TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
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TH E M R EP O RT | 31 FEATURE SOMETIMES, IT'S GOOD TO BE A FOLLOWER. Follow MReport on social media to put the latest mortgage banking news, stories, strategies, and insights at the touch of your fingertips. MReport @TheMReportNews The MReport SOMETIMES, IT'S GOOD TO BE A FOLLOWER. Follow MReport on social media to put the latest mortgage banking news, stories, strategies, and insights at the touch of your fingertips. MReport @TheMReportNews The MReport tions staff time to concentrate on more meaningful work, includ- ing improving customer service, focusing on relationships, and reducing production costs. Challenges and Opportunities P otential storms are on the horizon, with leadership changes at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the FHA, among others. Due to margin compression, retail mortgage banking may become less attractive to investors and profitability may be more elusive, as evidenced by the big banks cutting staff and eliminating mort- gage banking divisions. Banks tend to have more regulatory hurdles to jump through than the independents, which creates opportunities. The coming consolidation will see many marginal, small independents exiting the busi- ness. Larger firms with strong balance sheets will take advantage of potential fire sales to add top producing loan officers from firms that have closed or have been recently acquired, often because cultures didn't align. The antici- pated surge in M&As can lead to strong new combinations of talent, resources, and entrepreneurial cultures that will be essential to competing successfully over the next two years and beyond. TERRY SCHMIDT started at Guild Mortgage in 1985 and has been a member of the company's board of directors since 2006. As COO, Schmidt is responsible for financial and investor reporting, budgeting, cash management, warehouse lending, and human resources management. She has helped the company grow to become one of the nation's largest independent mortgage lenders, increasing access to financing during a record-breaking period of expansion in Guild's history. Schmidt also led efforts to establish Guild's first nonprofit organization, the Guild Giving Foundation, designed to encourage volunteerism among the company's nearly 4,000 employees.