After years of opening mail I’ve come to the conclusion that, when stamped on an envelope in the U.S. mail, “personal and confidential” usually isn’t, and “time sensitive” isn’t either. Yes, it’s only Tuesday, and there continues to be discussion about the housing market, the lack of homes for sale given the lack of building over the last several years, and the 70 million or so millennials wanting a place to call their own. Yup, millennials are changing the mortgage and home buying market. Millennial homebuyers are waiting longer to buy a first home than previous generations, perhaps grappling with the effects of the Great Recession and rising student debt. Sure millennials have been slower to buy their first homes than older generations but that isn’t stopping them! High-quality homeownership education, however, and housing counseling can not only expand the pool of mortgage-eligible buyers, but also help prepare consumers to succeed as homeowners. In a nationwide survey of nearly 4,000 consumers, about 50 percent of respondents were unable to answer questions about key mortgage qualification criteria. Heck, given the weekly changes in guidelines, I wonder what percent of those in our industry could answer all the questions! (Today’s podcast is sponsored by MCT and includes part one of an interview with SVP of Capital Markets, Justin Grant on BAM Marketplace, the world’s first truly open loan exchange, where every loan can be priced by every investor, regardless of approval status. Join MCT on June 9th at 10am PST for a webinar providing a demonstration and details on how to achieve true best execution.)
Lender Services and Products
Since June 8, 1984, people with spooky concerns have been calling on the Ghostbusters. Just like lenders with servicing concerns are gonna call MQMR. To help lenders evaluate their servicing risk management strategy and identify specific areas that may need improvement, MQMR has developed a Servicing Risk Assessment. The Servicing Risk Assessment analyzes and grades the effectiveness of a lenders’ servicing program, identifies specific areas of concern within the servicing program, ensures the servicing program is effectively mitigating lenders’ risk and more. Once lenders complete the assessment, an MQMR servicing expert will then provide personalized and actionable recommendations, helping lenders to eliminate concerns before they become 100 ft tall marshmallow men, so to speak. Don’t let servicing concerns scare you anymore, take MQMR’s Servicing Risk Assessment today.
Alternative valuation methods are more prevalent than ever, especially since the onset of COVID-19. But your alternative valuation solutions need to leverage the most current, reliable, and comprehensive data to help you deliver greater valuation accuracy and reduce collateral risk. Learn how the powerful combination of national MLS data, enhanced property record information and top-rated AVMs can help accelerate loan approvals, enhance retention strategies, and mitigate risk. Download our complimentary white paper Powering Desktop Valuations to Do More today.
Close faster with Digideck presentations! Lending a hand in uniting mortgage operations, marketing & loan officer teams, Digideck helps modernize outreach and engagement with an all-encompassing presentation platform. Digideck increases revenue by speeding up sales cycles with personalized, interactive presentations through a master deck. Utilizing CRM integrations, such as OptifiNow, presentation customization has never been this easy. Close with confidence with Digideck’s powerful tracking analytics. You will have the power to capture, sort, and analyze slide views, opens, and time spent in your presentations. Watch a sneak peek of Digideck in action.
We all know how crazy the housing market is right now. Houses are getting dozens of offers well over the asking price and borrowers are in huge competition. Do you want to arm your borrowers with an absolute game-changer? Give them an adjustable pre-qualification letter. QuickQual by LenderLogix allows the borrower, Realtor, and loan officer to modify pre-qualification and pre-approval letters in a matter of seconds. This saves everyone time and could make a difference for borrowers when their dream house is just a bid away. Schedule a demo with the LenderLogix team to see how QuickQual integrates directly with your LOS.
More than ever, in today's high purchase environment, time is of the essence, and a delayed pre-qual or pre-approval can mean the difference between your team winning a client's business (and their future referrals) and losing the deal to a nimble competitor. Digital mortgage platform, Maxwell's FlexLetters™ feature, allows lenders to quickly issue and manage pre-approval and pre-qualification letters directly in the point-of-sale and, most importantly, gives real estate agents the power to adjust the value (up to an approved amount) per their clients' needs, right from their mobile phone. Learn more about FlexLetters and the other powerful features on Maxwell's point-of-sale designed for community lenders and request a demo today.
A record number of consumers jumped on historically low interest rates to purchase or refinance in the first half of 2021. For many, particularly Millennials and Gen Z, this process took place online with heightened expectations for a better, richer digital lending experience. Unfortunately, today’s direct-to-consumer lending isn’t designed to deliver this kind of superior customer experience. Total Expert Director of Technology Alliances Josh Lehr outlines three common obstacles preventing lenders from meeting these expectations and how to overcome them. Read now.
Simone Biles, the most decorated American gymnast in history, threw down the gauntlet last month when she became the world’s first woman to complete a Yurchenko double pike in vault competition. That’s the kind of all-star performance mortgage managers are looking to retain. The average lender grew LO headcount by 32% from Q1 2020 to Q1 2021, so as refi volume wanes, it’ll be up to managers to make data-informed decisions about leveling up high-potential LOs while weeding out chronic underperformers. Join Sales Boomerang’s Alex Kutsishin and LBA Ware’s Chris Gassel on June 24 at 2 pm ET to learn how the combination of borrower and business intelligence can help you build your dream team.
With unemployment numbers heading towards pre-pandemic numbers, and average wages continuing to rise, that’s a double whammy for companies in need of a quality, yet affordable, workforce. For 100+ lenders across the country, the simple solution has been to partner with DocProbe. As the nation’s leading provider of Post-Closing Trailing-Doc services, DocProbe becomes the behind-the-scenes engine that efficiently handles and manages the entire process from document retrieval to handling corrections and investor exceptions lists. Onboarding is simple and quick, and costs stay fixed in tandem with loan volume, so you stay focused on originating and closing loans with the knowledge that your Trailing Docs are getting delivered to investors accurately and on time. Reach out to Nick to find out how you, too, can keep your overhead costs down and your efficiency up without slowing down on your loan volume.
Correspondent lending is all about price, right? But what if you could get a competitive price and a lot more? Say, for example, no-cost insurance to protect you from loan manufacturing defects? Plaza Home Mortgage’s National Correspondent Program is priced to win deals, and its Certified Loan Program protects against defects that trigger expensive buybacks. Plaza’s flexible delivery methods include Best-Efforts, Single Loan Mandatory, Bulk and Bulk AOT. Learn how selling to Plaza can protect you against errors and defects, today.
Correspondent channels, famous for their razor thin margins, desire for adding servicing, and the difficulty its employees have in explaining their jobs to friends and family, has a lot going on. Let’s take a peek.
Correspondents everywhere were talking about Freddie’s Bulletin 2021-21 announcing a cap structure on the sale of mortgages secured by second homes and/or investment properties. (For Sellers that sell more than five loans secured by second homes and/or investment properties, such loans may not be more than 6.5% of total monthly unpaid principal balance (UPB) for July sales and thereafter not more than 6%... This is measured by funded UPB on a rolling basis using the prior 52-week period.)
PenFed will be assuming the correspondent agreements currently in effect with TIAA Bank. Over the coming months, we will work to get all lenders on a common agreement and Seller Guide.
PenFed has some heft, serving over 2 million members with more than $27 billion in assets. “You can do business with us in all states and the District of Columbia. We appreciate the reputation the TIAA team has earned over the past decade and believe this non-delegated business will be a strong complement to our delegated program. You will now have the choice of either channel or may contract for both options.”
The PennyMac Correspondent Group posted announcement 21-39 regarding the Expiration of COVID-19 Temporary Appraisal Flexibilities.
AmeriHome is reinstating purchase eligibility for loans submitted for Non-Delegated underwriting where self-employment income is used to qualify any borrower, effective with new locks taken on and after Tuesday, June 1st. AmeriHome is updating the Non-Delegated Loan Submission Form to include minimum documentation requirements with Non-Delegated loan submissions where self-employment income is used to qualify any borrower.
At this time, Fannie Mae’s RefiNowTM and Freddie Mac’s Refi PossibleSM transactions are not eligible for purchase by AmeriHome.
Citi Correspondent Lending will be implementing changes to the Best-Efforts loan level pricing adjusters for second homes and investment properties, effective with new locks completed on/after Tuesday, May 25, 2021. Investment Property - All FICO/LTVs: (1.500). Second Home All LTVs - (1.750).
PennyMac updated its Non-Delegated Quick Reference Guide which contains important information to reference when working with PennyMac. You can access this document at: https://www.gopennymac.com/tools/non-delegated-resources
The PennyMac Correspondent Group posted Announcement 21-41 addressing recent Freddie Mac updates related to No Cash-Out seasoning requirements, Cash-Out requirements when LLC or LP is title holder and use of future long-term disability income.
In Announcement 21-40, the PennyMac Correspondent Group outlines its acceptance of conforming conventional loans closed with eMortgages including those that utilize Remote Online Notarization (“RON”).
Carrington Correspondent provided an overview of HUD’s guideline clarifications for certain Non-Permanent Residents applying for FHA-insured mortgages in Announcement 21-0023
Wells Fargo Funding updated policy, effective June 28th, to include requirements for conventional Conforming, Prior Approval underwritten loans to borrowers employed as bank examiners and engaged on a Wells Fargo account. These will require additional review by Wells Fargo Funding and must meet the following requirements: subject property is occupied as a primary residence, terms and conditions of the Loan are the same as those offered to all other borrowers.
Chase Correspondent Lending announced its requirements for the Revised General Qualified Mortgage (QM) Rule for Agency and Non-Agency Loans delivered to Chase for purchase. Review Chase Correspondent Lending Online Guides, Bulletin CB21-25, for details.
As of June 1st, USDA requires submission of the redesigned URLA for all new loan requests. AmeriHome issued a reminder to Sellers that in order to avoid delays in the loan review process the matching MISMO3.4 file must be included with the new URLA.
Capital Markets
It was a tightly traded day in the bond market yesterday, though not for a lack of news. Headlines included reports the Fed will start its conversation about when it might be appropriate to start tapering its asset purchases at its meeting next week (or maybe the one in July, who knows), G7 finance ministers committing to support a global minimum tax of at least 15 percent, and Treasury Secretary Yellen suggesting the administration's $4 trillion spending plan would be good for the economy even if it leads to higher inflation and higher interest rates. It would seem investors are waiting for Thursday’s inflation data in the form of the consumer price index before making any major moves. Remember, year-over-year comparisons are set to be noisy given the lockdown of a year ago.
Today’s economic calendar is already underway with NFIB small business optimism for May (-.2 to 99.6) and the April trade deficit ($68.9 billion). The Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest Forbearance and Call Volume Survey revealed that the total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by 2 bps to 4.16 percent of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week as of May 30, 2021. According to MBA’s estimate, 2.1 million homeowners are in forbearance plans. Later this morning brings Redbook same store sales for the week ending June 5 and job openings from JOLTS for April. Today’s MBS purchase schedule sees the Desk conducting two operations targeting up to $5.2 billion 30-year 2 percent and 2.5 percent between GNIIs and UMBS30s. We begin the day with Agency MBS prices better by .125-.250 and the 10-year yielding 1.52 after closing last night at 1.57 percent.
Jobs
What makes a superhero truly super? Their tools. It’s the same for loan originators. In today’s fast-paced marketplace, it’s imperative that you’re equipped with the proper tools to deliver efficient results — and at a Motto Mortgage office, you always will be. When you have leading-edge LOS and CRM platforms that streamline the process, compelling marketing assets and hundreds of loan products to solve your clients’ needs, it’s easy to be the local mortgage professional borrowers seek to guide them home. If you’re interested in joining our team of super loan originators, we’re growing in FL, CA, TX, OH, AR, KY, SC, UT, NV, and WA!
“As wemlo℠ continues to expand our services (hi Missouri and Georgia!), we’ve nearly doubled our team of loan processors this year. The good news? We're still hiring. Backed by one of the largest names in real estate, wemlo offers the unique opportunity to work within a rapidly growing startup… From anywhere in the U.S.! If you are results-oriented and have a passion for mortgage loan processing, we’d love to hear from you. Click here to learn more about joining our #teamlo. NMLS ID 1853218.
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