SitusAMC expands into loan origination support

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With extensive secondary market experience, SitusAMC is now streamlining front-end mortgage processes. Managing director Jon Gerretsen discusses how outsourcing origination boosts lender efficiency, scalability, and market adaptability in today’s volatile landscape

JON GERRESTEN first came aboard SitusAMC on a consulting basis. When the company developed a credit services division, the powers that be asked Gerretsen if he’d lead it. Impressed by the company’s growth via several rapid-fire acquisitions, he knew there was no question he’d take the opportunity. Establishing itself as a force in the secondary market over the last four years conducting due diligence third-party review, SitusAMC’s natural next step was to tackle the front-end as well. The recently launched fulfillment piece, as Gerretsen sums it up, “makes complete sense.” “The significant experience we have working on closed loans gives us a tremendous advantage on the other side, handling everything before the loan closes, from the application to processing to underwriting,” says Gerretsen, now managing director, residential new origination and fulfillment services. “We’re on top of what’s happening in the market, we see products and red flags, and we know what clients should look at and what best practices are – and we go into this new area with all of that knowledge.”

SitusAMC is a leading independent provider of technology, strategic outsourcing, talent, and advisory solutions to the commercial and residential real estate finance industries. The company helps clients identify and capture opportunities in their real estate businesses through industry-leading services and innovative technologies that drive operational efficiency, increase business effectiveness, and improve market agility across the entire lifecycle of their global real estate activity. For more information visit www.SitusAMC.com

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“We’re on top of what’s happening in the market, we see products and red flags, and we know what clients should look at and what best practices are”

Jon Gerretsen, SitusAMC

From the initial interest rate hikes of 2022, the residential mortgage lending industry has been characterized by volatility and uncertainty. With origination volumes declining and operational costs increasing, innovative staffing models – models that bring to the table people with great expertise, wielding the latest and greatest technology – are increasingly attractive. Not only does outsourcing loan origination and fulfillment offer many operational benefits, it’s also crucial for market participants who wish to remain competitive. Whether via the component services model or the licensed underwriting model, the common theme is that it relieves key pain points such as processing time, quality, accuracy, and compliance, and bolsters efficiency and scalability.

Typically focused on non-customer-facing activities, with component services, “We handle all the support tasks that take place during the life cycle of a loan,” Gerretsen explains. Taking on this role allows clients to increase capacity: an average processor can handle 25 to 30 files at any given point, but by outsourcing they can take on double that number. It also allows them to ramp up relationship-based efforts. “We support them with everything they need from a quality and service standard perspective, freeing them up to have the one-on-one conversations,” he says. “That processor is now on the phone to borrowers, solidifying relationships for the long run.”

In a market that’s always in flux with expansion and contraction, clients may not run with a full staff. With underwriters – one of the most expensive positions to recruit for – SitusAMC’s licensed underwriting model provides immediate scale with industry veterans who bring 10-plus years of experience in a variety of products. Without investing in more in-house resources and grappling with administrative burdens such as hiring and training, the client has a reliable means to seamlessly lock-step with fluctuating market conditions – and it comes with a guarantee. “Clients can be judged by their turn times – which can sometimes reach 15 days in a busy refi market, for example – but we provide a guarantee for service levels, which is huge,” Gerretsen notes. “When you partner with us, contractually it’s two days. And like when you order a pizza, it’s done in that time frame, or you don’t pay for it.” Another advantage is immediate access to skillsets a client may not have internally. For example, up against reduced first-mortgage activity, low inventory, and spiking interest rates, clients moved into what was unfamiliar territory for some, such as second mortgages or home equity credit lines. SitusAMC allowed them entrance to those other areas of the market immediately, providing underwriting expertise across the board to ensure business continuity. Some clients choose to send over a third of their business to a partner like SitusAMC, while others have them retained as an insurance policy in case things get busy, leveraging the existing relationship to expand quickly. Similar to the formula SitusAMC uses on the due diligence side, “it works very well,” Gerretsen notes. “Frankly, a number of our clients were asking when we’d expand our service offering because they know our quality ranks higher than any industry standard out there. They were looking for that type of expertise and scalability on the fulfillment side.”

In Gerretsen’s opinion, “outsourcing” isn’t an accurate term – he stresses the partnership piece is paramount. They know their respective client’s guidelines as well as their actual staff, a quality manager is assigned to each account, and the calibration process is extensive. This rigorous preparation work is a hallmark of SitusAMC, Gerretsen says. While some third-party service providers may take a more unstructured approach to handling client work, including sometimes roping in a third party of their own to help with overflow, he warns against that method, as it’s too easy to lose control over the process and the quality of the output. Within his division, clients are assigned dedicated groups and

“We’re here to help [clients] adapt to any market conditions that come about with our full spectrum of service and support. We’re already a very strong, well-positioned organization in residential real estate and the commercial industry”

Jon Gerretsen, SitusAMC

those working with Client A are referred to as the A Team, those working with Client B as the B Team, and so on. Garretsen finds the longest and most successful terms stem from this approach, and it serves as a retention tool internally because it fosters a strong sense of belonging.

“We are a strategic partner – an extension of the client,” he explains, adding he absolutely believes in what SitusAMC brings to the table. “We’re here to help them adapt to any market conditions that come about with our full spectrum of service and support. We’re already a very strong, well-positioned organization in residential real estate and the commercial industry as well – and we’re just getting started.”

An extension of the client

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Published Dec 09, 2024

Outsourcing bolsters efficiency, scalability, and competitive advantage

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