Clear to Close

Recent Fed announcements, declining interest rates, and increased loan activity spell an optimistic end to the year. But is the mortgage industry's renewed sense of hope warranted—and is the worst truly behind us? In this episode of Clear to Close, hosts Alan, Bryan, and Anthony dig into their thoughts on 2024's market, including how they believe rates will trend, economic and global factors that could impact housing, and more.

This week on the Clear to Close podcast, we have a special guest: Melissa Langdale, TMC President and COO and a career-long mortgage veteran. In this conversation, Melissa leverages her unique perspective gleaned from interactions with lenders across the industry to provide actionable tips on how to drive revenue and capture market share in 2024.

With Alan Parris freshly back from sabbatical, the Clear to Close team dives into the topic on everyone's minds: housing market challenges. While it's easy to point fingers and ascribe blame at times like these, the truth is that the forces driving today's conditions are varied and complex. In this conversation, we dig into a few of the factors keeping rates high, inventory stifled, and volume low—and talk through what it will take to turn the corner.

As Alan Parris takes a sabbatical from Maxwell, two-thirds of your favorite trio—Bryan Traeger and Anthony Ianni—are back to catch up on the status of inflation, interest rates, and today's market outlook. From the latest CPI numbers to the recent job openings report, Bryan and Anthony talk through economic factors that impact lenders and what they mean for the state of the market as we head into the last month of Q3. Plus, Bryan delves into outside-the-box methods lenders are using to drive leads as tough conditions continue.

Artificial intelligence: Is it the efficiency-driving copilot you've been waiting for or an increasingly intelligent force vying for your job? To move past polarizing headlines and unpack the truth, we spoke with someone who lives and breathes technology: Maxwell Co-founder & CTO Rutul Davé. In this episode, Rutul breaks down the implications of AI in the mortgage industry in an approachable, easy-to-understand way to help lending professionals understand the best uses cases, opportunities, and limitations of this rapidly-growing technology.

Between fallout from Silicon Valley Bank's collapse, the latest Fed announcement, and more news of stubborn inflation, there's plenty of economic drama continuing to unfold. The question on every lender's mind is: Has the market finally bottomed out? In our new Clear to Close episode, the Maxwell team is back to discuss the industry's biggest happenings and forecasts for the remainder of 2023, including how hosts Alan, Bryan, and AI think loan volume may trend if rates stay near 7%.

Hispanic and Latino populations are an integral, growing part of American communities and a rising force in U.S. homeownership. Still, many Spanish-speaking borrowers struggle with the financial, logistical, and readiness challenges related to home buying. In our latest conversation on Clear to Close, we sit down with an expert on the topic: Laura Arce. With tenure in public policy and housing policy at Wells Fargo and the Federal Housing Finance Authority (FHFA), Laura now serves as SVP of UnidosUS, a nonprofit dedicated to building a positive economic trajectory for Latinos through homeownership.

Two and a half months into 2023, the question on every lender's mind is: Are we seeing real signs of market recovery? Headline after headline announces the moderation of rates and the beginnings of volume returning. Still, challenges remain, and in many ways, the trajectory of the market continues to be uncertain. So, what lies ahead for lenders, and how can they plan for likely outcomes?

New Story, a nonprofit tackling homelessness through proven, sustainable, and scalable models, has built an impressive 3,380 homes, impacting 15,200+ people across 4 countries. In this episode, we sit down with Co-founder and Chief Impact Officer Matthew Marshall to talk through how New Story got started, the outside-the-box ways it’s tackling homeownership accessibility at scale, and the important lessons we can learn from its innovative approaches.

As the dust settles from the MBA Annual conference in Nashville, the industry is still abuzz with market predictions, industry announcements, and new concepts that came out of the event. In this episode of Clear to Close, hosts Alan, Bryan, and Anthony unpack the most important takeaways from MBA Annual, including current lender sentiment, breaking news that will impact lenders in 2023, and more.

As interest rates rise to levels not seen since the early 2000s, now is the perfect time to take a pulse on the market: How are lenders viewing the current conditions, what challenges will Q4 bring, and does opportunity still exist today?

While lenders nationwide struggle with market challenges, Chris Ledwidge of theLender is thriving. A fast-growing wholesale mortgage lender headquartered in California, theLender just landed an impressive spot at #11 overall on the prestigious Inc. 5000 list. Its secret to success? Leaning into non-traditional loan offerings that cater to underserved borrowers, especially in today’s climate, where traditional volume is tapering off and the competition for vanilla loans is rapidly tightening. Tune into this episode to learn how Chris and his team differentiate themselves with a wide array of loan offerings, ways he connects with potential customers, and the lessons he’s learned about the industry that have helped create a meteoric growth rate for theLender.

Boasting 200 million monthly users, real estate tech giant Zillow is only becoming a stronger competitive force as it expands its presence in the mortgage lending space. In the face of this trend, local lenders have a choice: they can ignore the growing threat or they can bolster their competitive advantages and learn from Zillow's actions. In this episode, we sit down with Bryan Mecsey, Maxwell's VP of Sales and former Zillow employee, to chat about how tech giants have succeeded, where they've fallen short, and how local lenders can leverage that insight to create a competitive borrower experience (no massive tech or marketing budget required). Tune in for forward-thinking insights that will help you build a moat around your lending business despite rising competition.

With interest rates continuing to rise and the MBA’s revised forecast predicting lower origination volume than expected, the question on every lender’s mind is: How can I find opportunity in 2022’s market to bolster profitability? To dig into the creative strategies today’s lenders are using to fill lost volume, we chatted with Jeff Shearer, Team Manager at Optimal Blue, an industry-leading product and pricing engine. Channeling boots-on-the-ground insight, Jeff speaks to the new loan product offerings he sees lenders launching in today’s environment and how he’s advising those lenders to mitigate risk and ensure success. For actionable advice on launching products to meet market demand, don’t miss this timely episode.

Global unrest, Fed rate hikes, and economic volatility: There’s no shortage of topics to discuss in the latest Clear to Close episode, where we’re joined again by Maxwell Solutions Director Anthony Ianni. As a 33-year mortgage veteran, Anthony knows that now is the time for lenders to revamp their strategies, go back to basics, and gear up for a rising rate environment. In fact, by scrutinizing their operations, reimagining their product mix, and thinking like their investors, lenders can find unexpected opportunities in today’s market. Tune in for a discussion on current events, macroeconomic forces affecting margin compression, and what lenders should do now to get ahead.

On today’s episode, we’re joined by Anthony Ianni, a capital markets industry veteran and team member at Maxwell who works in our Maxwell Capital business. We talk through current market conditions, challenges and opportunities lenders have this year, and three recommended focus areas to drive profitability in 2022.

In today’s episode, we sit down with Alex McEvans, Sr. Product Manager at Maxwell, to discuss how technology can enhance back-office efficiency and create better margins for lenders. A fintech veteran, Alex understands the importance of building thoughtful solutions that truly benefit the people in the process. Using this mindset, Alex recently led the development of Maxwell's newest solution, Processor Edge, a first-of-its-kind processing workflow technology that increases processor capacity and reduces costs by accelerating document review, streamlining communication, and detecting data discrepancies. To ensure the value of this solution, Alex spent hundreds of hours with some of the country's best processors, learning their workflow, processes, and needs. He’s boiled those insights down into actionable takeaways that can help lenders hone their loan processing and unearth profitability. Enjoy!

Now more than ever, capital markets represent a vital area for local lenders to pursue better accuracy, improved economics, and more competitive rates. In this special episode, we sit down with Sadie Gurley, VP & GM of Maxwell Diligence and the newly launched Maxwell Capital solution, offering expanded access to the secondary market for lenders serving America's communities. Sadie uses her extensive experience in the mortgage industry to lay out exactly what local lenders need to compete in today's market, including streamlined processes, decreased trading time, and a better secondary market experience for lending teams and borrowers.

On this episode of Clear to Close, we sit down with Sarah Gonzalez, COO of First Guaranty Mortgage Corporation (FGMC) and recent HW Vanguard winner, to discuss how leadership practices can dramatically impact mortgage companies. Sarah shares what makes her so passionate about great leadership and how FGMC uses innovative practices to build a culture of excellence and ownership. Tune into this episode for actionable tips from a progressive industry leader on how to boost employee retention, team creativity, and ultimately business results.

On this episode of Clear to Close, we put down our Margaritas and end our summer break early to have a discussion around job potential and career pathing in the industry. We cover everything from how leaders should be approaching moving talent in their organizations and the leadership style required to Brian's foray into SciFi and Alan's calculations on calories needed to ski across Antarctica. Enjoy!