TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
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32 | TH E M R EP O RT FEATURE resource to budget more effi- ciently, as well as more effectively make their mortgage payments on time. As these platforms become more prevalent, we believe that they will be priced into the trade versus other nontransferable ACH programs, as they provide not only better payment performance but also a borrower benefit. This can increase the value of the mortgage loans significantly. Valuation Products with Asset Management Dashboards: The bulk ordering of broker price opinions (BPOs) equate to hours upon hours of manual work. With fintech valuation and asset-management products, you can instead identify risk and opportunity-based assets immediately. In addition, these tools deliver enhanced valuations with things like accurate repair estimates, property features, and overall marketability—even offer- ing insights into nearby vandal- ism, freeway noise, railroads, and more. These are all things that impact the value of the property upon sale or rental, and sadly, they're often missed on today's manual BPO world. Fintech tools do all of this at generally the same price as a stan- dard BPO. And even better, they allow you to track the valuation change over time, predict forward- looking valuations in the market through the use of analytics, and also better track foreclosure timelines versus agency standards (where relevant). All in all, it means a smaller team headcount, lower operational costs, and better-valued assets. STRUCTURED FINANCE Balancing and Asset Selection Tools: In an ever-changing origination environment (and considering all rating agencies have differentiat- ing criteria for the same products), it's difficult to be confident when aggregating and pricing loans. Fortunately, balancing and asset section tools can help. When used as overlays to your pipeline, they allow you to factor in nuances of the assets, regulation, and ratings criteria simultaneously, mak- ing "balancing" your loans and structuring your securitized pools easier and more efficient. These tools also allow the ag- gregator to price more effectively to the exit and ensure the lenders are receiving additional benefit for loans that offer better charac- teristics. When used effectively, they can even ensure that you're not receiving surprise large loan adjustments, geographical hits or drift-related adjustments, and they can also track refreshes. This generally could lead to a better understanding of what subordina- tion levels will be across the agen- cies, thus optimizing execution. Not All Fintech is Created Equal I t is clear that fintech can be a significant driver in building our businesses and in increasing our returns, but it's important to be careful when selecting your partners. Remember: not all fintech is created equal. It takes time and effort to find the prop- er fintech partners and solutions for your business, but don't be afraid of it. Dive in, and it will pay off significantly. JENNIFER D. MCGUINNESS brings over 20 years' experience in mortgage, banking, asset management, servicing, securitization, and financial services to Strategic Venture Partners (SVP). Prior to founding SVP, McGuinness was SVP of Single Asset Lending for Colony American Finance (now known as CoreVest Finance), Director and Head of Asset Management and Transaction Banking for WinWater Home Mortgage, and VP of Asset Management and Breach for Deutsche Bank. You can learn more about McGuinness and her team at StrategicVenturePartners.org. Where Fintech Fits In Fintech can be used to optimize virtually every step of the mortgage lifecycle. From enhanced valuation tools in the application and origination processes to payment and loss-mitigation optimizers after closing, carefully selected fintech tools can both ease friction and cut costs for vendors across the industry. Here's a cursory look at what fintech can offer during each phase.