UPFRONT
BRANCH NETWORK UPDATE NEWS BRIEFS Carrington now licensed to do business in Nevada California-based Carrington Mortgage Services, which focuses on underserved home buyers with subpar credit, is now licensed to do business in Nevada. The wholesale lender will enter a housing market that has shown steady improvement during the last year – according to Zillow, Nevada home values have gone up 14% in 2014, and it predicts they will rise 5.7% within the next year. The median home value in Nevada was $189,800 as of Sept. 30, 2014.
Nadlan Valuation expands in Mid-Atlantic and Southeast Nadlan Valuation is aggressively expanding into new areas of the country. The appraisal management company is growing its presence in the Mid-Atlantic and the Southeast regions and has added new appraisers to its staff in those states, and is looking to hire more. Nadlan works with certified and insured appraisers to deliver accurate and timely appraisals to mortgage lenders. “With so many regulatory pressures, lenders really appreciate our thorough appraisal review process,” said Sam Heskel, president of Nadlan.
Freedom Mortgage recognized for its title process Freedom Mortgage Corp., a privately held, full-service residential mortgage lender licensed in all 50 states, was named
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winner of the 2014 Global Award for Excellence in BPM & Workflow for its business process management technology. Freedom Mortgage was specifically recognized for its automated workflow surrounding the title insurance process, which increased in speed by 51%, with a 52% reduction of employees needed to complete the process.
Fidelity Bank’s wholesale division eyes Southeast region Fidelity Bank is expanding its wholesale and correspondent lending division within the Southeast region. “We are now looking for AEs for both wholesale and correspondent lending in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee and Kentucky,” said industry veteran Craig Dodds, who was hired this year to manage the division and grow the channel. Atlanta-based Fidelity Bank is a direct seller servicer to the agencies and provides AEs with access to wholesale and correspondent programs.
Industry’s first billion-dollar originator looking for branch partners The mortgage industry’s first billion-dollar loan originator, Greg Frost, is looking for a few more branch partners. Frost Mortgage, affiliated with Primary Residential Mortgage, currently has branch partners in New Mexico, Arizona, California, Colorado, Texas, South Dakota, Illinois, Iowa and Mississippi. The FHA-licensed mortgage lender was established by Greg Frost in 1991, with corporate offices in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Are mortgage originators too old? MILLENNIALS ARE slated to assume a greater share of the housing market during the next few years. According to a recent report by The Demand Institute, millennials will spend $1.6 trillion on home purchases in the next five years – more on a per-person basis than any other generation. So, will the aging mortgage professional be able to attract the newest consumer power group with the largest buying capacity? “The average age of a loan officer is 54, and 59 for a Realtor, so there’s a huge disconnect with the future customer,” says Chuck Cowan, president of recruiting firm Cowan & Associates. “The world is changing, and the best way to get good ideas is to get new minds. There are young people in the business, but that number isn’t where it should be.” However, millennials appear uninterested in joining the mortgage industry. When it comes to the companies the group trusts the least, a recent Accenture survey found that financial institutions ranked high on the untrustworthy list. “These are heavily commission-driven jobs and are not attractive to a 28-year-old,” Cowan says. “How can we attract people with no mortgage experience and get them away from their $50,000-a-year jobs?” It also doesn’t help that the mortgage industry received a bad rep during the global financial crisis. “In 2008, I remember I told people I recruited mortgage bankers, and people looked at me like I was in a crime syndicate,” Cowan says. One solution to attracting a younger workforce is offering an extensive training program. In July 2014, Churchill Mortgage launched Churchill Mortgage Aca demy to develop the next generation of mortgage
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