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National Association of Professional Mortgage Women

Providing business, personal, and leadership development to advance women in mortgage-related professions. 

Important
Reminders 
Monthly, all local meeting minutes are to be sent to your NVP and the National Secretary, and all treasurer reports are to be sent to your NVP and National Treasurer.
 
Those email addresses are nvp1@napmw.org, nvp2@napmw.org, natsecretary@napmw.org and nattreasurer@napmw.org.
Local Associations
Spokane  
Women In The Workplace
Quick links of stories of interest...
How Women Leaders Emerge From Leaderless Groups- Fast Company

Upcoming NAPMW Events Around The Country
9/15- NAPMW Hudson Valley Wine Tasting and Buffet Dinner

9/20- NAPMW Atlanta September Luncheon


9/29- NAPMW Houston Seas The Day Trader Show

10/04- NAPMW Austin Making The Condo Connection with Fannie Mae Austin Board of Realtors 



Contact Us
NAPMW
c/o Agility Resources Group LLC
345 North Main St., Suite 313,
West Hartford, CT 06117 

Phone: 1-800-827-3034

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5 Brain-Based Keys To Engage Your Team

Wouldn't it be great if we could just tell people what to do and they'd do it? Wasn't that what was supposed to happen when you finally got that promotion, or started that business?

The thing is, your team are human beings-not machines. They are thinkers who thrive on solving problems. When people solve a problem themselves, plan a solution themselves, decide for themselves what to do next and next and next...they are engaged.

On the contrary, when you tell your team exactly what to do, when to do it, and how to do it, their inner two-year old comes out, and they either want to rebel or they grudgingly go-along and learn to be ever more helpless. But when people solve problems for themselves they feel a sense of relief, that they have contributed to making the world just a little bit better.

Today's organizations are increasingly complex. They need to process enormous amounts of information, react, and reorganize ever more quickly. That means  command and control doesn't work anymore. The problems are too big for one person to create and dictate solutions without involving the input of the people who are actually doing the job. In fact, the people who are closest to the actual work of creating and/or delivering the product know best what to do and how to adapt.

So today's "control systems" need to be centered around developing communications skills and creative productive teams  with effective collaboration.

Here's What Does Optimize Teams

Last fall  Google researched what factors make teams effective. They expected to find the perfect make-up of an effective team: the individuals, personality types, number of PhDs, and more. What they found surprised them.

What determined effectiveness was how the team interacted. Not who was on the team.

Here are their five keys to optimizing teams:

1. Psychological safety: Can we take risks on this team without feeling insecure or embarrassed?
2. Dependability: Can we count on each other to do high quality work on time?
3. Structure and clarity: Are goals, roles, and execution plans on our team clear?
4. Meaning of work: Are we working on something that is personally important for each of us?
5. Impact of work: Do we fundamentally believe that the work we're doing matters?

The key skill is listening.

Three Out of Four Americans Fear Losing Their Housing
Optimism about the economy was in very short supply in a new survey of 1,000 Americans conducted by the NHP Foundation, a not-for-profit provider of service-enriched affordable housing. The new survey found that 75 percent of those polled expressed concern about losing their housing, with 30 percent identifying themselves as "very concerned" about a friend or relative losing their housing.

The survey also found 65 percent of respondents self-identifying as "cost-burdened" when it came to housing, with nearly 40 percent acknowledging the fear that job loss will lead to loss of housing. Other triggers that could lead to a loss of housing included the perceived lack of affordable options (28 percent), increased rents (24 percent) and retirement (21 percent).

But while 80 percent of respondents welcomed the concept of affordable housing and 40 percent believed "everyone deserves" it, 20 percent stated they were unlikely to welcome the development and construction of affordable housing in their neighborhoods.

"It all starts with housing," said  NHP Foundation President and CEO Dick Burns. "Without the underpinning of a secure place to live, it's nearly impossible for an individual or head of household to find and keep a job and provide for themselves and their loved ones."

Technology Solutions To Reduce Mortgage Loan Turn Times
When it comes to the mortgage loan process, time is everything. 
A key measurement of mortgage loan processing efficiency is the time required to move a mortgage loan package from application submission to the closing table. When they went into effect last fall, the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) regulations called for new timelines for the creation and release of the Loan Estimate (LE) and Closing Disclosures (CDs). In turn, this has prompted mortgage lending companies to look for opportunities to improve loan processing timeframes by leveraging technology.

The move to a more heavily-focused purchase loan market, as compared to the less prominent refinance loan market, has imposed pressure to meet the changing demands of the market place. Borrowers and real estate professionals expect to set more accurate and accountable target closing dates when the purchase contract is signed and application is submitted. In response, mortgage lending companies must be able to consistently meet these target close dates.

The Ellie Mae, Inc. Originations Insight Report for April 2016 reported an average of 44 days "time to close" for all loans and 45 days "time to close" for purchase transactions. This average had peaked to around 50 days immediately after TRID went into effect, and has now returned to pre-TRID averages. However, as the market continues to move to a purchase loan focus, the pressure that mortgage lending companies feel is squarely on the time needed to close a loan. Every reasonable measure should be taken to ensure that borrowers can meet their anticipated closing dates and move into their new homes as planned. The purchase-focused market will also require mortgage companies to reduce their "time to close" to the range of 30 to 35 days - which may seem a daunting task to some. Yet, companies that cannot meet these requirements will find themselves unable to compete in the purchase market.

To achieve these significant reductions in processing times, mortgage companies should look at internal processes and workflows, as well as technology solutions, that can assist in eliminating days and potentially weeks of processing time. Both existing and emerging technology solutions will be significant for reducing the time required to complete individual mortgage processing tasks. Some new technology solutions have entered the market in response to TRID, and others have been around for some time. Mortgage lending companies must be able to adapt to these new technology solutions and - in some cases - develop their own customized solutions, which will allow them to reduce processing times and improve transaction turn times.

 
Click here to read the full article at H ousing Wire.
SAVE THE DATE
NAPMW Annual is at the Luxor Casino and Resort in Las Vegas on 
April 10-12, 2017!