Hello, LOs!
It's been a while since Vincent Carnevale has attended an open house or sat with his clients at the closing table. But with many of his real estate agent contacts having fewer deals to close, Carnevale, an LO at Garden State Mortgage Corp. in New Jersey, is getting back to pre-Covid basics.
"It's getting to be such a tight market," he said. "I haven't done an open house in maybe five years. But you know what, I'm going to start doing them again… I used to go to all my closings, physically show up to shake the hands of my clients, thank them for believing in me and give them a small gift. I was being told by the attorneys, 'Nobody shows up to their closings. I never see the loan officers.' But I believe in that personal touch."
Carnevale credited that personal touch with allowing him to have a 90% success rate in refinancing his own clients.
And so, with the trees in bloom, lead quality dropping, and those refis a hazy memory, Carnevale is back on the road.
"It's how I built my business," he said.
LOs, I'm curious – are you also getting back to basics to find purchase business? How are your buy-side real estate agent contacts doing? Let me know by emailing me at james@hwmedia.com.
Other stuff to know today:
*Redwood Trust has a new product on offer, one that won't surprise too many people – bank statement loans for self-employed borrowers. Of course, several other mortgage lenders have begun to wade in those waters.
*We are hearing several non-QM lenders are laying off staffers due to rate volatility. Know something? Please reach out anonymously at james@hwmedia.com.
*Yesterday we talked about how technology hasn't made mortgage lending cheaper. One LO said there's still too much unnecessary documentation required. "Some of the things I see requested in post-closing are comical," he said. "This industry is fairly simple, we do a helluva job making it difficult!" Agree? Disagree?
*Maybe Federal Housing Administration borrowers aren't totally up a creek? John Hudson, who runs the TPO division at Mortgage Financial Services, said that despite what "some canaries in the coal mine might be implying, we are actually seeing an uptick in FHA business for…you guessed it, DTI!"
He noted that rising rates plus elevated home prices are pushing more buyers out of approved Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages because of debt to income ratios over 45%. "So, once those are flipped to FHA, we are seeing approvals over 50%," he said. "The idea of 'lifetime [mortgage insurance premium]' really is not having a bearing because when push comes to shove…it's to get the house or renew that lease." Anyone else seeing buyers move into FHA territory?
*The inflation numbers are out, and they ain't pretty. 8.5% Yikes! How much impact has this had on your clients' finances? Let me know!
Alright, that's it from me. Hope you all have a great day!
James Kleimann
Managing Editor, HousingWire
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