Rocket Pro’s Niemiec: New broker rewards based on real work, not ‘busywork’
Niemiec said the possibility of a future refi wave and the added consequence of EPO charges rising led the company to address them in its new program.
“When rates dip, obviously we’re going to see a ton of refinance activity,” he said. “We saw just even in February and March, that glimpse of a 50-bps reduction, we saw tremendous refi activity, and there was a lot of EPOs in the industry. And still, even in a rising rate environment, there are EPOs for various reasons.”
Another topic heating up in the LO community is a migration of originators from the retail to wholesale space. Jonathon Haddad, chairman and CEO of the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts (AIME) noted in his Fuse keynote speech that nearly 1,900 IMB loan officers moved to the broker channel.
Orbit includes a team that connects transitioning and newly licensed loan officers with participating brokers in their states. Niemiec said new originators are still entering the business even in a challenging market.
“It’s an interesting time if you study what’s happening with LOs across the industry,” Niemiec said. “There’s a lot of movement, a lot of migration. Sometimes when the market gets tough, people are looking for a change and looking for a platform that’ll help them win in a different market. But you’d be surprised, there’s a lot of folks still joining this industry even in a tough market, thousands a month.”
