falcon Innovations is hosting a live CE class on November 1, in Chicago. Please click on this link to register.

In North Carolina, the Charlotte Regional Mortgage Lenders Association lunch will be held on November 1. Check it out!

Washington Association of Mortgage Professionals (WAMP) is looking forward to its upcoming WAMP BREAKFAST MEETING on NOV 7th at the Bellevue Club. Register today to ensure you do not miss this unique opportunity so see keynote speaker, Brian Stevens, Host of the National Real Estate Post. Register here or reach out to Frank Percival for Sponsorship (206-484-6442).

(I guess Brian Stevens is making the rounds since the following day – 11/8) he’ll be at a lunch with MBA St. Louis. The lunch program topic is Business Planning & Marketing Strategies to Achieve Your Sales Goals.)

Are you registered for the November 7th MMBBA Fall Sales Webinar Series? The first class in the 2-part series, LinkedIn Part 1 walks you through the components of a complete profile and shows you how to use LinkedIn as a powerful networking and sales tool.  

CoAmp is sponsoring a Lunch & Learn with Impac Mortgage on November 8th.

In Las Vegas, November 13-15, eSignRecords 2018 is the annual conference of ESRA, the Electronic Signatures and Records Association. The Electronic Signature and Records Association (ESRA) is the premier trade association representing organizations that adopt or provide electronic signature and document technology. The conference brings together leaders in technology, business, government, and law to educate and collaborate on the best uses of electronic signatures and digital records. Visit www.esignrecords2018.org for more details. Use code “spooky” to take advantage of a special early bird pricing sale ending on October 31, 2018.

If you’re in the Kansas City area, register for the MBAKC Luncheon on November 15th. Speaker Rob Chrisman, questionable industry newcomer, will discuss, “What the Industry can expect in the First Half of 2019 - Without Making Forecasts.”

The Plaza Home Mortgage November webinar schedule is currently available. Remember if you can't make it to a webinar, register anyway and the recording will be emailed to you.

Register for a November 14th complimentary CLA Webinar: How the New Accounting Standards Can Affect Your Borrowers’ Financials. This session will highlight how the significant changes to revenue recognition and leasing accounting standards will impact your borrower’s financial statements. CLA professionals will also discuss how analyzing and monitoring borrower creditworthiness may change under the new rules.

Don’t miss your opportunity to register for the MMA Annual Convention on Wednesday, November 14th titled Building for the Future.

MERS will be holding its 1st West Coast eMortgage Bootcamp in Irvine California, November 14-15th. Come see all the GSE’s in action as well as several great panel sessions throughout the day, register now.

On Friday, November 16th, hear from Ari Karen, Principal with the Offit Kurman law firm and CEO of Strategic Compliance Partners, as he discusses how to establish the ultimate lender/Realtor business relationship. This special briefing will explain how Realtors and lenders can work more closely together and become more economically aligned while reducing compliance risks inherent in most existing referral/lead platforms.

The MBA’s National Mortgage Servicing Conference & Expo 2019, February 25th-28th, is the only place you will get an in-depth analysis of servicer profitability, expense and productivity, plus results of MBA’s latest National Delinquency Survey. Marina Walsh, MBA's Vice President of Industry Analysis, and Joel Kan, MBA's Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting, will break down what all servicers need to know as you develop your business objectives and performance goals.

Capital Markets

With the move up in rates, some are wondering about trading in higher mortgage-backed securities. (“Have you heard of any market talk when the 5.50 coupon is expecting to be released?  We’re seeing a lot of compression out there across all investors.) Of course, the lenders most concerned with this are those with higher comp plans so must have higher margins to cover it. Especially with FHA & VA loans, the shift in rates, and rate compression, has forced everything to be at a cost for them.

Michael Ehrlich and Adam Quinones from ThomsonReuters chimed in. “Yes, we have certainly seen the TBA stack compress. Originator pricing has followed. Lenders are generally still making 4s and 4.5s though and there is plenty of premium left in 5s (per my live BU/BD grids). Looking at the data, less than 1% of October 30yr issuance is 5.5s and no single-issuer 5.5s have been certified for November issuance yet nor have we seen any loans committed to Nov 5.5 multis. As far as dealer chatter goes...we've seen a few traders make jokes about hedging new production 5.5s but those comments were intended to highlight wild swings in duration weightings/hedge ratios and the complete lack of a liquid benchmark.

Continuing with bond market chatter, the U.S 10-year closed at 3.09% yesterday as most economic headlines came from abroad and there was little domestic news of note. Standard & Poor's decided to leave Italy’s BBB credit rating intact while German automakers were happy after it was reported that China is considering reducing its tax on purchases of autos with engines no larger than 1.6 liter to 5.0% from 10.0%. Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced she will not run for reelection as party chair in December after a recent weak showing in a state election for her party, but she will try to remain chancellor until the next federal election in 2021.

Not much early market-moving news in the U.S. The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index for August is out at 9AM ET with both the monthly and annual components expected to rise versus the last release. The U.S. Census Bureau will release the Q3 Residential Vacancies and Homeownership stats when October consumer confidence is seen declining. We begin Tuesday with rates up: the 10-year is yielding 3.12% and agency MBS prices are worse .125.

Jobs and Position Wanted

. Mark joined New Penn in 2014 as a front-line Account Executive and was promoted to the position of Regional Sales Manager based on his superior production levels. Prior to his most recent promotion to National Wholesale Sales Manager, Mark built up the Northeast region to over $1.2B per year. A consistently top-producer in every role, Mark brings to us over 19 years of industry experience. “I look forward to the leadership that he will bring to our team, as well as the overall impact that his expanded role will have on the channel as a whole,” says Chris Nielson, SVP TPO. To learn about career opportunities in our expanding team, email New Penn recruiting.  

A C-Suite executive is looking for opportunities in Sales and/or Operations. The 20-year veteran has a proven track record of building exceptional teams and in their most recent 2 engagements oversaw a 2.5 X and a 4X increase in funding's. Experienced in Consumer Direct, Process Design & Improvement, Data Analytics, Digital Transformation, Artificial Intelligence, Technology Stacks and their integration, Operations, Marketing, Vendor Management & proficient in Sales Training, Sales Management, and Telephony. Career highlights include Strategic Sales Vision and Business Development (generated $2 billion + media mentions during 30-day promotion), leadership and change management (transformed 10th ranked sales division to #1 in three months; division originated $10 billion for the year), performance optimization and tactical execution (created real-time reporting across marketing and business intelligence, increasing productivity by 270%, conversion by 42%, and funded units by 2.3x), and increased Gmail open rate 20X from 1 % to 20%. Innovation and creative problem solving. Please contact me with any interest.