Mortgage brokers turn to technology and innovation to stay competitive

The mortgage industry has changed quite a bit lately and there are many net mortgage branch companies and wholesale lenders that have ‘fallen by the wayside’ in the last two years. With all the changes that are happening, these are no longer the days when a lender only focuses on refinancing or purchase transactions. Now many companies have branched out and also offer programs like loan resolution and short sales, as well as debt settlement programs.

Real estate agents have also been forced to “change gears.” In the heyday, a typical real estate agent partnered with a mortgage broker and the two networked to feed each other. Then when house prices started to drop two years ago, the average realtor decided they needed to get a little more involved in the entire transaction and would “ wear two hats ” when originating the mortgage in addition to being the Real. Real estate agent. But with the advent of FHA programs becoming so popular over the past year, the real estate agent can no longer wear two hats, as the Federal Housing Administration prohibits a licensed real estate agent from participating in the mortgage origination portion of the loan transaction.

Social media has also started to come into play for many of the mortgage brokers and lenders, as new technology has allowed many of these companies to be more innovative. Apex Lending, Inc is a Clearwater, FL-based mortgage lender and recently created a website on the popular social media site Twitter. Steve Hays, president of the company, said that “we want to be more transparent and Twitter allows us to be in touch with the community of mortgage brokers, as well as with our own clients. What Twitter allows us to do is to constantly publish what we are doing. “,” We post conference calls, training sessions, new lenders and general announcements. With the advent of technological devices like the I-phone, it allows mortgage professionals to follow us and stay updated with new information. “

Mortgage fraud has also become a major problem for mortgage companies. If you don’t catch it, it could be devastating. There are many new services available online that can help prevent fraudulent activity. One site is known as ‘Fraud Guard’, which is a division of SARMA, a background check company based in San Antonio, TX. ‘Fraud Guard’ is a service in which a mortgage broker or lender can pay a small fee to compare all participants in the loan transaction against a national database. Avoid fraud by comparing all information with existing national databases.

There are also many community mortgage broker forums available on the Internet. The average mortgage broker can get involved in the community by posting industry related issues and other mortgage brokers or lenders can help solve the problem by responding or responding to the problem with a possible solution or comment. Many other community participants can read both the question and the comments, learn from them, and formulate their own opinion. Helps the broker or lender get new information and stay informed about lenders, title companies, and appraisers. In a recent post on one of the most popular forums, a broker had a problem with an appraiser. Other mortgage professionals were familiar with the subject and posted their comments and opinions on how the mortgage broker should handle the problem. The broker ended up solving his problem within a few days and quickly credited the mortgage broker forum for helping him. Is it possible that the appraiser was also reading the forum? Who knows? The good news is that the problem was resolved and many other mortgage professionals were able to follow and learn from the experience. This is technology that was simply not available ten years ago.