Origination, Non-QM, LO Products; U.S. Economy Continues to Chug Along
I want a free vacation! I want a free fancy car in the garage in my newly-built McMansion! Apparently, due to sagging sales, with some builders I can indeed have those things, and more. Builders in many locales are proving that, regardless of which administration is in power, or who takes credit for some aspect of the economy doing well, business cycles are a fact of life. Lenders know a lot about business cycles, and the number of nonbank mortgage lenders was down by about 3.5% at midyear from the end of 2017, according to the Conference of State Bank Supervisors. (Speaking of “wants,” if you want an “Air Selfie” for Christmas, aka mini-drone, here you go.)
Lender Products and Services
“Lendsnap is the favorite Digital Mortgage app for non-QM Lenders. Our partners close more loans faster because they can pull up to 24 months of original bank and investment statement PDFs. While other lenders and brokers make the customer work too hard, you will have the decisive advantage. When your customers don’t have to manually download and update statements, you will get clear to close in days instead of weeks. Get started right away with our simple yet powerful system that can make every member of your loan manufacturing team more productive. All this functionality is built in to our SOC2-audited platform with no hidden fees or setup charges. Lendsnap replaces many services you pay for separately today and drops in to your workflow easily. Request a free consultation today and go Digital with Lendsnap.”
Interested in offering your customers new products? You may have heard of the "bank statement program" and while that is true, Sierra Pacific Mortgage’s Sierra Access and Sierra Core has much more to offer, including 1-year express tax returns and a full doc option. Join Sierra Pacific’s free webinar on December 4, at 10AM PDT and you will learn how these programs can increase your business, why your borrower needs them, which product is the better choice for your scenario, and how to calculate the income.
“Trelix is offering simplified mortgage originations. Trelix offers an industry-leading suite of fulfillment, quality control and due diligence products and services that can help you manage risk and lower costs in a complex industry.If your goal is to grow quickly, dramatically lower costs, and attract top producing loan officers, the Trelix end-to-end solution is perfect for your business. Lenders who utilize our end-to-end services experience up to 40% reductions in manufacturing costs while helping to significantly improve the borrower experience.” To learn more, connect with Justin Vedder.
“Here’s a hi-tech breakthrough in lending to self-employed borrowers. Amidst rising interest rates and declining origination volume, lenders must cast a wider net for customers, a growing number of which are self-employed. To capitalize on this trend, lenders need a simpler, faster way to underwrite mortgages for Americans who are their own bosses. To this end, Freddie Mac has integrated fintech vendor LoanBeam’s technology with Loan Product Advisor®, our automated underwriting system, to introduce the first and only integrated self-employment income solution for the market. LoanBeam’s software uses optical character recognition technology to extract and digest a borrower’s tax returns and other financials, and then calculate a total income figure that aligns with Freddie Mac’s guidelines. This integration offers lenders several advantages, including an automated review of the accuracy of qualifying income, eliminating the need to chase down unnecessary documents that support residual/excess income and certainty that the income calculation is eligible for representation and warranty relief. Learn more.
Want to start a wholesale channel? Do it on the fly for a fraction of the cost of fancy, heavy, “legacy” platforms with ReadyPrice. The ReadyPrice RETAIL AND WHOLESALE enterprise-strength LOS with an embedded multi-investor PPE and proprietary error trapping tech is the answer in all market conditions. The ReadyPrice all-in-one RETAIL AND WHOLESALE platforms come fully configured, are up to 75% less expensive than heavy, “mature” systems, have D1C & deep Fannie DU integrations and can be stood-up in a couple of weeks. Or, you can easily customize / configure her. The ReadyPrice LOS/PPE has funded over 300k units for $70 BILLION and is leading the way forward to “utilitize” mortgage tech for today’s mortgage bankers. Call them at (408) 357–0931 or email hello@readyprice.com to get a free demo today.
Today’s tech-savvy home buyers are online and mobile, and if your digital mortgage platform doesn’t provide the comprehensive home buying experience they demand, you’re at risk. For years, HomeScout® has helped lenders by providing a consumer facing experience where buyers can shop for a home and a loan in a single location, while the lender is exclusively branded on every screen. Considering that 100% of all purchase transactions require a house, lenders need a real estate search option for leads and preapproved customers, or risk losing them to online portals that advertise the competition. HomeScout offers an online experience that gives lenders control over more transactions by providing real-time loan pricing for every MLS listing to help prevent borrower rate shopping and give them the confidence to make a purchase decision. Find out more by contacting them HERE and scheduling a demo or give them a call at 952-831-0623.
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Capital Markets
Loan officers often wonder what pushes rates in the United States. Gross Domestic Product helps do that. Recall that real GDP beat market expectations of +3.3 percent and increased at a 3.5 percent annualize rate in the advanced estimate for the third quarter. Once again, the driver is consumer spending, which increased 4.0 percent and outpaced the second quarter’s 3.8 percent showing. Government spending jumped 3.3 percent in the quarter, the strongest rate of growth in more than two years. Business investment has slowed significantly from earlier in the year suggesting that stimulative effects of this year’s corporate tax cuts may be wearing off. Another negative component of the report was trade as net exports increased by $99.0 billion in the third quarter and was pulled the top line GDP number down by 1.8 percentage points. Elsewhere, housing data continued to show weakness as new home sales declined 5.5 percent and have now fallen five of the last six months. New home inventories rose to 7.1 months’ supply, the highest since 2011.
Jobs also move rates. Remember that unemployment was unchanged in October at 3.7 percent as the economy added 250,000 jobs and labor force participation increased to 62.9 percent. Wages inched up 0.2 percent in September and real disposable income was up 0.1 percent, the lowest gain since April. Despite the low increase in income, consumer spending increased by 0.3 percent and the personal saving rate declined to 6.2 percent. A strong US dollar will keep pressure on the US trade gap which widened in September to -$54 billion. One of the soft spots in last week’s data was the ISM Manufacturing Index which eased roughly 2 points to a still strong 57.7 in October. 13 of 18 reporting industries expanded during the month. Construction spending was unchanged from August to September but remains up 7.2 percent over the last twelve months. Unemployment claims remain low and were 214,000 for the previous week. Despite softness in a couple of the reports, data from last week still paints a healthy picture of the US economy albeit one that may not be accelerating as quickly as earlier in the year.
The U.S. 10-year closed the Thanksgiving week at 3.06% as markets were forced to turn overseas for any movement of interest. The European Commission announced that an excessive deficit procedure will be opened against Italy, potentially leading to a fine. And British Prime Minister Theresa May met with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels, but they could not agree on a final version of a Brexit deal.
Today we have a light day with only Chicago Fed activity and Dallas Fed Manufacturing activity – neither big market movers. Things pick up tomorrow with the September FHFA Home Price Index and the Q3 House Price Purchase Index at the same time as CoreLogic data, 9:00 am ET. We then have Conference Board Consumer Confidence figures for November before Wednesday sees the usual MBA Mortgage Application data, Retail and Wholesale Inventories, Q3 GDP data, and the Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index before a busy Thursday and Friday. Monday begins with rates little changed versus Friday: the 10-year is yielding 3.06% and Agency MBS prices aren’t doing much of anything.
Employment and Personnel Moves
National MI is excited to share that “we continue with our growth and have added a Sales Representative in Minneapolis. Trevor Enroth joins us in the Minnesota and North Dakota markets and will be partnering with Justin Putz, Regional Team Lead. Trevor has been in the mortgage industry for five years and is an exciting new addition to our team.” Please feel free to reach to Trevor via email or phone at 952-465-7171.
More sales. More revenue. More opportunity. Faster. One of the top mortgage lenders in the nation, Homeside, is launching Rev by Homeside, a net-branching experience built specifically for top-ranking lending teams. Unlike traditional net branching, Rev offers more territory (strategic locations selected, no market overcrowding), more independence (streamlined corporate involvement, DBAs available), more support (marketing, IT, HR, payroll, licensing, compliance, legal, audits, etc.) and more profit (full control of P&L, pay only for services used). Lending teams interested in joining Rev by Homeside should contact Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Chris Miller.
Building an inclusive and thriving workplace. Evergreen Home Loans™ celebrates women in the workplace and is proud to be named the #3 Best Workplace™ for women in 2018 by Fortune and consulting firm Great Place to Work. 72% of its associates are women, including 50% of the executive team. “Evergreen is committed to continually supporting and encouraging diversity in the workplace, believing that when we treat everyone like family that sense of care and respect radiates to our customers and business partners. ‘It is an honor to be recognized for upholding a strong culture that supports, inspires and empowers women as we strive to be the best place to work in the nation,’ said Don Burton, president, Evergreen Home Loans. Loan officers seeking a great place to work where 96% of employees surveyed are proud to tell others they work here, can find more information on its careers page.”
Nations Lending is welcoming a new member to its team, Derek DeGutis, as Division Retail Sales Manager. DeGutis brings more than two decades of experience in mortgage lending and is a proven motivated leader. DeGutis will be laser-focused on making Nations Lending a household name and expanding our market-reach throughout the country. “From the East to West coasts, Nations Lending continues to expand its retail footprint with more opportunities available to high-performing, ready-to-make it happen originators. Ideal candidates for our
Branch Manager will have at least 2 years’ experience as an LO, and ready to roll as a top player in this strategic initiative. Nations Lending, is an Ohio-based, full-service national lender licensed in 47 states. If interested, contact Division Retail Store Sales Manager, Jordan Gerard (337-501-0155) or Division Retail Branch Sales Manager, Derek DeGutis (732-580-5038). For more information and opportunity on how to join our growing organization, please visit the company's website.”
“Due to growth, SocialSurvey is looking for Regional VPs of Business Development to open our Southwest, Midwest, and Southeast regions. Candidates must have proven success selling tech or services into the mortgage vertical. SocialSurvey, known for its mortgage reviews platform, now offers social media compliance monitoring as a part of our integrated platform. We create over 600,000 verified mortgage company reviews annually and share those reviews more than 4,000,000 times on social sites, Zillow, and Google to help boost online reputation. Social Survey also acts as a powerful enterprise feedback tool that drives employee engagement and behavior. This is a great opportunity for somebody with the right experience and contacts. Are you ready for something different?” Send confidential resume and contact info to me for forwarding.
Ocwen announced that Timothy Yanoti has joined as EVP and Chief Growth Officer, responsible for leading Ocwen’s lending business and operations, including forward and reverse mortgage lending, MSR purchases and servicing business development efforts. Ocwen also appointed Albert Celini SVP, Chief Risk and Compliance Officer of Ocwen.