Appraisal news across the board

Every day we all hear rumors, big and small, mostly unfounded. Rumors like that large companies in the vein of Franklin American and Freedom Mortgage will soon announce large settlements with regulators, Navy Fed's CFPB exam is wrapping up, that Wells Fargo retail won't be able to do HARP or 203(k) loans until early 2016, that startups like Privlo are being shuttered. But one thing we know for sure is that mortgage denial rates were down last year compared to 2013, especially for black and Hispanic borrowers. The amount of conventional mortgage applications increased from 2013's 2.0 million to 2.1 million in 2014, but the denial rate fell to 11.2 percent from 12.4 percent during the same time period. Denial rates had dropped 5.1 percent for black applicants and 3.1 percent for Hispanic applicants.

For those looking for a new correspondent investor, "The Money Source is growing by leaps and bounds. One of the reasons for TMS's dramatic growth is their customer-centric approach: a Correspondent and Seller relationship can either be a 'partnership' or a 'transactionship.' A partnership is where all parties' interests are aligned and they are each working toward a mutually beneficial goal. One way TMS brings this to life with their Correspondent partners is by co-branding their servicing statements, thus giving them the ability to have information such as your company's name, logo and contact information on the Borrower's monthly mortgage statement. TMS calls this their Balance Sheet Builder Program. Basically, TMS is trying to send business back to their Sellers - a refreshing approach in an industry not known for promoting others. To learn more about how you can build your balance sheet with The Money Source, email EVP of Correspondent Sales, Jeff Vanderluit."

And under the "new products" flag, MarX Financial Commercial is pleased to announce a nationwide "Fix and Flip" financing revolving Line of Credit (LOC) for real estate developers, and investors, that can provide financing of up to 85% of the total project cost. The line is available on non-owner occupied single family properties, multi-family, office, retail and industrial types of properties. Jay Michalowski, CEO of Marx states, "We can go up to 85% LTC financing for the acquisition and renovations. So the borrower walks into the closing with 15% of the total project and we will fund the rest."  Escrow funds are set-up and draw requests and payments are made after each inspection. Michalowski adds, "For residential and commercial mortgage bankers who receive these inquiries, and we know who your originators are, and we can provide a non-bankable, quick solution to meet your demand." To find out more about Marx Financials fix and flip and commercial programs, please contact Jay Michalowski.

This is your personal invitation to the launch of National Mortgage Professional Magazine's biggest FREE Holiday Networking Parties in years. The 2015 parties will be in Irvine, CA on Tuesday, December 8th, Dallas, TX on December 10th and Orlando, FL on December 15th. Each party starts off with the Next Gen Mortgage Professionals Rally to launch its campaign titled, "Recharge the Mortgage Profession" and college students, veterans and individuals interested in changing careers are invited to attend. The rallies will be followed by business building workshops from industry leaders such as Greg Frost from PRMI, Barry Habib from MBS Highway, and Frank Garay and Brian Stevens from NREP.  Workshops will be followed by a networking party where attendees will mix and mingle with other successful mortgage loan officers and celebrate the evening with music, complimentary food, prizes, and a heavy dose of holiday cheer! MLOs with NMLS numbers, college students and veterans attend free. Register by clicking the state that you wish to attend: California, Texas, or Florida.

Congrats to Blackstone: it has grown its size nearly four-fold since its 2007 IPO. "But the biggest private equity firm on Wall Street has seen even greater growth in its real estate division, which has expanded from a $17.7 billion business when Steve Schwarzman took his company public to one that today manages nearly $100 billion worth of property." If that is correct it could very well be the largest private owner of real estate in the world.

And while we're discussing growth, The Mortgage Collaborative, an independent mortgage lending cooperative, announced the formal approval of 10 new preferred vendor partners to its national network. Rich Swerbinsky, EVP of National Sales & Strategic Alliances, sent over a list of the new "partners": AcuClix Social Media Compliance, Advantage Credit, American Mortgage Law Group, Credit Plus, DataTree by First American, Docutech, Icon Advisory Group, Richey May, The Rule Tool, and Spiegel Accountancy.

  And in political chatter, the House of Representatives passed a QM-related bill. The "Portfolio Lending and Mortgage Access Act" would broaden the definition of qualified mortgages - those that qualify for the safe harbor - to include all mortgages held on a lender's balance sheet. Most, however, believe that even if it makes it to the President's desk it will be vetoed.

Appraisal-related news? Let's take a look at trends over recent months. The industry, of course, knows that the number of appraisers is declining - for reasons that are well documented.

HUD Handbook 4000.1, which became effective on case numbers assigned on or after September, contains numerous updates to previously established property eligibility criteria and appraisal requirements.

Onboarding to the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) Electronic Appraisal Delivery (EAD) portal is well underway for FHA-approved mortgagees participating in the first onboarding phase. The second onboarding phase began on November 15 and mortgagees intending to participate in this phase must be registered before this date.

Going back a ways, the June issue of Mortgage Banking magazine featured an article, "State of the Appraisal Industry," authored by CoesterVMS CEO Brian Coester. In the piece, Coester described an appraisal environment that is in flux, attempting to balance professional expertise with big data and waning licensure with increased demand. Coester identified and proposed solutions to several current issues including Appraisal Accuracy, Implementation of Collateral Underwriter and Alternative Valuations.