{"id":17260,"date":"2023-06-16T05:56:17","date_gmt":"2023-06-16T12:56:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westcapitallending.com\/blog\/?p=17260"},"modified":"2024-03-27T11:42:42","modified_gmt":"2024-03-27T18:42:42","slug":"mortgage-market-blues-how-to-weather-the-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westcapitallending.com\/blog\/mortgage-market-blues-how-to-weather-the-storm\/","title":{"rendered":"Mortgage market blues \u2013 how to weather the storm"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Those in the mortgage industry are painfully aware of the doldrums in which the industry now finds itself. While platitudes may ring hollow in lifting spirits, insights from others might prove a better salve.<\/p>\n

Take Eric Hines<\/a> (pictured left), co-founder of West Capital Lending, for example. An industry veteran who went through the Great Recession, he said preparation in overcoming a down market is key.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cYou have to just plan for the ups and downs and expect the unexpected,\u201d he told Mortgage Professional America during a recent interview. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of unpredictable. What\u2019s known is it definitely goes through cycles. A lot of loan officers will fall flat on their face the first time they hit a down market, but those who have been around for a while know it\u2019s just part of the game. You need to be able to prepare for the bad market because it\u2019s just a matter of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

It shouldn\u2019t be about the profit motive<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Tied to Rocket Mortgage<\/a>, Hines pointed to the company\u2019s corporate values \u2013 a series of 20 philosophies dubbed ISMs representing the firm\u2019s core principles \u2013 in offering further advice to those enduring the tough market.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my favorite ones is that money and numbers don\u2019t lead, they follow,\u201d he explained. \u201cI don\u2019t think they should be your first priority \u2013 money and numbers. I think you should try to focus on other people. If you help enough people get what they want, you\u2019ll get what you want in life. That should be more of the focus rather than money or compensation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Focusing on the process and helping people <\/strong><\/h2>\n

His colleague and fellow co-founder, Danny Iskander<\/a> (pictured center), agreed. \u201cFocus on your process,\u201d he told MPA. \u201cFigure out how to help more people. The more people you help, the more you\u2019ll be successful. Your income isn\u2019t always going to remain constant or stable \u2013 that\u2019s not why we\u2019re in this business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still feeling morose about the market? Consider the case of Alec Hanson<\/a> (pictured right) for inspiration. Despite a heady charge after his recent appointment to senior vice president and divisional manager of loanDepot\u2019s Pacific Southwest division, Hanson was palpably excited about his new role.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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But here\u2019s the rub: His task of helping the company\u2019s originators optimize their volume comes on the heels of significant losses for the company \u2013 revenue of $207.9 million, down 58.7% over the same period last year for the fourth quarter ended March 2023. Total revenue declined from $3.7 billion during 2021 to $1.3 billion during 2022, largely attributable to lower market volumes and an exit from the wholesale channel.<\/p>\n

Undeterred, he is determined to help achieve a turnaround for the company \u2013 market conditions notwithstanding: \u201cAll of us are pulling on the same side of the rope when it comes to dealing with this market,\u201d he told MPA in a recent interview. \u201cSome stuff is just the wave you own. That\u2019s the ocean that we\u2019re all in \u2013 every mortgage company \u2013 and they need to figure out their strategy in terms of how to navigate expenses to revenue, etc.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learn how to start a mortgage company<\/a> in this article.<\/p>\n

Bringing in business like riding a bike<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Understanding the assignment, Hanson is intent on righting the ship \u201cI am going to move the needle, and I believe in significant ways,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m going to help our loan officers become more productive. I\u2019m going to help them market in unique and new ways that attract new customers and bring new business to our company. I\u2019m going to help our brand, loanDepot, do the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s like riding a bicycle: \u201cEven when I was a loan officer, my job was to bring loans for the company,\u201d he said. \u201cI haven\u2019t forgotten that. Our job is to make human connections and help people have homeownership. We\u2019ve got great originators here who are hungry for it and great people joining every day who see the same thing. So this is just part of the ecosystem I get to support.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Which is all to say the storm will eventually subside. In extending such meteorological analogies, one might remember the words of British author Vivien Greene: \u201cLife isn\u2019t about waiting for the storm to pass. It\u2019s about learning to dance in the rain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want to make your inbox flourish with mortgage-focused news content? Get exclusive interviews, breaking news, industry events in your inbox, and always be the first to know by subscribing to our FREE daily newsletter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Those in the mortgage industry are painfully aware of the doldrums in which the industry now finds itself. While platitudes may ring hollow in lifting spirits, insights from others might prove a better salve. Take Eric Hines (pictured left), co-founder of West Capital Lending, for example. An industry veteran who went through the Great Recession, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17266,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[67],"tags":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcapitallending.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17260"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcapitallending.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcapitallending.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcapitallending.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcapitallending.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17260"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/westcapitallending.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17261,"href":"https:\/\/westcapitallending.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17260\/revisions\/17261"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcapitallending.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcapitallending.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcapitallending.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcapitallending.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}