The Winter housing market continues to be challenging, given higher interest rates and seasonal downturns in home sales at this time of year. But there still has been plenty of demand from buyers and demand for Servion Mortgage’s support. We are thrilled to welcome our newest partners and grow all relationships with existing ones in November, December and January.
New Partners
Beacon Federal Credit Union
La Porte, TX
First Security Bank – Sleepy Eye
Sleepy Eye, MN
Freeman Holdings
Wormsleysburg, PA
Go Mortgage
Columbus, OH
Great Lakes Credit Union
Bannouckbum, IL
The Police Credit Union
San Bruno, CA
Members Choice Credit Union
Ashland, KY
Relationship Expansions
Alcoa Community Federal Credit Union
*Added Wholesale FHA/VA,
Manage your repurchase and compliance risk with confidence. We have worked with financial institutions to deliver mortgages for over 30 years. Now we are sharing our compliance expertise with you.
How do you manage the regulations and guidelines that come with mortgage lending and servicing?
The Answer:
By taking advantage of Servion’s Quality Control Services.
Review Types Offered:
f Servicing
f Post-Closing
f Pre-Funding
f Non-Originated
f Early Payment Default
f Targeted
f Appraisal
We understand your need to focus on quality, not quantity, while still having a quick turnaround time. You can count on that kind of personalized and detailed service with us. Visit myservion.com/qualitycontrol or contact our dedicated QC Manager, Brock Miller, at bmiller@myservion.com.
ENCOURAGE buyers to reduce their focus on interest rates. Instead, work with buyers to determine the monthly payment they are comfortable paying and how that amount fits in their monthly budget.
CONFIRM the comfort level of your buyer. Some may have been approved for loan amounts that were at the highest level, but with rising interest rates, they may no longer feel comfortable extending to that level.
OFFER ADVICE instead of selling on price. “Date the rate…marry the home.” While interest rates are higher than they have been in the last 3 years, eventually, they will trend down, and you never know when your dream home will be available again. If you find your dream home, the opportunity to refinance to a lower rate in the future will more than likely present itself.
As interest rates continue to rise, some homeowners who have been pre-approved for loans at a certain amount may have decided to pull out of the market entirely (because the monthly payment is now significantly higher) or they may be reassessing their comfort level with the loan amount they originally were approved for. With the spring home buying season around the corner, here are some tips for working with potential home buyers to set the stage for quick action when they find their perfect home.
Servion’s experience shows that two demographics are still actively interested in seizing a home-buying opportunity: young professionals who aren’t familiar with lower interest rates and empty nesters looking to right-sizer home as they prepare for their future aging in place. Taking time to work with your buyers to have approved loans in the pipeline will help them better take advantage of spring inventory.
ARRANGE a detailed conversation with a loan officer early in the process. Work together to calculate the maximum monthly payment that a buyer is comfortable paying that includes fees associated with taxes, hazard insurance, mortgage insurance and association dues (if applicable).
ARM: With interest rates on the rise, ARM (adjustable-rate mortgages) have become very popular and may be an option depending upon qualifications and how long the buyer plans to be in the home.
ASK buyers how much money they want to have in reserve after the sale is complete – just in case they need funds for other expenses. Ask them to consider future earning (and saving) potential, anticipated raises, or any other loans they may pay off in the future which could impact their overall fluidity.
APPLY: Put homebuyers in a position to submit the most complete loan application as quickly as possible when they find the right home. If needed, you can find a mortgage toolkit on Servion’s website.
EQUITY: If the buyer is currently renting, take time to point out the value of building equity and tax benefits of owning a home.
ARIEL JACOBSEN, ACCOUNT MANAGER MATTHEW BARTLETT, LOAN OFFICER THE SERVION GROUPServion Mortgage has introduced a new, updated Correspondent Portfolio Agreement that is fillable and includes more details. We encourage you to use this form to minimize the ongoing exchanges on a portfolio loan as you are finalizing all the details.
The National Consumer Reporting Association (NCRA) has announced a significant price increase for mortgage credit reports in the new year ranging from 10 percent to 400 percent. Be sure to check with your credit vendor on their 2023 increases to ensure you are disclosing the updated and correct fees to your borrowers.
Servion Mortgage has started offering monthly webinars to help you gain deeper product and program knowledge so that you can be the best resource to your borrowers.
The latest webinar was in December and covered buydowns. Specifically, Rachel Mengelkoch, Servion’s Training and Product Development Manager, shared how 3-2-1 and 2-1 buydowns work. She provided the steps required to complete a buydown on a Fannie Mae loan.
To view all upcoming educational events and videos, simply click here.
It’s no secret that 2022 was a year of housing volatility. But 2023 will most likely become a year of longlost normalcy with mortgage rates expected to stabilize while home sales and prices moderate after recent highs, according to the National Association of REALTORS’ (NAR) annual Real Estate Forecast. However, the details could differ depending on the region of the country.
If mortgage rates continue receding from a recent high of 7 percent, some housing markets may see an uptick in homebuying at the beginning of the year. But housing inventory is expected to remain tight in 2023, with housing starts below historical averages and fewer homeowners willing to sell, according to NAR. Ongoing challenges with housing supply will prevent home prices from falling, though price appreciation will be slow.
Other NAR Forecasts from the Real Estate Forecast Summit include:
• NAR predicts 4.78 million existing home sales in 2023, down 6.8 percent from 513 million in 2022.
• Annual median home prices are expected to increase by just 0.3 percent, following a 9.6 percent gain in 2022.
• Atlanta, Raleigh, Dallas, Fayetteville, AK, and Greenville, SC, join five other metropolitan areas among NAR’s top 20 housing markets in 2023.
market.
We developed the Go2Source Realtor Referral Network to address this “steering” problem. The network includes hand-picked agents who are committed to keeping borrowers with you, not sending them elsewhere. Your borrowers should remain yours, and Go2Source helps make that happen.
Go2Source agents help your borrowers search, buy, sell and save on their transactions.
Go2Source agents are local to your area and carefully vetted for professionalism and service attributes.
Want more information? Contact your Servion Account Executive. Ready to connect a lead with a Go2Source Realtor®?
Visit: myservion.com/Go2Source
Go2Source agents never steer the borrower to any other financial institution.
For just $30/year, we can help you get the word out about Go2Source with customizable print and digital materials.
The Go2Source Realtor® Referral Network is managed by The Servion Group, which locates, vets and recommends real estate agents in cities across the country who then become part of the Go2Source-branded network.
Servion Title salutes our troops with an exclusive discount as a thank you for their service and dedication! We welcome all Active Duty members, Reserves, Veterans and Retireesincluding their immediate family members.
We are thrilled to announce that we are planning to host our lending conference again in the fall of 2023!
After having to put this event on hold during the pandemic, it was so refreshing to be back in-person this year! Thank you to everyone who attended.
We’ll have more details in the coming months, but here’s what you should know for now.
Mortgage Sessions
SEPTEMBER 18 AND 19
Business/Commercial Lending Sessions
SEPTEMBER 20
Whether you’ve attended the conference before or this would be your first time, we are very excited to see all of you next September! Watch your emails for your official invitation, which we’ll be sending your way in late June or early July.
(The Servion Group) is everything I would hope for in a mortgage partner!
Extremely personable and professional throughout the entire process. I highly recommend them for your mortgage needs.
Hear what our partners are saying about us!
You all have been amazing and I just wanted to share how excited I am!
Thank you so much for the speedy servicing!!
Both requests I sent to you were completed in a matter of minutes!!