Movement Mortgage, a national top-10 retail mortgage lender, has expanded its Pacific Northwest and Mountain West capabilities by agreeing to acquire the retail mortgage operations of Eagle Home Mortgage LLC.

The transaction is expected to add $1.5 billion in additional annual mortgage loan volume to Movement's origination platform. The acquisition, which is scheduled to close later this month, will also increase Movement's national retail mortgage footprint by 230 mortgage originators and 35 branch offices.

"We want to grow, and we relentlessly look for purpose-filled, growth-minded mortgage professionals who want to make a meaningful difference in their industry and communities. We found all of those qualities and more in the team at Eagle Home Mortgage," says Movement Chief Executive Casey Crawford. "I'm excited and honored to welcome these talented individuals to Movement."

The Eagle Home Mortgage assets are concentrated in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain West regions, including offices and operations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado. Movement expects to retain the staff across the acquired branch network and integrate the business with its existing retail network of more than 650 branches and 1,500 loan officers nationwide.

"Movement provides our loan officers and support teams with the industry's best process and service, innovative technology and a culture that emphasizes caring for customers, teammates and communities," says Eagle Home Mortgage Senior Vice President Kisha Weir.

Movement kicked off the acquisition announcement with a four-day roadshow across four states, as executive sales and operations leadership visited Eagle associates in Seattle; Portland, Oregon; Boise, Idaho; and Denver.

Newfi Lending has launched of a 2-1 buydown program that’s designed to help consumers, realtors, and brokers. The product is designed to meet the needs of home sellers and buyers in this rising interest rate market.

As the home purchase market moves from a seller's to a buyer's market across the U.S., realtors and builders are looking to offer fresh incentives to attract committed buyers. Newfi can now use seller concessions to help secure reduced mortgage payments for  the buyer over the first two years of their home loan.

The 2-1 buydown program is simple: At closing, the seller contributes an upfront fee, which will "buy" the rate "down" for the first two years of the loan. Newfi then places this upfront fee into an escrow account, where disbursements are made to make up the difference in monthly payments. The program will allow 2-1 buydowns where your payment is calculated at a rate reduction of 2% for the first year and 1% for the second year of the loan. This knocks down the new homeowner's initial out-of-pocket mortgage payment, helping them to build equity as they ease into their new home.

Here's an example: On a $250,000 loan with a rate of 5%, the monthly payment would be $1,342. After a temporary 2-1 buydown of $5,232, here's what the reduction in monthly payments would look like for the first two years.

*Sample rate provided for illustration purposes only and is not intended to provide mortgage or other financial advice specific to the circumstances of any individual and should not be relied upon in that regard.

Guild Mortgage has licensed Homebot, a personalized financial dashboard that enables loan officers to provide borrowers with a better understanding of their home finances.

[caption id="attachment_8828" align="alignright" width="291"] Guild employed the technology, so loan officers could serve as 'trusted advisors.'[/caption]

The technology enables loan officers to offer customers relevant data, economic insights and market intelligence and stay connected with homeowners in a meaningful, personalized way long after the mortgage transaction has closed.

Homebot’s home digests and market reports provide monthly, easy-to-read, updated home financial advice. Homeowners receive free, regular insights, including their current home value and how their equity is building over time. Also, it covers refinancing opportunities, purchasing power for buying a new home or trading up to a new home, cash flow and short-term rental opportunities.

“We are always looking for opportunities to provide our customers with more information about what is likely the most important investment in their life and how it can contribute to long-term security,” said Mary Ann McGarry, president and CEO of Guild. “Homebot will help our loan officers enhance their roles as trusted advisors by delivering invaluable insights that are important to each homeowner’s financial future. Creating deeper and more valued relationships is part of our focus on keeping customers for life.”

With Homebot’s marketing automation software, loan officers can deliver personalized home finance intelligence on a regular basis with ease. The technology takes care of the manual labor associated with traditional email marketing, with no burden on the loan officer or their staff. Monthly digests are branded for each loan officer, helping homeowners and homebuyers make a stronger connection with their trusted mortgage professional on topics that help them save money and build equity through home ownership.

Guild Mortgage will provide the company’s more than 1,100 loan officers nationwide access to Homebot’s marketing automation software as part of its ongoing customer retention initiative. The Homebot Lender Base service will be available to Guild loan officers.

“Our loan officers who are currently on this platform have had success engaging their customers and starting conversations with those who may be looking to refinance or make another purchase transaction,” said David Neylan, senior vice president of business development at Guild. “We listened to their feedback and are pleased to partner with Homebot to make their platform available to all of our loan officers.”

The aim was to support Guild’s focus on technology and customer service, that would make the borrower’s experience more straightforward.

“The relationship between the professional and homeowner doesn’t start and stop at the home purchase transaction,” said Ernie Graham, CEO of Homebot. “Today’s consumers demand and deserve more--an advocate who will be with them before they purchase their first home and throughout the lifecycle of homeownership to help them make the best possible decisions with their investment.”

The technology enables loan officers to offer customers relevant data, economic insights and market intelligence as well as stay connected with homeowners in a meaningful, personalized way long after the mortgage transaction has closed.

Homebot’s home digests and market reports provide monthly, easy-to-read, updated home financial advice. Homeowners receive free, regular insights, including their current home value and how their equity is building over time. Also, it covers refinancing opportunities, purchasing power for buying a new home or trading up to a new home, cash flow and short-term rental opportunities.

“We are always looking for opportunities to provide our customers with more information about what is likely the most important investment in their life and how it can contribute to long-term security,” said Mary Ann McGarry, president and CEO of Guild. “Homebot will help our loan officers enhance their roles as trusted advisors by delivering invaluable insights that are important to each homeowner’s financial future. Creating deeper and more valued relationships is part of our focus on keeping customers for life.”

With Homebot’s marketing automation software, loan officers can deliver personalized home finance intelligence on a regular basis with ease. The technology takes care of the manual labor associated with traditional email marketing, with no burden on the loan officer or their staff. Monthly digests are branded for each loan officer, helping homeowners and homebuyers make a stronger connection with their trusted mortgage professional on topics that help them save money and build equity through home ownership.

Guild Mortgage will provide the company’s more than 1,100 loan officers nationwide access to Homebot’s marketing automation software as part of its ongoing customer retention initiative. The Homebot Lender Base service will be available to Guild loan officers.

“Our loan officers who are currently on this platform have had success engaging their customers and starting conversations with those who may be looking to refinance or make another purchase transaction,” said David Neylan, senior vice president of business development at Guild. “We listened to their feedback and are pleased to partner with Homebot to make their platform available to all of our loan officers.”

The aim was to support Guild’s focus on technology and customer service, that would make the borrower’s experience more straightforward.

“The relationship between the professional and homeowner doesn’t start and stop at the home purchase transaction,” said Ernie Graham, CEO of Homebot. “Today’s consumers demand and deserve more--an advocate who will be with them before they purchase their first home and throughout the lifecycle of homeownership to help them make the best possible decisions with their investment.”