The refi rate threshold brokers need to prepare for now, says mortgage CEO
“I don’t think we are 100% done, to be honest,” he said. “The process will be done by the end of the year, full automation with AI on underwriting everywhere. Not 100% of underwriting is automated, but it will be by the end of the year. January 1, 2027, we’ll be ready with the fully automated underwriting agents. That’s what we’re doing right now.”
The company’s automation was built entirely in-house, Slyusarchuk said, rather than licensing systems from outside vendors that cannot be adjusted quickly when volume spikes. It allowed them to build a non-QM automated underwriting system (AUS).
“We have non-QM AUS,” Slyusarchuk said. “That’s a freaking big deal, which we’re integrating with Encompass and a couple other solutions. That’s a big deal, and nobody has that. That’s an amazing tool for your underwriter, your loan officer, your manager. It’s like DU for non-QM. That’s the biggest thing that we have developed.”
Preparing for the wave
With the higher-for-longer environment in place, Slyusarchuk believes more higher-rate mortgages could be added into 2027. However, if things change, he believes it is important to be ready to move. That’s why now is the time for preparation.
“You have to get ready and make sure you are there to refinance and capture all the business because all these five years of elevated rates will have to get refinanced,” Slyusarchuk said. “You have to be there, you have to get ready.”
