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HOUSINGWIRE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF SARAH WHEELER MANAGING EDITOR JAMES KLEIMANN SENIOR REAL ESTATE REPORTER MATTHEW BLAKE SENIOR MORTGAGE REPORTERS BILL CONROY, GEORGIA KROMREI REAL ESTATE REPORTER BROOKLEE HAN MORTGAGE REPORTERS FLÁVIA FURLAN NUNES, MARIA VOLKOVA LEAD ANALYST LOGAN MOHTASHAMI CONTRIBUTORS LORI BREWER, PHIL KING, NATALIE MULLEN, RICK SHARGA
REALTRENDS DIRECTOR OF REAL ESTATE MARK ADAMS EDITORIAL DIRECTOR TRACEY VELT PROGRAM MANAGER LIZ SMITH EXECUTIVE MANAGER, CEO PROGRAMS JILL OLMSTED FINLEDGER ASSISTANT EDITOR ALEX ROHA REPORTER JOE BURNS REVERSE MORTGAGE EDITOR CHRIS CLOW
4 ❱ HOUSINGWIRE
HW MEDIA CORPORATE CEO CLAYTON COLLINS COO DIEGO SANCHEZ DIRECTOR OF FINANCE ANDREW KEY DIRECTOR OF PEOPLE AND CULTURE AMY BEARD DIRECTOR OF GROWTH CAREN KARRIS DIRECTOR OF EVENTS TRACY GARCIA SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER EMILY CARPENTER GRAPHIC DESIGNER BRANDON JOHNSON DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT HOLDEN PAGE UX/UI MANAGER BO FRIZE WEB DIRECTOR BRENT DRIGGERS AD OPS COORDINATOR ELIZABETH LEDOUX HW+ MANAGING EDITOR BRENA NATH MARKETING PROGRAM MANAGER LESLEY COLLINS MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR SARAHI DE LA CUESTA PRODUCT MANAGER MATTHEW STAFFORD GROWTH COORDINATOR SYDNEY SMITH EVENTS COORDINATOR KATIE GALBRAITH BUSINESS ANALYST WHITNI ROWE SALES SVP SALES AND OPERATIONS JENNIFER WATSON LAWS WESTERN CHRISTI HUMPHRIES, LINDSLEY HARRIS, CASS HECKEL CENTRAL & NORTHEAST MICHAEL ORME, SAMANTHA STEIN, ADINA RITTER SOUTHERN TAMARA WREN, AMINA JAHIC STRATEGIC ACCOUNT DIRECTOR HALEY HESS SALES MARKETING MANAGER TOD MOHNEY PODCASTS AND MULTIMEDIA JUNIOR DIGITAL PRODUCER ELISSA BRANCH CONTENT SOLUTIONS MANAGING EDITOR MALEESA SMITH CONTENT EDITOR JESSICA DAVIS WEBINAR MANAGER ALLISON LAFORGIA ASSOCIATE EDITOR MARNI DAVIMES
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MARCH 2022
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Innovation vs. disruption INNOVATION AND DISRUPTION are two words
ruption the biggest threat that mortgage lenders
that you see time and time again when it comes to
face or is the bigger threat resistance or hesitancy
the housing industry. In 2013 when I first joined
to adopt innovative solutions? He defines the dif-
HousingWire, conversations focused a lot on how
ference between the two in the piece, which you’ll
antiquated and behind the housing sector is com-
have to go read for yourself, but keep this ques-
pared to any other business sector.
tion in mind as you check out this year ’s winners.
I’d say this concept hasn’t been true for a
Congrats to the companies honored this year!
while now though. After being a part of the award
P.S. You might have noticed the QR code on
selection committee for this year ’s list of Tech100
the top left of the cover. To experience the inter-
mortgage and real estate winners, it’s easy to see
active Tech100 cover, download the free Adobe
how the housing space isn’t simply launching new
Aero app on your phone and then scan the QR
products and tools, it’s sometimes even leading
code!
tech conversations — looking at you, blockchain. Instead, a more interesting conversation that is happening in this space is the question that HW Media CEO Clayton Collins presents in the feature tor Tracey Velt on this year ’s class of Tech100 winners that starts on page 26. Collins asked: Is dis-
Brena Nath HW+ Managing Editor @BrenaNath
Tweets From The Streets Not a fan of the “Real estate made easy” type messaging many #proptech cos. use. Because, really, real estate is never easy (even the new ways of doing it) “Real estate is hard, and we’re uniquely prepared to help you succeed” seems more honest, and potentially more effective. 4 5 50 by @1000wattbrian
MARCH 2022
The information contained within should not be construed as a recommendation for any course of action regarding legal, financial or accounting matters. All written materials are disseminated with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal advice or other professional services. HW Media does not guarantee the accuracy of information provided, and is not liable for any damages, losses or other detriment that may result from the use of these materials. © 2022 by HW Media, LLC • All rights reserved
5 ❱ HOUSINGWIRE
that he co-wrote with RealTrends Editorial Direc-
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Content
Technology
Community
People Movers
March 2022
12 Open Mortgage named Scott Harkless to the newly created position of chief revenue officer.
Take 5
13 Besides helping lead Nexsys Technologies, Cheri Lines is also passionate about travel.
Proptech Profile
14 This company goes beyond helping homebuyers move into their new abode, they help them maintain it.
Event Calendar
15 ICE Experience 2022 brings thousands of professionals together in Las Vegas for a power-packed conference.
Inside Agent
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16 Debbie Nisson grew up in Salt Lake City and has seen firsthand the escalation of housing demand.
Local Intel
18 Cold weather and rural settings are not stopping home shoppers from flocking to these cities.
Trade Desk
48 NAMMBA announced the creation the Accredited Social Impact Lender Certification Program.
Mortgage
52 Digital lender Milo has 5,800 borrowers on its waiting list to receive a crypto mortgage.
Housing Markets
56 While the population has tumbled over the decades, agents still scramble to meet demand in this city.
Secondary Market
60 As 2022 opens, MSR sales are heating up, with one lender dominating: Freedom Mortgage.
MARCH 2022
Real Estate
64 Here’s how Realogy’s stance on commissions and court declaration caused trepidation.
Economics
68 Real estate investors often say that there are opportunities in every market. Is this true in 2022?
Kudos
72 The Homes for Heroes foundation celebrates helping 50,000 community heroes buy or sell a home.
Parting Shot
74 Tech innovation in action as this CubiCasa scan showcases the power of its technology.
features
f
26 Innovation leads, profits follow, progress is inevitable Here are the 2022 Mortgage and Real Estate Tech100 winners, along with a look behind this year’s winners and findings.
36
The fate of HUD
The external and internal debate on the department’s priorities.
42 Mortgage Marketing Solutions The two companies featured in this section offer tools to support lenders in their marketing efforts, empowering lenders to provide excellent customer service.
Company Spotlight: Pennymac
46
10 Critical metrics to track in a purchase market
Are shopping signals the secret to mortgage marketing?
Millennial homebuyers get creative in the hot housing market
By Lori Brewer
By Natalie Mullen
By Phil King
20
22
24
MARCH 2022
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Pennymac has long served as one of the mortgage industry’s leading partners and has grown to become the nation’s top correspondent investor and the No. 6 wholesale lender.
The competitive edge you need to stay ahead. HW+ members get exclusive access to: Premium Content
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Marketing executives driving outsized businessFULLperformance PAGE AD in mortgage and real estate NOMINATIONS OPEN
MARCH 8 - 25
PEOPLE MOVERS
Scott Harkless
| Open Mortgage | Chief Revenue Officer
Open Mortgage named Scott Harkless to the newly created position of chief revenue officer, where he will oversee all sales functions, including wholesale and retail in both the reverse and forward divisions. Harkless’ background includes managing joint ventures and marketing agreements with real estate professionals and builders. Mostly recently, he worked at American Advisors Group as the vice president for enterprise partnerships.
Ryan Downs |
Unison | President
Unison hired PayPal/eBay veteran Ryan Downs as president to help the company strategically scale to strengthen homeownership. In his new role, Downs is charged with managing and growing the company’s day-to-day operations, and joins the company after a decade as president and CEO of Proxibid. Prior to Proxibid, Downs held a number of leadership roles on PayPal and eBay’s executive teams where he oversaw global operations.
John Lee |
Divvy Homes | Chief Operating Officer
Divvy Homes announced a series of leadership appointments to kick off the new year, which included hiring John Lee as the company's new chief operating officer. Lee is responsible for the oversight of all operational functions of the business and providing strategic vision to the organization. He joins the company after nearly eight years at Blackstone where he last served as a managing director in the private equity group, and has also worked at TPG and Merrill Lynch.
Shirley Lin |
Divvy Homes | Chief Product Officer
Divvy Homes also announced that it promoted Shirley Lin to chief product officer. Joining the company as vice president of product in January 2021, she has helped accelerate the company’s next phase of product development, designing and implementing proprietary capabilities in areas such as customer underwriting, property valuation and conversion. In her new executive position, Lin will lead a group of 11 across product and design who will focus on driving growth through differentiated customer and agent experiences.
Jeffery Patterson |
CLPHA’s Board of Directors | President
The Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA) announced that Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) CEO Jeffery Patterson has been named president of CLPHA’s board of directors after previously serving as the board’s vice president. Tapping into his experience serving as CMHA’s CEO for ten years, Patterson is responsible for a $230 million dollar budget, approximately 750 employees, 10,500 units of housing, 15,000 Housing Choice Vouchers and more.
Jarred Talmadge |
Mid America Mortgage | Western Reverse Mortgage Sales Manager
Mid America Mortgage appointed Jarred Talmadge as Western Reverse Mortgage Sales Manager, as he takes on managing the expansion of Mid America’s reverse mortgage presence in the Western U.S. Bringing more than 25 years of mortgage industry experience to the position, he has spent the last three years specifically focused on reverse mortgages, most recently working at the American Advisors Group, where he was the Market Sales Manager for the Rocky Mountain region.
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Jessica Mackenzie |
Standard Communities | Senior Director, Capital Markets
Affordable housing investor and developer Standard Communities has promoted Jessica Mackenzie to Senior Director of Capital Markets. Originally joining the company in 2019, Mackenzie is now responsible for the structuring and closing of Standard Communities’ transaction financing. During her time at the company, she has arranged the financing for over 30 transactions with a total capitalization of over $1.5 billion. MacKenzie has also served as a director in the Community Development Finance Group at Union Bank.
MARCH 2022
TAKE 5
Cheri Lines VP, Technology Services at Amrock
Serving as vice president of Technology Services at Nexsys Technologies, Cheri Lines and her team build and maintain the technology initiatives at the fintech company. As a 2021 Woman of Influence and leader at a Tech100 company, Lines oversees innovating industry-changing products and finding the best ways to bring them to market. Helping lead the rapid growth of tech adoption at the company, Lines’ technology team worked to ensure the technology infrastructure could support the housing market’s record-breaking demand the last few years. Below, Lines answers five questions that give an inside look at her life:
1. After I am finished with my career, I hope people remember... how much I really cared about my teams and their career growth. Leadership to me is one of the most important aspects of my job. 2. People would be surprised to know I... won state championships two times with my high school dance team. The first time around we were the unexpected winners and the years following the school remained very competitive and won several times after we graduated. 3. My biggest business success this year... is despite all of the challenges we have faced during COVID-19, our company and teams were laser-focused on enhancing our electronic closing products features through growth of Hybrid, IPEN and Remote Online Notarization, which resulted in growing the amount of loans closed digitally across the board. 4. Besides my job and family, my greatest passion is... traveling as much as I possibly can. That has been difficult the last two years but I'm looking forward to planning more trips to visit places that I have never been or go back to some of my favorite places to experience it all over again.
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5. I feel like a success at my job when... I see my team members learn something new, accomplish a big goal or execute on an important project for our business stakeholders.
MARCH 2022
PROPTECH PROFILE
Software-as-a-service proptech MooveGuru aims to not only help homebuyers move into their new abode, but to help them maintain it along the way. The company provides a platform to help homeowners with moving costs and services, triggering emails ahead of the move for local resources and even discounts. The tech is sold to agents and loan officers who then provide these tools to their customers. In 2021, MooveGuru acquired HomeKeep- Kathleen Kuhn, president of MooveGuru, and Scott Oakley, head guru at MooveGuru. er, a home professional referral platform, and launched YourHomeHub, an “everything home” consumer portal that can monitor home information, store documents, generate home repair estimates and find local contractors. Just 180 days after launch, YourHomeHub expanded to 20 states thanks to its revolutionary franchise option that gives existing MooveGuru users exclusive rights to market in the territory sold to them.
Things to Know Founder: Scott Oakley Established: 2016 Headquarters: Roswell, Georgia Funding to date: $3.1 million Main/Lead investors: Atlanta Technology Angels
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How has the MooveGuru franchise option changed the way you all approach proptech? “Most people think of a franchise as a hotel or a sub shop or maybe a cleaning service, but franchising is really a model for business expansion. “When we look at our go-to market strategy, we can do what we've done traditionally, which is hire salespeople and go into the marketplace and pursue the thousands of real estate professionals directly. However, what we actually chose to do is sell territories. And those franchisees become our sales force while we build and support the product. They are our first line of sales in the marketplace, building relationships and bringing us new ideas for new products. “Franchising is a great platform for many, not only for distributing your product, but really getting great like-minded, very motivated individuals into your company to help grow the business as well.” - Kathleen Kuhn, President of MooveGuru
MARCH 2022
EVENT CALENDAR
LISTEN NOW
ICE Experience 2022
Ryan Serhant predicts death of iBuyers, agent of the future
March 14-16, 2022 Cost to attend: $1,595 Presented by ICE Mortgage Technologies LOCATION: LAS VEGAS Bringing together thousands of business management teams, closers and funders, compliance managers, developers and more in Las Vegas, ICE Experience 2022 is a top leading technology conference for the residential mortgage industry. While the power-packed conference is only open to current ICE customers and partners who are exhibiting or sponsoring the event, the company’s large market share makes it a go-to networking event for those looking to connect in the industry. From in-depth training to notable keynote speakers, the event is focused on getting industry leaders together to exchange best practices and strategies for success, unveiling the latest technologies and bringing its expansive community together.
ALTA Springboard March 15-16, 2022 Cost to attend: ALTA member: $625 l ALTA non-member: $825 Presented by ALTA LOCATION: TAMPA, FLORIDA The American Land Title Association’s annual Springboard conference is taking place in Tampa, Florida this year, as it brings together title insurance and settlement industry professionals who are looking to take their own careers and businesses to the next level. During the two-day event, attendees will have easy ways to connect and network with other industry leaders. The conference’s unique format allows each attendee to customize their experience through connections and conversations on the most important issues affecting the industry.
Ryan Serhant of SERHANT, a New York-based brokerage, joins the Real Trending podcast for an exclusive interview. Serhant founded his real estate brokerage in September 2020. He speaks frankly to RealTrends, HousingWire’s sister company, about his opinion of the iBuyer business model, his ideal real estate agent, the future of real estate teams and more. Here is a small preview of the interview with Serhant. The transcript below has been lightly edited for length and clarity: Tracey Velt: What is the biggest misconception those in the real estate industry have about your brokerage? Ryan Serhant: That I took my team and I made it a little bit bigger and now I don’t have to pay a split to the house. I don’t think that could be further from the truth. And I’ve been pretty quiet about our expansion plans. I’m excited about this year because I think a lot of people are going to be very surprised. The same way when I launched, right? We kept it under wraps for like a year, and we came out, [in an article in] The Wall Street Journal in the middle of COVID-19. I believe very strongly that if you are in any type of sales, if you are in a media company first, you are a blacksmith. There is no future, right? You cannot scale or depend upon personal relationships anymore because people make personal relationships with their phones first. And the way of the broker has changed. There’s a lot of turnover right now with a generational gap. My future agent, the one I’m building for today, who I care about the most isn’t 35 or 45 or 55 with lots of sales experience. We built the business right now the last year with people that have been in the business for at least five years. But our future, my future rockstar agent right now is 15 years old. Scan the code to listen now!
“Come ready, with content, with engagement skills and be presentable. Within seconds, you either have their attention, or you don't. First impressions are very important and with virtual meetings, even more so. Transitioning into in-person meetings requires you to be respectful of others' personal space and the new etiquette of greeting someone with handshakes versus fist bumps or not.” — Ike Suri, Chairman and CEO at FundingShield
MARCH 2022
15 ❱ HOUSINGWIRE
Event TIP
INSIDE AGENT
Debbie Nisson Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Utah Properties debbie@debbienisson.com 4544 Abinadi Road Salt Lake City, Utah 84124 $5,900,000 4 bed, 4 bath 8,828 sqft
By Matthew Blake
16 ❱ HOUSINGWIRE
DEBBIE NISSON grew up in Salt Lake City and she has seen firsthand a gradual escalation of housing demand, that has become sudden amid the pandemic. In December 2021, the median sale price was $490,000, a whopping 24% climb from December 2020. Nisson partly deals in the almost literal upper terrain of this trend — the homes over a mile above sea level with views of both the city’s downtown and the Wasatch Mountain range. The home Nisson has been shopping on Abinadi Road, for example, is located in an area called Olympus Cove because it is near Mount Olympus, one of the tallest peaks along the Wasatch Front. “If somebody is looking for a luxury property, this is probably the best view,” Nisson said. “There are completely unobstructed and panoramic views of the sunset, as it has floor to ceiling windows all along the west side.” Nisson acknowledges that there is a “small buyer pool” for a home with a near $6 million price tag, but she remarked that amid COVID-19 more high-end purchasers from California, New York and Illinois are exploring Utah. Nisson has not always been an agent but is now in her 12th year. “I had worked in marketing and communications before I got into real estate,” she said. “I was a single mom, and this was an easy way to transfer my skill set. It is such a relationship business.”
MARCH 2022
G AT H E R I N G O F E A G L E S
2022
by
JUNE
26-29 COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO
LOCATION: THE BROADMOOR
Year after year, this event provides essential business strategy advice for the nation’s top residential real estate firm CEOs, presidents, and their C-level leadership team, as well as Realtor® association executives, and senior management from national franchises, relocation firms, and referral networks.
KEYNOTE LARRY KENDALL NINJA SELLING
DealMakers by
Find out more information at https://events.realtrends.com/gathering-of-eagles
Interested in sponsoring? Contact Jennifer Laws jlaws@housingwire.com
LOCAL INTEL
By Matthew Blake
Cannon Beach, Oregon
18 ❱ HOUSINGWIRE
Northampton, Massachusetts Nestled in Massachusetts’ Pioneer Valley, the town of Northampton, despite its quiet, rural setting, cannot escape the chaotic housing market conditions gripping the country. “We have had a huge influx of people from New York City, Boston and especially California, moving to the area and buying houses via FaceTime,” local Sotheby’s agent Meghan McCormick said. Attracting homebuyers to the area are Northampton’s strong arts and culture scene, the availability of outdoor recreation at the nearby Holyoke and Mount Tom ranges, top-ranking school districts and proximity to the Five College Consortium which consists of Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, Hampshire College and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. “It’s just a very friendly and welcoming place,” McCormick said. “People who might not feel comfortable in certain parts of the country feel very comfortable moving here.” The area’s warm atmosphere and bounty of attractions have resulted in the town’s median list price closing out 2021 with a 21.5% year-over-year increase, according to Realtor.com. MARCH 2022
Eureka, California
Located an hour and a half northwest of Portland, the ocean-side community is known for its picturesque beaches and coastline. For this reason, local RE/MAX broker Alaina Giguiere said that traditionally it is a second-home market, so when the COVID-19 pandemic hit two years ago, she was prepared for the worst. “We thought it was going to be a really horrific year, but I’ve had the best year I’ve had in my 21-year career in real estate,” Giguiere said. According to Giguiere, home prices in the area have almost doubled in the past six years. “What we see here is extraordinarily low inventory and very high demand,” she said. “One of the agents I have helped her clients win was a house against 18 other offers, but they went $100,000 over asking.” With remote work capabilities making it possible for people to work from anywhere, Giguiere said she is seeing more and more buyers give in to the allure of Cannon Beach. “It is truly spectacular,” she said. “People come here because it is just magical.”
Anchorage, Alaska
Temperatures might be well below freezing and the sun may only be up for a handful of hours a day, but this winter, it seems like nothing is stopping buyers from hunting for their dream home in Anchorage. “You’d be surprised at the amount of people who can just see past the snow and the dark,” Megan Daniel, a local Keller Williams agent said. “Normally, we see a pretty intense seasonality shift with our winters here in Alaska being what they are and we are seeing a slight slowdown from the absolute craziness of this summer, but not nearly as much as we would expect based on historical trends.” While the area’s natural beauty and military bases, such at Fort Richardson Army base, have historically been a draw, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic saw many individuals who had dreamed of moving to the “Last Frontier ” finally take the plunge. “All of a sudden, these people who have always wanted to move to Alaska are going, ‘Well why not now?’” Daniel said. “They can work from home or some of them have just decided that they don’t want to return to their nine-to-five office job and are either retiring early or reinventing themselves and just finally doing what they want to do with their lives.”
Sitting right on the banks of the mighty Mississippi, Memphis has long been a hub of industry, music and barbeque. Jenny Vergos, a local Marx-Bensdorf agent, says it is these qualities plus the relatively low cost of living attracting buyers to Memphis. “We don’t have a state income tax in Tennessee, which makes us very appealing to many,” Vergos said. “Our downtown is typically very vibrant, but definitely a bit less so with COVID and we are the headquarters for FedEx, which makes us a hub for so much.” Although the market in Memphis is cooler than nearby Nashville, the median sales price of homes in the area rose 16.3% in 2021 to $204,600, according to the Memphis Area Association of Realtors, and Vergos says she expects this price growth to continue through the spring of 2022. “I don’t see things slowing down,” she said. “We don’t have a ton of inventory right now, so we are hoping that more people decide to put their houses on the market this spring. With the pandemic ramping up again and people seeing work from home as even more of a permanent situation they may feel the need for more room in their home and will hopefully decide that it is time to list.”
MARCH 2022
19 ❱ HOUSINGWIRE
From Boise, Idaho, to Burlington, Vermont, locals are blaming an influx of California exiles for soaring home prices. But the Californians wishing to remain in state while still escaping high fire danger areas and rising living costs are settling in the coastal Northern California town of Eureka. High levels of demand have put increased stress on the already tight housing inventory and resulted in almost constant bidding wars. “It is literally every house,” local Ming Tree, Realtors agent Annalise von Borstel said. “If it is priced lower, you know there is going to be 14 to 15 offers. If is it priced higher, there may be only two or three to compete against, but I would say 99% are multiple offer situations.” With local Humboldt State University now set to become California’s third polytechnic institution, von Borstel only expects conditions to worsen. “I wish I could say that we are about to get a ton of new housing, but there is nothing on the immediate horizon that is going to change our inventory situation,” she said. “Topographically and geographically, we are a very challenging place to build. There are a couple of projects on the horizon, but they haven’t broken ground yet.”
Memphis, Tennessee
1
COMMENTARY
0 Critical metrics to track in a purchase market As the industry transitions from a refinance market, here’s what lenders need to watch
20 ❱ HOUSINGWIRE
By Lori Brewer
Transport yourself back to 2019. It’s 9 a.m. You mortgage lenders indicated that two of their top-five concerns are suited, showered and seated behind a desk are “scaling and modernizing the loan manufacturing process in a bustling office. Industry newsletters are to better insulate against volume fluctuations” and “measuring reporting that mortgage lenders are tightening operations and employee productivity.” their belts as the cost to manufacture a loan Data-based performance management is critical to ensuring peaks at a decade high of $9,299. Then boom! In that each area of an organization is operating in tandem to meet March 2020 all of that changed. Lenders’ focus the needs of its customers and is staying profitable. To succeed in on tightly managing margins was replaced by a purchase market, lenders should track the following 10 metrics. the need to triage an unprecedented surge in refinance volume, which led to a recordIMPORTANT LEAD METRICS shattering $4.3 trillion in U.S. mortgage loan 1. Top referral sources: Purchase mortgage loan transactions originations, the largest annual volume on require a village compared to their refinance counterparts. And record since 2005. this village of referral partners is a vital source of lead generation. Now, after two years of drinking from a Now is the time for lenders to take inventory of businesses that firehose, mortgage lenders must pivot once have referred borrowers and also evaluate the landscape of again to succeed in the vastly different lending the prospective real estate agents, builders, insurance agents, landscape that lies ahead. financial advisers and settlement partners operating in the local In its December 2021 Mortgage Finance market. Setting networking goals and strategically pursuing Forecast, the Mortgage relationships with partners can generate a Bankers Association steady stream of business that is especially “Mortgage lenders indicated that (MBA) predicted total important in a purchase market. two of their top-five concerns mortgage originations 2. Referral source lead-to-fund conversion are ‘scaling and modernizing the rates: That said, not all referral partners are will fall 33.6% in 2022, loan manufacturing process to representing a decline in created equal. If you are putting a lot of better insulate against volume volume from $3.9 trillion energy into nurturing a referral partner who fluctuations’ and ‘measuring in 2021 to $2.6 trillion in sends you business, but those loans rarely operations and employee 2022. This precipitous make it to funding, then perhaps it is time drop in originations is to reallocate that energy to building inroads productivity.’ grounded in forecasts with different connections. Similarly, tracking that higher interest rates referral source lead-to-fund conversion rates will result in a 62.5% year-over-year decrease may uncover types of businesses that are more reliable sources in refinance volume and the rise of a purchase of qualified leads. In this case, it may be prudent to strengthen market. existing connections with successful partners or network with Amid our industry’s only constant — variability similar businesses. — it should come as no surprise that mortgage lenders are craving ways to more tightly IMPORTANT PIPELINE METRICS measure, monitor and optimize business and 3. New applications by purpose type (purchase and refinance): employee performance. Fannie Mae’s Q2 2021 Keeping a pulse on how purchase and refinance applications Mortgage Lender Sentiment Survey found that are trending is the single best indicator of near-term volume. If lenders’ top-two business concerns are process refinances are waning and purchase applications are not gaining streamlining and talent management. These steam, this can indicate a need for more lead generation activity, concerns were echoed in a survey conducted which can take many forms. by The Mortgage Collaborative, in which Lenders may want to increase advertising, deploy marketing
MARCH 2022
IMPORTANT PRODUCTION METRICS 6. Average days in pipeline: The average number of days it takes to go from application to funding provides insight into how well the loan manufacturing process is performing. Variances that cannot be explained by a shift in loan purpose type should be investigated to ensure that commitments to borrowers are upheld and staff has sufficient resources. By examining your loan pipeline by channel, loan purpose, loan program, position and individual, problem areas can quickly be identified. For instance, if portfolio loans are stalling at the ‘approved with conditions’ milestone, digging deeper can reveal why those particular loan programs are getting stuck. Perhaps underwriters are responding to the loan programs’ complexity by over-applying conditions, which in turn creates a lot of clean-up work before portfolio loans can be resubmitted and cleared to close. 7. Pull-through, lock to fund: Pullthrough and fallout data are essential to help identify where lenders are losing business, why it is happening and what steps can be taken to prevent future losses. Take, for instance, a common lender predicament last year: volume is high, but fallout has increased. A lender that is satisfied to simply attribute unusually high fallout to the COVID-19 market and wash their hands of it could be losing a large swath of good loans. On the other hand, a savvy lender may be able to dig deeper and save hundreds of millions of dollars in loan volume. Fallout after lock can put a major dent in profitability, therefore it is imperative that locked loans close and fund. 8. Average turn times, status-to-status: The average business days it takes to move between benchmark statuses in the lending process, such as application-toprocessing and processing-to-approval, indicates that a manager should take a deeper dive to see if there is a problem. For instance, if a processor’s times are longer than average, a look into her files may reveal a problem or it may show that she works exclusively on down payment assistance programs, which typically take 45-60 days. Ultimately, the data is important because it reveals where lenders should dig deeper.
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9. Customer satisfaction score: Most lenders measure performance based on volume and profitability metrics alone. But customer satisfaction scores provide a more well-rounded view into organizational and individual performance through customer feedback. It goes without saying that having happy borrowers is key to longevity and wordof-mouth referrals. Watching for low customer satisfaction scores and weeding out any bad actors will help strengthen the brand and grow production. 10. Average compensation paid per loan: Incentive compensation plans are a powerful tool for inspiring sales practices beneficial to business. Now that lenders are ramping up for a purchase market, compensation and bonus plans should be reviewed to ensure they are both competitive and drive the desired performance. Given that LOs have not had many opportunities to network and nurture industry relationships over the last two years, lenders could help them transition to a purchase market by incentivizing them to work with referral partners. This could be done by paying LOs additional bps when they do business with a real estate agent or builder over the next six months. At the end of the day, tracking the right metrics can help lenders intelligently trim the fat in the face of shrinking margins by running a more lean, efficient organization. From personnel management strategies to process optimization and beyond, data tells the story of daily business performance and enables management to take proactive steps to improve performance.
Bio: Lori Brewer serves as executive vice president and general manager at SimpleNexus.
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campaigns to past customers or encourage loan originators to get in the field and drum up new relationships. 4. Expiring locks trends: If the number of loans with locks expiring is trending up, this is a key indicator worth digging into. There are a multitude of reasons for increased lock expirations, some of which are internal, some of which are external to the organization and all of which need to be managed accordingly. When lock expirations trend up, it usually indicates an opportunity for stronger pipeline management. A common culprit of lock expirations is longer appraisal turnaround. Whereas refinance transactions frequently receive appraisal waivers, appraisals are required for the majority of purchase loans. Markets with insufficient appraisers may see lengthy or variable appraisal timelines and LOs should be coached to monitor loans accordingly. If lengthy processing or underwriting times are the cause of lock expirations, this is also worth drilling into. Perhaps there is a staffing, process or operational bottleneck that needs to be addressed. Whatever the cause — to ensure an organization is meeting customer expectations, maintaining positive investor relationships and running profitably — an uptick in lock expirations should always be addressed. 5. Pull-through, app-to-lock: Tracking app-to-lock pull-through provides insight into the number of borrowers who have committed to finishing the loan process and is one of the first two metrics that should be examined if volume is trending down (the other metric that should be examined is application volume). Low app-to-lock pull-through may have a number of causes. For instance, a branch may be pricing itself out of its market. Or perhaps borrowers are not being offered the loan programs they need, such as down payment assistance. If a branch is staffed with LOs whose sole or primary experience is refinance loans, lenders should consider offering training to ensure staff is equipped with the knowledge to sell loan programs relevant to their local market.
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COMMENTARY
re shopping signals the secret to mortgage marketing? The key components to empowering your mortgage marketing By Natalie Mullen
As we usher in a new era of galvanized homebuyers who are well-researched before making a move, personalizing the shopping experience is imperative to breakthrough. Educate your outreach by keying into shopping behavior and you can empower your mortgage marketing in the new year. MARKET OUTLOOK Although the rate of home price growth is slowing, appreciation remains robust. Supply shortages continue to put upward pressure on prices while rising 30-year rates continue to put downward pressure on refinance volumes. The refinance boom of 2021 has given way to the purchase market of 2022. The 30-year fixed-rate average clocked its 2021 high just before Thanksgiving, and the first few weeks of the new year registered the highest average rate since the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to consumer rate watchers. Though mortgage rates have gone up slightly, they still hover at bargain lows for consumers who are considering homebuying. Besides, we all know that buying a home is subjective, with personal finances and life events often weighing in more heavily than market conditions.
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A NEW GENERATION OF BUYERS Not only is the market pendulum swinging from
refinance to purchase, but we are also seeing a marked shift in who is buying. According to CoreLogic, millennials accounted for 51% of home-purchase mortgage applications in 2021. In fact, millennials have made up the largest share of home purchase mortgage applications since 2016. There is also an emerging influx of high-net-worth younger consumers buying high-end homes. Millennials, the 72 million Americans now ages 26 to 41 years old, are the most educated generation in history, have higher earnings than other generations, and are set to inherit more than any prior generation, according to Brookings Institute research. For lenders looking to win this next generation of customers, it’s more important than ever to understand the market and services this clientele needs. This younger generation of digital natives is entering one of the more expensive times of their lives with new higher-value homes and expanding families. With the trend of younger Americans purchasing expensive homes set to continue, there is an untapped opportunity to serve this demographic as they make big life purchases and create valuable long-term customers. At the other end of the spectrum, multigenerational and mixed family households have become more common, as Americans are increasingly “doubling up” to reduce housing costs. This trend is exacerbated perhaps by the aging of America and the growing desire to age in place. Regardless of the motivations behind the multigenerational trend, the traditional “nuclear family” is no longer the dominant household structure. And, sadly, the nation’s housing supply hasn’t kept up with demand. Economic indicators tell us we may be able to expect more
“Tappable equity, the amount available to homeowners while retaining at least 20% equity in their homes, rose by 32% last year.”
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USING DATA TO INFORM YOUR MARKETING Consumer shopping behavior has permanently changed, consumer expectations have changed, and our industry needs to adapt to those changes to stay competitive. Harvard Business Review conducted an oft quoted Lead Response Management Study a decade ago and follow-up studies by other organizations have since confirmed a whopping 78% of customers buy from the first company to connect with them, responding to their query. Are you familiar with the cocktail party analogy? You may have a chance at earning someone’s attention if they step in mid-conversation if the topic happens to be of interest to them. But your chances of earning their attention are much better if you talk directly to them about something they care about. This translates to the experiences consumers are having online with your brand. Behavioral data that informs lenders when their consumers are visiting mortgage-related websites can help “fill in the blanks” of information about clients and prospects to help you better understand their needs. Meet qualified leads and current customers where they are. Today’s homebuyers are in-market for what you are offering, and they’re signaling (through comparison shopping and engagement) that now is the time to give them the information they need. Marketers that embrace external data like intent-based behavior, can meet consumers where they are to create welltailored and well-timed online experiences that meet consumer’s high expectations and drive positive outcomes for the business. Keeping preferences and permissions in mind, mortgage marketers can shift from only knowing and using static, personal information to responding to actions and signals like page views, form submissions, sign-ups, etc. Lenders can improve on recapture rates by using consumer predictive data to determine when a borrower is likely to be mortgage shopping, and marketing to them with the right content, at the right time. This behavioral data can inform lenders when their consumers are visiting mortgage-related websites, giving them the ability to better time their engagements, increase customer retention and capitalize on new acquisition opportunities. Direct mail response rates, for example, are typically two to three times higher for consumers flagged as in-market versus those who are not. And a recent Forrester study suggests companies utilizing consumer insight tools increase customer engagement and consistently close new business, resulting in as much as a 191% ROI over three years. Our job as mortgage professionals is to help consumers when and how they need us. This is especially important in a seemingly perpetual pandemic market where behaviors of both consumers
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and those in the housing industry are changing. Partnering with fintech companies that provide behavioral data can add value by informing lenders when their consumers are visiting mortgagerelated websites, and lenders can see which of their consumers are in-market, approximately 100 days prior to a credit trigger or an MLS trigger and up to 180 days before a closed loan. These shopping signals are the earliest signs available
“... a whopping 78% of customers buy from the first company to connect with them ...” indicating a customer has started their mortgage shopping journey. The investments made into marketing automation systems provide lenders the capabilities to customize messaging and marketing campaigns to individual consumers. Lenders also have the opportunity to substantially improve customer experiences by leveraging behavioral insights. Combining privacy, consumer preference and the Golden Rule of Data — treating consumer data like you would want your own data treated — are the most critical parts of providing an exceptional customer experience. Marketers can be empowered to provide interactions when consumers want them most, while protecting the consumers’ data. Today’s marketers face greater competition than ever to grow their customer base and retain existing customers. The new market demands that we create value for customers by providing them with timely and relevant services and information based upon their needs at the exact moment they need it. The correct use of behavioral data can enable marketers to create exceptional consumer experiences. Marketers willing to utilize the latest tools to understand consumers’ online shopping behavior, to look to actual intent rather than relying solely on modeled data and educated guesses based on static demographic segmentation, can improve consumer experiences and drive retention and ROI.
Bio: Natalie Mullen is market leader, mortgage and banking at Jornaya, a Verisk business. She is an advocate for empowering fellow marketers to redefine success through connecting insightful data with powerful modern marketing technology.
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purchase activity. Tappable equity, the amount available to homeowners while retaining at least 20% equity in their homes, rose by 32% last year, surging to an all-time high of $9.4 trillion as cash-out refinance borrowers pulled the largest quarterly volume of equity in 14 years, according to Black Knight’s October 2021 Mortgage Monitor. With the tsunami of refinance activity calming, it is worth noting that substantial equity also empowers new home purchases.
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COMMENTARY
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Millennials’ dominance on the homebuying scene has been gaining strength for the past several years, as more of these consumers, by virtue of their increasing age and income, have sought to put down more permanent roots. Many of the aspiring homeowners of this generation, who perhaps showed some interest in buying a house pre-pandemic, are today positively driven by the idea. Long periods of isolation in small (often rented) spaces, coupled with the proliferation of remote and hybrid work arrangements, have them looking at homebuying as a strategic investment in their present and future. But enthusiasm alone won’t land these buyers — many who are first-time homebuyers — their dream house in the current market. Record high home prices and competition for the available inventory continue to make this an extremely challenging time to find and purchase the ideal home. This isn’t a generation to be deterred, however; resourceful millennials are finding ways to overcome obstacles to homebuying through creative thinking that is setting new trends into motion. HERE ARE 6 MILLENNIAL HOME-BUYING TRENDS EMERGING IN 2022 In the decade spanning mid-2010 to mid2020, the median price of homes rose 30% while incomes increased only 11%, according to a Bankrate analysis of data from the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index. That made it difficult to afford a home even before pandemic conditions spurred historic spikes. Millennials put the wheels into motion then on a halfdozen trends that are likely to continue
illennial homebuyers get creative in the hot housing market Younger buyers undaunted by high home prices and intense competition By Phil King
influencing the real estate market through 2022 and beyond. 1. Buying a home at auction. Investors aren’t the only ones keeping a keen eye on the foreclosure market in 2022. With many homes poised to go to auction, threequarters (75%) of millennial consumers (ages 25-40) say they would consider buying a home at auction, according to ServiceLink’s latest consumer survey. This compares with 65% of Gen Xers (ages 4156) and 54% of baby boomers (ages 5775). In fact, 21% of millennial consumers reported having already bought a home at auction — far more than the 6% of Gen Xers, 4% of baby boomers and 13% of Gen Zers (ages 18-24). The millennial generation’s openness to the idea of buying a house at auction holds promise in not only increasing their choice of homes but also helping them find a home in their price range. The majority of these younger buyers (55%) are further motivated to buy a home at auction when they have the option of bidding remotely. They appreciate the accessibility online bidding tools offer, as travel isn’t necessary to participate. 2. Buying with friends or family. Rather than putting off or giving up the dream of becoming a homeowner simply because housing prices are beyond one’s means, nimble-thinking millennials are pooling resources with friends, established roommates or family members. A larger down payment and multiple income streams may help a first-time buyer qualify for more house than they could buy alone, and they can write up the contract to ensure both (or all) parties’ priorities are met. For example, they could specify a
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plan to sell and split the equity in five or 10 years if they choose to place a time limit on the joint ownership. This type of communal living arrangement has become more commonplace today in light of millennials’ tendency to go to school longer and build their families later in life than previous generations.
“The millennial generation’s openness to the idea of buying a house at auction holds promise in not only increasing their choice of homes but also helping them find a home in their price range.” According to the Pew Research Center, 39% of millennials had a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2018, compared with 29% of Gen Xers and 25% of boomers. A later Pew study found that 55% of millennials lived with their spouse and/or child(ren) in 2019, as compared with 66% of Gen Xers and 69% of boomers at a similar age. It’s not surprising, then, that this generation is open to sharing living space — especially when it means sharing the mortgage. 3. Renting out extra space. Another option for making buying a home more affordable is to have a plan for renting out some of its rooms. This approach enables homeowners to recoup some of the dollars they spent on the down payment and/or provide an additional income stream to help pay the monthly mortgage. Depending on the amount of space they have to share and their particular circumstances, homebuyers are offering either short-term
savvy millennial homebuyers who are prepared to shoulder the ongoing costs and labor required by a home in need of repairs and updates know that they can get great value at an affordable price. Bank of America recently found that 44% of younger homebuyers would rather buy a fixer-upper and improve it over time than buy a home that’s move-in ready. Up-front affordability can be a strong driver of millennial buying activity. 3 TIPS FOR SUPPORTING MILLENNIAL HOMEBUYERS Realtor.com confirmed in late December that 2021 was a difficult year for first-time buyers to purchase a home; 72% of firsttimers were instead setting their sights on buying in 2022. Since millennial and Gen Z buyers make up 76% of this market, 2022 looks to be a year of strong activity among younger buyers. How can lenders support the needs of these first-time buyers as well as millennials who plan to buy their second or subsequent homes? Provide informational resources. Millennial consumers do their research before embarking upon buying a home and strive to be well-informed throughout the mortgage process. There is a real opportunity for lenders to step up and fill this need, as only 22% of millennial and Gen Z homebuyers told ServiceLink they turn to their lender for information and insights; by comparison, 65% of them rely on family and friends. Providing informationrich resources — particularly online, where younger buyers can research and learn in their comfort zone — can go a long way in helping these buyers feel more confident. Ensure that mortgage technology is up-to-date and easy to use. Again, digital natives are most comfortable when they’re using technology. Lenders can empower them with well-designed automated solutions that take them through the mortgage process from start to finish. From online application, to self-service scheduling tools, through eClosing options, millennial homebuyers appreciate the convenience, time savings and ease of use of technology. Become familiar with the trends outlined above. Knowing how to help millennial homebuyers navigate both traditional and nontraditional options to achieve their goal of becoming a homeowner can help lenders earn the trust and loyalty of these consumers for life.
Phil King serves as vice president, principal product manager, EXOS Valuations at ServiceLink.
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vacation rentals or longer-term annual leases. 4. Leveraging technology to its fullest. More than any other generation, millennials are using technology throughout their homebuying process — from conducting preliminary research and shopping home listings to taking virtual tours, making offers and working through the mortgage process. Technology is the tool of choice for millennials in most areas of life; in the case of buying homes, it enables them to check out more homes in less time than traditional home-shopping methods — an advantage of tremendous value in the here-today-gonetomorrow housing market. Indeed, 89% of millennial and Gen Z homebuyers use technology in their homebuying journey, says the ServiceLink 2021 State of Home-buying Report. Of the homebuyers who use technology, 74% use it to research property listings and 47% to virtually tour properties. Additionally, millennials use technology to tap into online homebuying information and embrace digital self-service tools for scheduling appraisals, inspections and closings. How far does this generation’s faith in technology go? According to Zillow research, nearly 40% of younger buyers — 39% of millennial and 36% of Gen Z consumers — would be comfortable buying a home entirely online. This compares with 19% of Gen Xers and 7% of boomer and Silent Generation consumers. 5. Considering less expensive neighborhoods. Buying a home in a big metro market can be expensive. Millennials get that. And now that so many have the opportunity to work from home or in a hybrid situation where they don’t have to commute every day, they are considering homes in less expensive suburbs or even remote areas. In fact, 44% of millennial and Gen Z consumers told Zillow they would prefer to buy a home in a remote area, and another 20% said they have no preference as to location. Only 36% said they prefer buying in a big city. Whether these preferences are built on affordability or some other criteria, buying in an up-and-coming neighborhood rather than a more established high-end neighborhood can be a smart move for those with time to watch their investment appreciate. 6. Buying a fixer-upper. Staying on the neighborhood theme for a moment and adding in the popular adage “Buy the least expensive home in the most expensive neighborhood” (to benefit from potential appreciation) brings us to the next millennial trend: purchasing a fixerupper. Whether they choose the most expensive neighborhood or one that’s up-and-coming,
Innovation leads, profits follow, progress is inevitable A look behind this year’s Tech100 winners
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By Clayton Collins
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n January I received a text message from Dave Savage, CEO of Mortgage Coach. “Hey Clayton ...” and a link. News just broke that private equity investor LLR Partners announced strategic investments in two mortgage technology companies — Mortgage Coach and Sales Boomerang (see sidebar for coverage). LLR is not a newcomer to mortgage technology or the overall fintech market. In 2016 LLR led a $26.5 million investment in eOriginal, a multi-year Tech100 winner that developed a ‘simple closing experience for lenders, borrowers and settlement agents.’ In eOriginal’s 2020 Tech100 nomination, the company boasted about the efficiency their ClosingCenter product brought to mortgage lending clients; Fairway achieved 80% faster mortgage acceptance by secondary market investors and also realized a 90% reduction in interest expenses to warehouse lenders for mortgages closed using ClosingCenter. With efficiency metrics and client outcomes like these it’s no surprise that the company continued to attract capital and investor interest. Later in 2020, eOriginal was acquired by Wolters Kluwer for $280 million in cash and continues to operate within the Wolters Kluwer Governance, Risk & Compliance business. As an entrepreneur, I get extremely vested when I see our industry friends and innovators land exceptional outcomes. And entrepreneurs like Alex Kutsishin and Mark Cunningham of Sales Boomerang and Dave Savage and Joe Puthur should be eternally proud of the businesses they have built and the clients they have supported. As operators in an industry that ebbs and flows on economic conditions, demographics trends and, dare I say, the current mood of the Federal Reserve, these technology innovators are bringing efficiency and elasticity to the market. This brings me to a trend in the 2022 Tech100 nominations that was more prominent than any year I can remember — an emphasis on technology enabling headcount efficiency and cost reduction. No surprise here. Refinance volume is projected to fall by 63% in 2022 and overall origination volume is projected to be down 35% after 2020 and 2021 had recording-setting origination volume. Lenders staffed up over the last two years, and something must give to have any shot at maintaining margins. This isn’t a new story in mortgage lending or real estate brokerage. Headcount is the most elastic line item on any housing sector P&L, and technology brings the promise of even greater elasticity and efficiency. Global DMS emphasizes that their appraisal management software product EVO prevents the need to hire additional staff while also decreasing turn times for less cost. Certain Fiserv clients have expanded their active QC review from 10% of loan volume to 100% without increasing staff. Reggora is focused on helping its clients reduce appraisal desk staff by 75% by eliminating manual work. Sourcepoint has developed CoBot , a “digital employee”, that fulfills tedious, manual tasks and enables human staff to focus on work that requires judgment. This could be read through a negative lens. Jobs are important. Clearly, we love that the housing market supports so many professionals and households. But ultimately, efficient mortgage lending and real estate sales is what is most important to a healthy housing market. We must innovate. We must become more efficient. Homeowners deserve it. Our economy deserves it. Progress demands it.
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Mortgage Coach and Sales Boomerang snag new investor LLR Partners makes another fintech play By Sarah Wheeler Published Jan. 26, 2022
Philadelphia-based private equity firm LLR Partners announced its investment in Sales Boomerang and Mortgage Coach, two fintechs focused on attracting and retaining mortgage borrowers and making loan originators more efficient. Both firms will maintain their existing brands and teams. The investment comes at a pivotal time for the mortgage industry, which has seen record refi volume give way to a market dominated by purchase loans. LLR Partners, which led a $26.5 million investment in eOriginal in 2016, said both companies offer solutions that make a difference for lenders facing stiff competition and low margins in a purchase environment. Sales Boomerang provides automated borrower intelligence, delivering real-time customer insights to lenders, according to CEO Alex Kutsishin. Mortgage Coach provides an interactive borrower education platform that lets loan officers walk borrowers through a visual presentation of their loan options so that the LO becomes a trusted advisor, Co-founder and CEO Dave Savage said. “Mortgage professionals are really well-positioned to be the captains of a consumer’s wealth team,” Savage said. “There should be a relationship beyond the transaction. This vision is a big part of why we wanted to put gas on the fire with this investment.” The two companies’ technology solutions are already tightly integrated and the relationship between their executives was a bonus to LLR Partners, Ryder said.
To read the full article, go to HousingWire.com.
Tech100 Mortgage Winners By Clayton Collins
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- Dave Savage
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Disruption: Disruptive technologies introduce a very different package of attributes from the one mainstream customers historically value. Innovation: Sustaining innovations raised each architecture’s performance along steep trajectories — so steep that the performance available from each architecture soon satisfied the needs of customers in the established markets.
In the mortgage world, disruption has been painted as a scary new entrant that enters the market to steal market share, demolish commissions and force consumers into a digital echo chamber without any possibility of personalized advice and guidance.
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"Mortgage professionals are really well-positioned to be the captains of a consumer’s wealth team."
n 1995 Clayton Christensen and Joseph Boyer published an article in the Harvard Business Review about disruptive innovation. I didn’t read it at the time. I was in third grade and likely sitting in the back of the classroom disgruntled because I had two broken arms due poor judgment of the risk associated with large bicycle ramps. But, I’m getting off track. Christenson and Boyer open with the theory that one of the most consistent patterns in business is the failure of leading companies to stay at the top of their industries when technologies or markets change. If you’ve missed this conversation in mortgage land, well, you’ve been hiding under a rock. Even at HousingWire, we’ve hypothesized about this for years. In 2019 we published a feature story about “Who will be the Amazon of housing?” — and then explored world-domination theories that painted Zillow, Redfin, Opendoor (and maybe Amazon itself) taking over the entire end-to-end housing sales and financing process. And yet, we’re finally in 2022, and I’m going to go out on a limb and say disruption has failed. Instead, innovation prevails. We’re here today to talk about innovation. Let’s start with the difference and define these terms. I won’t reinvent the wheel in this effort and will fall back on Christensen and Boyer’s work in the Harvard Business Review:
Disruptor companies vs. innovation companies Better.com (a 2020 Tech100 winner) is one of the examples I put in this disrupter category. Vishal Garg and his dolphins (google it) aim to “radically overhaul the analog mortgage process, which still involves commissioned loan officers, 2,000 pages of paperwork and manual intervention at every step.” The Better.com story is far from over and disruption may still be in its sights, but the path and timeline to that disruption continues to get bumpier and less threatening with each turn in the road. And this doesn’t mean that Better and other disrupters won’t or can’t become perfectly successful lenders, but I do call into question their ability to flip the mortgage market on its head and steal egregious levels of market share. We have to stop and ask ourselves: Is disruption the biggest threat that mortgage lenders face or is the bigger threat resistance or hesitancy to adopt innovative solutions? The 2022 Tech100 Mortgage winners demonstrate a crop of innovators that understand the dynamics of the housing industry. And from our vantage point and review of each company’s elevator pitch, metrics and client impact, it becomes increasingly clear that the real winners in today’s housing economy have latched onto the concept of sustaining innovation. Mortgage lending has its problems. It’s inefficient. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, total loan production expenses exceeded $9,000 per loan in Q3 2021. This isn’t good. After years of investing in technology, IMB’s and mortgage banking subsidiaries need to be more efficient. But is turning the industry on its head by eliminating commissioned MLOs, moving 100% of borrowers to digital POS and building robots to handle all servicing problems the likely end-game for the mortgage sector? I bet no.
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Housing is dynamic. Real estate is local. People are complicated. Housing is dynamic. Real estate is local. People are complicated. Consumers have different preferences and capabilities. It’s these viewpoints that color my vision for the future of mortgage innovation. In no way do I intend to imply that AI, ML and RPA won’t make the sector more efficient, but they won’t be the end of the mortgage lender as we know them. Today’s leading mortgage banks will continue to dominate the HMDA lists. They will partner with the best mortgage technology and SaaS companies. They will build indomitable technology teams that develop products and integrate solutions. They will consolidate, acquire or out-compete the mortgage banks that resist. The sector will become more efficient but will remain the fragmented, independent and differentiated marketplace that we all have grown to love. The companies honored in the 2022 Tech100 Mortgage award program spotlight the innovators that are making the housing sector better and more sustainable by increasing efficiency, improving borrower experience and bringing elasticity to mortgage origination and servicing processes.
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Tech100 Real Estate Winners By Tracey Velt
Brokerage tech solutions The national brands and larger independents are investing millions of dollars into proprietary platforms of their own. Companies like Compass, Proptech companies Still disruptors, but also partners are still disrupting real United Real Estate, Keller Williams, Proptech companies are still disrupt- estate, but the end goal Redfin, Fathom Realty and others have full-fledged development teams working ing real estate, but the end goal has has changed from trychanged from trying to replace the ing to replace the agent on tech solutions to streamline the business and boost the broker’s bottom line. agent to trying to streamline the trans- to trying to streamline United Real Estate Group flew under the action while keeping the real estate the transaction while agent at the center of it. keeping the real estate radar for the past 10 years, bringing on The newest of these real estate tech- agent at the center of it. about $35 million in institutional capital to accomplish the construction of its tech nology companies are involved in offerplatform. Meanwhile, Fathom Realty recently launched inteling buyers and sellers financing options so they can compete liAgent 2.0, the second generation of the platform that features with cash buyers and investors, buy a home without a continan enhanced CRM system for agents and brokers as well as new gency and win in a multiple offer situation. Knock.com offers marketing resources for building and customizing personalsolutions for both buyers and sellers. KnockGO (guaranteed ized websites, video messages and launching multi-platform offer) fronts the buyer their loan so they can make a cash offer. marketing campaigns. For sellers, they offer HomeSwap which is a modern-day bridge No matter where you look, there’s no question that disruption, loan so consumers can buy a home without selling their other as defined earlier, is happening in the real estate space, as tech home first. Companies such as Ribbon and Easyknock, as well leaders start to introduce very different systems and processes as brokerage Flyhomes offer similar services. into the standard home shopper and agent relationship. But that Let’s not forget the iBuyers, such as Offerpad and Opendoor. doesn’t mean the other real estate players are left out as they Both are partnering with real estate brokerages to offer conlook for innovative ways to adapt. After all, the industry is still sumers choices when selling their homes. Proptech company navigating which route is better — innovation or disruption. zavvie takes it one stop further and allows brokerages to offer While the real estate industry has fallen behind in technologa menu of products from a host of different companies to homeical advances compared to other sectors, all of that is changing, buyers and sellers, such as iBuying, modern bridge loans and and this year’s list of Tech100 winners embody that shift. more.
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any real estate professionals remember the heyday of the 2000s when technology companies were determined to disrupt the real estate industry and replace real estate agents. And, why not? Real estate is a $206 billion industry, according to IBISWorld. However, it didn’t work. Time after time, real estate homebuyers and sellers choose to work with a real estate agent. According to the National Association of Realtors, in 2020, some 87% of homebuyers purchased their home through a real estate agent or broker, and that number has steadily increased each year since 2001. But today’s tech leaders are different. Instead of trying to push consumers to do the transaction without real estate professionals, these new tech companies are choosing to partner with them. In addition, brokerage companies are building their own suite of technology tools to serve both agents and consumers rather than piecing together a platform of products and services from multiple vendors. To answer this call, consolidation is still happening in the proptech world.
Consolidation in the industry Another trend we’re seeing with the Tech100 Real Estate companies is the consolidation of companies in the tech space. It’s somewhat the nature of the beast in the fast-paced and entrepreneurial tech arena. However, real estate brokerages who don’t have their own development teams are looking for one solution to solve their transaction problems, rather than piece together multiple platforms. Since 2020, Lone Wolf Technologies has acquired five different technology platforms to boost its real estate solutions and offer a one-stop-shop for brokerages. Zillow acquired ShowingTime in 2021 to offer more to its agent marketing platform. In 2020 and 2021, eXp World Holdings purchased Showcase IDX and SUCCESS Enterprises. RealTrends expects to see a lot more of this happening this year as companies build their all-in-one platforms and expand offerings to real estate brokerage firms. After all, according to NAR research, more than 40% of the brokerage firms surveyed in the report, “Real Estate in a Digital Age,” say that “keeping up with technology” is their primary challenge in 2022.
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Accurate Group ACES Quality Management Adwerx Agile Trading Technologies AppraisalWorks ARIVE Aspen Grove Solutions BeSmartee Blend Blue Sage Solutions Caliber Home Loans Candor Technology Capacity Clarifire Clear Capital | CubiCasa Closepin Cloudvirga Common Securitization Solutions CoreLogic Covius CreditXpert DocMagic Doma Evolve Mortgage Services Fairway
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FICS Finicity FinLocker First American Docutech FirstClose Fiserv Floify Flueid Software Corporation FormFree Freddie Mac Global DMS Guaranteed Rate Homebot Homepoint HPA, A Cognizant Company ICE Mortgage Technology Incenter Indecomm Global Services Insellerate International Document Services Land Gorilla LauraMac Lender Price LenderLogix LERETA
Reggora ReverseVision RiskSpan Rocket Pro TPO Roostify Sagent Sales Boomerang ServiceLink SimpleNexus SoftWorks AI Sourcepoint Spruce Staircase Stavvy StreamLoan Tavant TMS Total Expert Truework United Wholesale Mortgage UniversalCIS | Credit Plus ValueLink Software Volly | Home Captain Voxtur WFG National Title 33 ❱ HOUSINGWIRE
LoanLogics LoanNEX LoanScorecard LodeStar Software Solutions Matic Insurance MAXEX Maxwell MeridianLink MISMO Mortgage Cadence Mortgage Capital Trading Mortgage Coach MortgageHippo Mphasis Digital Risk Mr. Cooper Notarize NotaryCam Ocrolus OpenClose OptiFunder Optimal Blue Pennymac Promontory MortgagePath Qualia Redwood Trust
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@properties 3 Data Pulse ActivePipe Agent Image Alanna Amrock Apprise Ark7 ATTOM Auction.com BombBomb BoomTown BoxBrownie.com Breakthrough Broker Bright MLS CAPE Analytics CertifID Chime Technologies Cole Realty Resource Compass Real Estate CoreLogic Curbio Cyrano.ai DataTrace Delta Media 34 ❱ HOUSINGWIRE
Doma Earnnest Evocalize eXp Realty Fathom Realty First American Data & Analytics Flipscout Flueid Software Corporation Flyhomes FoxyAI Framework Homeownership FundingShield HomeBinder Homebot homegenius HomeSmart Homesnap Hometap Homeward HouseCanary Inside Real Estate Inspectify June Homes Keller Williams Realty Kiavi
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ReferralExchange Relitix Remine RESAAS Ribbon Rocket Homes Roofstock Showingly ShowingTime SimpleShowing SmartRent Smartzip SOA Labs Spruce Stagerie Sundae Tavant titleLOOK Transactly TRIBUS Unison United Real Estate UpNest Usherpa Xome 35 ❱ HOUSINGWIRE
Knock Knox Financial Landis London Computer Systems Lone Wolf Technologies Luxury Presence Market Leader Modus Title MooveGuru MoxiWorks Mynd Notarize Offerpad OJO Labs Opendoor Orchard Pacaso Paymints.io Property Sync Software Systems PropStream PunchListUSA Qualia Realogy Realtracs Redfin
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The fate of HUD The external and internal debate on the department’s priorities By Georgia Kromrei
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Few things terrify lenders more than the arrival of a manila envelope from the Department of Housing and Urban Development containing a redlining allegation. In recent months, HUD investigators have made redlining cases a departmental priority, according to interviews with attorneys who have reviewed the complaints, and lenders who declined to comment on the practices for fear of being associated with redlining. Typically, a redlining allegation begins with a comparative analysis of a lender’s performance in relation to its peers in low to moderate income census tracts and majority-minority neighborhoods. But HUD has adjusted its approach — it is now comparing a lender’s performance in different areas against itself. A higher rate of withdrawn applications in certain tracts compared to the larger metropolitan area could result in a redlining allegation by HUD. Independent mortgage banks have been “completely blindsided” by the increase in enforcement activity, said Daniella Casseres, who leads the mortgage regulatory practice group at law firm Mitchell Sander. Redlining “is not even on the radar of their board or senior management,” she said. Being labeled a redliner can cause lasting reputational damage because of its association with the historic definition of redlining, which federal policy supported for decades. As some independent mortgage banks have found out, a modern-day redlining allegation does not need to prove intentionality.
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HUD complaints allege redlining based on disparate impact to borrowers on the basis of race or ethnicity, which is prohibited under the Fair Housing Act. A spokesperson for HUD said the agency could not discuss investigations or strategy of fair lending enforcement, but said that fair lending is a priority of the Biden-Harris Administration and HUD. “HUD’s work co-leading the Interagency Task Force on Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity (PAVE), as well as the number of actions taken in the first year of the administration to bolster enforcement of the Fair Housing Act demonstrates our commitment to the issue,” a spokesperson said. Increased redlining enforcement is one piece of HUD’s renewed focus on fair lending, and part of a multi-pronged approach to address the legacy of racist housing policy. HUD said it has already taken concrete steps toward that goal. It has begun to restore HUD’s discriminatory effects standard and requested a 17% budget increase for the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity for enforcement. In August, HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge signed an agreement with the Federal Housing Finance Agency to strengthen fair lending enforcement. HUD ended 40 years of ambiguity on a statute meant to spur lenders to target lending programs to benefit protected classes. But HUD and the Federal Housing Administration have also struggled to navigate challenges posed by COVID-19 and correct long-standing deficiencies. Part of its effort to modernize its outdated technology systems, the FHA Catalyst program, hit a snag last year. FHA has had gaps in loss-mitigation oversight of servicers it approved. And although Fudge has repeatedly vowed to bring banks back to FHA, recent policy moves could drive them away. Premium product In California’s Contra Costa County, where the median home listing price is now $749,000, a loan officer priced a loan for a potential borrower with less-than-perfect credit, who had found a listing for $650,000. For a borrower with tarnished credit and thus unable to get conventional financing, an FHA-insured mortgage is the go-to choice. But with a down payment of less than 10%, the borrower would have had to pay an additional $11,375 in upfront fees to FHA, due to FHA’s 175 basis point mortgage insurance premium, which it charges on nearly all loans. John Meussner, the loan originator who priced the loan, said the fees amounted to “gouging.” In addition to upfront fees, FHA charges fees for the life of the loan. For a 10% down payment, a hypothetical FHA borrower with a $650,000 base loan amount would pay an additional $568 per month in mortgage insurance premium. The recurring monthly fee leads some borrowers to refinance out of their FHA loan, since unlike in the conventional market, there’s no getting rid of it. By comparison, private mortgage insurance cancels at a 78% loan-to-value ratio. “If FHA and HUD want to serve their purpose of assisting low-moderate income customers and increase home ownership, the best place to start would be to stop ripping off the very people they’re attempting to serve,” said Meussner, of Mason-McDuffie Mortgage. The share of FHA-backed mortgages made to Black and Hispanic borrowers are more than twice that of the rest of the market, public data show. Four in five FHA purchase mortgages went to first-time homebuyers in 2021.
MARCH 2022
HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge
“If FHA and HUD want to serve their purpose of assisting low-moderate income customers and increase home ownership, the best place to start would be to stop ripping off the very people they’re attempting to serve.”
REUTERS / CARLOS BARRIA - stock.adobe.com MARCH 2022
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- John Meussner
“Yes, it could be made better, yes, you could lower prices, but it’s not terribly broken and it’s not a terribly different program today than five years ago or 25 years ago.”
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- Edward Golding FHA’s mortgage insurance premium earnings helped propel the Mutual Mortgage Insurance fund’s capital ratio to 8.03% in 2021, four times the statutory minimum. The estimated value of monthly insurance premiums through the life of the loan as of last year was $49 billion, according to HUD’s annual report to Congress. In light of the stellar mutual mortgage insurance fund report, some stakeholders expected FHA to reduce mortgage insurance premiums. Many have called for reductions. The executive director of one state housing finance agency said a small reduction is “probably warranted” based on the health of the fund. But the official, who requested anonymity to speak openly about the department, also said he understands FHA’s cautious approach, since FHA officials may still recall the years that followed the housing crisis, when the fund fell below the required ratio. Lopa Kolluri, principal deputy assistant secretary of FHA, said in an interview that FHA would reassess whether to lower premiums closer to the end of the first quarter. In terms of making a decision on lowering mortgage insurance premiums, she said it depends on the share of seriously delinquent borrowers. “We’re encouraged by the serious delinquency rate decreasing, but it’s too early to make predictions,” said Kolluri. “We believe we’ll have a better indication of performance later in the calendar of this first quarter.” But former officials and stakeholders defend FHA despite the steep fees, because it fills a need for borrowers not served by the rest of the market. Those borrowers would otherwise face steep loan-level price adjustments for conventional financing. “The point is that [FHA] is a durable program,” said Edward Golding, who led FHA from 2015 to 2017. “Yes, it could be made
better, yes, you could lower prices, but it’s not terribly broken and it’s not a terribly different program today than five years ago or 25 years ago.” Building blocks, stumbling blocks On the strength of FHA’s mortgage fees and appreciating home prices, HUD’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance fund is in a better financial state than ever. But in addition to answering calls to lower upfront and life-of-loan fees to borrowers, FHA has some unresolved policy questions. In recent years, large depositories have ceased FHA lending. They’ve exited the space due to concerns of increased use of the False Claims Act to extract settlements, and independent mortgage banks have supplanted them. In October, speaking at an industry conference, Fudge vowed to make it easier for more financial institutions to partner with FHA and Ginnie Mae, “whether for the first time or for the first time in a long time.” “We want to bring more banks and financial institutions of all kinds and sizes back to FHA,” Fudge said. But mortgage is only one among a suite of products that large depositories offer, and is not critical to their business strategy. Thus FHA lending is not necessarily a “natural fit” for large depositories, said Golding. “So one shouldn’t be too surprised to see mortgage banks, on average very reputable companies that invest in technology and know how to deliver the product, more represented in FHA lending. Mortgage banking is not a product that large depositories immediately flock to.” Golding said returning to FHA would help depository banks to serve a broader market and meet the needs of a more diverse set of customers. But FHA has recently taken positions that, instead of reeling large depositories
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back in, industry stakeholders say are in conflict with that goal. In December, the FHA released a draft defect taxonomy, a list of what remedies the agency may seek if it finds loan-level defects pertaining to servicing. The mortgage industry and housing advocates criticized the document as overly vague and said it would further chill the market. After stakeholders — including the powerful trade group Mortgage Bankers Association — wrote and requested additional time to weigh in on the draft defect taxonomy, FHA extended the public comment period by a month, to Jan. 28. Kolluri said that partnering with larger banks is crucial for narrowing the racial homeownership gap, especially because depository banks have physical branches in underserved communities. “A number of these banks have made major commitments within communities, and we want to help them fulfill those commitments,” said Kolluri. “It’s a really natural extension of the work they’re doing as it relates to the Community Reinvestment Act, and we have heard and met with larger banks who have made significant monetary commitments in those communities.” In addition to working through industry feedback on the defect taxonomy, Kolluri said that the clarifying legal position HUD issued in December on special purpose credit programs would provide clarity for banks. Lenders have been reluctant to create the targeted loan programs under the new guidance, in part because of concerns that designing a program could make them vulnerable to redlining claims. On Jan. 26, Secretary Fudge convened the heads of seven federal agencies — including the FHFA and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — to review their regu-
Political standoff In December, seven former HUD secretaries met with Fudge to offer their support for what some colloquially call the second-most challenging job in the federal government. When the group did the same for the previous HUD secretary, Ben Carson, the topic was a surge in homelessness. This time around, the meeting was remote, and the conversation centered on affordability, particularly for first-time homebuyers. It was a bipartisan group of four Republicans and three Democrats, Clintonera HUD Sec. Henry Cisneros said. The collegial gesture was a brief hiatus from partisan politics which, in the Senate, have stalled a number of President Joe Biden’s HUD nominees, including his pick for FHA commissioner, Julia Gordon. Gordon has faced staunch opposition from Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee over past, now-deleted tweets critical of the police. Votes in January for four of five of Biden’s HUD nominees, including Gordon, as well as Arthur Jemison, former CFPB Acting Director David Uejio and Solomon Greene, ended in ties. The Senate will now have to dedicate precious floor time to debate Gordon’s nomination. Making it even less convenient, sources say that it is likely that Vice President Kamala Harris would likely need to be present to break the tie. Jenn Jones, FHA’s chief of staff, told reporters in January that “government works better when you’ve got a full array and slate of committed, capable public servants to lead the work.” “Obviously we are still hopeful that the Senate will move quickly to confirm all of our nominees that are awaiting confirmation,” Jones said. A Washington, D.C. lobbyist, who works with FHA lenders, said that while Fudge’s vision for HUD is “150% aligned” with the Biden administration’s push to reduce the racial homeownership gap, she needs a bold leader at FHA. There is natural tension
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between career officials, who weather political changes and implement policy, and political appointees, who set the agenda. “Fudge needs a leader at FHA, because [FHA] career staff are cautious,” said the lobbyist. “They don’t want to alienate the bosses. That’s why Julia Gordon will be instrumental.” A confirmed FHA commissioner can also “guide and temper” the approach of career officials, including in relation to enforcement matters, said Stevens. “It’s important to not let long-term career lawyers try to take advantage of the time when they don’t have mom and dad in the room.” But a large portion of Fudge’s direct reports are held up at the Senate, and Biden has yet to nominate two more outstanding assistant secretary roles at HUD. Not having a leadership team in place makes it difficult to set policy, and address even urgent matters. “If the Secretary can’t turn to someone, it’s very, very difficult,” said Cisneros, “even when you see a sore thumb kind of problem.”
“If the Secretary can’t turn to someone, it’s very, very difficult, even when you see a sore thumb kind of problem.” - Henry Cisneros
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lations, guidance, and examination guidelines to identify any remaining barriers for creating targeted loan programs. FHA has also long struggled to modernize its information technology systems, which lag far behind the relatively advanced capabilities of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Unlike the government-sponsored enterprises, FHA is bound by congressional appropriations for budget items, and it cannot use revenue from premiums to invest in itself. “There’s a massive mismatch, in that we have the largest insurance in the world sitting on the government balance sheet, with no ability to invest even a portion of its massive profits back into keeping the company current and less risky,” said Dave Stevens, who was FHA commissioner during the Obama administration. In 2017, Congress started appropriating $20 million a year specifically for FHA IT modernization, and FHA and HUD’s IT management consolidated, reducing redundancies. But a HUD inspector general report found that the agency’s premier IT modernization effort stalled last year. For a time, staff vacancies and turnover were so acute, especially during the presidential transition, the report said, that the executive committee in charge of leading the FHA Catalyst program disbanded, and work on the initiative was temporarily halted. “We found a lack of staffing capacity, implementation of effective coordination and communication practices, and effective oversight of management controls over acquisition processing,” the report read. HUD also delayed a migration planned for December 2021 — to move its single-family default monitoring to FHA Catalyst — until March 2022, when mortgagees must submit all default data to the FHA Catalyst system. Part of the challenge of updating the IT systems is that there are often more urgent priorities, and taking resources away from immediate needs to spend them on IT modernization is difficult. Kolluri said there are many other “critical areas” that HUD is attending to, in light of
COVID–19, although “modernization and transformation of FHA’s IT program is a high priority.” “Yes, we had some delays, absolutely,” said Kolluri. “But we are on track. I feel really good about where we are with FHA Catalyst.”
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The two companies featured in this section offer tools to support lenders in their marketing efforts. These solutions enable lenders to provide excellent customer service and stay in contact with borrowers long after the loan has closed.
MARCH 2022
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MARCH 2022
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Sponsored Content
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BLACK KNIGHT SurefireCRM.com
THE EXECUTIVES:
ANTHONY JABBOUR, CHAIRMAN AND CEO Anthony Jabbour leads the company’s overall vision and direction to provide Black Knight’s premier solutions and services for many of the nation’s largest lenders and servicers.
ERIK ENRIGHT MANAGING DIRECTOR, ORIGINATION TECHNOLOGIES
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Erik Enright directs initiatives for Black Knight’s Surefire CRM solution, which automates the distribution of marketing content of interest to borrowers to help create lasting customer relationships.
RICH GAGLIANO PRESIDENT, ORIGINATION TECHNOLOGIES
Black Knight’s Surefire CRM and Mortgage Marketing Engine makes marketing and messaging fast and simple
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aintaining and deepening relationships with borrowers is important for lenders, but it takes valuable time away from other business efforts for mortgage organizations. Additionally, creating compelling content on a regular basis and maintaining separate systems or tools for its dispersal is stressful, cumbersome and time-consuming. Mortgage professionals need a solution that gives them total insight across the customer life cycle and that can offer multiple functionalities that keep them top of mind with customers — even after the loan closes. Black K night ’s Suref ire CR M and Mortgage Marketing Engine helps mortgage professionals win new business, drive repeat business and gain referral business. Surefire includes intuitive “set it and forget it” workflows and awardwinning content, allowing mortgage professionals to effortlessly maintain and deepen their customer and colleague connections all through one powerful platform. Surefire’s comprehensive marketing automation and content means organizations no longer need to patch multiple, disparate systems together to manage emails, texts and forms. Surefire provides these capabilities and more in an all-inone, ready-to-use platform built specifically for the mortgage industry. The platform surpasses generic CRM platforms by excelling in areas such as creative content, compliance standards and audit support. Its sophisticated hierarchy easily accommodates any organization’s expansion plans, including support for multiple lending channels, brokers and brands. Mortgage professionals are knowledgeable about home financing but may struggle with writing interesting content on a
Rich Gagliano is responsible for the overall strategy and product direction of Black Knight Origination Technologies.
MARCH 2022
regular, ongoing basis. Surefire features built-in content and interactive capabilities to help the mortgage industry convert leads, provide outstanding in-process communication and create lifetime repeat clients. Using Surefire, marketing and messaging is fast, simple and always available. Users can access the platform’s content to send as-is or customize it to make it their own. Surefire users gain access to best-inclass, proven marketing campaigns that can be implemented out of the box. The platform’s capabilities include a leading CRM tool, personalized, dynamic videos, co-branded property sites and flyers, a partner portal network, and more. The integrated platform increases transparency across all stakeholders to support stronger collaboration between a lender’s marketing, technology, sales and executive teams. Surefire provides total insight across the customer loan life cycle and complete digital asset management. Surefire can be customized to clients’ preferences and their profitability. By cutting down on costly learning curves, Surefire’s “Blueprints for Success” marketing campaigns help users improve ROI by deriving more value from the platform sooner. Ultimately, Surefire users have the right functionality at their fingertips for every stage of the loan life cycle. “Our clients appreciate that Surefire runs automatically, allowing them to focus on closing more loans, expanding into more markets and growing their lending channels,” said Erik Enright, Managing Director, Origination Technologies Surefire. “Brand recall is brand value, so by automatically sending prospects and borrowers valuable and engaging branded content over the course of years, loan professionals can help create customers for life.”
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his year is expected to bring a shift in priorities for lenders, moving from operational efficiency among high purchase and refi volumes to increasing their sales volume and competitive differentiation in a now purchase-heavy market. The key driver for lenders to compete in 2022 will come down to their ability to deliver an exceptional, personalized borrower experience to help them win not only the borrower’s business for one transaction, but for life. ICE Mortgage Technology is poised to help lenders do just that with its consumer engagement solutions. ICE provides lenders with solutions that enable them to maximize sales productivity and deliver better borrower experiences by tapping into the power of the Encompass platform and leveraging the industry’s most trusted data source to power automation across the entire customer experience. As lenders make investments to better their borrower experience and drive sales efficiencies, they’re also using this as an opportunity to reevaluate their tech stack to simplify and consolidate systems and workflows to ultimately improve their originators’ experience. Many have found that their workflows are disjointed and unnecessarily complex, spread across multiple systems, user interfaces and vendors. ICE Mortgage Technology’s consumer engagement solutions are all connected to a single data source — the Encompass platform — which ensures a more seamless experience from a single partner. “Unlike other sales solutions on the market, ours are completely configurable and fully integrated with the Encompass platform, enabling you to not only tailor our technology to the needs of your business but stay within the ICE Mortgage Technology ecosystem and leverage a single onboarding experience, single
data source and single partner for all your borrower engagement technology needs,” said Matt Dowd, Vice President, Product Management. One of the most valuable attributes of ICE’s consumer engagement solutions is that they offer automated, personalized, multi-channel communication that spans the entire customer journey. The company’s technology also enables the lender to stay within the ICE Mortgage Technology ecosystem, providing them with everything they need from a single partner, which can help minimize not only complexities but costs as well. And unlike other solutions that provide a “one-size-fits-all” approach, ICE’s technology is flexible, with a sales solution for every type of business. “One thing we’ve learned over the years is that there is absolutely no such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution for every type of lender,” Dowd said. “The sales technology needs can differ drastically based on the lender’s business model or their current technology stack.” For lenders with a consumer-direct model, there’s a sales productivity app designed specifically for the needs of sales teams that operate in high-volume, transactional call center environments. Lenders who use Salesforce as their primary system of record can use that same sales productivity app, customized for the Salesforce environment. And for distributed retail lenders who are focused on building and nurturing ongoing consumer relationships, ICE has customized solutions to meet their sales teams’ needs, with features such as mobile-friendly sales productivity tools. “Our focus is on the connections between data and technology, between innovation and expertise, and ultimately, between people and opportunity,” said Jonas Moe, SVP Marketing and Market Strategy, ICE Mortgage Technology. “We connect all things mortgage.”
MARCH 2022
ICE MORTGAGE TECHNOLOGY icemortgagetechnology.com
THE EXECUTIVES:
JONAS MOE, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, MARKETING AND MARKET STRATEGY Jonas Moe is responsible for communications, events, demand generation, branding, creative and market strategy for ICE Mortgage Technology.
MATT DOWD, VICE PRESIDENT, PRODUCT MANAGEMENT Matt Dowd’s responsibilities include driving the vision and strategy around ICE Mortgage Technology’s consumer experience initiatives.
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With ICE Mortgage Technology’s consumer engagement solutions, lenders can win a borrower’s business for life
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P E N N Y M AC T PO | SP ON S OR E D C ON T E N T
Pennymac affirms commitment to wholesale partners in 2022
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he mortgage industry headed into 2022 after a strong showing in back-to -back years. Interest rates were at or near historical lows, home prices showed strong appreciation and market participants set volume and profitability records. 2022 still holds great opportunity for the industry but it also signals a pivot point. Pennymac has long served as one of the mortgage industry’s leading partners. The company has shown steady growth since it was founded in 2008 and demonstrated profitability across varying market conditions, rising to become the nation’s top correspondent investor and the No. 6 wholesale lender. Pennymac has sustained success in the mortgage space and aims to help its partners build that same greatness on a platform that combines values, vision and execution to remain stable regardless of market changes. NEW NAME, SAME VALUES Pennymac has changed the name of its wholesale division from PennyMac Broker Direct to Pennymac TPO. For Pennymac, the rebrand is more than a name change — it signals a deeper commitment to its wholesale partners and investment in the wholesale channel. “Our rebrand to Pennymac TPO is a sign that we are increasing our investment in talent, technology, prod-
“Our rebrand to Pennymac TPO is a sign that we are increasing our investment in talent, technology, products and services – all designed to support our wholesale partners on their journey of success.” - Kim Nichols ucts and services — all designed to support our wholesale partners on their journey of success,” said Kim Nichols, Senior Managing Director at Pennymac. Pennymac understands how important it is for its wholesale partners to have a solid and stable partner they can count on to support the needs of their business no matter what the market conditions are. “We are invested in their success,” Nichols said. POWER+ In addition to the rebrand, Pennymac has also announced the debut of POW ER+. It ’s a next- generation platform that will provide partners with even greater speed, control and communication throughout the loan process. These enhancements will be rolled out first in the broker channel with a later phase driving greater ser vices and capabilities into the non-delegated correspondent segment.
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The next generation technology is a culmination of extensive work with its partners, vendors, service providers (i.e., title and appraisal) and other industry experts. As part of the development process, Pennymac held focus sessions with key partners and took detailed feedback from a variety of users, including loan officers, processors and broker owners. The company meticulously logged client feedback regarding challenges in the loan process and worked to eliminate pain points as well. “We also wanted to understand what aspects of our current technology and process our partners love,” Nichols said. The result is new features that will streamline the entire loan process, from loan creation to submission, clearing conditions and communication in credit review, and more control and speed throughout the process. There will be a live fee collaboration in the portal to ensure
all information is real-time and accurate to avoid time wasted trying to coordinate multiple parties before a closing. Additionally, POWER+ will provide live access to people who can deliver solutions and expertise right when Pennymac’s partners need them. “Beyond a streamlined loan experience, what really stood out was how much our partners value direct access to our people at any step of the process,” Nichols said. “The new POWER+ is technology plus people. Technology powers our par tnerships. Our people bring real-time communication, k nowledge and passion.” In addition to delivering speed, control and greater transparency, POWER+ aims to free up Pennymac’s partners to allow them to focus on delivering great service and growing their business with referral partner. The platform eliminates unnecessary tasks, routine tasks have been consolidated to minimize touch points, and steps that once took minutes will now take seconds, according to Nichols. Pennymac knows that its partners are competing in a tight purchase market. Its goal is to free them up to be able to build their business rather than spend time processing loans. “We know that technology, workflow and people can be the difference in brokers closing a loan or
P E N N Y M AC T PO | SP ON S OR E D C ON T E N T
securing the next deal. The broker’s brand reputation is dependent on all parties having confidence and a great experience,” Nichols said. “POWER+ will set our brokers up for success so that they can focus on growing their business and enhancing their brand.” COMMITMENT TO SERVICING Where the borrower is serviced does matter. Quality of service is a direct reflection on the broker or non-delegated lender. As one of the only wholesale lenders who retains all of its TPO servicing, many wholesale partners bring their customers to Pennymac for that very reason. They know that Pennymac will care for their clients well after closing. As a result, the borrower won’t be subjected to the possibility of servic-
“The new POWER+ is technology plus people. Technology powers our partnerships. Our people bring real-time communication, knowledge and passion.” - Kim Nichols MARCH 2022
ing transfers and the administrative burden and hassles that come along with it — resetting passwords, reestablishing auto-pay, escrow reconciliation and navigating a new servicer portal. “Our clients are so relieved when they hear that we will retain servicing, since we are one of the few in the channel who will do so for the life of the loan,” Nichols said. “Plus, for Pennymac-to-Pennymac refinances, we have the ability to net escrows for their customers, significantly reducing cash-to-close in many cases.” PARTNERING WITH PENNYMAC Pennymac believes its job is to make its partners look great in the eyes of their customers and referral partners, and to support its business partners’ professional goals. As a leader in third party originations, both cor respondent a nd wholesale, the company is committed to being a long-term partner for its clients throughout their professional journey. Nichols added, “As one of the most prominent and highly respected players in the mortgage space, we’re uniquely positioned to help our partners achieve a new level of success with a superior client experience, consistent execution, great technology and access to some of the most talented and engaged professionals in the industry.”
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C O M PA N Y S P O T L I G H T :
TRADE DESK
Trade associations from across the housing industry are on the front lines of issues that lenders, real estate agents and everyone in between face every day. In these letters, they give their members an inside look at what they are working on, and the most important issues facing each industry today.
AIME........................................49 MBA ........................................49 NAHB ......................................50 NAMMBA.................................50
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NAR..........................................51
MARCH 2022
TRADE DESK
Marc Summers
President Association of Independent Mortgage Experts
AIME members, This month is a time for focusing on preparation for purchase season across the industry. With the first quarter of the year coming to a close in a matter of days, it’s time to objectively review the processes in place and fine-tune them in preparation for the season ahead. Low rates make a refinance-focused pipeline seem like a simple way to stack your sales, but it’s essential for all originators that we don’t allow our purchase muscles to atrophy. This purchase season will not be similar to last year or the year before. Along with the pre-COVID-19 world, the market has changed. Migrations from city to suburb continue to happen and buyers still need education and guidance from those who are experts in the loan process.
This is where we, as brokers, can lead the charge for homebuyers who need help deciphering the sometimes complex landscape of mortgage loan applications. Part of meeting the many needs of homebuyers is genuinely understanding the detailed ins and outs of the loan process and mastering the craft of origination. To wholesale mortgage brokers, that means using every resource available in your toolbox to span the vast array of borrowers’ needs. We’re lucky to have so many options available to us, but with that optionality comes the responsibility of having a foolproof process to support those options. Take this time to reflect on the triumphs and challenges of 2022 so far, then buckle down and make improvements for the wild ride of purchase season that awaits us ahead.
Association of Independent Mortgage Experts industry’s pressing issues and provide critical solutions to enhance an organization’s bottom line. Our conferences also offer our members unique opportunities to do business, network with other professionals, and learn best practices from industry leaders and experts. And let’s be honest: All of this is more effective and fun when it happens face-to-face. What’s ahead? Upcoming conferences of note in April include the always compelling Technology Solutions Conference and Expo in Las Vegas and the National Advocacy Conference in Washington, D.C. In May, for the first time since 2019, secondar y and capital markets professionals will reconvene in the Big Apple for MBA’s Secondary and Capital Markets Conference and Expo. I look forward to MBA’s conferences being a place for us all to reconnect and tackle the key issues impacting the real estate finance industry.
Robert Broeksmit President & CEO Mortgage Bankers Association
Mortgage Bankers Association MARCH 2022
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MBA members, The vibrant energy, familial feeling and passion for the real estate industry are all lasting impressions of mine since MBA resumed in-person conferences last fall, including in San Diego when over 3,000 attendees gathered for MBA’s Annual Convention and Expo. Fast-forward to this spring, and our 2022 conference season is in full swing. The Independent Mor tgage Bankers Conference took place in Nashville, Tennessee, in January. In February, the Commercial/Multifamily Finance Convention and Expo occurred in San Diego, and the Servicing Solutions Conference & Expo took place in Orlando, Florida. Bringing back our in-person conferences would not have been possible without our members’ support and eagerness to reunite, even as we all live with the daily challenges of navigating a global pandemic. Of course, the health and safety of attendees and staff are priorities. That’s why MBA adheres to all local COVID-19 safety guidelines in host cities and notifies attendees of any mandatory requirements. MBA’s conferences are designed to address the
Jerry Konter
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Chairman National Association of Home Builders
National Association of Home Builders
TRADE DESK
NAHB members, The residential construction industry faced numerous challenges in 2021, none greater than supply chain disruptions that drove up the cost of lumber and many other critical building materials. Now, well into the first quarter of 2022, it is clear those supply chain problems are going to linger. Following a few months of moderating prices last spring and summer, lumber prices are once again on the upswing. In the last four months of 2021, lumber nearly tripled, again topping $1,000 per thousand board feet. That jump caused the price of a new single-family home to increase by more than $18,600, according to NAHB estimates of lumber used to build the average home. The price hike also added nearly $7,300 to the market value of the average new multifamily home, which translates into households paying $67 more a month to rent a new apartment. A “perfect storm” of supply chain challenges, including an unusually strong summer wildfire season in the western U.S. and Canada and a dou-
NAMMBA members, You may have picked up on the change in the makeup of tomorrow’s borrower. The growth in home lending market demand is projected to come from traditionally underserved communities and households led by women over the next 20 years. That is not something that most of the lending world is prepared for. Because of this, the NAMMBA Family of Companies has created the Accredited Social Impact Lender (ASIL) Certification Program. We are helping mortgage lenders better serve communities with market growth potential and understand their current impact. It’s market research, strategy and education all in one. This prestigious program has two stages: analysis for understanding and guided action and goal setting. Together, they create real and lasting impact on employees, companies and the communities they serve. Once the program is completed, ASIL certification is awarded for use in marketing materials. The ASIL seal speaks directly to the desires of the next generation of homebuyers. As the millennials, and now Gen Z, transition into homeownership, they
bling of tariffs on Canadian lumber imports into the U.S., has led to higher prices and increased volatility. But another key factor is that U.S. sawmill output has not risen sufficiently to meet strong demand from the home building and residential remodeling industries. Lumber producers point to labor challenges as a big reason for the shortfall. But Bureau of Labor Statistics data show sawmill industry employment is higher now than a year ago. As of October 2021, sawmill employment was 90,100 nationally, a net gain of 2,100 jobs and a 2.4% increase from October 2020. Over the same period, residential construction employment was up 4.0% or 118,500 jobs. NAHB’s advocacy efforts, led by experts in government affairs, communications, economics and legal, will continue on all fronts. We’ll keep working with the White House, Congress, lumber producers and other stakeholders to find solutions that provide a stable supply of lumber and other building materials for our nation at competitive prices.
want to work with companies who know what they are about, how they operate and those that share their ethics … and they want to see proof that goes beyond slick marketing. They want to see that you have done the work to earn their trust and then you can earn their business. Getting ASIL-Certified allows lenders to show that they see DEI as a way of doing business that will open new markets, tackle regulatory requirements for CRA/LMI and craft positive community impact in a real and meaningful way. ASIL certification will only be available to 5% of all lenders. Applications are taken on a first-come, first-serve basis, and accreditation is only given to those who complete the program, NAMMBA Founder/CEO meet their goals and make National Association of Minority Mortgage Bankers of America that impactful change within their work culture.
Tony Thompson
National Association of Minority Mortgage Bankers of America MARCH 2022
TRADE DESK
NAR members, As the nation celebrates women’s history this month, it’s unpleasant to think just a few generations ago, women in America were denied voting privileges and many other rights. In 2022, while further advancements are needed, the world as a whole has made significant progress in the pursuit of equality for women. The real estate industry, in particular, has been an area where women can and have thrived, as both professionals and consumers. Last year alone, single women made up 20% of first-time buyers and 18% of repeat homebuyers, in comparison to single men who were 9% of all buyers, 11% of first-time buyers and 8% of repeat buyers. Moreover, NAR’s most recent “Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers” noted that in such a hot housing market, a number of recent buyers had to make compromises on some home characteristics. But in 2021, single women buyers — to the tune of 30% — were the most likely to not make concessions on the home of their choosing. This speaks not only to the determination and persistence of women buyers who knew what they wanted and did not settle for less, but also to the financial freedom and influence that has afforded them this flexibility. Most Realtors are, in fact, women, but in the last decade there has been a 22% increase in female brokers. This
surge shows that women are leaders in real estate. This profession offers great flexibility and room to succeed for hard, dedicated workers. As a result, we see women entering the field and flourishing as they set their own hours and grow into bona fide entrepreneurs. I would be remiss if I didn’t note how great the industry has been for me. For over three decades, I have been proud to be a Realtor. I have served on boards, executive committees and held various positions of leadership along the way. I have watched and contributed as this industry has become a better place for women to make a living. This year, in fact, marks the first time NAR’s leadership team has been comprised of more than 50% women, and I hope the influence we leave on this association and on the market will continue to President ensure this field and this inNational Association of Realtors dustry are set up to allow women to thrive.
Leslie Rouda Smith
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www.housingwire.com/newsletter
MARCH 2022
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MORTGAGE
MARCH 2022
MORTGAGE
Q&A: The nitty gritty on Milo’s crypto mortgage THERE ARE 5,800 BORROWERS ON MILO'S WAITING LIST TO RECEIVE A CRYPTO MORTGAGE BY MARIA VOLKOVA
MARCH 2022
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M
ilo, a Miami-based digital lender, announced last week that it is rolling out a crypto mortgage product to clients with digital currency. Josip Rupena, the CEO of Milo, hopes that his mortgage product will allow borrowers who may not be able to qualify for a conventional mortgage to have a shot at a 30-year mortgage, backed by a bitcoin pledge. Currently, the cryptocurrency universe is worth over $1.7 trillion though it has nosedived in the last week, down from about $3 trillion. HousingWire sat down with Rupena to learn about how a crypto mortgage transaction works, why a borrower would opt for a crypto mortgage, volatility and what the future of crypto holds for the mortgage industry. Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity. It was also conducted when crypto’s market cap was about $3 trillion. Maria Volkova: Is the crypto a deposit of sorts? Can you explain to me a little bit how this transaction works?
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MORTGAGE
Josip Rupena: It’s not a deposit. It’s going to go to a third-party custodian that we work with, and then that amount is going to be held there. It’s a pledge. So, what that means is that in the event that the consumer can’t make their mortgage payments, we have a claim on the actual crypto. MV: Is Bitcoin kept as collateral through the life of the loan? JR: Yes, we require them to keep Bitcoin collateral through the life of the loan. Once a client pays off the loan, the Bitcoin will go back to their digital wallet and the lien on the property will be removed. The exact unit amount of bitcoin (e.g. 10 bitcoin) would go back to them, and may be worth more or less in dollar terms than when they originally took out the loan. MV: Who is your target audience for this product? JR: What we’re seeing is that a crypto consumer tends to skew younger, so I would say that it’ll range from 20s to 40s. And I would say probably the average is going to be someone in the 30-year-old range. MV: In Milo’s press release, there was mention of a waitlist for the crypto mortgage. How many customers are waiting in line to get a crypto mortgage? JR: Since we launched that waiting list a little over a week ago, I believe we have over 5,800 people on that list. And we expect demand to continue to grow as new people hear about what we’re doing and more importantly, they start to see that there’s an opportunity for them to now diversify and buy real estate. We’ve been really overwhelmed by the amount of interest in people reaching out to us. MV: If a borrower has $1 million in crypto why would they opt for a crypto mortgage instead of liquidating their Bitcoin and buying a house with cash? JR: I think the primary reason is the opportunity cost. So, when someone has
“... a crypto consumer tends to skew
younger, so I would say that it’ll range from 20s to 40s. And I would say probably the average is going to be someone in the 30-year-old range.” - Josip Rupena
amassed a significant portion of wealth that’s comprised of crypto it becomes a very big opportunity cost to sell it, if you believe that it’s going to continue to rise over the coming years. And the other aspect is, if you do sell, there’s a likelihood that that’s going to trigger a taxable event. And then the third reason is that today, for someone that has crypto, it is challenging for them to qualify for a conventional loan. If they have to liquidate their crypto wealth, it becomes more challenging for them to be able to qualify, and a lot of people that have crypto, well, they may not have all the qualifications, to be able to qualify for a conventional loan. You may be able to have enough for a down payment, but you still need to qualify for a mortgage. So that’s what we’re really trying to solve for is if you’re trying to do this transaction, then can we put it all together and be a turnkey solution. MV: Your mortgage product is built around the idea that Bitcoin has value, and it will continue to grow, but what happens if Bitcoin is devalued? JR: It’s a great question. And it’s one that we think a lot about the structure and sort of risk parameters. For a
MARCH 2022
consumer that pledges Bitcoin, there will be a margin call and if the value of Bitcoin drops below a certain percentage, that will trigger an event where we may have to liquidate to stay within our risk parameters of what we’re comfortable with. But for most consumers that have Bitcoin, this is usually not the only amount of Bitcoin that they have, so it’s likely that they would have the desire to pledge more, because again, they don’t really want to sell the Bitcoin because of volatility around it. I think that if you would have asked me five years ago, with the asset class being $200 to $300 billion in aggregate, like the digital asset class, then you would say, yes, there’s a likelihood that it could go down significantly. But I think if you fast forward today, the asset class is close to $3 trillion, and the reality is that it’s here to stay. I think that the expectation is that there will be volatility within the asset class, but I don’t think it disappears, by any means. MV: Are there plans to securitize the product? And who is funding this initiative? JR: Yes, at some point, we’re going to look at that. And we have several relationships with institutional capital partners for what we are doing. On the side of you know, who’s taking the risk? We’ve been fortunate to have great
MORTGAGE
investors, equity investors into our company and that’s allowed us to go out and be a direct lender. And we have good institutional relationships as well, with partners that help us have more capital. But that’s all possible because we have great investors that are allowing us to really be innovative, and being a venture backed company. MV: What do you see being the future of crypto and mortgages? JR: There have been different companies tr ying to approach it from dif ferent perspectives. Our mindset around this is to help consumers that have digital wealth be able to buy real estate, and today that there’s a big friction point around that, so we’re trying to solve it from that side of the equation. I think that there’s a lot of people that are trying to solve through blockchain with title and records, and you know, the closings. So, there’s a lot of people looking at it from a pure infrastructure perspective, we’re looking at it from a consumer-solution perspective.
“Our mindset around
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this is to help consumers that have digital wealth, be able to buy real estate, and today that there’s a big friction point around that ...” - Josip Rupena
MARCH 2022
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HOUSING MARKETS
MARCH 2022
HOUSING MARKETS
Agents scramble to meet demand … in Rochester? PEOPLE ARE MOVING AND RETURNING TO THE HISTORIC UPSTATE NEW YORK CITY BY BROOKLEE HAN
“The market last year was unprecedented,”
Mark Siwiec, a Keller Williams agent in Brighton, a town just southeast of Rochester. “It left us breathless. Until about mid-May of this past year the market was unlike anything we’d ever experienced. Then we downshifted from securing 20-25 offers and selling for $15,000 to $75,000 over asking to a market that was still a great seller’s market, but just not as insane, and that market lasted until about mid-September.” That median sales price is up 3.8% year over year per Redfin, and the November 2020 price was itself up 12.4% from 2019. In addition, the sale-tolist price ratio was 106.3% in November per Redfin, suggesting listing agents perhaps underestimated continued market demand.
- Mark Siwiec
W
“While we are finding some pockets of the market that are cooling off, others, like suburban Rochester,
MARCH 2022
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I
n January, high temperatures in Rochester, New York , plummeted to a frigid eight degrees Fahrenheit and the city had already seen more than 18 inches of snow since the start of the year. That ’s standard for Rochester, a city on the banks of Lake Ontario that quickly grew after the American Revolution and gave birth to Eastman Kodak and Xerox, but whose population has tumbled from around 350,000 in the mid-20th century to just over 200,000 today. In November, Rochester’s median home sales price was $154,838, according to Redfin, less than half of the national median that month of $335,519. Still, there’s a sustained, nationwide surge in housing demand, plus a crippling lack of inventory — and Rochester is hardly impervious to either of these historic trends. “The market last year was unprecedented,” said
HOUSING MARKETS
are even more competitive than they were a year ago,” local Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Zambito agent Sichel Cignarale said. “The city of Rochester itself is still very competitive. People are using escalation clauses [a clause in an offer that automatically increases the purchase price by a certain amount over competing offers] and other strategies in their attempts to outbid the competition.” Cignarale noted signs of cooling off, including some properties appraising for lower than expected and once desperate buyers no longer waiving home inspections. But the market remains elevated, especially for the winter season when things typically slow down in Rochester as illustrated in the number of homes on the market and percentage of homes selling for over list price. Agents claim that buyers are leaving pricey, big cities for Rochester, including “boomerang buyers” who grew up in Rochester but moved away. “We are seeing a decent amount of boomerang buyers who, due to job changes or just being able to work
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“While we are finding some pockets of the market that are cooling off, others, like suburban Rochester, are even more competitive than they were a year ago.” - Sichel Cignarale
remotely, are able to return home,” Mandy Friend Gigliotti, a local Keller Williams agent said. “Truthfully, Rochester is just a beautiful place and a great place to raise a family. There are so many amenities, there is not a lot of traffic and the culture is really strong here.”
A
Aside from Brooklyn, Siwiec and other local agents have helped buyers from Manhattan, New Jersey, Connecticut, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco move to Rochester. “We are experiencing the phenomenon of people realizing that their job is portable, so they sell the Brownstone in Brooklyn for $1.5 million, pocket $750,000 in equity and use the remaining money to buy a house in Rochester that is three times the size of what they were living in, with the added benefits of a larger yard and less congestion,” Siwiec said. Many agents also cited the area’s public school system and the many local highly rated universities, including Rochester Institute of Technology and Eastman School of Music, as well as the city’s proximity to the picturesque Finger Lakes region. This increase in demand for housing has resulted in high levels of competition and multiple offer situations. “We are still seeing 15 to 20 offers on properties and that has been during the holiday time,” Tiffany Hilbert, a Rochester Keller Williams agent, said. “I think a lot of buyers want to try to buy a house and lock in before mortgage rates potentially go up, so people are still seriously looking to find a home.” “Generally, you pretty much have to go in at or above ask, if you really want to be competitive on a house and you definitely want to use an escalation clause,” Hilbert said. “I think the big thing, if you are
MARCH 2022
“We are seeing a decent amount of boomerang buyers who, due to job changes or just being able to work remotely, are able to return home.”
- Mandy Friend Gigliotti
HOUSING MARKETS
I
In addition to heightening the level of competition for properties, this influx of homebuyers has placed increased stress on the area’s already tight housing inventory. “In the six county region, which Rochester is part of, six years ago or so there were typically around 7,500 homes on the market,” Siwiec said. “But for the past three or four years that number has not risen above 1,000 units and right now we have less than 560 homes on the market in this region.” Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the median number of days a home has sat on the market in Rochester has not risen above 12. Currently, it is less than 10 days on the market. “Some new properties came on the market last Friday morning and they are not accepting offers until Monday,” Cignarale said. “So some of these homes, agents are only giving one weekend and
“Once again we are anticipating that the first six months of this year are going to be reminiscent of last year with lots and lots of buyers and very few properties available.” - Mark Siwiec
then they are gone.” Local agents do not see any hope on the horizon for the city’s low inventory issues, especially with starter homes suited to first-time homebuyers. “People are staying in their existing homes longer, so less inventory is hitting the market and there just aren’t enough starter homes being built, so we are struggling with that too” Siwiec said. “Of course, COVID plays into things as well. With all the uncertainty we have seen a lot of people decide to invest in their current home rather than find something new. Even with it being such a strong seller’s market people are thinking, ‘Well, I just dropped $125,000 in my property to make it what I want, why should I sell now?’”
MARCH 2022
Local agents expect things to continue escalating, but hopefully at a slower pace. “We are forecasting the spring market will begin sometime in the middle to the third week of January, Siwiec said. “Once again we are anticipating that the first six months of this year are going to be reminiscent of last year with lots and lots of buyers and very few properties available. Values will more likely than not increase again, but due to inflation and rising interest rates, we are thinking that come Memorial Day, things will start to cool off significantly.”
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representing a buyer, is to have a strong and fierce conversation with them prior to even going out and looking because you’ve got to set that expectation the correct way for them, and you have to gain their trust so they will listen to you when it comes time to put a competitive offer in.”
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SECONDARY MARKET
MARCH 2022
SECONDARY MARKET
Freedom Mortgage dominates the MSR market AS 2022 OPENS, MSR SALES HEAT UP
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nother large mortgageser vicing rights bulk offering was on the market in January on the heels of a $10 billion MSR package that went out to bid earlier in the month. The latest deal was marketed by New Yorkbased Mortgage Industry Advisory Corp., or MIAC. It was a $6.23 billion bulk-sale offering of agency MSRs. The seller is not identified. “MIAC, as exclusive representative for the seller, is pleased to offer for your review and consideration a $6.23 billion Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae mortgage servicing portfolio,” bid documents for the new MSR offering state. “The portfolio is being offered by a mortgage company that originates loans with a California concentration.” In early January, Denver-based Incenter Mortgage Advisors also launched 2022 by unveiling a $10 billion bulk-sales package of mortgage-servicing rights tied to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans. The seller was not identified in the
offering, which indicates the deadline for final bids was Jan. 12. Incenter Managing Director Tom Piercy would only say that the seller was a “nonbank.” These latest offerings come on the heels of an active year in 2021 on the MSR front, which new data shows was dominated by one lender that can be named: Freedom Mortgage. The $6.23 billion MSR package was marketed by MAIC and was composed of 17,609 loans, most of which are Fannie and Freddie mortgages, with Ginnie-backed loans composing less than 8% of the package by loan volume. The average loan size, according to the MSR-offering bid documents, was $353,763, and the average FICO credit score of the borrowers was 750. The servicing-fee cut was set at 0.258%, with the average interest rate on loans in the MSR package at 3.023%. Slightly more than 56% of the loans in the servicing package were originated in California, based on principle balance. The other leading states for loan originations for the MSR bundle were Washington, 12.27%; Illinois, 5.34%; and Oregon, 4.27%. Combined, the two MSR bulk offerings that kicked off the start of the year, with loans valued in total at more than $16 billion, are a sign that the MSR market is on a roll right now. “We’re approaching ... a peak [in the market] again,” said
MARCH 2022
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BY BILL CONROY
SECONDARY MARKET
“We’re approaching … a peak [in the market] again. We’ve been on the phone … advising our customers that this is happening.” - Tom Piercy
Piercy. “We’ve been on the phone ... advising our customers that this is happening. “We’re ... seeing values trending up, and I’m pretty bullish on this for the foreseeable future.” Rankings released recently by New York-based mortgage data-analytics firm Recursion offer some insight into the state of the MSR market and its major players as the new year begins to unfold. Leading the pack on multiple fronts is Freedom, which bills itself as the leading Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) lender in the country. That also explains, in part, Freedom’s role as a leading servicer in the Ginnie Mae market as of year-end 2021.
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Ginnie serves as the government-backed securitization pipeline for loans insured by government agencies that provide loan-level mortgage-insurance coverage through their lending programs. Unlike Fannie and Freddie, however, Ginnie does not purchase loans. Rather, under the Ginnie program, lenders originate qualifying mortgages that they can then securitize through the agency. Ginnie guarantees only the principal and interest payments to purchasers of its bonds, which are sold worldwide. The underlying loans carry guarantees, or a mortgage insurance certification, from the housing agencies approving the loans — which include single-family mortgages guaranteed
by the FHA, VA and U.S. Department of Agriculture. The holders of Ginnie Mae MSRs, primarily nonbanks today, are the parties responsible for assuring timely payments are made to bondholders. And when loans go unpaid due to delinquency, those servicers still must cover the payments to the bondholders. “Ginnie Mae as an organization, their function is to a make sure that there’s a market for buying these Ginnie Mae bonds, and then they have to manage the servicers to ensure that the integrity of the bonds is maintained,” Piercy explained. “The servicer retains the obligation to pass through the principal and interest to the bondholder.” Under Ginnie’s program, then, lenders can securitize through the agency qualif ying loans they purchase or originate, and then they can choose to retain or sell the servicing rights to the loans backing the Ginnie Mae securities issued. That ’s where Freedom Mortgage shines, based on information provided by Recursion. In terms of Ginnie Mae securitizations, including new issuance and net MSR purchases, Freedom is by far the largest Ginnie servicer. As of the final month of last year, the lender controlled 13.2% of Ginnie Mae’s $1.95 trillion outstanding servicing book of business — with a $261 billion balance comprised of both new-issuance securitizations and net purchases, according to Recursion’s data. The figures for the other Ginnie servicers among the top five — again, based on new issuance and net purchases — as of the same time frame are the following:
MARCH 2022
•
PennyMac Financial Services, $222 billion, 11.2%. • Lakeview Loan Servicing, $203 billion, 10.3%. • Wells Fargo, $125 billion, 6.4%. • Quicken Loans, $101 billion, 5.1%. Diving down into the numbers a bit, the total volume of newly issued Ginnie Mae securities year to date through Dec. 1 of last year stood at $780 billion, including $102 billion for the leading issuer, Freedom. The other leaders in that category: • PennyMac Financial Services, $96 billion. • Lakeview Loan Servicing, $45 billion. • Caliber Home Loans, $26 billion. Li Chang, founder and CEO of Recursion, points out that Wells Fargo “only delivered $19 billion in new issuance,” to the Ginnie market year to date through Dec. 1, 2021 — far less than Quicken Loans. But “Wells has a huge legacy book” of Ginnie MSR business, she added, so it ranks above Quicken in Ginnie-servicing market share based on the lenders’ outstanding loan balances. Freedom also was the top buyer of Ginnie MSRs from other servicers over the 11-month period, based on loan volume, at $71.2 billion in net purchases, followed by Lakeview Loan Servicing, $50.4 billion; Mr. Cooper (formerly Nationstar Mortgage), $21.7 billion; and Carrington Mortgage Services, $7.3 billion.
In terms of Ginnie Mae securitizations, including new issuance and net MSR purchases, Freedom is by far the largest Ginnie servicer.
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The loan-delinquency rate for Ginnie loans in Freedom’s MSR portfolio as of Dec. 1 of last year was 9.7% — representing all loans 30 days or more past due. That’s down from 14.3% in 2020, the initial year of the pandemic. Freedom declined to comment for the story. Freedom’s late loans accounted for 22.1% of all outstanding loans on Ginnie’s books that were 30 days or more late as of early December 2021, the Recursion data shows. In general, nonbanks reported higher delinquency rates for their Ginnie MSR portfolios than did banks. Trailing Freedom’s double-digit figure on that measure are Lakeview Loan Servicing, with an 11.4% share of the Ginnie lateloan pool; PennyMac, 8.2%; Mr. Cooper/ Nationstar Mortgage, 6.4%; NewRez, 4%; and Quicken Loans, 3.1%. “Banks typically have lower delinquency rate than nonbanks,” Chang said, “as they have the access to capital to repurchase delinquent loans out of Ginnie Mae pools.” Piercy explained that once a loan in a pool of Ginnie-securitized loans is 90 days past due, the servicer has the right to buy it out of the pool at par and modify it as needed because that lender now owns the loan. If the lender can then get the borrower to make six monthly payments in a row, it “can reissue that loan into a Ginnie Mae security” and earn a profit on the spread. “The conventional-loan world is much different than the Ginnie world because of the inherent risks tied to the credit around Ginnie Mae servicing, versus conventional servicing,” Piercy said. “And why is that? “ [ W i t h] f ir s t-t im e h o m e b u ye r s , low down-payment programs, the demographics [of Ginnie loans] are such
fluid in terms of sales and purchases, and for varied reasons. So, he cautions against drawing conclusions out of context from figures like delinquency rates, existing market share, or any lender’s ranking relative to another. “You know, there’s a lot that can be involved, and different lenders are buying and selling MSRs for various that you’ve got a greater propensity to fall reasons, even if they’re a net buyer,” into a default category.” he said. “They are buying or selling for In the bigger picture, servicing rights for portfolio management. Maybe they need Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans also to improve a can be bought and [borrower-class] sold, just as the profile, or maybe MSRs for loans they ’re not carr ying Ginnie Mae’s stamp are “You know, there’s a lot having success in recapturing bought and sold. that can be involved, [refinancing] a So, Recursion also and different lenders provided a ranking are buying and selling certain profile. “So, they’ll strip of all agency MSR MSRs for various reathat out and try to transfers — which sons, even if they’re a sell [those MSRs] includes sales net buyer.” to someone who and purchases of - Tom Piercy thinks they can Freddie, Fannie do it bet ter. I and Ginnie MSRs. mean, that ’s And, once again, what the market really is all about.” the leading purchaser year to date through Dec. 1 of last year was Freedom Mortgage, with $143.4 billion in total agency MSR purchases, Recursion’s data shows. That includes $40 billion in Fannie Mae servicing rights, $32 billion in Freddie MSRs and $71 billion in Ginnie MSRs. Freedom’s all-agency MSR purchases over the period are double its closest rival: PHH Mortgage, at $68 billion. Trailing PHH in the category are JP Morgan, $62 billion; Lakeview Loan Servicing, $51 billion; and Matrix Financial, $46 billion. Piercy stresses that the MSR market is
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SECONDARY MARKET
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REAL ESTATE
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REAL ESTATE
Understanding Realogy’s stance on commissions
THE BROKERAGE'S SHORT, SWORN COURT DECLARATION CAUSED TREPIDATION BY MATTHEW BLAKE
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comments confuse me.” Gorman’s two-page declaration has been interpreted as everything from the “dam that breaks” NAR’s 108-yearold stranglehold over real estate commissions, by one longtime observer, to “fairly irrelevant” by another. Adding to the lack of clarity about whether Gorman’s statement is especially important for real estate, or even for the lawsuit it comes from, is that almost none of Realogy’s competitors either denounced Gorman or supported him.
When Missouri federal judge Stephen Bough unsealed a sworn declaration in January from Coldwell Banker CEO Ryan Gorman in a sprawling antitrust lawsuit about real estate commissions, it prompted disquiet among real estate agents, including those who work at Gorman’s company. “My Coldwell Banker agent office policy insists that we do not cut commission under any circumstance,” said one agent who requested anonymity to speak candidly about her company, which is part of the Realogy brokerage conglomerate. “Gorman’s
That silence comes amid multiple lawsuits alleging an antitrust conspiracy between brokerages and the NAR, plus a U.S. Justice Department antitrust inquiry into NAR. Filed with the court on Nov. 11, Gorman’s declaration comes in a proposed class action lawsuit filed by housing consumers against NAR, Realogy, HomeServices of
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REAL ESTATE
America, RE/MAX, and Keller Williams Realty. The lawsuit, in part, challenges a rule first put forth by the National Association of Real Estate Exchanges, NAR ’s forerunner, in 1913, that a member agent representing a home seller, “Always be ready and willing to divide the regular commission equally with any member of the Association who can produce a buyer for any client.” More than 100 years later, NAR’s cooperative compensation policy reads similarly, stating that the seller’s agent specifies what commission they shall provide the buyer’s agent. The way it works is that a real estate agent belonging to NAR agrees with a seller that, for example, the agent will receive 6% of a home’s final sales price. The agent then, obligated to make an offer of compensation to the buyer’s agent — with the dueling incentives of both getting as much money as possible but attracting home-buying agents, decides to split their commission. So, on the local Multiple Listings Service, the seller’s agent posts that the buyer’s agent is due for a 3% commission.
“We cannot speak for other brokerages. There are rumors and speculation about our position that are generating misinformation and confusion across the industry.” - Realogy spokesperson
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Plaintiffs in the Missouri case and other pending lawsuits argue the policy artificially inflates commissions, discourages consumer ’s right to negotiate on commission, and prompts buyer’s agents to steer clients toward homes where they can receive a higher commission. Gorman’s declaration on behalf
of Realogy Brokerage Group does not actually disagree with the cooperative compensation policy. But it argues, “The mandatory nature of the NAR cooperative compensation rule should be rescinded.” Gorman goes somewhat further, stating Realogy agents are not required to abide by any NAR rule, except the code of ethics. Also, if there is a stated buyer’s agent commission, consumers should know about it, Gorman argued. That position has since become NAR law.
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Agents on well-frequented Facebook groups including Lab Coat Agents have reacted with trepidation and anger, suggesting that Gorman’s position undermines buyer’s agents. Meanwhile, Norman Miller, a professor at the University of California San Diego who has spent a generation covering real estate commissions and believes they are too high, said that the loosening of the cooperative compensation policy, “Gives agents more flexibility and more opportunities to compete on price more.” “ I have s e e n s e ll e r ’s ag e nt s commissions go down in the last 10 years,” Miller said. “This could help trigger buyer’s agents fees to drop.” But it’s not clear if Gorman’s views will gain traction. NAR affirmed it stands by its policy. And the other lawsuit defendants — Home Services of America, RE/MAX and Keller Williams — declined to comment, each stating they have a company policy to not comment on pending litigation. Another top national brokerage, eXp, also declined to comment, and multiple messages left in January with Compass and Zillow went unreturned. Asked about whether Realogy’s position would gain industry support, a company spokesperson said, “We cannot speak for other brokerages,” noting, “ There are rumors and speculation about our position that are generating misinformation and confusion across the industry.”
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“What would make
more sense are new laws requiring listing agents to more actively inform sellers that commissions are negotiable.” - Max Besbris
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The one brokerage that did take a position is Redfin, whose agent compensation model includes employee salaries and also commission rebates for homebuyers. “Redfin supports making offers of compensation optional rather than a mandatory,” said a spokesperson. “We supported NWMLS when it made this change in 2019. That market is a good example that mandating offers of compensation is not necessary for competition and cooperation to flourish in the real estate marketplace.” Redfin is referring to the Northwest Multiple Listings Services, the Seattlebased MLS that is also a pioneer in making buyer ’s agent ’s expected compensation known to consumers. But for some real estate observers, including
Steve Murray of RealTrends, the NWMLS’s recent experiments serve as an example that industry reforms do not necessarily change consumer behavior or lower commissions. Max Besbris, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, also wonders if what is being argued about is a bit tangential to the lawsuit plaintiffs’ aims to increase consumers’ bargaining power and choices. The end of cooperative compensation seems instead, “An attempt to give listing agents even more power in determining commissions. What would make more sense are new laws requiring listing agents to more actively inform sellers that commissions are negotiable,” Besbris said. Messages left with the lawyers for plaintiffs in the lawsuit went unreturned. The Missouri case remains in the factfinding phase with no timetable yet for major court decisions.
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ECONOMICS
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ECONOMICS
Will 2022 be a good year for real estate investors? MOSTLY SUNNY, WITH A CHANCE OF PAIN BY RICK SHARGA
Whether a real estate investor is a developer, a fix-and-flip expert or someone who buys properties to rent, the good news is that demand isn’t going away anytime soon.
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at levels not seen in 40 years? That’s the state of the real estate market as we move into the new year, so the answers to those questions will determine the fate of real estate investors in 2022.
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Whether a real estate investor is a developer, a fixand-flip expert or someone who buys properties to rent, the good news is that demand isn’t going away anytime soon. As HousingWire’s Lead Analyst Logan Mohtashami has pointed out frequently, demographics drive demand, and those demographics definitely suggest that there will be no shortage of homebuyers in 2022. The largest cohort of millennials — the largest generation in U.S. history — are between the ages of 29–32, and the average age of a first-time homebuyer today is 33. The COVID-19 pandemic has
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xperienced real estate investors often say that there are opportunities in every market — whether prices are rising or falling, whether the trends lean towards a buyers’ market or a seller’s market. It’s simply a matter of adjusting your investment strategy to optimize current market conditions. But what if the market conditions include historically low levels of available inventory for sale, and competing for that limited inventory with institutional investors as well as millions of millennial homebuyers? And what if those market conditions drive home prices up to new price peaks at the same time that mortgage rates are rising and inflation is
ECONOMICS
63% of the investors surveyed cited limited inventory as the biggest challenge they face today.
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accelerated a trend among millennials to migrate from urban renters to suburban homeowners, in part to move away from the perceived health risks of high-density city environments, and in part to take advantage of having the opportunity to work from home. Also driving demand are historically low interest rates, which have kept monthly payments relatively affordable despite home prices that have jumped by 18-20% in the past year, and, according to a recent report from RealtyTrac’s parent company ATTOM, have made it less expensive to own a home than to rent in 60% of the markets across the country. Despite that, and despite asking rent prices that soared 14% year over year, apartment vacancy rates are also at historically low levels, about 2% according to RealPage. So opportunities should continue to abound for developers building owneroccupied properties or new rental homes, for fix-and-flippers bringing formerly distressed inventory back to market and for single-family rental investors offering properties to families who’ve outgrown apartments. All these investors need are properties to sell or rent. And there, of course, lies the rub.
About 88% of survey respondents expressed concerns that inflation would have an impact on their business.
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According to the Winter 2022 RealtyTrac Investor Sentiment Survey, which tracks the state of the market in the minds of individual investors, 63% of the investors surveyed cited limited inventory as the
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biggest challenge they face today. This marks the third consecutive time that “limited inventory” was cited as the biggest challenge, and 57% of the respondents believe that it will still be the biggest issue they face six months from now. Housing industry experts agree. Mike Simonson, CEO of Altos Research, reported on January 17 that the inventory of homes for sale had hit an all-time low of 284,000 properties. December housing starts and permits increased to annualized rates of 1.7 million and 1.87 million respectively, suggesting that some relief may be on the way, but after a decade of under-building, it will take time before we reach a balanced level of supply and demand. T his unhealthy supply/demand imbalance has had a predictable impact on home prices, which was the second most frequently cited problem by investors (60%) in the RealtyTrac survey. Rising prices affect different types of real estate investors in different ways, of course. Rental property investors probably have a slightly higher tolerance for rising prices since they can offset costs to a certain extent by charging more for rent; and rental property owners are often more concerned with cash flow than short-term price appreciation. Fix-andflip investors, on the other hand, have to be more price sensitive, since their business model relies on buying low, managing repair budgets carefully and making a profit at current market prices. This has proved to be challenging over the past two quarters — ATTOM reported that while the total number of homes flipped had increased in both the second and third quarter of 2021, gross margins had decreased by over ten percentage points, from 43.8% in 2020 to 33.2% in 2021, the lowest level of gross margin since the first quarter of 2011, during the Great Recession. Investors are also worried that inflation
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Individual investors find themselves competing not jus t with larger, institutional investors, but with traditional consumer homebuyers as well. Both were cited about 25% of the time as a major impediment by survey respondents in the current market and a likely problem six months from now. Competition is especially fierce at the low end of the market, which has the lowest level of for-sale inventory
of any price tier, and where first-time homebuyers (about 31% of the market) are looking for affordable properties, and institutional investors are looking for affordable rental units. iBuyers were expected to remain in the game, despite the exit of Zillow’s Instant Offers business from the category. Only 16% of the investors surveyed believed that the iBuyer model was intrinsically flawed, and that other major players would exit. More than twice as many believed that Zillow’s Zestimate, used as an integral part of the company’s buying strategy, simply wasn’t accurate enough, and resulted in improperly priced purchase decisions — a fatal flaw in a fix-and-flip model.
Only 16% of the investors surveyed believed that the iBuyer model was intrinsically flawed, and that other major players would exit.
Rick Sharga is the founder of CJ Patrick Company, a consulting firm that works with real estate, financial services and technology companies.
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may make matters worse in 2022. About 88% of survey respondents expressed concerns that inflation would have an impact on their business due to higher material and labor costs, higher interest rates making financing more expensive, or because rising consumer prices might weaken demand from potential home buyers and renters.
KUDOS
The journey to helping 50,000 community heroes buy or sell a home
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Homes for Heroes’ mission to inspire the housing industry
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By Sarahi De La Cuesta
How do you celebrate helping 50,000 community heroes buy or sell a home? Well, according to Ruth Johnson, CEO of Homes for Heroes, you honor the massive accomplishment by giving even more. As one of the largest networks in the real estate and mortgage industry, Homes for Heroes was built to give back to firefighters, EMS, law enforcement, military, healthcare professionals and teachers and provide an easier route for them to buy or sell a home. Founded shortly after 9/11, Homes of Heroes reached a milestone in late 2021, helping its 50,000th hero, an officer with the Knoxville Police Department who, along with his family, purchased a 3-bedroom, 3 -bathroom home, located in Knoxville, Tennessee. “I am grateful to this hero for choosing a home in Knoxville, and I am thankful that with the help of Homes for Heroes, he was able to purchase a home and raise his family in the community where he works,” said Nikki Moore, the officer’s real estate specialist and a former law enforcement officer herself. “Public servants that are responsible for law enforcement should be able to live in the communities that they serve and protect,” she added. In honor of serving more than 50,000 heroes, Homes for Heroes announced it was doubling the traditional give-back and donated funds to support a national law enforcement foundation, providing the Tennessee Fraternal Order of Police chapter with a $3,000 donation on National First
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Responders Day to honor the service of the police and members of law enforcement. According to the foundation’s website, they have helped heroes save more than $93 million on their real estate transactions, sold more than $13 billion in real estate to heroes, actively partnered with more than 4,200 like-minded real estate and mortgage professionals who’ve joined in the mission and donated more than $1 million to heroes in need through the Homes for Heroes Foundation. To get involved with the foundation, Johnson explained that real estate agents and mortgage lenders can go to the Homes for Heroes website and fill out a form to schedule an appointment with one of their account executives. If they choose to become an active affiliate member of Homes for Heroes, Johnson said that they go through a 30-day onboarding journey where they are given the resources such as coaching, training and access to everything that they might need. “We like to attract people that resonate with wanting to give back and serve heroes, so that’s a big play for us because it weeds out the people who are just looking at lead generation or making it all about the dollar amount. The good news is that our message will really resonate with those who connect with our core mission and our cause,” Johnson said. “It’s important to us that we have a very controlled onboarding so all Heroes have the best possible experience,” she added.
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KUDOS
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parting shot ❱ TECH IN ACTION
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Photo Credit: CubiCasa floor plan and aerial photography by Justin A. Torok at HomeSpotMedia.com
If this tech-focused magazine issue has left readers with anything, it’s that innovation is already deeply engrained into the housing space, as companies reimagine and reengineer processes that have long been manual. One such example of innovation in the housing space is CubiCasa, which was also named a 2022 Tech100 Mortgage winner. In September 2021, Clear Capital closed on the acquisition of the Finnish proptech startup. The move integrated CubiCasa’s automated floor plan sketching technology with Clear Capital’s ClearInsight Platform, a mobile property data collection application. CubiCasa’s technology stands out because it’s modernizing the valuation industry, which has been a major focus in the housing industry recently. The company’s mobile capture technology collects data through a walk-through of the home, which it then uses to create a floor plan sketch and calculate the gross living area. This CubiCasa scan example by Justin Torok, vice president, creative director at HomeSpotMedia.com, showcases the technology in action, displaying the floorplan and aerial view of a home in Pennsylvania.
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Automating the dream of homeownership. An unmatched competitive advantage, from consumer engagement to loan registry. And everything in between.
icemortgagetechnology.com