Power House

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Sharpening the axe with mortgage education expert Nathan Knottingham Sep 12, 2024

Show notes

Today we are bringing to your feed a great conversation with an even greater guest: Nathan Knottingham. Nathan wears many hats within the mortgage space, including being the co-founder and CEO of the newly launched mortgage education company, MLO Force, the COO of Vetted VA, and the COO of Be My Neighbor Mortgage.

Clayton and Nathan originally scheduled this podcast to talk about MLO Force and the exciting things they’re doing in mortgage education and C.E. but Nathan had a surprise in store this past Monday when he posted a picture of him and his partners on the floor of the NASDAQ. Be My Neighbor and real estate software firm reAlpha are joining forces in the hopes to bring the mortgage industry a step forward in an end-to-end homebuying process.

Nathan offers great insights into MLO Force’s goal for continuing education across the larger workforce. He also shares what makes intellectual curiosity so special, even for those who consider themselves subject matter experts.

Here's what you'll learn:

Be My Neighbor Mortgage’s acquisition by Realpha highlights the importance of technology in the real estate transaction.
Continued education and always being a willing learner is crucial for mortgage professionals to stay up to date on industry regulations and best practices.
MLO Force offers mortgage education courses for individuals and enterprise-level clients, providing a flexible and comprehensive learning experience.

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The Power House podcast is a show about leadership, markets and entrepreneurship in the housing industry. Each Thursday, Clayton Collins speaks with CEOs and founders from the mortgage and real estate sector to reveal how housing executives think about business growth, operational strategy, and leadership. The Power House podcast reveals the full picture through the stories of the industry’s most impactful leaders. Clayton Collins is the CEO of HousingWire, and the Power House podcast is produced by HousingWire’s Content Studio. Initially launched in 2019 as the Housing News podcast, the show was relaunched as Power House in 2024.

Mortgage banking strategies and insights with Sarah Wheeler Aug 29, 2024

Show notes

If you are a mortgage banking executive or leader, you will want to listen to this episode to hear what Sarah Wheeler has to share. In this episode of Power House, HousingWire Editor-in-Chief Sarah Wheeler joins HW Media CEO Clayton Collins to discuss critical themes and knowledge for mortgage banking leaders.

Sarah discusses major stories related to LO compensation, servicing, and refi dynamics and her recent interview with Barry Habib. She also shares how HousingWire communicates this type of knowledge to readers via articles, podcasts, and events.

These topics and a group of amazing executive speakers will be front and center at the HousingWire IMB Summit on October 1st in Dallas, Texas.

Code: LABORDAY (expires 8/30/24 on Labor Day)

Act now, this will be the lowest available price for tickets to the 2024 event!

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HousingWire | YouTube

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Austin Allison: Cracking the co-ownership code Aug 22, 2024

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This week on the Power House podcast, Clayton Collins sits down with Austin Allison, the CEO and co-founder of Pacaso, a co-ownership marketplace for luxury vacation homes with over a billion dollars in transactions across 40 destination markets.

In this episode, Austin shares the lessons from building and scaling successful real estate businesses. Clayton and Austin also discuss the hard-to-sell mortgage model behind co-ownership and how, even in a complicated macro environment, Pacaso is addressing the growing affordability problem by offering fractional ownership of high-end vacation homes.

Here's what you'll learn:

How surrounding yourself with the right people drives success
Why understanding your Total Addressable Market (TAM) and a strong monetization strategy are crucial to survive and thrive
How the co-ownership model addresses affordability challenges in real estate
How Pacaso is working to make the American dream accessible to more people

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Randell Gillespie: The Future of Lower and Rise of Authentic Leadership Aug 15, 2024

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This week on the Power House podcast, Clayton Collins speaks with Randell Gillespie, the chief production officer at Lower.

With over 30 years of mortgage lending and leadership experience, Randell was named chief production officer in March of this year upon the completion of Lower’s acquisition of Thrive Mortgage. Praised for his leadership style, Randell received the 2023 HousingWire Vanguard Award.

In this episode, they discuss culture, leadership, technology, margins, recruiting, and even hamburgers. Randell shares how he’s navigating this transition to Lower and his plans for the future of mortgage lending at Lower.

Lower boasts an executive team with diverse expertise and a strong commitment to supporting LOs. The recent recruitment of The Loan Officer Podcast host Dustin Owen as their SVP of Growth is a key part of that strategy. Randell also highlights how technology is redefining the mortgage experience and how Lower adapts to the current rate environment to maintain strong margins.

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Jason Mitchell: Relentless focus on mortgage partnerships that drive value for agents Aug 08, 2024

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This week on the Power House podcast, Clayton Collins sits down with Jason Mitchell, founder of the Jason Mitchell Group.

With over $4 billion in annual transaction volume, 8,500 sides, and 800 agents, Jason Mitchell leads one of the largest real estate teams in the country according to RealTrends Verified.

But it isn’t all about scale. Jason shares that he doesn’t need 5,000 agents across the country to win. He only needs about 1,600, and he’s halfway there. He’s in 150 MSAs today, and the episode reveals how Jason thinks about recruiting, M&A and developing new markets.

What’s unique about Jason’s business? He’s building at the intersection of real estate and mortgage with a highly differentiated b2b referral and lead strategy which hinges around partnerships with top mortgage lenders. And while many mortgage lenders are trying to cozy up to real estate agents for referral business, JMG has flipped the model and gets his real estate leads directly from over mortgage partners who trust his team to deliver a high-quality client experience.

Jason shares how he’s built a successful real estate brokerage and team using a unique B2B strategy, partnering directly with mortgage lenders and other lead sources to drive business into his brokerage. He also unpacks the importance of prioritizing the needs of the average client to build a strong book of business while also discussing the challenges of growth and the need for strong leadership in market opportunities.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

Mortgage partnerships and lead funnels
How building a successful brokerage requires a focus on providing business opportunities to agents through partnerships and referrals
Why strong leadership is crucial for growth
The importance of agents focusing on serving the average client and building a strong book of business, rather than exclusively chasing luxury listings
How success in the real estate industry lies in the individual agent's work ethic and dedication, regardless of the brokerage they are affiliated with

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Joe Tyrrell: Leadership and market innovation and Optimal Blue Aug 01, 2024

Show notes

This week on the Power House podcast, Clayton Collins sits down with Joe Tyrrell, the CEO of Optimal Blue. With over 25 years in mortgage, finance, and technology, Joe shares his wealth of experience about value-driven leadership, innovation, and the mortgage tech space.

In their discussion, Joe talks about the significance of capital markets for mortgage lenders and how secondary market executions can drive profitability in 2024 and beyond. He also delves into Optimal Blue’s autonomy and technological advancements as part of Constellation Software, referencing a previous conversation with Bonnie Wilhelm of the Andromeda Group and Perseus.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

How Optimal Blue focuses on delivering value to lenders and maximizing profitability.
Trust and operationalizing technology as keys to driving efficiency and overcoming resistance to change.
AI’s crucial role in providing real-time data and insights to help lenders make informed decisions and improve profitability.
Optimal Blue’s plans to deliver value to customers without additional costs, accelerate innovation, and foster partnerships within the mortgage ecosystem.

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Buyer advocacy and beyond with Realtor.com CMO Mickey Neuberger Jul 25, 2024

Show notes

This week on the Power House Podcast, we are bringing you a sponsored interview between Clayton and Mickey Neuberger, the Chief Marketing Officer at Realtor.com. Before joining Realtor.com, Mickey was VP of Global Marketing at eBay for 9 years, where he built the company’s CRM platform from the ground up. He also has extensive experience in marketing, CRM, product and technology from previous roles at Travelocity, Loyalty Lab, and 24 Hour Fitness.

Clayton and Mickey start by discussing Mickey's career journey, his expertise in data management, and how he got into the marketing landscape. But, the real meat of this conversation is about one of Realtor.com’s biggest current initiatives: their buyer advocacy campaign.

The campaign spans several advocacy initiatives, including the development of a self-serve tool kit for buyer’s agents. This kit features tools and assets that can be customized and shared with one’s network to highlight everything agents do for consumers before, during and after the home-buying process. They’re also working on highlighting and empowering underserved and underrepresented buyers to ensure equitable opportunities in the housing market.

Clayton and Mickey dive deep into this campaign and its vital importance in today’s industry, Realtor.com’s efforts to bring together housing professionals, home buyers and policymakers to understand the power that housing and real estate hold in the larger American economy.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

How Mickey's career path from computer science to marketing has helped his experience in driving results at scale,
The importance of brand presence and the use of strategic data and analytics in marketing.
The why behind their buyer agency advocacy campaign, the Buyer's Agent Tool Kit and the efforts to educate consumers and policymakers.
Where the future of Realtor.com is headed and their marketing objectives for the second half of 2024.

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Craig Montgomery on Lower’s journey to becoming a top-five lender Jul 18, 2024

Show notes

On today’s episode of Power House, we had the pleasure of speaking with Craig Montgomery, the Chief Strategy Officer at Lower. Craig joined Lower this past June with plans to drive the company towards the goal of becoming a top five national mortgage lender.

Today’s conversation is all about Craig’s vision for building Lower’s ambitious plans for growth, including a focus on an originator-first mindset and platform, as well as finding real value in strategic partnerships. Lower is also ramping up mergers and acquisitions to help achieve this goal with two different acquisitions within the past year. He shares their unique growth plan for today’s higher-rate, low volume environment.

Enjoy this episode with Craig Montgomery, Chief Strategy Officer at Lower!

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

Providing originators with the tools, resources, and support they need is crucial for their success.
Listen to originators to truly understand their needs and shortcomings.
Transparency and communication are key in successful M&A integrations.
A coaching program can be a game changer in elevating originator performance.
Becoming a top-five lender requires aggressive recruiting and a focus on providing a platform for originator success.

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Anthony Lamacchia: Entrepreneurial leadership pumping through his veins Jul 11, 2024

Show notes

Anthony Lamacchia shares his journey from working in his father’s landscaping business to building Lamacchia Realty. He discusses the importance of marketing, branding, and consistent content creation in attracting clients and media attention. Lamacchia emphasizes delegating responsibilities and hiring experienced professionals for growth. He delves into his M&A strategy, market expansion, and his approach to marketing and recruiting agents using billboards and other methods. He addresses industry challenges, like the commission lawsuit and changing market conditions, and shares how he prepares his agents for success, concluding with his optimistic outlook for the future of real estate.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

•The importance of marketing, branding, and consistent content creation for attracting clients and media attention.

•Strategies for delegating responsibilities, hiring experienced professionals, and executing a successful M&A strategy for business growth and market expansion.

•Effective marketing and recruiting techniques, such as the use of billboards and other advertising methods.

•Insights into industry challenges like the commission lawsuit, changing market conditions, and how to prepare agents for success, along with Anthony’s optimistic outlook for the future of real estate.

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The secrets to unlocking data efficiency with Rocktop Technologies’ Jason Pinson Jul 04, 2024

Show notes

This week on the Power House podcast, we sat down with Jason Pinson, the founder and CEO of Rocktop Technologies, a suite of fintech applications driven by AI and machine learning designed to manage risk on behalf of its clients and partners.

Rocktop — and Jason himself — are on a mission to tackle two significant issues in housing: the influx of poor and poorly managed data, and the error-prone processes that undermine asset quality and value. Today we are delving into Jason's career journey and thesis, starting from his days at Bear Stearns to his multi-decade crusade to enhance efficiency and returns for investors in the mortgage industry.

Clayton and Jason talk about Rocktop’s efforts aimed at preventing the errors and inefficiencies that reduce mortgage investors’ yields, a problem that ultimately makes housing less efficient and more expensive. They also talk about data standardization, the role of organizations like MISMO, and the expertise and talents behind successful AI and machine learning implementation.

Rocktop Technologies will be joining us on stage in Dallas on July 23rd for HousingWire’s AI Summit to explore even more of their focus on machine learning and how they plan to revolutionize the industry.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

The mortgage market is hindered by poor data management and manual error-prone operations.
Data standardization is crucial for improving efficiency in the mortgage market.
A strong data strategy is essential for implementing AI and machine learning.
Combining domain expertise with technical talent is key to success in the mortgage industry.
Leading from the front and investing in employee upskilling are important for growth in a volatile market.

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