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53 June 2024 June 2024 » E X P E R T I N S I G H T S Q: Why are lender and servicer databases so often overlooked or underutilized when it comes to finding new business opportunities? Den Herder: Most lenders and servicers are sitting on a tremendous amount of opportunities within their contact databases or portfolios, but lack the time and resources to identify them. Some of that is a function of a lender or servicer's ability—or lack thereof—to mine the data they already have in a meaningful and actionable way. Our own research found that roughly 1% of loans inside the average servicing portfolio involve properties that are currently listed for sale. Most servicers have no way of knowing this information—they are completely blind to it. However, technology is available that automatically monitors a servicer's port- folio and property listings nationwide and sends a trigger when a borrower's property is listed for sale. New tools can also leverage loan-level borrower data and live rate sheets to determine when a borrower in a servicer's portfolio is eligible for a cash-out refinance, and even reach out to the borrower with a personalized loan offer. In fact, we are seeing data really come into focus for for- ward-thinking mortgage organizations. Q: How does data analytics contribute to accurately and efficiently identifying new opportunities? Den Herder: Data and analytics enable organizations to understand their data at scale and make faster decisions that generate revenue. This is notably different than the type of data mining tools you find on most legacy loan platforms, which are basically only useful for reporting purposes. Data and analytics allow servicers to continually analyze loan level-data in their portfolio as well as live rate sheets, fees and property information, and instantly determine when a borrower is eligible for a particular loan product. Such tools are also able to structure these results in an easily consumable way, so that a lender's team is able to make better and faster decisions with it. Assuming you have the right technology, you can use it to create hyper-personalized loan offers that are automatically sent out to your borrow- ers. You can even complete most of the borrower's loan application, because you already have the data. If an organization wants to leverage the data it already has and the data they collect on an ongoing basis, putting data and analytics to work is mission critical. Q: Is this really the time for lenders to invest in modern technology? Why not reduce costs and wait for conditions to improve? Den Herder: Invariably, the organizations that do the best in a down market and increase market share when conditions improve are those that never let off the gas pedal when it comes to making strategic technology investments. We have seen this play out in multiple cycles now, and the current cycle is no different. Every player in the industry is fo- cused on reducing costs, and many have gone through the painful experience of laying off staff. We have seen this happen in previous cycles too. But there are tech- nologies available right now that enable lenders and servicers to operate more efficiently and empower their existing staff to be more productive. So, when there is an uptick in application volume, they don't have to hire as many people to remain competitive. Q: In what ways might technology reshape the mortgage landscape this year? What about five years from now? Den Herder: Today's mortgage organizations are having to take a close look at where they are investing their capital to ensure they are putting it to work in the right places. Right now, the smart companies are investing in many innovative technologies that we feel will become table stakes in the next three to five years. So why wait? Every player in the industry is focused on reducing costs, and many have gone through the painful experience of laying off staff. … But there are technologies available right now that enable lenders and servicers to operate more efficiently and empower their existing staff to be more productive."