Tip-jar humor seen here in Chicago at a coffee shop: “Afraid of Change? Leave It Here.” Sure recessions typically mean lower rates, but are you okay waiting until that happens? TransUnion tells us that 196 million people in the United States use credit cards. Credit cards can be a valuable tool but for nearly everyone who keeps a balance on them, their rates are moving higher. On the flip side, here’s a way to add a little value to your clients. Thank you to Cory Tona who sent, “At Hometown, we have to send uncashed checks to the state of CA. The state holds them for two years or so until they are claimed. If they are not claimed, CA keeps the money. I did a quick search using my name and I had a few checks to claim. Same with my partner. It has gone around the office and some folks are finding thousands of dollars! In a time when a lot of mortgage folks are laid off, sharing this website might really help some folks. They may have money they didn’t know they had!” California isn’t alone, and a quick DuckDuckGo search shows Florida, Texas, New York, and every other state has a similar site for you to pass along to friends and family and clients, adding value. (Today’s podcast is available here and this week’s podcast is sponsored by Richey May, a recognized leader in providing specialized advisory, audit, tax, technology and other services in the mortgage industry and in banking.)

Lender and Broker Products, Services, and Software

Lakeview Loan Servicing, LLC (Lakeview) is honored to be named the new Master Servicer for all Homebuyer Loan Programs (including Hometown Heroes) of the Florida Housing Finance Corporation (FHFC), beginning with reservations on Monday, October 3, 2022. If you are already an approved and active lender with Lakeview, we will have 3 training sessions prior to launch (Sept. 22nd, 26th & 28th) and one more post-launch (Oct. 11th). If you are not an approved and active Lakeview lender, please contact Lakeview for an application and lender agreement. Please contact your VP of Business Development with any questions.

Does your current loan application have a 90% completion rate? In a competitive market, lenders must maximize every borrower lead. Maxwell Point of Sale delivers a game-changing digital experience to help you attract, convert, retain, and delight borrowers like never before. The Maxwell QuickApply™ feature allows borrowers to pre-fill required fields by simply inputting their zip code and last four digits of their social security number, cutting time to complete the application and leading to an over 90% application completion rate. With other built-in options, such as a Spanish-language application, a powerful eClose solution, and HELOC abilities, Maxwell is a powerful differentiator for lenders in a tough market. Ready to close more loans than your competitors? Schedule a call with our team to learn more about Maxwell Point of Sale and start turning more leads into borrowers.

In today’s market, lenders need every advantage to lower production costs and optimize the manufacturing process. Lender Toolkit's PowerTools™️ are the perfect fit to optimize the mortgage manufacturing process by reducing time & clicks, improving efficiency, increasing Compliance & Accuracy, reducing costs, and much more! Code Wizard, one of our most popular tools, is a powerful tool for writing advanced code in Milestone Conditions, Field Triggers, or any other Encompass Business Rule Configuration screen. Complex code can be instantly tested and modified, vastly reducing administrator time and improving accuracy. Saving Encompass Administrators hours of time up front can result in higher-quality business rule logic and a more maintainable system overall. Interested in a more efficient LOS? Get PowerTools™️ Schedule a demo today with one of our experts!

Meet the #1 Ranked Bank at the National MBA Conference. PCB Bank has been ranked the #1 publicly traded bank in the U.S. by Bank Director. PCB earned the top spot among the nation’s 300 largest financial institutions by scoring high marks, with $2,150MM in total assets, 1.96% Return on Assets, 16.52% Return on Equity, 11.9% in Tangible Common Equity/Assets, .06% in Non-performing Assets and 122.7% Total Shareholder Return. PCB Bank proudly provides flexible funding solutions to mortgage bankers throughout the U.S. through warehouse lending lines of credit. We can serve anyone from emerging bankers to mid-tier correspondent lenders, and because of our parent company’s success and our affordable pricing, you can pass savings along to your customers. We look forward to being at MBA Annual 22 in Nashville on October 23-26 and would love to meet you! Visit us or email Ashley Roulaine to book a meeting with us.

Are you or loan officers in your branch struggling to consistently close 5 loans per month? Do you need scripts, systems, and ideas to recession-proof your business and gain momentum heading into 2023? Check out the Win By Noon Operating System 90-day group coaching program. Todd Bookspan has coached some of the mortgage industry’s top loan officers and closed over a 5,500 loans for over a billion $ in his career. He is launching the next session on October 4th. The price is tiered based on production and starts at $99 per month. Watch the Q&A video here.

TPO Products

AmeriHome Mortgage is the largest bank-owned correspondent investor in the country and offers a full suite of Agency, Government and Portfolio Non-Agency products, both delegated and non-delegated, including Temporary Buydowns and affordable lending products to give their clients more options to qualify buyers! AmeriHome’s Non-Delegated team will be at the NAMB convention in Las Vegas Oct 7-9, so make sure you connect with them to hear about their Q4 launch of VA loans, Closing Docs solution, and, through AmeriHome’s relationship with Indecomm, access to IncomeGenius®. IncomeGenius® can automate your income calculations for complex self-employed borrowers and identify key missing documents, all before you submit the loan! As a subsidiary of Western Alliance Bank, AmeriHome also offers Western Alliance Bank solutions to their clients, such as traditional warehouse lines, MSR financing, note finance and treasury management solutions. Reach out to learn more about how a relationship could benefit your business. Western Alliance Bank, Member FDIC.

The Refi Boom is here at Newfi Wholesale with its revolutionary, one-of-a-kind new product, Pinnacles Step-Up Mortgage! Do you have Non-QM or Jumbo clients that want a lower monthly payment on a 30 Yr. Fixed Rate Loan? Review your current and closed loan pipeline for opportunities to save your borrowers more money in a rising rate environment with the Pinnacles Step-Up Mortgage! Connect with your Account Executive or Dan Bayer, SVP Non-QM Strategy & Development to run the numbers on your customers and see how they could save thousands in monthly payments during the first year alone.

Capital Markets

The likelihood of a “soft landing” has come down following the latest FOMC meeting on Wednesday. Things couldn't have been more hawkish with the Fed's "dot plot" showing a benchmark overnight interest rate of 4.4% by the end of this year, as well as a terminal rate of 4.6% in 2023 (up from 3.25% and 3.8%, respectively). Lower growth forecasts and higher inflation estimates were also included in the projections, with the unemployment rate going up to 4.4% and leading to job losses of more than 1M (assuming no change in the size of the U.S. workforce).

"The deceleration in housing prices that we're seeing should help bring sort of prices more closely in line with rents and other housing market fundamentals. And, you know, that's a good thing," Fed Chair Powell said. "For the longer term, what we need is supply and demand to get better aligned, so that housing prices go up at a reasonable level, at a reasonable pace, and that people can afford houses again.” This statement obviously helps the case of those who believe that the housing market have to go through a correction to get back to that place.

It appears as though the front-end of the yield curve is rising toward the expected terminal Fed Funds target rates. We saw yields throughout the yield curve hit fresh highs for the year yesterday, not good news for those hoping for a break from rising interest rates. Central banks around the globe, from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to the Swiss National Bank, and the Bank of England, enacted rate hikes yesterday. Domestically, we saw a low level of initial jobless claims, a leading indicator, which gives the Fed a basis to maintain an aggressive line with its rate hikes. Separately, the Leading Economic Index was down 0.3 percent in August when it was expected to decrease 0.1 percent after decreasing a revised 0.5 percent in July.

With no scheduled market-moving news on tap, we begin Friday with Agency MBS prices down/worse .250-.375 and the 10-year yielding 3.78 after closing yesterday at 3.71 percent as expectations of future Fed moves continue and on overseas trading activity.

Employment; Companies Wanted

“Berkshire Bank has had significant growth in mortgage and home equity lending, and we are looking to expand. We offer a broad range of products including first-time homebuyer portfolio with down payment assistance, Conventional, FHA, VA, Doctors Program, Jumbo & more. Our operations team is delivering commitments consistently in less than 10 days & we are committed to offering loan officer best in class marketing. Berkshire knows where you work matters! As part of our expansion, we are looking for Producing Sales Managers & Loan Officers in Albany NY, CT, Springfield MA & Rhode Island. The Producing Sales Manager is responsible for: recruiting, developing, and managing a top performing sales team; coaching and development of all loan officers on their team; following policies and procedures while meeting sales goals and objectives. Responsible for building external relationships to generate new business from realtors, builders, other professional and personal contacts. Please send your resume, if interested.”

A strong Northeast and Florida privately-owned mortgage Lender looking to expand in the area and is looking to purchase smaller brokers or hire additional Loan Officers. Top technology for leads, compliance, security. FNMA/FHLMC, FHA & VA Underwriting and closings done in-house. Strong pricing. Portfolio programs available also. Loan Officers receive Base plus Commission. Other benefits include health, dental, 401K, disability, life insurance. For information contact Greg at 978-815-6385.

National Mortgage Lender Looking to Acquire IMB! A leading privately-owned national mortgage lender is seeking to acquire a thriving IMB. With over 130 retail branches nationwide, this lender services $10.5 billion in loans. The company is licensed in all 50 states and retains nearly 100 percent of service rights on its mortgages to Fannie, Freddie, and Ginnie Mae. The lender supports every facet of marketing, including lead generation campaigns, social media, content creation, PR, events partner programs, and more. If you’re interested in learning more, you can fill in your information here.

Synergy One Lending Welcomes Sarah Kohut, VP, Private Client Group! Synergy One Lending is thrilled to announce that top producer Sarah Kohut has joined as VP, Private Client Group! Sarah is a $100MM+ originator and has established herself as an industry-leader in affinity corporate accounts and will use this expertise in growing this division of the company along with coaching other loan officers to do the same. Asked why she chose Synergy One, Kohut said, “Simple: The ability to make a difference, to have an innovative idea and be given the opportunity to see it through!” CEO Steve Majerus added, “Sarah is a force to be reckoned with, so to have her on the team is an honor and we expect significant growth in this market opportunity for us in the years ahead.” Interested in what has the industry’s finest choosing Synergy One? Reach out to Aaron Nemec or Ben Green today!

Are you losing more loans than you’re winning? Does your pricing seem out of line with the market? Are you wanting to take your Originating career to the next level but feel held back? When an originator hits a plateau it’s because the platform they are in doesn’t allow them to grow beyond what they’ve already achieved. One of the Top Originating teams in the nation is looking to help 1 Originator achieve their goals and reach the next level of their career. Looking for a new opportunity is scary, but with our proven track record, individual coaching, dedicated operations and unmatched pricing fear turns into excitement! Top producers have some advantages not available to everyone. It’s time to give yourself those same advantages, start dominating your market, and take your career to the next level. If you close $20M or more per year and are looking for a breakthrough, contact Anjelica Nixt or click here to schedule a confidential conversation.