Hello, LOs!
On Monday, I chatted with an LO at a Florida broker shop about the market's transition from refi to purchase.
To date, 2021 has been good to her. She was able to get some of her long-term clients to refi their homes to a sub 3% rate in the winter months, and her Rolodex of real estate agent clients have collectively handed her multiple borrowers whose offers had been accepted by sellers.
These purchase borrowers had immaculate credit, tons of cash they could bring to the table and were ready to move fast to close the deal. They knew they had to be agile in a market like this.
Which is why she found it interesting that several of them were quite interested in the servicing on the loan. Normally, most are fine with the lowest rate and seem unconcerned that the MSR will be sold shortly after purchase.
So I wanted to ask you all – have you noticed a heightened interest from borrowers in who's servicing the mortgage? Any common threads? As always, please share your thoughts anonymously by emailing me at jkleimann@housingwire.com.
While I have you, I'd like to highlight a few stories that our newsroom has produced in recent days. Senior Mortgage Reporter Georgia Kromrei has a deeply sourced feature that takes the reader into the transition between the Trump administration and the Biden administration at HUD and the FHA. The story examines a career officials claims that the housing agencies have bungled the pandemic response, exposed taxpayers to a tidal wave of defaults and foreclosures, and pushed technology upgrades for political reasons.
She has another feature today on the number of buyers who are opting for fixer-uppers and finding that it's not easy to navigate. We also have a story from Lead Analyst Logan Mohtashami on why the housing market won't crash in 2021, and a piece that examines the meaning of higher mortgage rates.
Lastly, it's the MBA conference this week. We'll be bringing you news on all the happenings – from panels on HUD, to the FHFA, to originators, capital markets, technology and racial equity. So check back often!
OK, that's it for me!
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