I’ve been saying for some time that the mortgage recovery game is going to escalate and become more aggressive.
Customer retention has always been important in every industry, but thanks to new technology and “artificial intelligence,” companies are getting better at it.
Many major mortgage companies have also grown their mortgage servicing portfolios for this very reason.
Rather than handing borrowers over to third-party companies, they retain the service rights so they can mine their own database of homeowners for future showings.
With promising signs finally emerging regarding mortgage rates, there could be plenty of opportunity going forward.
The refinancing boom appears to have begun.
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee just announced that the “refinance boom has officially arrived,” and wants to make sure its mortgage broker partners are “ready for it.”
To help them empower themselves, they launched a new initiative called Saveswhich leverages artificial intelligence to help brokers stay in front of their old clients.
The way it works is fairly simple. It constantly scans data from UWM’s portfolio and identifies borrowers who “would benefit from a mortgage refinance.”
Once a match is found, an email is automatically sent to the client with a pre-verified offer, including the contact information of the original broker.
Borrowers will be able to see their current monthly payments, their estimated new payments, and their estimated monthly savings.
It will also include disclosures such as the type of loan, the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio, the amount of discount points required, and the annual interest rate.
It’s unclear what the minimum amount required to create an offer is, but UWM says these offers will be sent to borrowers “as soon as the borrower is able to achieve meaningful savings on their monthly payments.”
From there, all the borrower has to do is review and submit a pre-filled loan application, which then ends up in the broker’s pipeline.
This appears to be the next iteration of what may be the old process, a manual outreach campaign once brokers find potential refinancing candidates.
Now they may not have to do anything other than log into their UWM dashboard and check to see if any new loans are in their pipeline. What a pleasant surprise!
Good news for brokers, but borrowers still have to look for other loans.
While this new initiative is likely to be great for both UWM, the nation’s No. 1 mortgage lender, and its brokerage partners, borrowers still need to be diligent.
Sure, it’s easy and convenient to get a mortgage refinance offer via email and simply respond to it and send in the pre-filled application.
But it’s not always easy, especially when it comes to saving money. Sure, you can listen to the broker and discuss the offer.
At the same time, you may want to talk to other banks, brokers, retail lenders, credit unions, etc. to see what they can offer. Perhaps they can beat the price/fees.
As I’ve mentioned repeatedly, you should compare mortgage brokers as well, as their prices and services can vary widely as well.
Many of them work with different lenders and have different compensation structures. This can have a significant impact on mortgage pricing.
There’s nothing wrong with loyalty, especially if you’ve enjoyed your previous experience with your broker, but you also need to make sure that they still offer competitive rates.
One month Lender X offers the lowest mortgage rates, and the next month Lender Y is the rate leader.
As I said before, when one lender contacts you, you need to contact other lenders.
This is especially true when we’re talking about rate and term refinancing, which actually requires you to save money in order to be of interest.
A week ago, UWM also launched Refi75, a 75 basis point pricing incentive for conventional refinances, FHA and USDA refinances, as well as FHA Streamlines and VA IRRRLs.
Be sure to look at the big picture, including the final interest rate and all closing costs, to effectively compare offers.
Prior to creating this site, I worked as an account manager for a wholesale mortgage lender in Los Angeles. My experience working in the early 2000s inspired me to start writing about mortgages 18 years ago to help potential (and current) home buyers better navigate the home loan process. Follow me on Twitter for the latest news.
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