Reverse Course: The Changing Public Policy Landscape of 2011 and the Year Ahead

Written by Emily Vannucci Wednesday, 11 January 2012 05:58

With more than 10,000 American Baby Boomers reaching retirement each day, it is more important than ever to preserve and develop alternative methods of financing retirement and the unexpected costs that materialize late in life.

For seniors trying to find the right balance of financial resources for their retirement years, having more options to consider is better than fewer, and the reverse mortgage industry is planning for that reality. The good news for those seniors is that the industry is battling to preserve as many financial tools as possible, including Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs).

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Underwriting

Written by Ralph Rosynek Wednesday, 11 January 2012 05:44

2012 – The Year of Confusion?

Underwriters ask a lot of questions. They seek file-related issue resolution from originators, vendors and processors who assist in providing additional support to variances in policy and procedure or lack of information noted in their review. Many times, these resources assist in clearing confusion.
I have a confession to make: I am confused. My confusion has resulted in several questions that I cannot clearly resolve.

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Originating

Written by Ken Kanady Wednesday, 11 January 2012 05:24

To Train or Not to Train?

Most leaders of reverse organizations must answer this question routinely. To train or not to train is an important question, but not as important as the answer or process used to reach it. While “training” is often a quick, comfortable path to improve sales competencies, it is often the wrong path. (Note: For the purpose of this article, “training” refers to classroom-based, instructor-led interventions only.)

Just by being performance-oriented and using a simple information-gathering process before making training investments, reverse leaders can reach higher-quality decisions, reduce time out of the field by loan officers, and lessen (and even avoid) incremental training costs.

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Secondary Market

Written by Darren Stumberger Wednesday, 11 January 2012 05:46

Will 2012 Bring a Volatile Market?

As the Ginnie Mae HMBS market enters its fifth year and crosses over $30 billion of pool issuance, fixed-rate HMBS performance into early December has been impressive.

With rates range-bound but drifting wider into the month, fixed-rate spreads have tightened in an exaggerated fashion on the magnitude of 25 basis points. This feels eerily similar to late 2009 when we saw a dramatic tightening in spreads, before the onset of the Greece crisis in late spring 2010.

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