Hello, LOs!
After more than a year of saying, "we'll get back to you," my wife's company finally informed employees of its plans for reopening its offices. It's a 'hybrid' return, with employees expected to come in three days a week starting in September.
Some employees are less than thrilled. My wife works out of a New York office, but her boss is based in San Francisco. What's the logic in going to an office when more than half your team – including your manager – is in a different state?
But many leaders of corporate America seem committed to bringing back office life (see JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs), and the housing industry is no exception. Rocket and UWM have already begun phasing in employees. Countless other large, small and medium-sized lenders have done the same.
LOs, like many other professions, have grown accustomed to working in sweatpants and handling business from their home offices. Do they need to be in the office? The rigid lenders and brokerage shops that require LOs to go to the office could lose good talent, several recruiters who work in the mortgage industry told me.
Some lenders are also rethinking their office needs. "They're saying, 'do we really need this $4,000-a-month lease in Dallas, Texas?'" said Scott Crutcher, president and owner of Maverick Financial Group. "Nobody comes into the office anymore. We've got a branch manager that comes in occasionally, but we haven't seen a loan officer darken the door in six, seven, eight, nine months. It's reshaping the way everyone works in the industry. And while there is a push to go back to the office for a lot of salaried positions, I think there's a lot of loan officers that we're talking to, they're just not interested in doing that anymore."
So, LOs – I'd love to hear from you. What is your lender/broker shop doing about returning to the office? Do you prefer to work out of the office? Are there downsides to permanent work-from-home? Message me anonymously at jkleimann@housingwire.com.
Hope you have a great weekend!
James Kleimann
Managing Editor, HousingWire
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