Sponsored Content from Incenter and Boston National Title: Looking for Big Improvements? Start with Small, Incremental Change
Nathan Bossers, President, Boston National Title
Anyone looking to improve a golf swing knows that, as Emily Dickinson wrote, “If you take care of the small things, the big things take care of themselves.”
In golf, great coaching helps but consistent practice, a determination to override bad habits with new techniques, and an eye on the bigger prize are also critical. Success rewards those who understand that small, incremental changes in how they move their shoulders or when they hinge their wrists will eventually lead to a lower handicap.
During this period of economic uncertainty, the mortgage industry would benefit from a similar outlook.
Small Process Changes Deliver Big Rewards
Rising interest rates, inflation, and a recession are worrying, but they are out of mortgage bankers’ and servicers’ control. What lenders can control are the costly gaps in their own processes that they didn’t pay attention to when they were flush with purchase and refinance originations. When the pandemic began and new digital innovations came into the market, many bankers and servicers were too busy meeting customers’ immediate demands to retool their operations.
This is the time to raise their heads and see the road in front of them. The mortgage business is still fraught with bumps and potholes, making it imperative to streamline everyday tasks. A recent INCENTER analysis of 10-plus years of data makes a compelling case for this process optimization — showing how the lenders that get to the closing table within the shortest time period can earn more and improve their profits.
Tools to streamline time-intensive processes abound — clearing many titles in just seconds (e.g., Boston National Title’s Dekko™), removing days from appraisals (INCENTER Appraisal Management’s RemoteVal™), and helping to move a significant number of just-closed loans off the books in less than a week (IPEN solutions).
The challenge, though, is that even contemplating what it takes to optimize operations can be downright daunting for residential and commercial lenders and servicers — especially if that might mean outsourcing pieces to new partners or trying technology-based solutions. Will these solutions disrupt processes or truly improve them? How long will it be before institutions see a substantial ROI? Will servicers comply with changing state and federal regulations and GSE guidelines? Will employees and borrowers embrace the changes?
All these are important questions, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves. During this period of uncertainty, INCENTER’s long-time mortgage and servicing leaders are able to make two statements with confidence: 1) The risks of “analysis paralysis” are real, and 2) The best way to overcome hesitancy is to start small — and then scale incrementally.
Creativity in Increments
Compensating for the market cooldown is going to require some ingenuity — from launching an array of new products to leveraging new service delivery methods. For example, knowing that U.S. homeowners have $11 trillion in tappable equity, many lenders are introducing or revitalizing their second mortgage/HELOC offerings.
But the revenues and margins on these and other products dwarf what they would earn on a first mortgage; the only way to make up the difference is to maximize volume and minimize expenses, and that requires creatively crafted “precision processes,” loan by loan. Home equity lending is again a case in point: A jumbo HELOC might merit a full title report, a complete 1004 appraisal and a traditional wet-signing while a $24,000 HELOC might only need an L&V (Legal & Vesting) report, an AVM, and an IPEN signing.
From title and appraisals to closing and post-closing, there are avenues to deliver services just the way Goldilocks would have wanted — not too big, not too small, but just right. When the purchase market surges forward again, so will borrowers’ loyalty to the lenders that have met their every financial need with a consistently high level of service — whether through second mortgages, personal and private student loans, or property tax audits and appeals. In a competitive commercial market, real estate investors, building owners, and developers will also appreciate lenders that allow them to proceed with agility, whether by helping them access short-term fix and flip insurance, or saving them money on title insurance transfers. By providing innovative services efficiently, lenders will bolster their top and bottom lines.
Servicers, too, must get even more innovative as higher interest rates, future unemployment, and a predicted business downturn may create a uniquely imperfect storm. When a day’s processing delay could make or break a servicer’s ability to properly perform, it’s time to review processes, costs, compliance, and the customer experience.
Results-Driven Solutions from INCENTER
Where can lenders and servicers find the support to rethink their operations — and the people to implement effective solutions? INCENTER’s family of companies are available to help — drawing on their decades of experience helping C-level operations leaders. Among examples:
Boston National Title Agency(title and settlement services)
- Dekko™ instant title decision engine
- Loan-level home equity precision processing — Title, appraisal, closing and post-closing
- End-to-end default title lifecycle management
- Xpedocs™ automated loan modification document prep tool
- 50-state digital eMortgage and eNote signing platform (IPEN and RON)
- H.I.P. (Home Investor Package)™ created with Agents National Title Insurance Company
- RemoteVal™ desktop/remote appraisal inspection technology for purchases, refinances, home equity/HELOCs, disaster inspections, loss draft inspections, GSE PDR support and more
- MSR valuation and trading; hedging and risk analysis
- eMSR™
- Lender Insurance Services, such as portfolio reviews and fix and flip
- Residential and commercial property tax reviews and appeals (for private labeling)
- Private student loan, consumer loan, and microloan origination platform (for private labeling)
- Student Loan-in-a-Box — Private student loan refinancing with a takeout partner; created with Incenter Mortgage Advisors (for private labeling)
- Mortgage due diligence and document management
Agents National Title Insurance Company
- REalSearch™ instant title decision engine
- Title production services, production technology integrations, and closing/settlement
- Branding, marketing, and public relations for mortgage, lending, servicing, Fintech, PropTech and real estate firms
Ready to tee up meaningful change — one hole at a time? Contact the INCENTER Enterprise Business Development team at EBD@incenterms.com or (303) 785-8582. More information about INCENTER is available at incenterms.com.
(Sponsored content includes material submitted independently of the Mortgage Bankers Association and MBA NewsLink and does not connote an MBA endorsement of a specific company, product or service. For more information about sponsored content opportunities, contact Bill Farmakis at bill@jlfarmakis.com or 203/834-8832.)
