MLO, AE Jobs; Sales, Retention, Recruiting Tools; Processing Changes; Fannie and Freddie Appraisal Tweak

Someone here in San Diego asked an audience, “Who out there misses their Blackberry?” and many raised their hands. Technology… an interesting thing. How about the ability to look at this “Star Wars House” in Florida: $11.5 million, not even on the water, but page down a few times in the photos. Many of the technology changes announced or advanced here in San Diego are focused on reducing the friction between application and funding. Part of that is the appraisal process, and acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency Sandra Thompson announced a change: allowing banks and mortgage lenders to use desktop appraisals in lieu of in-person home valuations. (The change makes permanent a measure that Fannie and Freddie instituted during the pandemic.) In other words, home appraisals conducted without the physical presence of an appraiser will be allowed permanently on loans bought by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, starting in early 2022. (Today’s audio version of the commentary is available here. This week’s is sponsored by Triserv, a top national AMC with client-specific, dedicated teams on both coasts that get to know their lenders. Today’s includes Part Two of an interview with Triserv’s President Joe Bryant on AMCs during the pandemic.)

Lender and Broker Services and Products

It’s a fitting coincidence that MBA Annual21 is coming to a close on International Sloth Day, as I’m sure we’re all ready to slow down and relax after such an action-packed conference. Sloths have been living life in the slow lane, earning a reputation as the world's laziest animal, for over 64 million years. Lenders, on the other hand, must constantly evolve if they want to remain competitive. SimpleNexus’ latest feature, Nexus Pay, helps lenders avoid the time-consuming hassle of requesting and collecting borrower payments. The new click-to-pay solution is embedded in the SimpleNexus digital mortgage app to get borrower payments to you quicker, saving everyone time and energy. Take your place at the top of the digital mortgage food chain and find out how SimpleNexus’ Nexus Pay can simplify your company’s lending experience.

What are your growth plans for 2022? The challenge for some companies is that many stopped recruiting sales talent over the last year and are now playing catch up. Model Match creates an environment to build and sustain your recruiting pipeline, no matter the shifts in the industry. Don't know who to start recruiting? Model Match Market Insights will allow you to source specific Loan Originators with a targeted production volume profile and contact information in your market. Run your own searches and pull in Candidates that you can engage with immediately. Our Talent Management System will provide an actionable recruiting plan, team collaboration and tasks designed to never let another Candidate slip through the cracks.  Stop wasting time and resources trying to manipulate your CRM, and partner with Model Match's 20+ years of MLO recruiting expertise.

With classic Halloween skits like David S. Pumpkins and A Van Down by the River, SNL has turned spooky stories into laughing matters. Frighteningly low mortgage volumes, on the other hand, are anything but funny. Luckily, Sales Boomerang, the #1 automated borrower intelligence and retention platform, keeps your pipeline delivering treats, not tricks. Like Stefon’s Hottest Halloween Tips, Sales Boomerang has the hottest tips from your database and notifies you when your borrowers are eligible for a loan. Notifications include refi opportunities, home listings, credit improvement and more! Lenders using Sales Boomerang see an average 20-40% lift to loan volume and 65% borrower retention rate for around $299 per acquired loan — a 20x ROI. Any Questions? Schedule a demo.

Are you looking for a solution that will automate your appraisal management process by relieving your Appraisal Desk from a lot of manual work? What if this solution also provides instantaneous turnaround times? Then it’s time for you to look at Connexions. Connexions is an industry-leading valuation software company that is customizable to reflect your appraisal management workflows and includes Automated Valuation Model (AVM) and Insured AVM Products. Learn how to add efficiency and automation to your appraisal process by scheduling a demo today!

Stearns Wholesale continues to develop and enhance products to help brokers grow their business. This week, Stearns announced the launch of its exciting new Preferred Investment AUS product, which utilizes the power of securitization to provide a unique offering in today’s highly competitive marketplace. Available for both Wholesale and Non-Del, Preferred Investment AUS is an agency N/O/O option with a very compelling price points for higher FICO and LTV scenarios. Take advantage of this exclusive product to win more loans and gain an edge for you and your clients today! If you’d like to partner with Stearns or learn more, click HERE to be contacted.

“Check out the new expansions to our Non-QM Maverick Solutions Products! At FGMC we are committed to the expanding Non-QM market and are excited to announce our newest updates to our own product suite including: DSCR (Debt Service Coverage Ratio) to 0.75 on Visionary, Stand-alone Asset Utilization, As Low as 560 Credit Score on Achiever, Relaxed First Time Homebuyer Requirements, 1099 Income Documentation Option, Foreign Nationals Offered, RSU Stocks can be used to qualify, and MORE! Make sure you refresh your pricing engine to see these updates. Sign up for our Flight School Webinar on October 28th at 2:00 CST to learn more about these updates or schedule a free, personalized training for your sales or ops team by emailing nqmbd@fgmc.com.”

Floify, the leading provider of digital mortgage technology, just released Floify+, the company’s comprehensive mortgage loan origination solution for brokers. Lenders can use Floify+ to dramatically improve communication, transparency, and efficiency throughout their loan workflow, resulting in shorter loan cycle times and a dynamic mortgage borrowing experience. Floify+ enables mortgage brokers to streamline the application and documentation gathering process, integrate with existing productivity solutions, easily run loan scenarios through a built-in product and pricing engine, and produce fully-compliant quarterly mortgage call reports that can be easily downloaded for submission to the NMLS. Soon, brokers will have the ability to run dual AUS via Fannie Mae's Desktop Underwriter AUS and Freddie Mac's Loan Prospector AUS. Inquire about the Floify+ Early Access program to learn more!

Monster Lead Group earned more than $16 billion in loans for their clients in 2020. It also claims to be able to identify new potential borrowers before they even start looking for a loan. Monster hasn’t quite told us how, but they may just tell YOU. John Kresevic, JFQ's president, even said about the team, "Somebody can charge me half as much as you guys do, but I can't get beyond the level of your results." Find out what John already knows and schedule a call with the team at Monster OR learn how to deliver leads before they even “hit the market”. Take a look at what they have to offer and decide for yourself.

Processing and Underwriting Changes

There is a constant stream of FHA, VA, Fannie, Freddie, non-QM, and nonconforming underwriting changes. But what about changes that lenders make that don’t strictly fall into those programs? Let’s take a random look.

PRMG Product Profile Update 21-16 updates to Requirements to Correctly Order Tax Transcripts, PRMG Insurance Requirements and Additional Information, Extended Lock Option. And PRMG Product Profile Update 21-49 explains updates to its Ruby Jumbo removing the requirement that if the subject property was purchased within the 6–12-month period prior to the closing date for the new loan the LTV will be based on the lesser of the sales price or the current appraised value (use current appraisal value instead). Also, for cash-out refinance transactions on an investment property, a borrower signed Business Purpose & Occupancy Affidavit indicating the loan purpose is for the acquisition, improvement or maintenance of a rental property is required. PRMG’s Chenoa FHA Edge received clarification on the Soft Second options are only available for borrowers with AMI of 115% or lower.

Texas homebuyers may now enjoy a competitively priced FHA or FNMA HFA Preferred 1st mortgage with up to 5% down payment and closing cost assistance through the SETH Star Partner Program, offered exclusively by Mountain West Financial®. Program excludes the cities of El Paso, McKinney, Grand Prairie and Travis County). Additionally, MWF introduced the SETH Extra Credit MCC Program. Highlights include This 40% tax credit Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC) can be layered with the SETH Star program or used as a stand-alone MCC. Borrower receives a dollar-for-dollar tax credit (up to $2,000 annually) each year they are in the home. See AMP inside BOLT for complete details. And for all loans where a Verbal Verification of Employment (VVOE) is required, MWF will now require the VVOE to be obtained 7 days prior to the Note date. Definition of Note date is the date on the Note.

PRMG issued clarification regarding income documentation requirements on USDA transactions. PRMG will permit other acceptable alternative documentation as allowed per USDA. Additionally, MCCs must be added as income rather than reducing the principal, interest, taxes, and insurance. PRMG’s Ruby Jumbo product will require the following if the Seller has taken title to the subject property within 90 days prior to the date of sales contract: Property seller on the purchase contract is the owner of record, LTV/CLTV will be based on the lesser of the prior sales price or the current appraised value, loans that are bank or relocation sales are exempt from the above requirement. View PRMG Product Profile Updates 21-47 for details on USDA and Ruby Jumbo clarifications.

Flagstar Bank discontinued the 18 and 24-month construction periods options under the Jumbo One-Close Construction program, Doc. #5724. All loans previously registered under the 18 or 24-month product options will remain eligible and should not be affected. No new registrations for the 18 and 24-month construction periods will be accepted after Friday, September 3, 2021.

Increase in LTV information on Home Opportunity Loan (HOL) was posted in the First Community Mortgage Wholesale Announcement 2021-23 and First Community Mortgage Correspondent Announcement 2021-19.

First Community Mortgage Wholesale Announcement 2021-24 for details.

LendingHome lowered its bridge FICO minimum requirement to 600+ for qualifying clients and increased its bridge rehab limit to $500k maximum for clients of all REI experience levels.

Capital Markets

Inflation concerns steepened the yield curve yesterday, though mortgage rates were little changed. Jobs and housing drive our economy, and yesterday’s housing stats weren’t good. Housing starts declined 1.6 percent month-over-month in September, missing expectations though were up 7.4 percent year-over-year. Building permits missed expectations, falling to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.589 million and meaning the figure was flat year-over-year. It is important to note that the miss was driven by a -5.0% drop in multifamily construction. But we are seeing a slowdown in the pace of new construction due to supply shortages, labor constraints, and high prices.

Wednesday’s calendar of events began with mortgage applications decreasing 6.3 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the MBA Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. That’s it for scheduled news, but later today brings several Treasury auctions, a full slate of Fed speakers, and the release of the latest Beige Book in the afternoon. The Desk will purchase up to $5.8 billion 30-year 2 percent and 2.5 percent. We begin the day with Agency MBS prices little changed from last night and the 10-year unchanged from Tuesday afternoon yielding 1.64 percent.

Jobs and Position Wanted

Do you have the right tools to capture new home business? Top-ranked Embrace Home Loans has rolled out an Extended Rate Lock program that lets new homebuyers lock in today’s rates with no rate add-on or cap for up to 360 days while their home is being built. “Our new program gives buyers peace of mind that their monthly payments will remain the same even if rates rise before closing,” says Jason Will, SVP of market growth. The program provides a free float-down option should rates fall before construction is completed. With the current shortage of inventory, Will sees a lot of potential in new home business. Embrace offers a renovation program for existing homes, too. “We’ve got great options for both new construction business as well as for fixer-uppers,” he says. If you’d like to attract more buyers with top-notch loan programs, contact Jason Will.

American Pacific Mortgage’s Fall Symposium will be November 3–4, 2021, at the Arizona Grand Resort. The lineup of speakers for this year’s event includes Dr. Amy Cuddy, economist Elliot Eisenberg, AJ Vaden of Brand Builders Group, Josh Pitts from Shred Media, Megan Anderson and Barry Habib with MBS Highway, and Geoff Zimpfer of Mortgage Marketing Institute, and the APM leadership team. This event is designed to help APM loan officers sharpen their edge, shift with the market, elevate their connections and influence. If you’ve been considering a move to APM, this is a great opportunity to explore all that APM has to offer, including what it means to be an employee-owner of a Top Mortgage Lender. To learn more about this event, click here. And if you’d like to be a guest at APM’s Fall Symposium, email Dustin Block.

First Guarantee Mortgage is looking for #MortgageMavericks to join the team! If you’re an Account Executive with Non-QM experience reach out to Tom Davis today. Maverick has new expansions to its Non-QM Maverick Solutions Products! “At FGMC we are committed to the expanding Non-QM market and are excited to announce our newest updates.” (See below.)

A capital markets professional with significant experience is searching for a position in the capital markets/secondary area, and is open to remote work. Has experience in most operational areas of a mortgage banker, including using hedging software, best execution and delivery, Agency delivery, managing a lock desk, hedging interest rate risk, broker dealer forward positions, funding of mortgage-backed securities, as well as investor and agency relations and, product negotiation. Interested parties should contact Chrisman LLC’s Anjelica Next to forward their note of interest.