Brian Springmann, Consulting

11/14/2023

Thank you all.
To my clients over the last 35 years, I thank you for sharing your trust and homeownership experiences with me. I’m grateful for the opportunity to help you with this basic human need – shelter, as well as for enabling me to provide the same for my own family. I hope to be a resource for you in your next phase.

To my mentors and colleagues, what a ride! From the days of pagers and 14-day credit reports, making rounds with donuts and rate sheets, countless and long-forgotten acronyms, to the inevitable self-destruction we witnessed in our industry as we fed the global appetite for mortgage debt.
So, here we are, at what’s being described as the end of a generational trend in interest rates. It’s a cycle. We’ll adjust. Households will continue to be formed every year, and there will be demand.
My passion for this business of acquiring a home and using it as a tool for financial well-being is unlikely to die. 45 years as a real estate broker and 35 years as a mortgage originator – detox might take time.

Meanwhile, there are changes in the wind for the way homes are bought and sold. As the dust settles, I may carve out a new role that allows me to bring value to those in need of honest, unbiased guidance.

I’ll always be in your debt. Please don’t hesitate to reach out.

09/19/2023

For 25 of my 34 years as a mortgage originator, my performance has been validated by the fact that all of my clients are referred by other clients. My reputation is all I have. I've worked hard to deserve the trust my clients place in me.

Never being much for heavy marketing, "Like My Page" and please leave me a 5-star review - I've focused on my task of getting the loan done on time as promised.

But the online world can be cruel if you don't know how to work it. I've recently experienced a 1-star review from someone who never spoke to me about a mortgage - she was NEVER a customer or a prospect. Instead, the review was in retaliation for a dispute I won over poor work on a vehicle. That fake 1-star review took my perfect 5 down to a 4.4. One person should not be able to unilaterally, falsely, and maliciously damage another's reputation.

Is my only recourse to ask all of my clients over the last three decades to click below and write a review? If so help me out here.

I still have plenty of gas in my career tank and as an independent mortgage broker, I've never been happier. I'd like to be around for those who need help in the home finance world. Maybe I need to up my marketing game?

Post a review to our profile on Google

07/07/2022

I know it's different this time, but... Today's headline brought a bit of a chill up my spine that I hadn't sensed since July 2007.

"Sprout Mortgage, which often billed itself as one of the nation's fastest-growing lenders and largest non-QM originators, shut its doors today, according to former employees."

Non-QM is "Not Quite Fannie/Freddie quality" and has been touted as the hot loan product for 2021 and 2022. I never could see a widespread need in my typical client.

06/06/2022

So, do you think mortgage rates are too high and you should wait for the housing market to crash before buying?

Twenty years ago buyers were thrilled to snap up homes at the amazingly low rate of 8% plus 2% in upfront points. Rates were down 50% from the highs of 17%+ in 1983.

Footnote: OMG - 1992? That was 30 years ago.

04/01/2022

Looking at Reverse Mortgages from Outside of the Lending Industry - some of my findings:

Evidence shows High-Net-Worth homeowners use Reverse Mortgages for asset preservation strategies. This is becoming more popular as Retirement Planners understand the product.

Reverse as a "Last Resort" has been the most popular strategy because it immediately solves cash flow problems. It's "reactive" but undoubtedly produces great relief for retirees.

Reverse Mortgages used "proactively" can help smooth your spending curve during a crisis, whether housing or stock market-related. It's a "Hedging" tool, protecting access to home equity and avoiding selling equities in a down market.

Two UAW Attorneys accurately present Reverse Mortgage facts with a bias toward a "Last Resort" strategy. Although Last Resort is reactive vs. proactive, this video is well done and worth the time.

Reverse mortgages are complex products that allow homeowners aged 62 and older to borrow against their home equity for regular income. Hear Plan attorneys Fr...

03/30/2022

As I've researched for clients interested in Reverse Mortgage options, I've run across several resources that clearly explain Social Security Benefits. This is sponsored by one of my Reverse Wholesale lenders. It's intended for lending professionals, but it's ground level.
https://online.flippingbook.com/view/50218722/?whence=
The Video below answered many of my questions.
https://www.retirementexpertsnetwork.com/webinars/past?wvideo=3zvynqw0mn

The guide includes all of the 2022 adjustments for calculating Social Security benefits. It also provides important information regarding changes to Social Security policies in recent years, and how these laws will affect the strategies your clients can use to maximize benefits in retirement.

03/26/2022

This is part of a rebalancing process. The bond market has to wean itself off of the Fed.
Wait until they offload their balance sheet. That's coming next.

We're going to go through withdrawal.
Let's just get it over with.

Today's Market Summary Report

03/08/2022

Rates have very little influence on our natural drive to form new households.
The expression of that drive on housing consumption has been suppressed for 5 to 7 years due to the burden of student loans, and then the pandemic.

The US forms over 1.6 million new households each year. We haven't even come close to addressing the housing shortage. Higher mortgage rates will slow it down. A stock market correction will reduce the number of cash buyers. But as long as we have a strong jobs market, there's no end to housing demand.

All too often, when it comes to consumer surveys about the future, the results tend to reflect what has already happened as opposed to what will continue to happen.  Of course, trends can remain ...

01/25/2022

Sadly - despite the explosion of online self-paced learning, the recent Fannie Mae National Housing Survey® revealed that consumers don't know what it takes to buy a home. Going back to 2008, the perception remains that it takes perfect credit and 20% down, tons of documentation, blood samples. Even worse - they don't know what resources to trust - where to get reliable information. The proliferation of self-proclaimed home buying YouTube experts only adds to the problem - many simply don't know the subject matter. They know Youtube.

The good news is that many of our Agencies, such as Fannie Mae have become more responsive to the need for consumer education. I took a test drive of Fannie Mae's HomeView™, a free, series of short courses, accessible online anytime on any device at https://www.fanniemae.com/education.

This real estate market will settle down, inventory will adjust. Be ready by starting now.

Home HomeView Homeownership Education Course HomeView Homeownership Education Course Twitter Facebook Linkedin Email Homepage START COURSE | SIGN IN FANNIE MAE HomeViewTM A clearer path to homeownership Welcome to your go-to resource for every step of your homeownership journey. No matter your goals...

01/19/2022

In response to recent inquiries, no doubt fueled by a rebalance of work/life priorities, and ironically, on my 68th birthday, I had to face the fact that my earliest clients have cycled through many stages of homeownership - first time, move up, move up again, buy second home, and now they have a ton of equity. They want to understand how to use that equity to enjoy life.

What I've found in my deep-dive to answer a question: Why are Reverse Mortgages not more popular?
My first discovery was this. If the average consumer attempts to find the answer to that question on the web, they will find more than enough reason to run away and dismiss the idea.

What's disturbing to me is that much of the negative posting on the web is old (pre-2014 to 2018) or outright shameless fear-mongering. Old posts can be largely ignored - everything changed by 2018. Recent online Reverse Mortgage bashing seems mostly driven by the incentive for Clicks, Likes, Advertorials for "Seeking the Advice You Need" from Estate and Retirement Planners, Elder Law Attorneys, and the Sadly Uniformed Youtube Experts; expert at Youtube, but not the subject matter.

What Retirees need is complete and accurate information - Not someone's Opinion - including my own. Education is the key.
You can just read thousands of pages of HUD Guidelines, as I have. You could study the history of Reverse in the US and in several other countries - who, by the way, observe the use of, the flaws, corrections of those flaws, and the new protections of home owner equity implemented by HUD in the US. Augmentation of retirement lifestyle by the use of "Lifestyle Mortgages or Retirement Mortgages" as they are called is a global phenomenon.

I've decided to share valid verifiable information with whatever audience I have. I'm going to build on that library, and I invite anyone with Financial Planning, Estate Planning, Elder Law, or a related perspective to add a comment. I'm really searching for a contrarian view.

Meanwhile, this article is exactly what we need to clearly explain the expectations regarding Qualifying Occupancy of the mortgaged property.

In a commentary, Dan Hultquist of Fairway asks key questions about the often misunderstood reverse mortgage occupancy requirement.