The Mortgage Note Podcast

The president and owner of New Threshold Mortgage Corporation in Atlanta says she gets personal gratification when she sees clients achieve the “American Dream.”

Elizabeth Washburn founded her mortgage broker firm in 2004 with over 10 years of experience as a mortgage consultant. She has helped buyers navigate the homebuying journey through difficult markets and extraordinary conditions.
 
“When people come to me, sometimes they're just like, ‘I don't even know if this is possible.’ I love being able to say, ‘Okay, it is possible, but it's possible in six months, and this is what I need you to do.’ When they follow through on taking those steps, it's just incredible to see how excited they are at the closing. They're realizing all of this is going to change their future completely,” Washburn said.

Washburn recently sat down with The Mortgage Note’s Scott Kimbler to share her insights and talk about the advantages of working with a mortgage broker.

Like many people who work in the mortgage industry, Washburn discovered that a career in the field was possible by chance.

“I like to tell the story that when I first got finished with college back in 1992, I was searching for a job. I went back to Agnes Scott College. It is located in in Decatur, and they had a fifth-year free program so I could go back and just take classes. Because the economy was pretty bad at the time, and a lot of people couldn't find a great job, I decided to do that and got a second major in economics,” she said.

When Washburn’s sister decided to buy a home, she went to look at it. The real estate agent suggested that she meet the loan officer and after that meeting, Washburn was hooked.

Washburn said that independent lenders and brokers differ greatly from larger corporate lenders and many times proves to be a better option for someone who is buying a home.

The first advantage for homebuyers is the fact that they can compare different types of loan products while working with just one person.

“By using a mortgage broker, you actually have several different options with what kind of lender you need. A corporation would have just their rate sheets, and they have their products, but I can shop. For example, if you needed an FHA loan, I have three different lenders that offer FHA so I can go to each lender,” Washburn said. “So, you're not having to go and shop it out yourself.”

Brokers with experience can help homebuyers piece together all the pieces of the puzzle so it’s not just about getting the best mortgage rates. It’s about finding the right fit for their mortgage needs.

“For example, you may think you need an FHA loan, but once I look at it, it may be that the scenario is such that you just need this conventional lender that offers this product,” Washburn said.

Washburn suggests that buyers get financing squared away before shopping for a home.

A letter of pre-approval shows sellers that if their offer is accepted, the buyer can close the deal.

To find the right broker for them, buyers can use online reviews, suggestions from people they know, or their realtor. The most important thing is they find someone who they can trust.

“I think when you choose your team for purchasing a property, you need to choose people you can definitely mesh with and know you can trust them. It's important that they're looking out for your interest, because you are paying them,” Washburn said. 

Washburn added she can operate anywhere in Georgia or Florida and is not bound by a metro area.

#mortgagebroker #homebuying #mortgagenews

The founder and president of Blue Sage Solutions says efficiency is the key to success in today’s mortgage industry.

Carmine Cacciavillani has over 40 years of experience in the creation of complex software-based business solutions, with over three decades spent in the mortgage industry as a solutions provider. In 2011, he founded Blue Sage Solutions.

Blue Sage Solutions, headquartered in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, engineers end-to-end lending technology. They offer a lending and servicing platform, working with a variety of clients, from credit unions to independent mortgage banks and top 20 lenders.

In December, company leaders announced that they were the first LOS to fully integrate with Fannie Mae’s Income Calculator. This API-enabled integration streamlines income calculation for borrowers with income from self-employment or business ownership, enabling faster, more accurate mortgage approvals for lenders.

Cacciavillani recently sat down with Editor Kimberley Haas to share his experiences and talk about the future of data.

A competitive person by nature, Cacciavillani is driven to figure out ways to make Blue Sage Solutions products better. He was trained as an engineer, and learning to solve problems through that mindset has helped him find success throughout his career.

Cacciavillani said that although they cannot control the economy or mortgage rates, they can help their clients find wins in today’s market.

“I think everybody is looking to do things more efficiently. I think that’s something that’s very critical,” Cacciavillani said.

He used the example of a credit union that used to take seven days for a mortgage pre-approval. Now, they can produce them in 30 minutes.

“That’s a huge advantage for them. Having a combination of APIs, workflows, and a little bit of artificial intelligence enables them to do that,” Cacciavillani said.

Cacciavillani said that from the moment someone submits a loan application, they run 13 different workflows to determine their eligibility. To help with the next stages of the mortgage loan process, Blue Sage Solutions has different configurations for lenders to choose from, depending on their needs.

Cacciavillani talked about the amount of data that is used during the mortgage process.

In addition to being relied on for pre-approvals, data today is used for fraud, compliance, pricing, and fees. Cacciavillani looks forward to the industry moving to an even more data-driven approach in the years ahead.

“For the industry to really change, we’ve got to come to the point where there’s data, and we don’t really care about the documents,” he said.

Cacciavillani said data is superior to paper documents in a variety of ways.

“People can do funny things with paper. People can’t do funny things with data. It’s a lot harder. Data is encrypted,” he said. “Paper makes it very cumbersome. Why do I want to go look at paper to figure out pay stubs or what the appraisal fee was? Why do I care? If the system says it’s X, that’s what it should be.”

Paper documents also include information that should not be viewable, such as social security and bank account numbers.

Cacciavillani said servicers are especially burdened by the amount of time it takes to compare information provided through data and paper documents.

“We have to get away from documents. It’s silly at this point in time,” Cacciavillani said.

#technology #lending #mortgagenews

The Mortgage Note’s Scott Kimbler sat down for a conversation with LaTrease Price-Gistard. She is a licensed broker-owner and managing member at ACI Mortgage, based in Sugar Land, Texas, a suburb of Houston. 

Price-Gistard said when it comes to her job, she gets excited about the prospect of helping people.

“I do get a lot of gratification from helping people,” she said. “For a lot of people, this is their first step towards generating wealth. Some people come from backgrounds that don't necessarily have any wealth at all, and for them to be able to become a homeowner and start that process, it's a very good feeling.”

Welcome to The Mortgage Note’s latest podcast series. We’re sitting down one-on-one with industry leaders to learn more about their careers and to find out their perspectives on lending and housing.

Our first guest is Ed Pinto, Co-Director and Senior Fellow at AEI Housing Center in Washington, DC. Scott Kimbler recently spoke with him about what they do and how the federal government could approach the national housing crisis.

You can read the article at bit.ly/42LTHXW.

Generative AI is helping lenders drive down origination costs while increasing borrower confidence. New products can coach and assist loan officers while offering tools to educate homebuyers.

Sundeep Mathur, vice president of fintech AI and business consulting services at Tavant, spoke with Editor Kimberley Haas about LO.ai, which augments the company’s Touchless Lending product, as well as their mission to create the best borrower experience possible.

As lenders work to stay on top of advances in artificial intelligence, companies are hiring the top minds in mortgage technology.

Mortgage technology expert Dan Sogorka recently joined Rocket Pro TPO as its general manager. He has been running mortgage tech companies for the last 25 years. 

Editor Kimberley Haas sat down with Sogorka to learn more about how generative AI will benefit brokers.

As mortgage lenders work to improve efficiencies using artificial intelligence, the concept that large language models could lead to discrimination against Black borrowers is concerning. But researchers say preventing bias is surprisingly easy.

Editor Kimberley Haas spoke with Donald Bowen, an assistant professor of finance at the College of Business at Lehigh University. He talked about a recent audit study they conducted which examined loan approval and interest rate decisions suggested by large language models. 

It showed that racial differences can be moderated through prompt engineering.

People with limited English proficiency can get access to mortgage documents in their native language with advancements in technology.

Talk’uments is a digital language technology provider that empowers borrowers with interactive loan information. Company leaders recently announced an integration with nCino, a provider of cloud banking for the financial services industry.

Editor Kimberley Haas sat down with George Baker, CEO and founder of Talk’uments, and Ben Miller, EVP of US Mortgage at nCino, to learn more about the integration.

The $418 million settlement that has rocked the real estate industry since it was announced by the National Association of Realtors continues to be a hot topic, and as the dust begins to settle, industry professionals are creating a strategy for what to do once the changes go into effect.

Writer Nicole Murray sat down to talk about the agreement with Jules Zaphire, a real estate professional at The Pantiga Group, who is licensed in New York and Connecticut; Shant Banosian, executive vice president of sales at Guaranteed Rate in Waltham, Massachusetts; Gabriella Lisi, a realtor associate at RE/MAX Revolution in New Jersey; and Rob Jensen, broker/owner of the Rob Jensen Company in Las Vegas.

Murray also spoke with Professor of Economics Patrick Gourley from the University of New Haven in West Haven, Connecticut. He started the conversation by talking about the current state of the housing market and whether people should wait for mortgage rates to go down before buying a home.

Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing every aspect of the mortgage industry and as companies create systems that can help from origination to servicing, leaders speak highly of the possibilities ahead when it comes to accuracy, efficiency, and enhanced customer service. 

Editor Kimberley Haas spoke to leaders at Rocket Companies, mortgage servicers, and people who provide technology to the industry to learn more about what is happening in the market.  

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