6.29.21 Brit Barker and Andrew Weiss on How to Make the Biggest Impact With Automation; Animal Spirits in the Bond Market

Thanks to today's podcast sponsor, Origence. Origence provides integrated origination technology solutions that transform the lending experience. The Origence Mortgage Platform is a fully integrated digital solution that covers the entire lending life cycle—from application to closing. With Origence, lenders have access to client configurable workflows, as well as automation of nearly every step in the mortgage fulfillment process. Use Origence to replace your POS, LOS & CRM mortgage stack with a single modern platform. Or, use the modular capabilities of the platform to integrate Origence anywhere in your tech stack, wherever you need to make the biggest impact on your lending. With origination, processing, underwriting, closing, funding and delivery under one, innovative platform, lenders can achieve big results in less time and at a lower cost with Origence. Visit Origence.com for more details.

Transcript

Say what you will about huge companies not having an impact on housing, MLOs can’t ignore the fact that they’re here. The latest example is global real estate investment and land asset management company Walton Global Holdings launching a build-to-rent (BTR) line that will leverage its more than 81,000 acres of U.S. land assets to create near-term opportunities for single-family home rental developments. On a much smaller scale, living at the beach sounds nice… but expensive. So this might be handy: The 10 Most Affordable Beach Towns for 2021. Doesn't matter what you pay people if they don't have the time off occasionally to enjoy it, right? (The audio version of today’s commentary, available here, is sponsored by Origence and features an interview with Brit Barker, VP of Enterprise Solutions, and Andrew Weiss, SVP of Platform Strategy, on determining where automation should be applied in your lending process for optimal performance.)

Transition

Congratulations to Meg Bennett who joins Homebinder as its Senior Director of Enterprise Sales. Before joining Homebinder, Meg was VP of Business Development at Computershare Loan Services. A driven national sales executive, Bennett was responsible for identifying new lender partners and facilitating their successful onboarding. She was also the Strategic Business and Relationship Manager for FormFree, where she played a key role in fostering and building partnerships. Meg brings to HomeBinder extensive mortgage lending experience combined with an energetic and collaborative spirit, and she is passionate about the innovative solutions we deliver to the mortgage industry. On a personal note, Meg continues to give back to our industry by serving on the new member committee for Mortgage Bankers of Georgia and MPact's Residential Steering Committee for the MBA. Connect with Meg Bennett by visiting her LinkedIn profile or by emailing her.

Sales products for MLOs and brokers

Ready to buy local leads that actually pay off? With LendingTree’s new LO Connect app, you’ll find high-intent borrowers who are primed to purchase and looking for loan officers who can help them finance their dream home. Stop spending valuable time and energy following up on leads that go nowhere or connecting with noncommittal borrowers who never convert. Instead, use the app to buy local leads that will help you outpace the competition and help you build a robust pipeline, right in your local market! Our app lets you preview borrowers’ profiles before you buy a single lead. No more throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping it sticks. Now, build your pipeline with borrowers who are prepared to purchase and come fully-filtered and highly-lendable. Fill out the form to start connecting with high-intent borrowers today.

Unify has helped thousands of its mortgage loan originator clients take their business to the next level using the Unify Business Growth Platform™. Now that the mortgage market mix balance will be changing from Refi’s to Purchase loans, Unify has launched Rise Above Your Competitors Program to help LO’s avoid losing their customers using 6 New Ways to Grow their loan volume. These 6 ways are: Mortgage Inquiry Alerts to know when your contacts are in the market for a loan, Pre-Qualified Prospects that provides an email-based way to reach out to contacts so they can access a quick pre-qualification service, Marketing Automation using high-engagement done for you content, Rainmaker Sales System used by top performing LOs, Automated Workflows to get time back in your day, and a full Mobile App that puts Unify in the palm of your hand 24/7. Learn how to Rise Above Your Competitors here.

The ninth Fast & Furious film hit theaters a few days ago, proving society’s affinity for speed has not waned. Lenders looking to increase the speed-to-value of their new technology will want to join Assurance Financial’s Katherine Campbell, Sales Boomerang’s Alex Kutsishin, and Capacity’s David Karandish on July 21 at 1 pm ET to learn how to turbocharge your technology ROI by selecting the right products, configuring them for optimum impact and building a strategy for internal adoption. Reserve your spot today and get in the ROI fast lane.

Finance of America Mortgage TPO subscribes to a straightforward goal: to serve the Broker Community. A Partnership with us gives Brokers access to a wide array of products, including our proprietary Two-X-Flex Suite of Non-QM Solutions and Non-Agency Jumbo programs. The power of our people supports our brokers with dedicated teams and efficient processes that allow our partners to act quickly and with confidence. We also offer our Brokers additional resources and loyalty programs like immersive webinar trainings and digital tools to help them grow their business. That's the Power of a FAM TPO Partnership. Visit FAMTPO.com to learn more and become an approved partner today!

Management tools

Here’s a company that decreases costs/increases revenue while providing training (wait... what?). Unlike other providers (NMLS/Compliance), these folks partner with IMBs: Its solutions reduce MLO training time and keep the sanity of your Compliance Team with cross-certified courses and a robust tracking/assignment portal. Contact Dave Olchek or request a demo from www.MortgageEducation.com. Hear what your colleagues have to say.

Our intelligent automation platform is an extension of your team. Bring the different areas of your business together and serve your borrowers across product types with RM Automate and the robust Zoral Automation Platform. Richey May’s automation practice focuses on streamlining loan origination and back-office operations by automating the most repetitive actions and often-used processes, allowing your employees to focus on more valuable tasks and streamline your operations. Get the technology the big lenders are using to get the most out of your workforce. Contact us to sign up for a demo and learn more about RM Automate.  

“Northpointe Bank Correspondent Lending offers a Non-owner-occupied program providing more financing for more borrowers. Eligible via bulk bid, forward commitment, or best efforts, Northpointe Bank has no limits on the amount of Agency investment properties purchased. Applicable loans are priced at Agency loan-level price adjustments (LLPAs), and third-party originations are allowed. Borrowers with a 680 FICO, 50% max debt-to-income, and a 30-year term are eligible to follow agency guidelines. As a strong bank partner, we provide tailored solutions to maximize your profitably and help grow your business. To view our programs or for more information, email us at correspondentsales@northpointe.com.”

“Axos Bank does all the things that no one else can do! Most “Non-QM” lenders cap at $3 million but not us, we go all the way up to $30 million (larger loan amounts considered)! No Limit on Cash Out Cross-Collateralization, Bridge Loans, and Pledged Assets. Cryptocurrency now considered! Email LendingPartners@axosbank.com to learn more! Our Warehouse Lending Program can help you maximize your revenue opportunities with our residential lines of $20MM to $175MM. Have a commercial real estate lending needs? Axos Commercial Lending offers financing solutions for Small Balance Commercial Real Estate, Commercial Real Estate Specialty Bridge and Constructions Lending. We are also looking for Wholesale Account Executives to join our team! Click here to apply to work at a bank that has the most aggressive super jumbo Non-QM lending! Why would you want to work anywhere else?”

If you’re still managing bonuses and commissions using spreadsheets, scanners, fax machines or printers, then it’s high time you know there’s a better way. LBA Ware’s CompenSafe revealed a whole new world of commission automation to NRL Mortgage after years of printing, marking up and scanning incentive compensation spreadsheets. Upon implementing

CompenSafe, NRL was able to consolidate its 10-day payroll production process into just three days. And by expediting payroll, it was able to offer bi-weekly commission payouts, fulfilling a longstanding request of its employee advisory council and giving the company a significant recruiting advantage. See all the ways CompenSafe streamlined the incentive comp process for NRL in this free case study.

Verify 1099 contractors at gig economy companies on Truework! The team at Truework continues to listen to lenders about their biggest pain points in the underwriting process and one of the most common challenges is verifying 1099 gig economy workers. Truework can now verify 1099 drivers at companies like Uber, Lyft, Doordash, Postmates and Instacart. Truework is building the ultimate verification platform, and currently has instant verifications for over 35 million employees and is the exclusive verification provider for millions. For the tech-oriented folks, the API is easy to integrate and your development team can do it in minutes.

Community lenders still hold major competitive advantages over online-only lending giants in 2021.How can they lean into those advantages to form a powerful edge? Digital mortgage platform Maxwell recently interviewed Kevin Peranio, CLO at PRMG, to discuss how community-based lenders can thrive in a digital world. From pursuing thoughtful growth to serving borrowers through decentralized leadership, Kevin reveals how lenders can compete in a changing industry. Want to arm your lending team against the industry’s goliaths? Click here to read Maxwell’s latest blog post, “4 Competitive Advantages Community Lenders Have Over Online-Only Lending Giants.”

Lender & investors react to Government loan program changes

USDA posted information on Extensions to Evictions and Foreclosure Moratorium and offered guidance on the extension of COVID-19 Forbearance.

USDA’s temporary exception to Interior Inspection Appraisals and Verbal Verification of Employment in relation to COVID-19 Pandemic will expire on June 30, 2021.

Various FHA temporary guidance policies are expiring at the end of June. Flagstar Bank will update its Temporary COVID Guidelines to reflect the expiration dates.

Mountain West Financial Wholesale’s Bulletin 21W-043 outlines the expiration of FHA temporary guidance for re-verification of employment and the exterior only, appraisal scope of work option.

Flagstar Bank posted information regarding Student Loan Calculation Requirements based on FHA’s revision to its student loan policies allowing an alternative payment option.

Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC (CMS) has elected to begin immediately using USDA’s updated guidance for payment calculation of monthly obligation for student loans. Read Announcement 21-0026: FHA Student Loan Payment Calculation for more information.

Mountain West Financial Wholesale posted Bulletin 21W-042 discussing FHA’s loosening and simplification to its student loan policy providing two options for calculating the student debt monthly obligation for underwriting purposes.

First Community Mortgage Wholesale provides information on FHA’s guideline update regarding Deferred Installment Debt for student loans in Announcement 2021-17.

FAMC Correspondent provided information on FHA’s Student Loan Debt updates in its National Bulletin 2021-26 

Wells Fargo Funding has returned to pre-COVID-19 levels on its minimum Loan Score requirements for FHA, VA, and Guaranteed Rural Housing (GRH).

FAMC issued a reminder that certain COVID-19 temporary guidance will expire on June 30th, 2021. All FHA loans with an appraisal effective date after June 30, 2021, must have a full traditional appraisal with an interior inspection. Disaster inspections completed after June 30, 2021, for loans that are not closed must include interior photos per FHA policy. All loans closed after June 30th must follow the standard FHA VVOE policy. All loans with case numbers assigned after June 30, 2021, must follow standard FHA policies. All USDA-RD loans with Conditional Commitments issued after June 30th, 2021, must have a full traditional appraisal with an interior inspection. VVOE’s issued after June 30th, 2021, must follow the standard USDA-RD policy.

Flagstar Bank posted information on the implementation date of FHA’s eligibility requirements for Certain Non-Permanent Resident Borrowers in announcement 21075.

PennyMac addressed Reg Z Recission Period and Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure Waiting Periods on Announcement 21-46: Juneteenth.

View Flagstar Bank’s announcement 21081 for information regarding enhancements to certain construction and renovation products.

Carrington Mortgage Services Hazard Insurance Policy has been revised to update the insurance coverage requirements for FHA Loans, Condominium and PUD Projects, and Force Placed Coverage. Read Announcement 21-0024 for details.

HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge announced that HUD published an interim final rule on to restore the implementation of the Fair Housing Act’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) requirement. The publication provides a robust definition of the duty to affirmatively further fair housing, to which many HUD grantees must certify compliance. The interim final rule will go into effect on July 31, 2021. HUD will take comments for 30 days after publication and may act on them prior to the effective date of the rule. In addition to barring housing discrimination, the Fair Housing Act requires HUD and its funding recipients, such as local communities, to also take affirmative steps to remedy fair housing issues such as racially segregated neighborhoods, lack of housing choice, and unequal access to housing-related opportunities.

Effective Friday, June 4, 2021, Flagstar Bank is offering enhancements to certain government products.

The Fiscal Year 2021 income limits for the Single-Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program were published on May 12, 2021 through a Special Procedure Notice (SPN). The Guaranteed Underwriting System (GUS) and the Income Eligibility calculator on the Eligibility Website have been updated with the new income limits.

First American Docutech posted Compliance News: USDA to Only Accept New URLA. 

Capital markets

Rates dropped and Agency MBS prices rallied to open the week. Chalk it up to animal spirits, especially since it was an uneventful day with no new information coming to light since Friday morning. There were concerns about global growth prospects due to the Delta Covid variant and restrictions by foreign countries to contain its spread. Domestically, Richmond Fed President Barkin said he thinks the Fed has made substantial progress toward its inflation goal to start tapering asset purchases. Without any real data on the day, investors were looking ahead to releases later this week of construction spending, ISM, and the latest jobs report.

We have the unemployment data coming out this Friday, but it is always helpful to look at economic data over time, especially housing data. Last week’s housing data highlighted an otherwise quiet week of economic releases. While sales of both existing and new homes fell in May, both segments are still strong with existing homes at a 5.8-million-unit annual pace and new homes at a 769,000 annual unit pace. Home prices continued their increase nation-wide last month with prices for existing homes up 24 percent and prices for new homes up 18 percent. The median price for a new home in May was $374,400 while the average sales price for a new home was $430,600. 

Despite a decrease in foot traffic, many builders still have lengthy backlogs due to prior months’ sales and labor and materials shortages. With the number of completed homes near all-time lows and existing homes selling in an average of two weeks or less there is a limited supply of homes for potential buyers to view. The good news as far as housing in concerned is that lumber prices have begun to decline and shuttered mills come back online in the US and Canada.

Today’s economic calendar gets underway shortly with Redbook same store sales for the week ending June 26. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest Forbearance and Call Volume Survey revealed that the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by 2 basis points to 3.91 percent of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week as of June 20. According to MBA’s estimate, 2 million homeowners are in forbearance plans. Later this morning brings the April FHFA Housing Price Index, April’s S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index, and June Consumer Confidence. The day’s lone Fed speaker sees Richmond’s Barkin speaking on the outlook and monetary policy. Today’s schedule sees the Desk conducting two operations targeting up to $4.1 billion of conventionals. We begin the day with Agency MBS prices worse .125 from Monday and the 10-year yielding 1.50 after closing Monday at 1.47 percent.

I went fishing last weekend but after a short time I ran out of worms. Then I saw a cottonmouth with a frog in his mouth. Frogs are good bass bait!

Knowing the snake couldn't bite me with the frog in his mouth I grabbed him right behind the head, took the frog, and put it in my bait bucket.

Now the dilemma was how to release the snake without getting bit.

So, I grabbed my bottle of Jack Daniels and poured a little whiskey in its mouth. His eyes rolled back; he went limp.

I released him into the lake without incident and carried on fishing using the frog.

A little later, I felt a nudge on my foot. It was that snake, with two more frogs.