With recent interest rates at historic lows, originators haven’t had to worry about perfecting their selling skills because customers have come to them in droves. At the same time, Covid-19 restrictions have prompted consumers to shop remotely for food, cars, and everything in between. In response, businesses have quickly rolled out applications and delivery […]
Recently, Zillow announced that it was hiring its own employees to be real estate agents. While Redfin pioneered this approach, other firms such as Opendoor and Offerpad are also hiring agents for their new brokerage services. Mike DelPrete, a well-known real estate tech strategist, observed, “All the largest real estate disruptors are moving in […]
As we approach the end of the year, it is a good time to reflect on strategic challenges facing mortgage sales groups. While the housing finance industry has had a terrific year in terms of volume, it is clear that the consumer’s home loan buying journey has forever changed. In my view, if lenders […]
Last week, I spoke to a leading sales group in mortgage banking on what it will take for lenders and originators to succeed in 2025. I realize that it is hard to focus on the future when the present is so hectic in mortgage origination but, 2025 is only 1,500 days from now. It will […]
The 100% commission pay structure has long been considered the gold standard in mortgage lending as the best way to motivate originators to generate more volume. Implicit in a 100% commission pay structure is that a large reward is available for sales professionals who do well. Lenders assume that originators who fail to perform will […]
On September 2, 2020, Quicken Loans announced its first earning results as a publicly traded company. While the lending giant’s performance was terrific, there were a few things that I think were especially noteworthy: their gain on sale was a whopping 519 bps; and they are serious about obtaining 25% market share. It was no […]
Last week, the MBA reported that 2020 has been the best year in the industry since 2003 and that the volume generated to date is already $1 trillion more than in 2019. One of the few positive spots in the economy has been the housing market where there are not enough real estate sellers and […]
Last week, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) announced its first-ever Diversity & Inclusion Transparency Report. According to a recent Fortune article, “women and racially diverse talent now account for 65% of [PwC] entry-level hires, 7% of whom identify as Black, 12% as Latinx.” Shannon Schuyler, PwC Chief Purpose and Inclusion Officer, said the company’s goal is to […]
Stratmor recently reported that 84% of the purchase money volume originated last year was generated by producers with less than five years in the mortgage business. When I shared this fact with senior executives, the majority were surprised; only a handful of managers noticed a similar trend at their companies. This raises the question, […]
Last week, shock waves rippled through mortgage banking after 50 basis points were unexpectedly added to refinance loan fees. This action took a lot of lenders by surprise and sent many originators into panic mode. This is yet another example that the business world is filled with events that can seemingly come out of nowhere. […]