Southern Top Producers are less smitten by self-service mortgage tech

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The availability of customer-facing self-service mortgage technology was not as key to job satisfaction for loan officers based in the South compared to their counterparts nationwide, according to the 2019 Top Producers survey.

While 50% of respondents across the country said it was extremely important for their company to provide this technology, 43% of those from southern states — the smallest percentage among the four regions — felt this way.

A growing number of companies, with the most recent being Ally Bank, are partnering with fintech providers to create a better user experience.

The region's No. 1 producer reflected on the role consumer-facing technology would have on his business. "Intuitive online loan applications can reduce operations steps, fully preparing a borrower for underwriting post-application," said Max Leaman, a branch manager and senior loan officer in New American Funding's Austin, Texas, office.

A different viewpoint on technology's place in the process came from Ray Shanahan, a mortgage loan officer at TowneBank Mortgage in Charlotte, N.C.

"I think phones are good. I prefer direct contact," explained Shanahan. "I think technology is important for loan origination, but for everything else it just gets in the way and people lose that personal contact."

Loan officers in the South placed a greater emphasis on the availability of government-guaranteed products that offer consumers the ability to get loans with lower down payments and credit scores.

Nationwide, 66% of the responding originators said offering Federal Housing Administration loans was extremely important for their success in 2019. In the South, that rose to 74%, the highest among the four regions.

Having Veterans Affairs and/or U.S. Department of Agriculture mortgages was extremely important for 79% of southern-based originators; the nationwide share was 62%.

"A lot of customers do not understand credit scoring, that they can get in with a low down payment, or the way they are paid effects them getting approved," said Josh Moody, a loan originator with Goldwater Bank in Plano, Texas. "Educating your borrowers is the only way to make your clients understand the process and the programs."

Here are the top 20 mortgage originators based in the South: