By Lisa Hochgraf
To be fully successful, mortgage lenders need to know where they're headed and why, suggested Thomas Pinkowish during CUES School of Mortgage Lending in Boston.
President of REMOC Associates, Essex, Conn., Pinkowish described a four-step strategic planning process for mortgage lenders:
- Asess where your credit union is with mortgages.
- Describe the desired situation for your CU's mortgage lending.
- Create a blueprint for how to get to your desired situation.
- Manage your mortage lending program by having a reporting mechanism, measuring results and adapting your efforts as needed.
Pinkowish also suggested some do's and don'ts for setting mortgage lending strategy:
- Do recognize the many big changes in your business environment, and consider how your CU might need to adapt.
- Do be strategic--and dream a little about the big picture possibilities for your program.
- Don't go in trying to "fix things."
- Don't go in trying to create a "to do" list.
He asked attendees to share strategy issues they currently face. These included: raising net interest margin without raising fees, tracking the member experience, dealing with interest rate risk, managing employee attitude, managing portfolio runoff, and setting the service level standard.
While one of these "may be your problem," he said, "your solution will determine the culture of your credit union."
Lisa Hochgraf is a CUES editor.
You may also like reading "Mortgages for Sale" about the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Learn about the strategic planning services of CUES strategic partner Cornerstone Advisors Inc.
