TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
Issue link: http://digital.themreport.com/i/1228068
M R EP O RT | 9 FROM THE SOURCE READ THIS "STARING DOWN THE WOLF: 7 LEADERSHIP COMMITMENTS THAT FORGE ELITE TEAMS" by Mark Divine Retired Navy SEAL Commander, entrepreneur, and New York Times bestseller Mark Divine reveals what makes that culture of an elite team, and how to get your team to commit. Divine uses principles he learned on the battlefield, from his training, and during his business career that reveal how a team can fail by breaching these commitments. Divine uses his 20 years' military experience to share his unique perspectives that will allow you to unlock the potential of your team. SHARE THIS BASECAMP Basecamp users can create workflow calendars that keep people on track and on the same page. The program's interface is streamlined, making it easier to invite collaborators, chat within projects, attach files, create checklists, and track the progress of your team. The program also allows you to pay per project and there are an unlimited number of users. Plans begin at $24 per month for 15 projects, but go up to $150 per month for unlimited projects. TWEET THIS #CORONAVIRUS The virus has now spread outside of China, and the latest reports show there are more than 80,000 confirmed cases. While the strand has been having an impact on the global economy, recent reports show that its effect may also spread to the housing sector. A recent article in MReport found that the virus could lead to an influx of Chinese investors as the overseas market has fallen 90% since the beginning of the outbreak. WATCH THIS REFINANCING'S IMPACT ON THE HOUSING MARKET Black Knight reported a few weeks ago that there are 9.4 million eligible refinance candidates, who could save an average of $264 per month. This CNBC report looks at how the recent refi boom is impacting purchases within housing. Watch the video by visiting CNBC.com and searching "refinancing." There's a lot of existing infrastructure that makes up the in- dustry. You have to look at the entire ecosystem of mortgage and make sure that every part of that ecosystem can pivot to enable digital. And that's not always the case right now. M // What are some of the lessons you learned while at Fannie Mae? FERCHO // The most important lesson is about serving customers. I lived through two very different markets during my time at Fannie Mae—the height of the private-label mortgage-backed securities market where our shares declined into the teens, and then after the housing crisis, when the majority of the business was being done by the GSEs. In both environments, we always focused on taking care of our customers and never taking their business for granted. I brought that mindset to Flagstar and every day I work to elevate the voice of the customer and the importance of service in the mortgage division. M // What are the most important factors to remember when interacting with borrowers at risk of default? FERCHO // Early intervention. When you notice somebody is falling behind, there's a lot we can do before they get three, four, or five payments behind. Early intervention and opening the lines of communica- tion are critical. We want to communicate that even though we're the servicer, we are invested in the homeowner's success. We want homeowners to be able to stay in their homes, pay their mortgage and remain sustainable. What we don't want is to take the home back. If a homeowner is facing a hardship, it's important for us to engage early in that conversation and say, "What's hap- pening? How long is it going to last? How do we help you through this?" Then we can develop solutions together. That initial, early contact and communication are key. Every customer we have, we want to be a customer for life—a customer at the bank and a customer of mortgage. We take that relationship personally, and so we work hard to communicate that we're here to put solutions within their reach that will help them stay in their home. "Ninety percent of consumers now search online when looking for a house. We are all more accustomed to utilizing technology in our daily lives, so to continue to have a paper-based mortgage process simply doesn't make sense."