TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
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M R EP O RT | 11 FROM THE SOURCE SHARE THIS Bee Mortgage App BeeMortgageApp.com Bee Mortgage App is built to facilitate an exclusive mobile mortgage experience. Through a recent partnership with Elphi, the app will engineer fully automated pre-approvals. "The Elphi team … is not brainwashed in the old way of thinking which is preventing the industry from innovating in the mobile space and producing a Bonafide mobile mortgage experience," Bee Co-Founder and COO Cynthia Wood said. For real estate agents, Bee's patent-pending technology assesses the buyer's financial situation so everyone involved in the process has a clear picture of the buyer's price range. Bee delivers personalized results based on live mortgage data and closing costs based on specific data. In the few months since its 2020 launch, more than 1,000 users have downloaded Bee Mortgage App, which is creating excitement among its original investors. "We consistently receive positive affirmation that our product is filling a void in the mortgage marketspace," CMO Kristin Scheurer stated, adding that she expects a "drastic increase" in downloads in the coming year. READ THIS Strategically Transforming the Mortgage Banking Industry By James Deitch The first edition of Strategically Transforming the Mortgage Banking Industry was published in 2018. Now, author James Deitch has announced a new edition of his book, which will be released later this year. Dietch examines ways to strategically transform a real estate lender's business to increase efficiency and profits. The 2021 edition uses case studies of 25 mortgage banking industry leaders who are changing the industry by leveraging proactive strategies and solutions. "Many in the industry appear to accept the 'no strategy' view of the mortgage banking business but at this point in its history, there are many strategic choices that can be freely made by mortgage executives," the author said. "Some executives, in fact, are rapidly examining strategy and becoming disruptors in the industry. This book discusses the history of the mortgage industry, disruptions in the established business models, as well as how to harness these disruptive forces and use them to your advantage." WATCH THIS Applying an Equitable Framework for Housing Policy Response During COVID-19 and Beyond YouTube.com/UrbanInstitute Housing is a foundation for economic mobility and opportunity, but many Americans struggle to afford a place to live. Some historic and ongoing policies and practices have created entrenched inequities in access to homeownership, quality housing, and resource-rich neighborhoods. The COVID-19 pandemic has made these problems worse, according to researchers at the Urban Institute. "Past crises like Hurricane Katrina and the mortgage crisis and subsequent Great Recession offer us crucial lessons. In the face of the pandemic-related housing crisis, policymakers can do more than craft policies that return households to a pre-pandemic status quo. Instead, they can embrace economic mobility and racial equity as their goals." To that end, Urban Institute and Enterprise Community Partners host a series of virtual discussions exploring policies for a stronger, more equitable housing recovery from the pandemic. TWEET THIS @LenKiefer The Freddie Mac Economist, via his Twitter feed and unaffiliated blog, helps people understand the economy, housing, and mortgage markets. "It's an exciting time to be working in these areas," Kiefer wrote on his blog LenKiefer.com. "There are a lot of great tools that make things much easier and open up all sorts of possibilities. We'll try some of them out here. And there's a lot of smart people who have really helped me get up to speed. Some of them I've been fortunate to meet (either in person or over social media, primarily Twitter and LinkedIn). Maybe I can pay it forward and help you out." Kiefer consults for Freddie Mac, provides visual market representations on Twitter and Tableau, and has published several research papers.