Power House

This week on the Power House Podcast, Clayton sat down with Tomo CEO and co-founder Greg Schwartz to talk about what’s transpired in his business over the last two years — both the good and the bad. They dive into recovery indicators and the investments they’re making in technology and AI. They also talk about how embracing accountable leadership and having a genuine love for the mortgage business is more important now than ever.Here's what you'll learn: Tomo’s approach and belief in building a purchase-focused mortgage company Focusing on health and a work-life balance are essential for effective leadership Why market dynamics should be accounted for, but not be used as excuses for performance How the Pinterest effect influences first-time homebuyers' expectations How to look for leading indicators for market recovery Related to this episode: Greg Schwartz on fixing the purchase mortgage experience | HousingWire Mortgage startup Tomo enters the home portal wars with AI tools | HousingWire HousingWire IMB Summit On-Demand HousingWire | YouTube Enjoy the episode!The Power House podcast is a show about leadership, markets and entrepreneurship in the housing industry. Each Thursday, Clayton Collins speaks with CEOs and founders from the mortgage and real estate sector to reveal how housing executives think about business growth, operational strategy, and leadership. The Power House podcast reveals the full picture through the stories of the industry’s most impactful leaders. Clayton Collins is the CEO of HousingWire, and the Power House podcast is produced by HousingWire’s Content Studio. Initially launched in 2019 as the Housing News podcast, the show was relaunched as Power House in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Power House, we welcome back Rick Roque, Corporate VP of New Growth at NFM Lending. Clayton Collins and Roque sit down during the HousingWire IMB Summit on October 1, 2024 at the George W. Bush Presidential Library in Dallas, TX to discuss key themes from the stage and evaluation of top sessions. Coverage of the event is available on HousingWire, and select session videos will be released for on-demand viewing in the coming days. The HousingWire IMB Summit is part of HousingWire’s Summit series which include events on AI, mortgage banking and housing economics. The next summit will be the Housing Economic Summit on February 26, 2025. The Housing Economic Summit is designed to give mortgage and real estate leaders a comprehensive understanding of the economic factors driving the housing market in 2025 — and what it all means for business. Topics include the mortgage rate outlook, housing demographics, home-price trends, housing affordability, the impact of the election and more. HousingWire is gathering the best housing economic experts in one place for this one-day event that will provide you with the freshest data available and the insights you need to meet the opportunity of the 2025 housing market.Registration is now open. You can register here.Related to this episode: Rick Roque lands at NFM Lending | HousingWire NFM Lending Rick Roque | LinkedIn HousingWire | YouTube Enjoy the episode!The Power House podcast is a show about leadership, markets and entrepreneurship in the housing industry. Each Thursday, Clayton Collins speaks with CEOs and founders from the mortgage and real estate sector to reveal how housing executives think about business growth, operational strategy, and leadership. The Power House podcast reveals the full picture through the stories of the industry’s most impactful leaders. Clayton Collins is the CEO of HousingWire, and the Power House podcast is produced by HousingWire’s Content Studio. Initially launched in 2019 as the Housing News podcast, the show was relaunched as Power House in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on the Power House podcast, Clayton sat down with Robert Pieklo, COO of American Financial Resources (AFR) and Adam Carmel, Founder & CEO of Polly to talk about current mortgage market dynamics and growth strategies amid changing rates. They also discuss prioritizing the customer experience, effectively scaling your operations, and how to develop an adaptable product mix as we go into 2025 and beyond.Here's what you'll learn: Cost to completion is a key metric for lenders. Forward-looking technology for effectively scaling operations. Staying ahead and adapting to changing interest rates. Changing of the guard in the mortgage world. Win one customer over at a time. Related to this episode: Robert Pieklo | LinkedIn Adam Carmel | LinkedIn Polly.io AFR Corp HousingWire | YouTube Enjoy the episode!The Power House podcast is a show about leadership, markets and entrepreneurship in the housing industry. Each Thursday, Clayton Collins speaks with CEOs and founders from the mortgage and real estate sector to reveal how housing executives think about business growth, operational strategy, and leadership. The Power House podcast reveals the full picture through the stories of the industry’s most impactful leaders. Clayton Collins is the CEO of HousingWire, and the Power House podcast is produced by HousingWire’s Content Studio. Initially launched in 2019 as the Housing News podcast, the show was relaunched as Power House in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, HousingWire president Diego Sanchez interviews Marc Trachtenberg, CEO of Silk Title Co. They explore the dominance of the "Big Four" in the title market and how Silk Title's model complements rather than competes with them. Marc also shares insights from the recent RealEdge conference and discusses adapting to new technologies, fostering collaboration, and educating consumers about the title process.Don't miss Marc at the upcoming IMB Summit on October 1 in Dallas, where he'll delve into Silk Title's vision for the future of the title industry. Here's what you'll learn: Collaboration, rather than competition within the industry can lead to better outcomes for everyone. Diverse perspectives and consumer education are crucial for the industry's success. There is a significant lack of consumer education regarding the title process and its costs, and that needs to change. The title industry needs to redefine its approach to remain relevant in a changing market. Understanding risk and title alternatives is essential for both consumers and industry professionals. Related to this episode: HousingWire IMB Summit Silk Title Co. Silk Title Co. | LinkedIn Marc Trachtenberg | LinkedIn HousingWire | YouTube Enjoy the episode!The Power House podcast is a show about leadership, markets and entrepreneurship in the housing industry. Each Thursday, Clayton Collins speaks with CEOs and founders from the mortgage and real estate sector to reveal how housing executives think about business growth, operational strategy, and leadership. The Power House podcast reveals the full picture through the stories of the industry’s most impactful leaders. Clayton Collins is the CEO of HousingWire, and the Power House podcast is produced by HousingWire’s Content Studio. Initially launched in 2019 as the Housing News podcast, the show was relaunched as Power House in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we are bringing to your feed a great conversation with an even greater guest: Nathan Knottingham. Nathan wears many hats within the mortgage space, including being the co-founder and CEO of the newly launched mortgage education company, MLO Force, the COO of Vetted VA, and the COO of Be My Neighbor Mortgage.Clayton and Nathan originally scheduled this podcast to talk about MLO Force and the exciting things they’re doing in mortgage education and C.E. but Nathan had a surprise in store this past Monday when he posted a picture of him and his partners on the floor of the NASDAQ. Be My Neighbor and real estate software firm reAlpha are joining forces in the hopes to bring the mortgage industry a step forward in an end-to-end homebuying process.Nathan offers great insights into MLO Force’s goal for continuing education across the larger workforce. He also shares what makes intellectual curiosity so special, even for those who consider themselves subject matter experts.Here's what you'll learn: Be My Neighbor Mortgage’s acquisition by Realpha highlights the importance of technology in the real estate transaction. Continued education and always being a willing learner is crucial for mortgage professionals to stay up to date on industry regulations and best practices. MLO Force offers mortgage education courses for individuals and enterprise-level clients, providing a flexible and comprehensive learning experience. Related to this episode: reAlpha gets into the mortgage brokerage biz, acquires Be My Neighbor | HousingWire Nathan Knottingham | LinkedIn MLO Force Be My Neighbor Mortgage HousingWire | YouTube Enjoy the episode!The Power House podcast is a show about leadership, markets and entrepreneurship in the housing industry. Each Thursday, Clayton Collins speaks with CEOs and founders from the mortgage and real estate sector to reveal how housing executives think about business growth, operational strategy, and leadership. The Power House podcast reveals the full picture through the stories of the industry’s most impactful leaders. Clayton Collins is the CEO of HousingWire, and the Power House podcast is produced by HousingWire’s Content Studio. Initially launched in 2019 as the Housing News podcast, the show was relaunched as Power House in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you are a mortgage banking executive or leader, you will want to listen to this episode to hear what Sarah Wheeler has to share. In this episode of Power House, HousingWire Editor-in-Chief Sarah Wheeler joins HW Media CEO Clayton Collins to discuss critical themes and knowledge for mortgage banking leaders.Sarah discusses major stories related to LO compensation, servicing, and refi dynamics and her recent interview with Barry Habib. She also shares how HousingWire communicates this type of knowledge to readers via articles, podcasts, and events.These topics and a group of amazing executive speakers will be front and center at the HousingWire IMB Summit on October 1st in Dallas, Texas. Register for the event today and take advantage of Labor Day Weekend prices promotions: Register here: https://events.housingwire.com/IMB-summit Code: LABORDAY (expires 8/30/24 on Labor Day) Act now, this will be the lowest available price for tickets to the 2024 event!Related to this episode:HousingWire | YouTubeEnjoy the episode!The Power House podcast is a show about leadership, markets and entrepreneurship in the housing industry. Each Thursday, Clayton Collins speaks with CEOs and founders from the mortgage and real estate sector to reveal how housing executives think about business growth, operational strategy, and leadership. The Power House podcast reveals the full picture through the stories of the industry’s most impactful leaders. Clayton Collins is the CEO of HousingWire, and the Power House podcast is produced by HousingWire’s Content Studio. Initially launched in 2019 as the Housing News podcast, the show was relaunched as Power House in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on the Power House podcast, Clayton Collins sits down with Austin Allison, the CEO and co-founder of Pacaso, a co-ownership marketplace for luxury vacation homes with over a billion dollars in transactions across 40 destination markets. In this episode, Austin shares the lessons from building and scaling successful real estate businesses. Clayton and Austin also discuss the hard-to-sell mortgage model behind co-ownership and how, even in a complicated macro environment, Pacaso is addressing the growing affordability problem by offering fractional ownership of high-end vacation homes.Here's what you'll learn: How surrounding yourself with the right people drives success Why understanding your Total Addressable Market (TAM) and a strong monetization strategy are crucial to survive and thrive How the co-ownership model addresses affordability challenges in real estate How Pacaso is working to make the American dream accessible to more people Related to this episode: Austin Allison | Linkedin Pacaso | LinkedIn HousingWire | YouTube Enjoy the episode!The Power House podcast is a show about leadership, markets and entrepreneurship in the housing industry. Each Thursday, Clayton Collins speaks with CEOs and founders from the mortgage and real estate sector to reveal how housing executives think about business growth, operational strategy, and leadership. The Power House podcast reveals the full picture through the stories of the industry’s most impactful leaders. Clayton Collins is the CEO of HousingWire, and the Power House podcast is produced by HousingWire’s Content Studio. Initially launched in 2019 as the Housing News podcast, the show was relaunched as Power House in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on the Power House podcast, Clayton Collins speaks with Randell Gillespie, the chief production officer at Lower.With over 30 years of mortgage lending and leadership experience, Randell was named chief production officer in March of this year upon the completion of Lower’s acquisition of Thrive Mortgage. Praised for his leadership style, Randell received the 2023 HousingWire Vanguard Award.In this episode, they discuss culture, leadership, technology, margins, recruiting, and even hamburgers. Randell shares how he’s navigating this transition to Lower and his plans for the future of mortgage lending at Lower. Lower boasts an executive team with diverse expertise and a strong commitment to supporting LOs. The recent recruitment of The Loan Officer Podcast host Dustin Owen as their SVP of Growth is a key part of that strategy. Randell also highlights how technology is redefining the mortgage experience and how Lower adapts to the current rate environment to maintain strong margins.Related to this episode: Randell Gillespie | LinkedIn Lower Thrive Mortgage and Lower strike merger deal | HousingWire 2023 HW Vanguard: Randell Gillespie | HousingWire HousingWire | YouTube Enjoy the episode!The Power House podcast is a show about leadership, markets and entrepreneurship in the housing industry. Each Thursday, Clayton Collins speaks with CEOs and founders from the mortgage and real estate sector to reveal how housing executives think about business growth, operational strategy, and leadership. The Power House podcast reveals the full picture through the stories of the industry’s most impactful leaders. Clayton Collins is the CEO of HousingWire, and the Power House podcast is produced by HousingWire’s Content Studio. Initially launched in 2019 as the Housing News podcast, the show was relaunched as Power House in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jason Mitchell, founder of a top real estate team, shares insights from his journey with impressive annual transaction volumes. He reveals that success doesn't require thousands of agents—just focused partnerships with mortgage lenders. Jason discusses innovative B2B strategies to generate leads, emphasizing the importance of trust and communication in nurturing relationships. He highlights the balance between agent satisfaction and performance, and the role of strong leadership in navigating growth challenges within the competitive market.

This week on the Power House podcast, Clayton Collins sits down with Joe Tyrrell, the CEO of Optimal Blue. With over 25 years in mortgage, finance, and technology, Joe shares his wealth of experience about value-driven leadership, innovation, and the mortgage tech space.In their discussion, Joe talks about the significance of capital markets for mortgage lenders and how secondary market executions can drive profitability in 2024 and beyond. He also delves into Optimal Blue’s autonomy and technological advancements as part of Constellation Software, referencing a previous conversation with Bonnie Wilhelm of the Andromeda Group and Perseus.Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: How Optimal Blue focuses on delivering value to lenders and maximizing profitability. Trust and operationalizing technology as keys to driving efficiency and overcoming resistance to change. AI’s crucial role in providing real-time data and insights to help lenders make informed decisions and improve profitability. Optimal Blue’s plans to deliver value to customers without additional costs, accelerate innovation, and foster partnerships within the mortgage ecosystem. Related to this episode: Joe Tyrrell | LinkedIn Optimal Blue Mortgage veteran Joe Tyrrell named CEO of Optimal Blue | HousingWire Optimal Blue's new CEO Joe Tyrrell on moving technology's finish line | HousingWire Optimal Blue releases new data license product for mortgage pricing | HousingWire Constellation’s Bonnie Wilhelm on their “buy and hold forever” strategy | HousingWire HousingWire | YouTube Enjoy the episode!The Power House podcast is a show about leadership, markets and entrepreneurship in the housing industry. Each Thursday, Clayton Collins speaks with CEOs and founders from the mortgage and real estate sector to reveal how housing executives think about business growth, operational strategy, and leadership. The Power House podcast reveals the full picture through the stories of the industry’s most impactful leaders. Clayton Collins is the CEO of HousingWire, and the Power House podcast is produced by HousingWire’s Content Studio. Initially launched in 2019 as the Housing News podcast, the show was relaunched as Power House in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices