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In 2022, the UMortgage platform saw tremendous growth across the board with an exponential increase in the number of team members, loan originators, national footprint, and, most importantly, homeowners served. This year of accelerated development for the mortgage platform was capped by the year’s most successful quarter in Q4. To provide all individuals within the organization full transparency into the investments that allowed for this growth, the physical growth metrics, and the targeted areas for continued growth, President & CEO, Anthony Casa, hosted UMortgage’s Q4 Investor Call alongside CFO, Gil Arbitsman. “We believe this level of transparency creates accountability throughout our organization and helps our team members connect the work we are doing daily with the overall performance of our business,” said Casa. “We are incredibly excited about the exponential growth we have experienced over the last year and what we expect in the future.” An overarching theme of the investor call was UMortgage’s ability to grow during a historically poor quarter for the mortgage industry. UMortgage made several financial investments to restructure the platform and spur its growth, all of which paid dividends through Q4 and into Q1 of 2023. The UMortgage platform was built to solve the pain points that all loan originators experience, whether their background is at a retail mortgage company or a brokerage. These investments allowed UMortgage to emphasize the ways that they resolve these issues. Growth Signaled by High-Profile Recruitment A signal that UMortgage was best suited to address LO's most common pain points was sent to the rest of the mortgage industry when the platform announced in December of 2022 that it had hired mortgage broker advocate and icon, Todd Bitter, to be its Chief Sales Officer. Bitter boasts more than 25 years of experience within the mortgage industry and has spent the last five years prioritizing the education of fellow brokers to replicate the success he’s seen as one of the industry’s top producers. UMortgage’s ability to solve industry pain points also played a key role in its recruiting strategies as it acquired the #1 brokerages in both Ohio and Texas. The acquisitions of Dallas-based NXT Mortgage—the nation’s fastest-growing brokerage—and Breon Price’s Cincinnati-based branch of Motto Mortgage served as the catalysts to positively impact homebuyers in the Texas and Ohio markets and increase its recruiting footprint in those regions; 168 new loan originators from Ohio, Texas, and beyond were welcomed to UMortgage, more than doubling its roster from Q3. An increase in loan originators also led to an increase in homeowners served by the platform. UMortgage LOs managed a 70% year-over-year increase and an 11% quarter-over-quarter increase in homeowners served in Q4. They also more than doubled the number of rate locks in Q4 of 2022 with a 96% year-over-year increase. Investing in Employees at UMortgage Internally, one of the marquee initiatives of Q4 was to change UMortgage’s holding company from Premier Processing LLC to UMortgage LLC. This initiative allowed UMortgage to launch UShares—an employee stock option program that allows all team members to buy equity into the company as it continues to grow. UShares was officially launched midway through Q1 of 2023 thanks to those investments made in Q4. UMortgage also acted proactively by bolstering its Operations teams and proactively training new team members to support the influx of new LOs and the increased volume which would follow. This allowed those new LOs to hit the ground running upon joining the platform while avoiding any bottleneck as loans are processed and closed. Laying the Foundation for Growth in 2023 The investments made in Q3 and Q4 of 2022 helped set the stage for a historic Q1, and likely another groundbreaking year of growth for UMortgage. The platform has already started 2023 with plenty of momentum as it doubled its lock volume from Q4 of 2022 in the first quarter of the new year. During the call, Casa highlighted a goal to fund +2,000 loans monthly in Q4 of 2023. Aside from the continued growth of UMortgage’s roster of LOs, UMortgage will also invest in the development of its current LOs through a LO coaching program which will provide the tools and knowledge needed to increase an individual's average monthly funded loans by 50%. This growth isn’t stopping any time soon. The UMortgage platform plans to continue to create life-changing opportunities through homeownership with the brightest LOs in the country. Every Wednesday at 2pm ET, Casa shares how Loan Originators Powered by UMortgage are set up for success with a community of industry experts and fellow LOs to lean on, a growing selection of lenders and loan products, and best-in-class support staff that helps LOs focus on what they do best—originate loans.

On February 28th and March 1st, UMortgage brought together more than 150 of its loan originators, Operations staff, corporate leaders, and team members for its Relationships Not Transactions Summit. This two-day event hosted at the Four Seasons in UMortgage’s hometown of Philadelphia sought to emphasize the importance of genuine, authentic relationships to turn referral partners from surface-level business transactions into life-long alliances. The event broke down these relationship-boosting tactics into three key actions: attract, engage, and retain. By hitting these three measures, individuals can connect on a deeper level with their referral partners and foster a working relationship that can stand the test of time. “The Relationships Not Transactions Summit was an incredible couple of days for us to come together as a team to strengthen our relationships, learn, share, and get better individually and collectively,” said UMortgage President & CEO, Anthony Casa. “Our people are what makes us special, our relationships are what makes us most valuable, and when we share that value with members of our local communities, we can really make an impact.” During the event, overarching themes included the importance of establishing a foundation of trust, ensuring your relationships are reciprocal instead of one-sided, and that consistently providing value can make oneself a go-to resource. After all, with rates rising once again, a world-class client experience for both borrowers and agents is even more paramount. To help one another grow as a team and continue to improve that client experience—which has earned UMortgage an industry-best 95 net promoter score—attendees shared their personal experiences and tactics to attract, engage with, and retain those partners and clients, as well as ideas to further build upon that experience. In fact, a highlight of the event’s first day was a panel led by four UMortgage’s LOs: Jay Bunte, Keena Gehringer, David Koch, and Kristen Morgan. They shared specific strategies that they employ in their local communities to lift one another up and connect with others in the real estate industry on a more-genuine level, such as charming charity events, engaging educational seminars, locally sourced baked goods, and friendly neighborhood forums. Success also requires recognition to maintain a positive environment centered around individual and collective growth. Along with a record month for funded loans, Casa presented awards to individuals within the organization who exemplify each of UMortgage’s five core values. Recipients were a mix of loan originators, operations leaders & team members, and corporate team members. The award winners were as follows: Create Strong Communities Award: David Koch (Loan Originator) & Natalie Mothorpe (Closer)  Experience is Everything Award: Sonja Thomas (Loan Processor) & Denisa Hyseni (Operations Team Leader)  Get Better Every Day Award: Melanie Lynch (Director of Talent Acquisition) and Adam West (Loan Originator)  Relationships Not Transactions Award: Bill Kessler (Human Resources Team Leader) & Shaun Hamman (Branch Manager)  Own the Moment Award: Victoria Blackie (Loan Originator) & Roberto Rellini (Operations Team Leader and Escalation Manager)  The UMortgage platform has grown in a shrinking market by identifying the pain points of our current loan originators in their previous companies—whether that be a retail shop or their own brokerage—and addressing those pain points with value-based solutions. After a record month for loans funded this February, it’s clear that UMortgage’s platform allows loan originators to win over referral partners and clients in any market. If you’d like to learn more about the platform’s four-pronged approach to success, sign up for the weekly UMortgage Discovery Meeting, which is hosted by Casa every Thursday at 2pm ET.

Calling the 2022 housing market a roller coaster may be overstated, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's not true. The year was a tale of two halves, with historically low rates seeming to be a thing of the past as inflation-busting tactics by the Federal Reserve caused rates to increase throughout the year. While last year was unique, each year brings its ebbs and flows to the housing market. It’s nearly impossible to predict exactly what will happen within this year’s market, but we’ve compiled some insight to help you prepare for 2023. Will Home Prices Drop? Prospective buyers’ eyes typically gravitate towards a few features when shopping for their next home: location, square footage, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and perhaps most importantly, price tag. While the dollar amount on a home doesn’t exactly equate to its affordability, any potential price drops next year could encourage individuals to begin their homebuying journey. Which begs the question: will home prices drop in 2023? 2022 was a case of two halves. Using data from July, the Case Shiller index reported a drop in home values for the first time in 2012. However, with that drop in value, the market also saw fewer listings. That lack of supply brought a slight uptick in value to end the year as 2022 finished with an increase of 8-10% in home value year-over-year in many according to insight from John Toohig, Managing Director & Director of Whole Loan Trading at Raymond James. All this to say, a continued downtick in supply will likely see prices trend in the opposite direction. What Will Happen With Mortgage Rates? Throughout the year the Federal Reserve has steadily increased the Federal Funds Rate to fight inflation, which has also brought a steady increase—amidst some general volatility—in mortgage rates throughout the year. The biggest key factor to bring a decrease in rates in 2023 will be unemployment rates. “Unemployment remains the last opponent to Fed Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell’s, rate hike,” said Toohig. “If we see weakness in wage growth and in the unemployment rate, we’ll start to see rates come down even faster.” The 2023 housing market may bring its own challenges, increasing the importance of the places individuals look for their home loan. UMortgage loan originators can create life-changing opportunities through homeownership for many homebuyers through the platform’s better pricing, lender optionality, more-intuitive tech stack, and dedicated support staff. If you’d like to learn more about how UMortgage can help you increase your business in 2023, sign up for the weekly Discovery Meeting hosted by Anthony Casa and a rotating cast of UMortgage’s top talent.

UMortgage, a national mortgage platform, is closing out 2022 the same way they spent much of the year—with exponential growth. Just this month, the platform brought on mortgage broker icon, Todd Bitter, as Chief Sales Officer to its Executive Leadership team, acquired Dallas-based NXT Mortgage, onboarded top-producing brokers Breon Price— the number one ranked broker in Ohio—and Chad Curtin, sending shockwaves throughout the mortgage industry. The innovative mortgage platform made a concerted effort throughout the year to enhance its Executive Leadership team with highly experienced individuals from different pockets of the finance and mortgage industry. Just in 2022, UMortgage added 4 industry veterans and promoted another 2 to its executive leadership team. UMortgage hired individuals with high-level experience from other big players in the industry, including Guaranteed Rate, American Financial Resources, Homepoint, and United Wholesale Mortgage. “In order to maintain our people-focused vision while we scaled, we had to build an experienced leadership team,” claimed Casa. “That leadership was paramount in driving the growth of UMortgage and attracting the most talented loan originators within the industry.” Last week, UMortgage broke news that it had acquired NXT Mortgage. After being founded by Marine Corps veteran, Tyler Hodgson, NXT quickly shook ground within the mortgage industry. In 2020 and 2021, the brokerage was named one of America’s fastest-growing private companies by INC 5000. Directly following the acquisition, UMortgage announced that it attracted a Motto Mortgage branch led by Price and an NRL Mortgage branch led by Curtin–bringing more than 65 new employees to UMortgage in a three-week span. These major additions signal an investment into the lending platform built by President & CEO, Anthony Casa, in 2020. The platform enters the calendar year with nearly 300 loan originators on its roster—more than a 1,500% increase since the beginning of 2022. If you’d like to learn more about the UMortgage platform and how it’s creating a better path for brokers to originate, for buyers to borrow, and for real estate agents to offer better client experiences, sign up for the weekly UMortgage Discovery Meeting, Thursdays at 2pm ET.