Power House

Each week, HousingWire interviews financial services experts who can help make sense of the latest headlines sponsored by our partners at Arch MI and Quicken Loans Mortgage Services.

This week, Glenn Stearns, who has undoubtedly been one of the biggest names in mortgage lending over the last 30 years, joins the Housing News Podcast for its fourth episode of season three.

Stearns, who founded Stearns Lending in 1989, joins the Housing News Podcast to discuss his new company, Kind Lending, which touts itself as a “fresh and edgy approach to mortgage banking.”

Additionally, the trailblazer discusses current market conditions, which have been changing each day as Coronavirus continues to take its toll on the mortgage industry.

According to Stearns, who survived the Housing Crisis of the 2000s, if mortgage companies want to survive this period of uncertainty, they will need to invest in technology and learn how to better communicate.

Here’s more detail on the topics of discussion this week:

Glenn Stearns founded the mortgage company that carries his name, Stearns Lending, in 1989. And in the convening years, Stearns helped build the company into one of the biggest mortgage companies in the nation. But Stearns has laid somewhat low in the last year or so, but he is being quiet no more. Stearns is launching a new mortgage company, Kind Lending.

Quicken Loans recently joined the thousands of companies that are encouraging (if not requiring) their employees to work from home to combat the spread of COVID-19. But the nation’s largest mortgage lender is hardly the only company that is moving to a remote work policy as the concern over the virus worsens. The Federal Finance Agency, Guaranteed Rate, Caliber Home Loans, and United Wholesale Mortgage are just a few names reassessing their workplace procedures.

The White House and the Federal Housing Finance Agency are calling for up to 12 months of mortgage forbearance for Americans who can’t pay their bills because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The amount of people needing that help is so big, it might require the Federal Reserve to flex its muscles, according to a report from Cowen Washington Research Group. Specifically, the Fed might have to use Sec. 13 of the Federal Reserve Act that covers emergency lending, it said.

And here are links to the topics discussed:

1) Glenn Stearns is back, launches Kind Lending
https://www.housingwire.com/articles/glenn-stearns-is-back-launches-kind-lending/

2) Here’s how the mortgage industry is reacting to the coronavirus https://www.housingwire.com/articles/heres-how-the-mortgage-industry-is-reacting-to-the-coronavirus/

3) Can the Fed help Americans get mortgage forbearance?
https://www.housingwire.com/articles/can-the-fed-help-amer

This week, Robert Broeksmit, the president and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association, joins the Housing News team to discuss the mortgage industry’s challenges during this tumultuous time.

In this episode, Broeksmit explains the MBA’s approach to borrower relief, as regulators move to suspended foreclosures and evictions. He also touches base on potential liquidity backstops for servicers, bank regulatory flexibility for lenders, legislation permitting remote online notarization nationwide, streamlining the refinance process and more.

The Housing News Podcast is a weekly wrap of the top news stories by HousingWire CEO Clayton Collins.

Each week, HousingWire interviews financial services experts who can help make sense of the latest headlines sponsored by our partners at Arch MI and Quicken Loans.

This week, Sherry Graziano, the head of Mortgage Omni experience at SunTrust, which has now been named Truist, joins the Housing News Podcast for episode two of season 3.

In this episode, which was recorded two weeks ago during the nation’s interest rate debacle, Graziano discusses the housing market's low-interest-rate environment, which continues to change day-to-day, and what it means for the mortgage industry as more and more lenders report a surge in both refinance and purchase volume. Additionally, she explains why relationships are key in the housing space.

Here’s more detail on the topics of discussion this week:

The Federal Reserve made its second emergency cut in two weeks, slashing 1% off its benchmark rate, and renewed a program to buy Treasuries and mortgage bonds in an effort to bolster the economy as the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 spreads in the U.S.

As the mortgage business continues to try to deal with the repercussions of interest rates hitting an all-time low early March, it appears that some lenders are inflating their advertised mortgage rates to try to stem the tidal wave of mortgage applications they’re receiving.

Mortgage rates fell to an all-time low two weeks ago, and lenders across the country are now dealing with a deluge of mortgage applications as borrowers rush to both buy and refinance. But are some of those same lenders keeping borrowers from getting even lower interest rates than they already are? The answer: Possibly.

This week, Shant Banosian, the top loan officer at Guaranteed Rate, kicks off season 3 of the Housing News Podcast. 

In this week’s episode, the industry titan, who has also been named the top loan originator in the nation for the last four years, explains how his business is navigating the nation’s low-interest-rate environment, which has spurred a dramatic uptick in both purchase and refinance demand. 

According to Banosian, the key to success during these turbulent times is teamwork. And as COVID-19 continues to take its toll on U.S. consumers and the global economy, it may even depend on establishing new workplace procedures.

Shant is keeping his team and referral partners updated via his team's Instagram and Facebook handles. 

This week, the New York Times bestselling author Tom Ferry joins the Housing News Podcast for its season finale.

Ferry, also known as the #1 Real Estate Coach, is an industry titan that offers the nation’s real estate agents’ advice on how best to market themselves.

In this week’s episode, the fellow podcast host and Swanepoel Power 200 winner, explains how real estate agents and brokers can utilize social media and technology to set themselves apart, as well as what it takes to win in today’s real estate industry.

Housing Policy Council President and former Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Ed DeMarco visited HousingWire to talk about the latest developments on the Qualified Mortgage and the Ability to Repay rule.

In this podcast episode, DeMarco talks about the shifts in the QM, and what it would mean to remove the debt-to-income requirement from Ability to Repay. Is the pricing threshold a better option, or could it be better used to determined what isn't QM, instead of what is? DeMarco explains the difference, and what his take on it is.

This week, Carl Tyree, the executive vice president and chief sales officer at Arch MI, joins the show for a bonus episode.

Tyree is an industry titan, currently overseeing Arch MI’s sales teams and relationship strategies. Prior to joining Arch MI, he held senior sales and sales leadership roles with Republic Mortgage Insurance Company, Nomura Credit and Capital and Ocwen Financial Corporation.

This week, Thomas Sponholtz, the CEO and chairman at Union Home Ownership Investors, discusses his industry origin story, as well as his determination to bring housing innovation to the United States. 

Additionally, Sponholtz touches base on new QM lending rules and the housing sector's emergence of alternative homeownership models, which he says will be needed to better service homebuyers. 

This week, we’re bringing you something special – our first-ever cross over bonus episode.

In this bonus episode, Collins sits down with Phil Treadwell, the vice president of development and regional manager at Mason-McDuffie, who also happens to be the host of fellow Industry Syndicate podcast the Mortgage Marketing Expert.

The two discuss Collins’ evolution within the mortgage industry, as well as HousingWire’s emergence as a top industry publication. Additionally, Treadwell and Collins touch base on some of the industry’s hottest topics, ranging from recession fear, mortgage rates, first-time homebuyers and more.

This week, Ben Lane, the managing editor of HousingWire, discusses Visa’s announced acquisition of technology platform and 2019 HW Tech100 winner Plaid. The agreement, which represents a total purchase consideration of $5.3 billion, enables Visa to deliver more value for developers, financial institutions and consumers, according to the company.