November 29, 2023 • 31 mins
Special guest Kevin Peranio, chief lending officer at PRMG, reveals top strategies to thrive in the current interest rate environment amidst the challenges of the mortgage industry. He shares success stories and insights on how staying connected with clients, investing in personal development, and broadening knowledge about non-QM programs can pave the way for a successful career in the mortgage industry.
As we navigate the ups and downs of the market, we discuss his tips and tricks to stay motivated and engaged. Kevin breaks down the importance of staying at the forefront of clients' minds and how leadership can guide mortgage professionals through tough market periods.
Kevin also touches on the role of technology in the mortgage industry and shares his views on striking a balance between automation and the human touch in client interactions. He also covers how digital apps streamline processes and facilitate scalability and efficiency.
Thanks for listening to Mortgage Connects, an MGIC podcast. If you have questions, comments, or want to get involved, send an email to mortgageconnects@mgic.com.
Looking for even more expert insights? Check out our mortgage industry content portal, Mortgage Connects knowledge hub. Subscribe today so you don't miss out on the latest! Subscribe
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hi, kevin, thank you so much for being with us today
on MortgageConnect, for reallyexcited to chat with you today.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Thank you, Stephanie.
Happy to be here and work withthe MGIC team.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Yes, so I am not a stalker, but I see lots of your
videos on LinkedIn, and sothere's just so much that you
offer there, and I wanted tojust start off with something
simple.
Given some of the shifts inwhere we are today, can you
share some success stories orbest practices from the
standpoint of your sales teamsthat's helped your organization
(00:36):
thrive despite the currentinterest rate environment?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Yeah, I've been trying to push three points to
our origination base and evenspeak and openly about it out in
the circuit you know, in theconventions and trade shows I've
done a couple sales rallies forsome other partner companies of
ours as well and the wholesalecorrespondence side.
I usually try and say threethings.
(01:02):
So probably the number one andmost important thing I would
talk about is mining yourdatabase, your existing database
, going through and touchingbase with all your clients.
You know, I know it soundssimple, but you would be shocked
how many people don't do it.
From an originator and rule forstandpoint, yeah, someone might
be in a three and a quarterrate and you think they're never
(01:23):
moving.
You know they bought theirforever home, but you still need
to call them and touch basewith them and just say you know,
hey, you know I'm your trustedadvisor, your financial advisor.
You know there are a lot ofthings that happened since the
last time we spoke and you know,just want to touch base and see
how things are going.
You know, you never know wherethat could lead.
It could lead to them havingquestions about their loan,
(01:45):
about the economy in general,about the transaction that you
had with them in the past.
Or you know maybe theirprospect.
You know maybe some reasons whythey're waiting.
And you never know what couldbecome of it.
And you know, just play thelong game with your clients.
And so you know, it could beend up being a new loan.
(02:06):
You never know Again.
You know some kind of cash outdeck consolidation tool.
Maybe they have a referral tosomeone else.
I heard this one guy he talkedto a long time ago here in
Southern California.
He says he calls all of hisclients a week after they close
and he says, hey, why are youmad at me?
And they're like what do youmean?
He's like you're mad at me.
(02:27):
They're like, no, we're not.
We had a great, a greattransaction.
We love our home.
He's like well, you haven'tgiven me a referral.
You must be mad at me, you know.
And so it's kind of a nice wayto like just use a disarm, a
conversation and then, you know,maybe help someone else in the
community.
And so you just you got to dothat.
That's a basic thing.
The next two topics that we'vebeen telling originators and
realtors is you know, make oneincremental change, right.
(02:52):
So just change.
Change one thing, right, don'ttry and boil the ocean.
You know, maybe take on a newtechnology partner, right?
You know, social selling outthere on social media.
A lot of people do it becauseit's quote free, right, but I
always find you get what you payfor.
So if you're not trying to putthe effort into standing out or
(03:15):
being noticed to be different onyour social media, then you
know you might not, you know, besuccessful at it.
So, you know, maybe spend 50bucks a month on some tool out
there, you know, like a socialcoach type tool that's out there
to help you create some bettersocial media, and what's great
about that is it helps youcreate a bigger audience and
(03:35):
that increases your databasethat you can then continue to
make phone calls in mind later.
So you know, whether it's asocial media tool or a CRM tool
or, you know, maybe it'ssomething that has to do with
you know, your, your approachand what you say or how you
display these.
Whatever it is, you know, justmake one change and kind of
(03:58):
invest in yourself.
So that's the second thing we'vebeen telling, and the third
thing that we've been actuallypushing is really learn non-QM.
You know there are a lot ofgreat programs there that.
You know bank statementprograms are about half of that
non-QM base.
And what I'm hearing I'm nottrying to start any rumors here
but Danny and Freddie they lookat cash flow analysis.
(04:21):
I would not be shocked in thenext couple of years if bank
statement programs get pulledinto the A paper space and are
backed by Danny and Freddie,which is great for, obviously,
the MI world.
You know cash flows, cash flowsright.
So if someone can afford to makethe payment and there's an
alternative way to document thatnot everyone's income sources
(04:43):
lines up directly with you knowI work W2 job and here's what I
get and here's what I've leftover.
And let's, let's get a house.
You know the side hustle side.
You know the side gig economy isso huge I really think.
You know our labor market isunder recording the side gig
economy, and so you know ifsomeone gets an extra thousand
(05:06):
bucks a month off of, you know,an Etsy website or something
that's real money that can helpthem afford a house, and so cash
flow matters.
Maybe they're an Uber driverand they're writing the whole
thing down, you know, and so, so.
So learning non QM is a reallygreat way to learn a new product
that's helping borrowers getinto homes, which, you know,
(05:27):
down the road, every singlepurchase that we're doing
nowadays, at least for the lastyear and a half, in the
foreseeable future, is likely tobe to rate to the refinance.
You know, likely next year, on2024, certainly by the second
half of next year, if not sooner.
So you know, you just setyourself up for a bigger year
next year, not to mentionwidening your own personal
credit box.
(05:48):
So those are the three bigthings that I've been pushing
with the originator of the realtool right now.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
I don't even know where to go with that.
I loved all three of those.
You know, from a standpoint ofmy personal experience from a
re-engagement, my loan officerthat I had used does frequently
reach out to me and it's reallynice because the first one we
use never did and I was like, ohno, I wouldn't use them again.
So just staying top of mind forwhen somebody may need
(06:15):
something else.
And I love that example thatyou gave about you know, calling
and asking if they were madfrom a referral.
Some people don't recognize that.
That's the best way you canthank somebody.
And the small incrementalchange.
I think that that's almost thesetting stone for the year to
come.
You know, it's going back tothe basics and making a small
(06:36):
change.
You don't have to re redoeverything that you've ever done
, but starting small I like that.
And the next year, yeah, no, Imean, I think that that's that's
so great to think about,because you, there is so many
people with these side smallthings to just try to make, to
make it or to make things theiraspirations, possible, feasible
(07:00):
and whatnot, and so it'sinteresting to think of that,
because it's not the first thingyou go to.
You know where all of thesechanges have happened in the
last few years that people aredoing to stay afloat or to own a
home someday.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Are you, when you had that conversation with your,
those conversations with yourrecent origin here, anything
come out of it?
Or just kind of?
I mean, obviously it stuck outin your mind, right?
So you said the top of mind,anything you know that was new
and unique.
You're like, oh my gosh, I justhad a moment.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Yeah, so some of them were just from a from a
standpoint of what they weresending and their topics, and
saying something about the moneythat I had and what to do with
it, Continuously using toolslike you had mentioned.
They were using home bought andjust like me being on top of
knowing what my house was worth,so if we needed to or wanted to
(07:51):
finish our basement, forexample, like what that would do
for us and what types of fundswe would have built in equity,
and so for me being in theindustry and being able to be a
lot more knowledgeable of thethings that are sent them like,
oh OK, I'm glad that he you knowhe's doing his job and at least
staying relevant with me,because that means a lot.
(08:12):
But I can't think of one thingin particular.
I think what I see now morefrom a social standpoint is to
like what you were referencingand what you what I've seen even
you do on LinkedIn andbenefiting and growing your
networks.
Those types of things arestanding out a lot more and I
think that we need to find moreways to do more of that, to be
(08:33):
more top of mind.
I only think that way because Iused him previously, but now
other things are starting totake that place because of how
visible some others are.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Yeah, well said, love it.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Yeah, so within your role, you are responsible for
multiple channels, so is thereanything you know?
You stated three of the bestpractices that you think that
people could put in place butthat they can do to stay engaged
and motivated to meet targetsthat that you all have set for
2024 and beyond.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Well at here on G, we're founded by two gentlemen,
paul Rozo and Robert Holiday,and we have a saying built by a
region for originators.
And those two originated notnot too long ago and then
started a company over 22 yearsago and I built them as a 13.
Was this past 13 years?
(09:25):
Yeah, it's been.
It's been a fun ride.
I moved to California aboutseven and a half years ago.
March will be eight years as apartner in the company and it's
very interesting.
You know, as the chief leadingofficer, the common main role is
to make sure all three channelswholesale, retail and
correspondent.
You know we've got some harmonybetween ops and sales and we're
(09:48):
all kind of rolling in theright direction and serving the
original base how they want tobe served.
And I got to tell you what I'vediscovered now more than ever,
because this has been such aslow burn in this market here in
22 and 23 compared to.
You know, oh seven, oh eight,everyone just went out of
business.
You know it was like a lightswitch, boom done, exclusive
(10:09):
event.
You know meter right hit theearth and you know all the
dinosaurs died right.
And so you know we wereshmedeum at the time, so it was
nice for our company to survivethrough.
I was with the company.
We do not make it through.
It was pretty big.
So what's interesting this timeis because it's such a slow,
long drawn out liquiditydrawdown by the Fed.
(10:30):
The rates are just an inchinghigher and higher.
It is really testing theresolve of people in the
industry and this is whereleadership shines right.
This is where leaders step upand they try and help, you know,
shepherd the flock and getpeople through to the other side
, because we know it's going tobe better.
We know the other side iscoming.
We don't know when, and that'sokay, you know we just you know
(10:55):
our people need to be led,especially those who have not
been through this kind of cycleand honestly, like even being in
the business since 01,.
You know there's a little bitof a blip there in the summer of
03.
We had a little, you know,obviously, the financial crisis
what I just mentioned was prettycrazy.
And then you know we had, afterBrexit, a little slowdown.
(11:16):
You know there was like alittle mild recession there.
But yeah, this has just beendifferent and but yet the same.
You know it's challenging, it'snot easy and you know tough
times are part of our businessand so people are being made
tough right now.
Those that are surviving andyou know there are still people
thriving in this market.
You know certain people thatwill thrive on the other side of
(11:39):
it.
So you know I would just, youknow, try to stay positive.
You know.
You know you're.
You know our CEO and founderlikes to say you know this is
someone I want in my foxholeright, so you're battling not to
make light of.
You know, war, which is a truelife and death thing.
We've got enough of thatunfortunately going on in our
(12:00):
world right now.
You know, unfortunately, thisconflict in Israel, you know,
popping up again and this isvery heartbreaking to watch.
But you know, if you havesomebody in your foxhole next
year and you're fighting reallyfor survival in business, you
know you don't want the personnext to you sulking or whining
or crying or being negative.
You know, like right, yeah,it's tough, but you know, remain
(12:21):
focused.
You know, be full of focus,engage and we'll fight through
this and we'll get through andwe'll push through, and we
always have.
And I think that's the messagethat a lot of leaders in this
business are trying to send andthat's what I've been seeing a
lot of lately in my role andtrying to encourage others.
(12:41):
You know I do a lot of leadsand content and I put I try to
put in the sense of communityout there where we're talking
about these things, we'retalking about these issues and
you know there's a lot ofnegativity out there and I like
to squash every chance I get.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
So you know Well good , keep doing it, please.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
It's unproductive, you know.
So we don't want to poison thewell.
I mean, you know, if you'rebattling cancer, don't you want
everyone around you go?
Come on, let's fight.
Let's go through this.
Let's make the most of this.
Let's enjoy this time.
Let's push through, you knowlet's.
I know it's hard, you know, letme help you.
Let's start a meal train, let's.
You know let's.
Whatever it is, you know that'swhat you want, right.
And so, again, not to comparewhat we're going through, but
(13:26):
you know, to war or fightingcancer, but the reality is you
have to be positive and you haveto be forward focused in all
cases.
And, yeah, it's just time tostep up as leaders in this
business.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Yeah, I mean perseverance just seems like a
really key word that sticks outamongst all of that.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Heck, yeah, that's a great one.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
So, you know, in the market we hear a lot of
hesitancy with the rates goingup and where they are, people
thought they would be lower thanthey are now.
So there's a lot of hesitantpeople that are, you know, not
quite ready, or thinking thatthey're not ready, to go into
the market due to the interestrate.
What type of thing do youprovide, or does your team
(14:08):
provide, from an information orguidance standpoint that can
maybe help ease their concernsthat they might have?
And whether that's keeping themalong the ride and keeping them
with you until they're ready,or if it's doing something now.
What types of things andapproaches are you doing with
potential clients today?
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Yeah, I'll say right now, I would have never thought
we'd get above 8%, Never wouldthink that Fed would let it go
this long.
And in the face of inflationcoming down like significantly,
going from basically 9%headlight numbers to something
like 3.7%, I mean we are beatinginflation.
(14:46):
So, but you know, there everyregulator fights the last war
right, and the last realinflation war we had, you know,
they felt like they let off thegas too soon and then inflation
wore back and then they had toget really nasty.
So I would have never thoughtwe'd be there.
But so when I'm talking toborrowers or I'm explaining you
know why don't person talk toborrowers anymore?
(15:07):
He's too, I do, just not froman originator standpoint.
But my advice today, say, isthat you know, a year ago okay,
this time last year we actuallysaw home prices coming down from
June of 22 all the way toNovember 10th of 22.
And what happened on November10th was the market turned and
(15:29):
rates started to improve becausewe had our first real inflation
number.
That was like all right, we'rewinning this inflation war, Okay
, so it's almost a year nowwhere inflation has continued to
come down.
And what I said a year ago topeople I said this is your last
good chance to get a good priceat your home.
Now, that was November of 22,because seasonally, you know,
(15:51):
purchase activity kind of slowsdown between September and let's
call it middle of Februaryevery year in a normal year for
purchase activity, and that'swhat happened last year.
But as rates come down, thereare more borrowers that can
afford to get a house.
That means there's more demand,more competition for less homes
, by the way, Right.
So when it comes to price ofyour home, that's really the one
(16:16):
thing.
You only get one chance tonegotiate.
So now here we are, a yearlater, and rates have crept up a
little higher than they werelast year, and prices have gone
up in the last year, Like I saidlast year, and so they're gonna
go up again in a 12 monthperiod.
They will go up again, and sothis is what I'm gonna say this
year.
What I've been saying is this isyour second to last best good
(16:39):
chance to get a good deal on ahome, Because I got news for you
Home prices are going to go upagain next year and they're
certainly gonna go up when ratesgo down, and so you could
always renegotiate your interestrate.
You could always do a two onebuy down today.
With the rates 8%, you can geta 6% house loan today and then
(17:02):
next year you can rate financeat.
If it's in the sixes and you doa two one buy down, then you'd
be in the fourth right.
Maybe rates get into the fivesand you wanna lock it in.
But a two one buy down is agreat way to get into it and so
you can renegotiate yourinterest rate anytime in the
market.
And there's.
You cannot renegotiate thatinitial price that you pay for
(17:25):
it, because you pay for it onceand again.
Prices are only going up.
They've been going up.
You don't have enough homes forsale in this country and as
soon as rates start coming downif you're waiting for that, well
so is everybody else, andthey're gonna jump in and prices
will go up again and it'll bepaying more and it won't make
sense and you will miss yoursecond to last best good chance.
So don't wait.
(17:46):
Get in your house as soon asyou can.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
That's great advice.
I really like that.
I know way too many people thatare hesitant right now, and so
that's a really nice way ofpositioning it to maybe ease
some of that tension.
Of course, From a productionstandpoint, as we look at how
things continue to evolve.
(18:10):
How do you balance the use ofautomation and technology?
You spoke a little bit abouthow it's important to invest in
some of those things, but stillmaintaining a personal and human
touch with client interaction.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Well, so for me, technology does three things.
I say it reduces friction,compresses time and allows you
to scale your business.
And so when you get that timeback, what do you do with it?
Right, and so we don't useautomation at PRMG to eliminate
people.
We want to give more time backfor our people to do the harder
(18:47):
stuff the exception process, therelationship building, and that
applies for every position.
I mean, there are stilloriginaries out there that
refuse to use a digital app, andI think I'm building this
relationship by asking everysingle question over the phone
of my borrower.
And so just a quick example.
(19:09):
Now let's say you're on thephone and you say are you a
co-endorser?
On a note, are you a first-timehome bar?
These are things that you don'tneed to spend time asking.
You just send them a link, fillout the app the best you can.
Let's schedule consultationtime and I'll get back to you.
And then, as an originator, youcan review the app before you
(19:29):
get on the phone.
So here's another example.
Let's say you know I'm a hey, mrPerennial.
How many dependents do you have?
I have four.
What are their ages?
They are four, six, eight and10.
Oh, okay, wow, you have fourkids.
Now imagine that same amount oftime.
I'm on the phone with thatoriginator and they already I've
already filled that out andthey get it back and they go wow
(19:52):
, mr Perennial, you have fourkids, and they're four, six,
eight and 10.
Holy smokes, you must be tryingto find a new house in, like a
good school district, or maybeyou're trying to move so you can
get a bigger.
You know room count so you canhandle it.
Is that what you're trying todo?
Yeah, I am actually.
Yeah, let's talk about that.
See, like that is so much moreimpactful use of your time
because you use the digital app.
It's still so many originatorsdon't, do you know?
(20:13):
And it just it compresses timeand allows you to be, you know,
more human with that person.
Like you know, have a, have aconversation.
That's more bonding.
You know, if everyone's just,you know, going through the
checkboxes and answering thequestions and taking up a ton of
time, I mean I could call youknow an online lender and do
that.
You know I want someone to sayyou know why, know the
(20:34):
neighborhood you're looking forfor those four kids?
I've got a great realtor that'sgoing to find you the school
you want.
You know, that's what I want tohear on the other side of it,
and that's why leveragingtechnology as an original and
using just a digital app, youknow, a point of sale, something
that you know again compressestime.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Well, and it allows you to be the trusted advisor
before they even knew theyneeded one, because you are
taking the time to whether it's.
You know, make an assumption ifthey can still set you straight
, but it's allowing you to careabout them as a person and not
just a number.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
And you know underwriting.
I mean, your team hasunderwriters, we have
underwriters number one.
You know desktop underwriter.
The automated underwritingsystem came out, all the
underwriters were like oh my God, we're going to be automated
right out of existence.
Man, we've never, they've neverbeen more expensive.
You know same thing withappraisers, you know it's like.
You know, this technology helpsus do more and it doesn't
necessarily, you know, automateyour people out of the business.
(21:33):
It just helps us do more withthe people we have.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
I think that is a good way of looking at it.
To look, I mean, that is scary,right?
You know, automation doesstreamline a lot of processes,
so it makes people feel worriedfor themselves and others
because we like things so simple.
But I like the way that youpositioned that to reduce
friction.
I think that that's a nice wayof looking at it.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
I heard someone talking about AI, like is AI
going to eliminate my job?
And I think the response Iheard that was very analogous to
what we're saying here is thatAI will eliminate jobs where
people don't learn how to dotheir job.
With AI, you have toincorporate it into how you
operate.
What does it do to allowyourself to be more effective,
(22:22):
to not be replaced by AI?
And so I went to the coffeebean at the airport when I
landed LAX and there's this menuup there.
I didn't put in my profile oranything, so I didn't know who I
was.
So I guess this is an AIexample.
(22:42):
But it was like this menu.
It's like I just wanted toorder peach, jazz and tea in a
double espresso.
That's how I set it.
And so I'm up there and there'sone guy.
He's behind the counter.
He's taken all the orders andmaking everything, which is
totally like I don't know ifthey're on strike or something,
but totally understaffed for anairport.
But this guy was knocking outorders and he comes to me and
(23:04):
before I could even figure outhow to find the tea, I thought I
had to start over.
The person in front of me gaveup and then I started the menu
and then I'm trying to gothrough it and then he gets
there, he goes.
Just tell me which one I'm likedouble espresso and a peach
jazz and tea.
He's like what size I'm likewell, ok, double done.
So he was better than thetechnology, so so.
(23:26):
So there are.
It's not like it's just, it's abig wife out of it for human
workers, right.
So it's just, how do they worktogether?
You know, ordering ahead atStarbucks and like ordering
online.
I mean, that is, that's amachine right there with
Chipotle.
You know the fast Chipotle.
I mean, you know those are,those are ways to use technology
(23:47):
.
But then, since you have so manymore orders coming through, you
need more people to make itright, you know, and so you know
.
But but everyone wins.
I get my stuff in africtionless manner, it's fast.
Starbucks makes more revenueand they get to hire more people
who you know.
You know maybe have like anextra five seconds to write.
You know, have a great Mondayon top of the cup, which I love
(24:08):
to see, that you know.
And so, anyway, it's just I do.
I do think there's a lot offear out there, and just like
there is in our business, youknow at the moment, but at the
end of the day, there's still alot of business getting done,
especially with technology andworking in tandem with our
people.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
I couldn't echo that any better if I tried.
I mean even chat, gpt andwhat's that?
What that's done is allowedjust so much more efficiencies
and to not stress your time onsomething that'll still get the
point across the way that it wasmeant to be, but it allows you
to move on it and be morepresent in other places.
So I, I like it.
So we talked about perseverancebeing a theme, and I this is
(24:49):
the last question I kind of wantto close out with you but in
2024, as people and lenderscontinue to adapt, innovate,
focus on all the things thatwe've talked about already today
providing values in achallenging interest rate
environment, staying proactiveand responsible to the market
dynamics will be key to longterm success and getting on the
(25:11):
other side.
And so, of the following areasof potential focus, which one do
you think will be the mostimportant, and why so?
Would it be a for theaffordability solutions,
customer education,diversification of offerings or
partnership and collaboration?
That's a tough one.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
I might my.
LinkedIn you know, community isall about collaboration and
partnerships and I think youknow that's really really
important.
That's really really crucialfor me personally, but honestly
I think, just in the broaderscope of things, I think it's
education.
You know, the first time homebuyer is where the rubber meets
(25:55):
the road for wealth creation andgetting out in communities and
speaking to potential borrowers.
About just educating, justspeaking about the home buying
process.
That is so critical and nomatter how much automation and
chat to the team answering aquestion.
(26:16):
There is online.
You can go to Google and itwill spit out all the responses
and stuff, but a first time homebuyer wants to talk to a person
.
They want to touch the personon the phone.
It's a massive financialdecision.
For most Americans it's thelargest financial purchase to
make in their entire life and Ithink that requires a little bit
(26:37):
of hand holding, especially forthe first time home buyer.
So you know, I say this in theroom with the regulators all the
time and these closed doormeetings.
You know whether it's the FHFAdirector, sandra Thompson, or
FHA Commissioner Billy Gordonand people from the CFPB I'm the
new name and I'm in these rooms, these closed door window rooms
, all these trade groups.
I'm with lobbyists in DC,california.
(27:00):
I mean go on and on and on, andwhat I love to tell them is
that originators teach financialliteracy at scale and I think
originator, the loan officer,that when they get on the phone
with that borrower they'reteaching them.
People don't know about thecredit report and you know
what's that.
You know what a collectionmeans to the credit report with
(27:21):
the balances versus.
You know the limit does thescore, what scores credit scores
are made of and how the impact,your interest rates that you
pay, what's loan to value.
You know all these acronyms.
You know you'll have to put 20%down, save your cash.
You know finance it.
You know use that cash forother things.
You know there's so many thingsyou know about your debts that
(27:45):
you know.
Originators teach at scale inthe community, helping people
get into a home, and so for me,teaching that financial literacy
at scale is such a such apowerful thing that the
origination teams do every dayand that's how we put people in
homes, that's how we get themprepared to buy, and so you know
it really goes hand in handwith the really goes hand in
(28:07):
hand with all the topics thatyou brought up.
You know what.
You know what I want to focuson.
I mean, if you want to talkabout diversifying, you know
your, your client base or yourprograms or serving the
underserved.
I mean that's all teachingfinancial literacy at scale.
I mean you have a lot of hiringmanagers that are listening to
this podcast.
You know hire people of color.
(28:28):
You know hire someone you knowlike we've got branch managers
in Atlanta, for example, thatwork in communities where they
have consumers that want to workwith people.
They know likely trust.
You know people that look likethem.
You know and and have beenthrough the same struggle and
you know, understand the samefears they might have.
And so you know that's how youdiversify your client base.
(28:50):
You're hiring, you're hiringwith, you know intent and again,
that helps teach financialliteracy at scale and educate
and, at the end of the day,serves a lot of really common
goals because it's because youknow having a homeowner in the
community is such, it's such adifference maker.
I mean not only for wellcreation, for generations to
come, for that particular personor family, but for the
(29:11):
community.
You know someone that takescare of the house in a different
manner, the more likely tograduate high school and go to
college and vote and there'sless crime.
There's so many benefits forhome ownership and for
individual and the community.
You know locally and you knowwrit large it's just put.
It all starts with education,so that's where I like to put it
out there.
That's why you know I'll putthat link in my bio for taking
(29:33):
talks, dollars and cents.
I'll do some content out thereand I don't know where my editor
puts it Spotify, youtubechannel.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
All the channels.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
It's all out there.
Yeah, it's probably.
You know, it's just whoevermakes a difference to one person
and makes a difference to me,and so, yeah, that's it.
It's teach financial literacyand continue to educate.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
Hey, pete, that was awesome.
Thank you so much for your timetoday.
We really appreciate theinsights that you've provided.
I think it's a great piece inhelping guide individuals and
where they're thinking and howto continue to move forward, no
matter where we are today.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Well, I appreciate that I you know here to serve
the broader community andobviously love our partnership
with your team, and thank you somuch for a great conversation
today, stephanie.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Absolutely.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for listening tomortgage connects.
For all the latest insights onthe mortgage industry, tune in
to mortgage connectscom on Apple, stitcher, spotify or Google
Podcasts.
Hi, kevin, thank you so much for being with us today
on MortgageConnect, for reallyexcited to chat with you today.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Thank you, Stephanie.
Happy to be here and work withthe MGIC team.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Yes, so I am not a stalker, but I see lots of your
videos on LinkedIn, and sothere's just so much that you
offer there, and I wanted tojust start off with something
simple.
Given some of the shifts inwhere we are today, can you
share some success stories orbest practices from the
standpoint of your sales teamsthat's helped your organization
(00:36):
thrive despite the currentinterest rate environment?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Yeah, I've been trying to push three points to
our origination base and evenspeak and openly about it out in
the circuit you know, in theconventions and trade shows I've
done a couple sales rallies forsome other partner companies of
ours as well and the wholesalecorrespondence side.
I usually try and say threethings.
(01:02):
So probably the number one andmost important thing I would
talk about is mining yourdatabase, your existing database
, going through and touchingbase with all your clients.
You know, I know it soundssimple, but you would be shocked
how many people don't do it.
From an originator and rule forstandpoint, yeah, someone might
be in a three and a quarterrate and you think they're never
(01:23):
moving.
You know they bought theirforever home, but you still need
to call them and touch basewith them and just say you know,
hey, you know I'm your trustedadvisor, your financial advisor.
You know there are a lot ofthings that happened since the
last time we spoke and you know,just want to touch base and see
how things are going.
You know, you never know wherethat could lead.
It could lead to them havingquestions about their loan,
(01:45):
about the economy in general,about the transaction that you
had with them in the past.
Or you know maybe theirprospect.
You know maybe some reasons whythey're waiting.
And you never know what couldbecome of it.
And you know, just play thelong game with your clients.
And so you know, it could beend up being a new loan.
(02:06):
You never know Again.
You know some kind of cash outdeck consolidation tool.
Maybe they have a referral tosomeone else.
I heard this one guy he talkedto a long time ago here in
Southern California.
He says he calls all of hisclients a week after they close
and he says, hey, why are youmad at me?
And they're like what do youmean?
He's like you're mad at me.
(02:27):
They're like, no, we're not.
We had a great, a greattransaction.
We love our home.
He's like well, you haven'tgiven me a referral.
You must be mad at me, you know.
And so it's kind of a nice wayto like just use a disarm, a
conversation and then, you know,maybe help someone else in the
community.
And so you just you got to dothat.
That's a basic thing.
The next two topics that we'vebeen telling originators and
realtors is you know, make oneincremental change, right.
(02:52):
So just change.
Change one thing, right, don'ttry and boil the ocean.
You know, maybe take on a newtechnology partner, right?
You know, social selling outthere on social media.
A lot of people do it becauseit's quote free, right, but I
always find you get what you payfor.
So if you're not trying to putthe effort into standing out or
(03:15):
being noticed to be different onyour social media, then you
know you might not, you know, besuccessful at it.
So, you know, maybe spend 50bucks a month on some tool out
there, you know, like a socialcoach type tool that's out there
to help you create some bettersocial media, and what's great
about that is it helps youcreate a bigger audience and
(03:35):
that increases your databasethat you can then continue to
make phone calls in mind later.
So you know, whether it's asocial media tool or a CRM tool
or, you know, maybe it'ssomething that has to do with
you know, your, your approachand what you say or how you
display these.
Whatever it is, you know, justmake one change and kind of
(03:58):
invest in yourself.
So that's the second thing we'vebeen telling, and the third
thing that we've been actuallypushing is really learn non-QM.
You know there are a lot ofgreat programs there that.
You know bank statementprograms are about half of that
non-QM base.
And what I'm hearing I'm nottrying to start any rumors here
but Danny and Freddie they lookat cash flow analysis.
(04:21):
I would not be shocked in thenext couple of years if bank
statement programs get pulledinto the A paper space and are
backed by Danny and Freddie,which is great for, obviously,
the MI world.
You know cash flows, cash flowsright.
So if someone can afford to makethe payment and there's an
alternative way to document thatnot everyone's income sources
(04:43):
lines up directly with you knowI work W2 job and here's what I
get and here's what I've leftover.
And let's, let's get a house.
You know the side hustle side.
You know the side gig economy isso huge I really think.
You know our labor market isunder recording the side gig
economy, and so you know ifsomeone gets an extra thousand
(05:06):
bucks a month off of, you know,an Etsy website or something
that's real money that can helpthem afford a house, and so cash
flow matters.
Maybe they're an Uber driverand they're writing the whole
thing down, you know, and so, so.
So learning non QM is a reallygreat way to learn a new product
that's helping borrowers getinto homes, which, you know,
(05:27):
down the road, every singlepurchase that we're doing
nowadays, at least for the lastyear and a half, in the
foreseeable future, is likely tobe to rate to the refinance.
You know, likely next year, on2024, certainly by the second
half of next year, if not sooner.
So you know, you just setyourself up for a bigger year
next year, not to mentionwidening your own personal
credit box.
(05:48):
So those are the three bigthings that I've been pushing
with the originator of the realtool right now.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
I don't even know where to go with that.
I loved all three of those.
You know, from a standpoint ofmy personal experience from a
re-engagement, my loan officerthat I had used does frequently
reach out to me and it's reallynice because the first one we
use never did and I was like, ohno, I wouldn't use them again.
So just staying top of mind forwhen somebody may need
(06:15):
something else.
And I love that example thatyou gave about you know, calling
and asking if they were madfrom a referral.
Some people don't recognize that.
That's the best way you canthank somebody.
And the small incrementalchange.
I think that that's almost thesetting stone for the year to
come.
You know, it's going back tothe basics and making a small
(06:36):
change.
You don't have to re redoeverything that you've ever done
, but starting small I like that.
And the next year, yeah, no, Imean, I think that that's that's
so great to think about,because you, there is so many
people with these side smallthings to just try to make, to
make it or to make things theiraspirations, possible, feasible
(07:00):
and whatnot, and so it'sinteresting to think of that,
because it's not the first thingyou go to.
You know where all of thesechanges have happened in the
last few years that people aredoing to stay afloat or to own a
home someday.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Are you, when you had that conversation with your,
those conversations with yourrecent origin here, anything
come out of it?
Or just kind of?
I mean, obviously it stuck outin your mind, right?
So you said the top of mind,anything you know that was new
and unique.
You're like, oh my gosh, I justhad a moment.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Yeah, so some of them were just from a from a
standpoint of what they weresending and their topics, and
saying something about the moneythat I had and what to do with
it, Continuously using toolslike you had mentioned.
They were using home bought andjust like me being on top of
knowing what my house was worth,so if we needed to or wanted to
(07:51):
finish our basement, forexample, like what that would do
for us and what types of fundswe would have built in equity,
and so for me being in theindustry and being able to be a
lot more knowledgeable of thethings that are sent them like,
oh OK, I'm glad that he you knowhe's doing his job and at least
staying relevant with me,because that means a lot.
(08:12):
But I can't think of one thingin particular.
I think what I see now morefrom a social standpoint is to
like what you were referencingand what you what I've seen even
you do on LinkedIn andbenefiting and growing your
networks.
Those types of things arestanding out a lot more and I
think that we need to find moreways to do more of that, to be
(08:33):
more top of mind.
I only think that way because Iused him previously, but now
other things are starting totake that place because of how
visible some others are.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Yeah, well said, love it.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Yeah, so within your role, you are responsible for
multiple channels, so is thereanything you know?
You stated three of the bestpractices that you think that
people could put in place butthat they can do to stay engaged
and motivated to meet targetsthat that you all have set for
2024 and beyond.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Well at here on G, we're founded by two gentlemen,
paul Rozo and Robert Holiday,and we have a saying built by a
region for originators.
And those two originated notnot too long ago and then
started a company over 22 yearsago and I built them as a 13.
Was this past 13 years?
(09:25):
Yeah, it's been.
It's been a fun ride.
I moved to California aboutseven and a half years ago.
March will be eight years as apartner in the company and it's
very interesting.
You know, as the chief leadingofficer, the common main role is
to make sure all three channelswholesale, retail and
correspondent.
You know we've got some harmonybetween ops and sales and we're
(09:48):
all kind of rolling in theright direction and serving the
original base how they want tobe served.
And I got to tell you what I'vediscovered now more than ever,
because this has been such aslow burn in this market here in
22 and 23 compared to.
You know, oh seven, oh eight,everyone just went out of
business.
You know it was like a lightswitch, boom done, exclusive
(10:09):
event.
You know meter right hit theearth and you know all the
dinosaurs died right.
And so you know we wereshmedeum at the time, so it was
nice for our company to survivethrough.
I was with the company.
We do not make it through.
It was pretty big.
So what's interesting this timeis because it's such a slow,
long drawn out liquiditydrawdown by the Fed.
(10:30):
The rates are just an inchinghigher and higher.
It is really testing theresolve of people in the
industry and this is whereleadership shines right.
This is where leaders step upand they try and help, you know,
shepherd the flock and getpeople through to the other side
, because we know it's going tobe better.
We know the other side iscoming.
We don't know when, and that'sokay, you know we just you know
(10:55):
our people need to be led,especially those who have not
been through this kind of cycleand honestly, like even being in
the business since 01,.
You know there's a little bitof a blip there in the summer of
03.
We had a little, you know,obviously, the financial crisis
what I just mentioned was prettycrazy.
And then you know we had, afterBrexit, a little slowdown.
(11:16):
You know there was like alittle mild recession there.
But yeah, this has just beendifferent and but yet the same.
You know it's challenging, it'snot easy and you know tough
times are part of our businessand so people are being made
tough right now.
Those that are surviving andyou know there are still people
thriving in this market.
You know certain people thatwill thrive on the other side of
(11:39):
it.
So you know I would just, youknow, try to stay positive.
You know.
You know you're.
You know our CEO and founderlikes to say you know this is
someone I want in my foxholeright, so you're battling not to
make light of.
You know, war, which is a truelife and death thing.
We've got enough of thatunfortunately going on in our
(12:00):
world right now.
You know, unfortunately, thisconflict in Israel, you know,
popping up again and this isvery heartbreaking to watch.
But you know, if you havesomebody in your foxhole next
year and you're fighting reallyfor survival in business, you
know you don't want the personnext to you sulking or whining
or crying or being negative.
You know, like right, yeah,it's tough, but you know, remain
(12:21):
focused.
You know, be full of focus,engage and we'll fight through
this and we'll get through andwe'll push through, and we
always have.
And I think that's the messagethat a lot of leaders in this
business are trying to send andthat's what I've been seeing a
lot of lately in my role andtrying to encourage others.
(12:41):
You know I do a lot of leadsand content and I put I try to
put in the sense of communityout there where we're talking
about these things, we'retalking about these issues and
you know there's a lot ofnegativity out there and I like
to squash every chance I get.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
So you know Well good , keep doing it, please.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
It's unproductive, you know.
So we don't want to poison thewell.
I mean, you know, if you'rebattling cancer, don't you want
everyone around you go?
Come on, let's fight.
Let's go through this.
Let's make the most of this.
Let's enjoy this time.
Let's push through, you knowlet's.
I know it's hard, you know, letme help you.
Let's start a meal train, let's.
You know let's.
Whatever it is, you know that'swhat you want, right.
And so, again, not to comparewhat we're going through, but
(13:26):
you know, to war or fightingcancer, but the reality is you
have to be positive and you haveto be forward focused in all
cases.
And, yeah, it's just time tostep up as leaders in this
business.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Yeah, I mean perseverance just seems like a
really key word that sticks outamongst all of that.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Heck, yeah, that's a great one.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
So, you know, in the market we hear a lot of
hesitancy with the rates goingup and where they are, people
thought they would be lower thanthey are now.
So there's a lot of hesitantpeople that are, you know, not
quite ready, or thinking thatthey're not ready, to go into
the market due to the interestrate.
What type of thing do youprovide, or does your team
(14:08):
provide, from an information orguidance standpoint that can
maybe help ease their concernsthat they might have?
And whether that's keeping themalong the ride and keeping them
with you until they're ready,or if it's doing something now.
What types of things andapproaches are you doing with
potential clients today?
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Yeah, I'll say right now, I would have never thought
we'd get above 8%, Never wouldthink that Fed would let it go
this long.
And in the face of inflationcoming down like significantly,
going from basically 9%headlight numbers to something
like 3.7%, I mean we are beatinginflation.
(14:46):
So, but you know, there everyregulator fights the last war
right, and the last realinflation war we had, you know,
they felt like they let off thegas too soon and then inflation
wore back and then they had toget really nasty.
So I would have never thoughtwe'd be there.
But so when I'm talking toborrowers or I'm explaining you
know why don't person talk toborrowers anymore?
(15:07):
He's too, I do, just not froman originator standpoint.
But my advice today, say, isthat you know, a year ago okay,
this time last year we actuallysaw home prices coming down from
June of 22 all the way toNovember 10th of 22.
And what happened on November10th was the market turned and
(15:29):
rates started to improve becausewe had our first real inflation
number.
That was like all right, we'rewinning this inflation war, Okay
, so it's almost a year nowwhere inflation has continued to
come down.
And what I said a year ago topeople I said this is your last
good chance to get a good priceat your home.
Now, that was November of 22,because seasonally, you know,
(15:51):
purchase activity kind of slowsdown between September and let's
call it middle of Februaryevery year in a normal year for
purchase activity, and that'swhat happened last year.
But as rates come down, thereare more borrowers that can
afford to get a house.
That means there's more demand,more competition for less homes
, by the way, Right.
So when it comes to price ofyour home, that's really the one
(16:16):
thing.
You only get one chance tonegotiate.
So now here we are, a yearlater, and rates have crept up a
little higher than they werelast year, and prices have gone
up in the last year, Like I saidlast year, and so they're gonna
go up again in a 12 monthperiod.
They will go up again, and sothis is what I'm gonna say this
year.
What I've been saying is this isyour second to last best good
(16:39):
chance to get a good deal on ahome, Because I got news for you
Home prices are going to go upagain next year and they're
certainly gonna go up when ratesgo down, and so you could
always renegotiate your interestrate.
You could always do a two onebuy down today.
With the rates 8%, you can geta 6% house loan today and then
(17:02):
next year you can rate financeat.
If it's in the sixes and you doa two one buy down, then you'd
be in the fourth right.
Maybe rates get into the fivesand you wanna lock it in.
But a two one buy down is agreat way to get into it and so
you can renegotiate yourinterest rate anytime in the
market.
And there's.
You cannot renegotiate thatinitial price that you pay for
(17:25):
it, because you pay for it onceand again.
Prices are only going up.
They've been going up.
You don't have enough homes forsale in this country and as
soon as rates start coming downif you're waiting for that, well
so is everybody else, andthey're gonna jump in and prices
will go up again and it'll bepaying more and it won't make
sense and you will miss yoursecond to last best good chance.
So don't wait.
(17:46):
Get in your house as soon asyou can.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
That's great advice.
I really like that.
I know way too many people thatare hesitant right now, and so
that's a really nice way ofpositioning it to maybe ease
some of that tension.
Of course, From a productionstandpoint, as we look at how
things continue to evolve.
(18:10):
How do you balance the use ofautomation and technology?
You spoke a little bit abouthow it's important to invest in
some of those things, but stillmaintaining a personal and human
touch with client interaction.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Well, so for me, technology does three things.
I say it reduces friction,compresses time and allows you
to scale your business.
And so when you get that timeback, what do you do with it?
Right, and so we don't useautomation at PRMG to eliminate
people.
We want to give more time backfor our people to do the harder
(18:47):
stuff the exception process, therelationship building, and that
applies for every position.
I mean, there are stilloriginaries out there that
refuse to use a digital app, andI think I'm building this
relationship by asking everysingle question over the phone
of my borrower.
And so just a quick example.
(19:09):
Now let's say you're on thephone and you say are you a
co-endorser?
On a note, are you a first-timehome bar?
These are things that you don'tneed to spend time asking.
You just send them a link, fillout the app the best you can.
Let's schedule consultationtime and I'll get back to you.
And then, as an originator, youcan review the app before you
(19:29):
get on the phone.
So here's another example.
Let's say you know I'm a hey, mrPerennial.
How many dependents do you have?
I have four.
What are their ages?
They are four, six, eight and10.
Oh, okay, wow, you have fourkids.
Now imagine that same amount oftime.
I'm on the phone with thatoriginator and they already I've
already filled that out andthey get it back and they go wow
(19:52):
, mr Perennial, you have fourkids, and they're four, six,
eight and 10.
Holy smokes, you must be tryingto find a new house in, like a
good school district, or maybeyou're trying to move so you can
get a bigger.
You know room count so you canhandle it.
Is that what you're trying todo?
Yeah, I am actually.
Yeah, let's talk about that.
See, like that is so much moreimpactful use of your time
because you use the digital app.
It's still so many originatorsdon't, do you know?
(20:13):
And it just it compresses timeand allows you to be, you know,
more human with that person.
Like you know, have a, have aconversation.
That's more bonding.
You know, if everyone's just,you know, going through the
checkboxes and answering thequestions and taking up a ton of
time, I mean I could call youknow an online lender and do
that.
You know I want someone to sayyou know why, know the
(20:34):
neighborhood you're looking forfor those four kids?
I've got a great realtor that'sgoing to find you the school
you want.
You know, that's what I want tohear on the other side of it,
and that's why leveragingtechnology as an original and
using just a digital app, youknow, a point of sale, something
that you know again compressestime.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Well, and it allows you to be the trusted advisor
before they even knew theyneeded one, because you are
taking the time to whether it's.
You know, make an assumption ifthey can still set you straight
, but it's allowing you to careabout them as a person and not
just a number.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
And you know underwriting.
I mean, your team hasunderwriters, we have
underwriters number one.
You know desktop underwriter.
The automated underwritingsystem came out, all the
underwriters were like oh my God, we're going to be automated
right out of existence.
Man, we've never, they've neverbeen more expensive.
You know same thing withappraisers, you know it's like.
You know, this technology helpsus do more and it doesn't
necessarily, you know, automateyour people out of the business.
(21:33):
It just helps us do more withthe people we have.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
I think that is a good way of looking at it.
To look, I mean, that is scary,right?
You know, automation doesstreamline a lot of processes,
so it makes people feel worriedfor themselves and others
because we like things so simple.
But I like the way that youpositioned that to reduce
friction.
I think that that's a nice wayof looking at it.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
I heard someone talking about AI, like is AI
going to eliminate my job?
And I think the response Iheard that was very analogous to
what we're saying here is thatAI will eliminate jobs where
people don't learn how to dotheir job.
With AI, you have toincorporate it into how you
operate.
What does it do to allowyourself to be more effective,
(22:22):
to not be replaced by AI?
And so I went to the coffeebean at the airport when I
landed LAX and there's this menuup there.
I didn't put in my profile oranything, so I didn't know who I
was.
So I guess this is an AIexample.
(22:42):
But it was like this menu.
It's like I just wanted toorder peach, jazz and tea in a
double espresso.
That's how I set it.
And so I'm up there and there'sone guy.
He's behind the counter.
He's taken all the orders andmaking everything, which is
totally like I don't know ifthey're on strike or something,
but totally understaffed for anairport.
But this guy was knocking outorders and he comes to me and
(23:04):
before I could even figure outhow to find the tea, I thought I
had to start over.
The person in front of me gaveup and then I started the menu
and then I'm trying to gothrough it and then he gets
there, he goes.
Just tell me which one I'm likedouble espresso and a peach
jazz and tea.
He's like what size I'm likewell, ok, double done.
So he was better than thetechnology, so so.
(23:26):
So there are.
It's not like it's just, it's abig wife out of it for human
workers, right.
So it's just, how do they worktogether?
You know, ordering ahead atStarbucks and like ordering
online.
I mean, that is, that's amachine right there with
Chipotle.
You know the fast Chipotle.
I mean, you know those are,those are ways to use technology
(23:47):
.
But then, since you have so manymore orders coming through, you
need more people to make itright, you know, and so you know
.
But but everyone wins.
I get my stuff in africtionless manner, it's fast.
Starbucks makes more revenueand they get to hire more people
who you know.
You know maybe have like anextra five seconds to write.
You know, have a great Mondayon top of the cup, which I love
(24:08):
to see, that you know.
And so, anyway, it's just I do.
I do think there's a lot offear out there, and just like
there is in our business, youknow at the moment, but at the
end of the day, there's still alot of business getting done,
especially with technology andworking in tandem with our
people.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
I couldn't echo that any better if I tried.
I mean even chat, gpt andwhat's that?
What that's done is allowedjust so much more efficiencies
and to not stress your time onsomething that'll still get the
point across the way that it wasmeant to be, but it allows you
to move on it and be morepresent in other places.
So I, I like it.
So we talked about perseverancebeing a theme, and I this is
(24:49):
the last question I kind of wantto close out with you but in
2024, as people and lenderscontinue to adapt, innovate,
focus on all the things thatwe've talked about already today
providing values in achallenging interest rate
environment, staying proactiveand responsible to the market
dynamics will be key to longterm success and getting on the
(25:11):
other side.
And so, of the following areasof potential focus, which one do
you think will be the mostimportant, and why so?
Would it be a for theaffordability solutions,
customer education,diversification of offerings or
partnership and collaboration?
That's a tough one.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
I might my.
LinkedIn you know, community isall about collaboration and
partnerships and I think youknow that's really really
important.
That's really really crucialfor me personally, but honestly
I think, just in the broaderscope of things, I think it's
education.
You know, the first time homebuyer is where the rubber meets
(25:55):
the road for wealth creation andgetting out in communities and
speaking to potential borrowers.
About just educating, justspeaking about the home buying
process.
That is so critical and nomatter how much automation and
chat to the team answering aquestion.
(26:16):
There is online.
You can go to Google and itwill spit out all the responses
and stuff, but a first time homebuyer wants to talk to a person
.
They want to touch the personon the phone.
It's a massive financialdecision.
For most Americans it's thelargest financial purchase to
make in their entire life and Ithink that requires a little bit
(26:37):
of hand holding, especially forthe first time home buyer.
So you know, I say this in theroom with the regulators all the
time and these closed doormeetings.
You know whether it's the FHFAdirector, sandra Thompson, or
FHA Commissioner Billy Gordonand people from the CFPB I'm the
new name and I'm in these rooms, these closed door window rooms
, all these trade groups.
I'm with lobbyists in DC,california.
(27:00):
I mean go on and on and on, andwhat I love to tell them is
that originators teach financialliteracy at scale and I think
originator, the loan officer,that when they get on the phone
with that borrower they'reteaching them.
People don't know about thecredit report and you know
what's that.
You know what a collectionmeans to the credit report with
(27:21):
the balances versus.
You know the limit does thescore, what scores credit scores
are made of and how the impact,your interest rates that you
pay, what's loan to value.
You know all these acronyms.
You know you'll have to put 20%down, save your cash.
You know finance it.
You know use that cash forother things.
You know there's so many thingsyou know about your debts that
(27:45):
you know.
Originators teach at scale inthe community, helping people
get into a home, and so for me,teaching that financial literacy
at scale is such a such apowerful thing that the
origination teams do every dayand that's how we put people in
homes, that's how we get themprepared to buy, and so you know
it really goes hand in handwith the really goes hand in
(28:07):
hand with all the topics thatyou brought up.
You know what.
You know what I want to focuson.
I mean, if you want to talkabout diversifying, you know
your, your client base or yourprograms or serving the
underserved.
I mean that's all teachingfinancial literacy at scale.
I mean you have a lot of hiringmanagers that are listening to
this podcast.
You know hire people of color.
(28:28):
You know hire someone you knowlike we've got branch managers
in Atlanta, for example, thatwork in communities where they
have consumers that want to workwith people.
They know likely trust.
You know people that look likethem.
You know and and have beenthrough the same struggle and
you know, understand the samefears they might have.
And so you know that's how youdiversify your client base.
(28:50):
You're hiring, you're hiringwith, you know intent and again,
that helps teach financialliteracy at scale and educate
and, at the end of the day,serves a lot of really common
goals because it's because youknow having a homeowner in the
community is such, it's such adifference maker.
I mean not only for wellcreation, for generations to
come, for that particular personor family, but for the
(29:11):
community.
You know someone that takescare of the house in a different
manner, the more likely tograduate high school and go to
college and vote and there'sless crime.
There's so many benefits forhome ownership and for
individual and the community.
You know locally and you knowwrit large it's just put.
It all starts with education,so that's where I like to put it
out there.
That's why you know I'll putthat link in my bio for taking
(29:33):
talks, dollars and cents.
I'll do some content out thereand I don't know where my editor
puts it Spotify, youtubechannel.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
All the channels.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
It's all out there.
Yeah, it's probably.
You know, it's just whoevermakes a difference to one person
and makes a difference to me,and so, yeah, that's it.
It's teach financial literacyand continue to educate.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
Hey, pete, that was awesome.
Thank you so much for your timetoday.
We really appreciate theinsights that you've provided.
I think it's a great piece inhelping guide individuals and
where they're thinking and howto continue to move forward, no
matter where we are today.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Well, I appreciate that I you know here to serve
the broader community andobviously love our partnership
with your team, and thank you somuch for a great conversation
today, stephanie.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Absolutely.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for listening tomortgage connects.
For all the latest insights onthe mortgage industry, tune in
to mortgage connectscom on Apple, stitcher, spotify or Google
Podcasts.
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