Equal pay rates and equality for men and women in the U.S.? Nope –our world ranking isn’t so hot. Turns out, however, that the construction industry is one business where women are “shattering the glass ceiling” and making their mark in the male-dominated part of the economy. Gender aside, can you imagine a company where one manager has the manpower but not the responsibilities, another the responsibilities but not the manpower to accomplish something? This can hardly be considered an ideal arrangement. In the commentary below is advice from leading women in our biz.
Lender Products and Services
Ready for an energy shot? XINNIX is offering something they have never done before, and you can’t afford to pass it up. Only for the month of March, you can take XINNIX’s three most popular Business Enhancement Classes—LINKEDIN FOR LOAN OFFICERS, LEAD CONVERSION, and THE COMPLETE LOAN APPLICATION—for one low price. Normally, these three classes have a combined retail value of $800. But right now, the XINNIX Triple Threat Bundle is being offered for the insanely low price of $299! Have you been wondering what XINNIX can do for your production but haven’t felt ready to take the leap? This is the perfect first step. However, this deal only lasts until the end of March, so don’t wait! CLICK HERE to get the Triple Threat Bundle today!
We get it. Price is critical. But what happens to your customer after you sell them off is even more critical. It’s time to start thinking about what happens after you sell the loan. Will you be top of mind to that customer when it comes time to refi or purchase a new home? Stats shows that more than 90% of borrowers won’t come back to you. Don’t give them a chance to tell you sayonara! TMS President Ali Vafai shares in this Q&A how to stay top-of-mind with your customers and deliver the gold standard in customer service.
Unlock opportunity in a growing market with Loan Product Advisor® asset and income modeler (AIM) for self-employed borrowers. AIM for self-employed is Freddie Mac’s solution to automate the manual lender process of assessing borrower income using tax return data. It’s also the industry’s only AUS-integrated self-employed borrower income calculation solution. AIM for self-employed makes it easier to do more business, close loans faster and get immediate income rep and warranty relief related to certain borrower employment income. Freddie Mac has teamed up with third-party service provider, LoanBeam®, in leveraging their expertise and powerful optical character recognition (OCR) technology to supply qualifying income for any applicant. Freddie Mac’s broad release of AIM for self-employed on March 6 is the next step in their journey to provide AIM for self-employed borrowers … and get YOUR edge.
Recruiting quality origination talent is time consuming, requiring focus and organization. Model Match's award-winning Talent Management Suite (TMS) provides an efficient and effective game plan to take your recruitment efforts to the next level. With Market Insights, Model Match takes the guesswork out of sourcing candidates by allowing you to target producers doing the type and amount of business best matched to your organization. Set the criteria and we do the rest. We'll identify and provide you visibility into a complete production report including last fiscal year volume, trailing 12 months, most recent 90 days, unit counts, average loan amounts, product mix and more. Our team will even source all the contact information for you. The TMS will then guide you through each stage of the recruiting process, from sourcing and attracting candidates, to hiring, on-boarding and retention. Click here to learn more about the value of Model Match.
Quicken Loans is an outlier in the mortgage industry for many reasons, especially the fact that the lender services 100% of the loans it closes (outside of jumbo) for the clients it works with directly AND for its broker partners. Not for six months or a year, but for the life of the loan. Since Quicken Loans services all of its mortgages, the company has added new tools on the client-facing servicing site to help broker partners retain that client if they ever refinance that mortgage, or buy a new home. There are a handful of places throughout the servicing site that a client can click on to get information - and guidance - if they are interested in buying or refinancing. Every single one of these links will lead to contact information for the broker that originated their mortgage – if they came to Quicken Loans through a broker. This is just one more tool Quicken Loans offers to its broker partners through Quicken Loans Mortgage Services (QLMS). Go to QLmortgageservices.com to get more information or partner with QLMS.
With compressed commissions and financial challenges mortgage originators face in today’s purchase market, protecting investments in lead generation and pre-approvals is critical to success. HomeScout® helps take the guess-work out of where your leads and pre-approved buyers are searching for homes after they understand their buying power. Make sure they aren’t wandering off to public search sites where their private information could be sold to your competition. Your customers will appreciate the value and accuracy of HomeScout’s 100% MLS listing data and guaranteed privacy they will experience when searching for their next home. Monitor and support your borrowers by tracking their online activities with HomeScout and close more loans. Listen as national project consultant Mitch King explains how to engage and retain leads and pre-approved borrowers using HomeScout. Find out more by contacting them HERE and scheduling a demo or give them a call at 952-831-0623.
Women Weigh In
The U.S. population, given lack of war and improvement in health care, is pretty closely balanced between male and female. Things aren’t so balanced in the upper ranks of residential lenders, however, so advice that respected women in our biz can provide to those starting out is worthwhile listening to. (If you feel like contributing advice to people of color or women starting out in our biz, shoot me a note!)
Sarah Middleton, President of Sales Development & Recruiting of Fairway Independent Mortgage, thought about the question of, “What would I tell younger me?” “With 31 years in the industry and looking back, there are many things to tell my younger me. I look back to so many key principles that I continue to learn.
“Don’t be afraid to fail and don’t hesitate to forgive yourself when you do fail. You WILL fail but you will also learn. Not much is learned through success but you sure learn a lot through failure. To fail, you must take chances. Taking chances will get you out of your comfort zone. Don’t be afraid to take on something brand new and dive in head first. There is so much information and so many resources out there now. Just be courageous and ask. Find a mentor or coach along the way, invest in your personal and business growth.
“Be thankful for the naysayers. Nothing is more motivating than being told I can’t do something. Don’t roll up in a ball if criticized or demeaned as it’s usually someone else’s issue. Let go of what others say because there will always be negative people. Don’t read, listen or immerse yourself in negativity. Walk away FAST from people or things that create negative energy. It does nothing for you. Surround yourself with those who believe in you and walk with you while you live out your dream. BE CAREFUL with your choices as that is who you will become.
“Nothing replaces hard work and consistency. A favorite saying over the years that has resonated for me is ‘Get up, dress up, show up and play up!’ Every day you have the choice so choose to be consistent and you will win. Play like it’s your last game. Keep your word so if you say you will show up, SHOW UP no matter what. Go back to #4 and listen to positive voices on your way to the appointment and you’ll feel better for showing up.
“Be a good teammate and give others credit. Always tell your team or your circle how much they mean to you and thank them. My team made me and continues to support me in the world of mortgage and life for that matter. You can’t say thank you and encourage people enough. Listen more than you talk. There’s so much to learn and if you’re willing to be a continual learner and stay humble, the SKY IS THE LIMIT. To all the women and men out there, the last piece of advice is swallow your pride daily. Get on your knees and thank the man upstairs for another day to go out and bless someone else. In that is the success and fulfillment.”
A senior manager at a bank in Colorado wrote, “Demand your worth and your title. Don’t be a b--ch because of your title; instead be kind, thoughtful and available. Don’t be critical and catty of other women. There is no crying in mortgage. Teach the guys how to manage & understand women better. Question the golf tournament. Mentor others, men and women. Watch your attire and don’t dress too sexy but dress professionally and that doesn’t have to be a male looking suit. Management should look like staff…if you are 70% women, you should have 70% women managers. Embrace diversity in people and in skill sets. Don’t socialize outside of work with your staff, don’t get drunk or party it will bite you later. Humor is critical.”
Capital Markets
Rates went up last week and then dropped slightly yesterday, back up a little this morning. It’s important to remember what happened to last week: We finally saw the release of Q4 GDP, December housing starts, and December personal income and spending which were delayed due to the partial government shutdown. The data confirmed the recent trend of slowing, but still solid economic growth. GDP for the final quarter of 2018 rose 2.6 percent, which beat market expectations for +2.2 percent, but was slower than previous quarters. The slowdown was attributed to weak consumer spending as personal spending and retail sales saw their largest declines since 2009. Officially, housing starts tumbled 11.2 percent in December, however the standard error in the report was ±14.0 percent so maybe they did and maybe they didn’t. Regardless, rising interest rates and home prices were putting a damper on sales at the end of the year. Rates have at least eased somewhat this year and permits rebounded slightly so it’s possible there could be some upside movement in the coming months. As for more current data, consumer confidence rebounded to a cycle-high of 173.5 in February driven by expectations of job prospects and increasing incomes.
The U.S. 10-year dropped -3 bps to start the week as Treasuries across the curve saw yields fall on not much tangible news. We did see total construction spending decline past expectations in December although the market effectively knew that already based on the data seen in the Q4 GDP report. Minor news throughout the day concerned the House Judiciary Committee opening a probe into potential obstruction of justice, corruption, and abuse of power by President Trump; and Greece planning to sell EUR2.50 billion 10-year debt this week, the second debt sale of 2019 and the first sale of 10-year instruments in nine years. We also had many in the northeast dealing with the weather while the week's risk events (read: February payrolls report) are scheduled for later in the week, making it a muted day.
Fedspeak dominates today's calendar, with Boston's Rosengren, Minneapolis' Kashkari, and Richmond's Barkin all giving public comments. Scheduled news consists nothing market-moving: Redbook same-store sales for the week ending March 2, February Markit Services PMI, February ISM Nonmanufacturing PMI (expected to increase), and December new home sales (expected to decrease -52k). We begin today with the 10-year yielding 2.74% and agency MBS worse .125 versus Monday’s close.
Jobs and Transitions
“How much money do you lose every month because you’re being shopped... and you can’t compete on price? Canopy Mortgage - a flat organization that isn’t burdened with “legacy-costs” which means; 1) Fewer people between you and your commissions - AND - 2) Lower margins for the house so you CAN compete on price. Canopy has created crazy efficiencies with their proprietary LOS that allows you to compete on pricing like never before!” Canopy Mortgage is hiring Nationwide. Reach out to Josh Neumarker to learn more (888-696-9076).
Lenders One announced, during its March 2019 Summit, that Brian Simon is its new president responsible for the day-to-day operations and strategic execution of the cooperative.
Get Rob Chrisman Daily by Email
