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Answers To Today’s Mortgage Questions
Mid Oregon’s Matt Mitchell Shares Perspective
Today’s home loan environment is anything but normal. In Central Oregon, our strong home sales and refinancing market has been subject to COVID-19 circumstances, economic uncertainty and job & income fluctuations. Mid Oregon Credit Union Mortgage Manager Matt Mitchell was asked about the impact on today’s lending environment. Below Matt provides answers to today’s mortgage questions.
Are Rates Going Up?
Rates continue to stay at historical lows; it is important to compare different lender’s rates. Lenders will fluctuate their rates on different products depending on their concentration and market demands for certain products. It is hard to say when rates will increase, but at some point in the future they will go up.
Is It Harder To Qualify For Home Loans?
Different Lenders and secondary market buyers have different requirements. We are seeing some approval tightening on Jumbo Loans and low member FICO credit scores paired with low down payment loans.
Are You Seeing a Lot of Forbearance Requests?
We are seeing some requests (Mortgage Payment Assistance) and as a credit union our position is aligned with helping our members. The whole industry has a much kinder and helping approach than it did during the recession. The process is much more borrower friendly and the response times are very fast. Most of the current plans do not require the borrower to become delinquent like they did during the recession.
What Advice Do You Have for Someone Not Able To Make Payments?
Contact your mortgage servicer right away and ask what programs they have available. Making the contact early gives the servicer time to assist you before the account becomes delinquent.
Remember that deferring payments does not stop the interest from adding on to the account. The deferred payments will change the whole structure of the loan and the interest will be due at payoff.
Is There a Lot of Unease In The Lending Market About Long-Term Impacts?
Uncertainty causes unease and there is plenty of uncertainty in the current economic market. Central Oregon has a couple of advantages: 1. The location is very desirable. 2. The inventory of houses on the market is limited. There may also be an increase in demand because people want to move out of big cities.
Nationally, Mortgage Applications Are Trending Up. Are You Seeing That Locally?
Yes, we have seen an increase in refinance applications. Obviously there has also been a decrease in purchase applications. Lenders are hiring additional staffing to keep up with the increased requests.
Are There Any Other Positive Or Negative Signs You Are Seeing On The Lending Side Of Things?
The increased demand & the virus have both put pressure on the appraisal industry. This has driven up appraisal prices and increased the time for delivery. On the positive side lenders have been working on their processes to become more streamlined electronically. This will have a positive impact by making things easier.
New Sisters Location for Mid Oregon
Construction Begins On New Sisters Location for Mid Oregon
We are excited to announce that Mid Oregon Credit Union recently began construction of a new full-service branch location in Sisters. While we have a current branch at 703 N. Larch Street, we are pleased to begin work on our new Sisters location for Mid Oregon.
Branch in Shopping Center With Ray’s Food Place
The new building has received the necessary approvals, with construction currently underway at the site. The 3,500 sq. ft. building has an expected opening date near the end of 2020. The branch will include a drive-up lane with ATM and teller services, as well as a full array of loan and deposit services inside.
Improved Access For Sisters’ Businesses and Residents
“We’re excited to continue our great relationship with the Sisters community and expand our services for local residents and visitors,” says Maureen Rogers, Mid Oregon’s Chief Risk Officer. “We believe our new location will provide improved access for the local residents who shop, work, and conduct business nearby.”
Outgrowing Current Sisters Location
The current Sisters location opened in March of 2017 with a staff of three, and with a drive-up ATM. Mid Oregon anticipates adding staff at the new location to accommodate additional branch capacity.
Our New Digital Banking Platform!
It has been a long time coming. The wheels have been in motion for over a year! But it is now here. We are excited to announce the launch of our new digital banking platform.
Improved Member Service Experience
The change to our new system was done for many reasons members will never see. Key factors were integration with other systems, security and more “behind the scenes” reasons. What seems to be please members the most, however, is the experience inside online banking.
“The new mobile/online banking system will vastly improve our member service experience,” says Kevin Cole, Executive VP/CFO. “In its first week of adoption, more than 75 percent of our online banking users logged in to the new system, which indicates how much our members are choosing to manage their money remotely. We are pleased to provide our members with the highest level of digital personal and business account management capability available in the market today to meet their increased need for remote services.”
Robust Features And More Control
The new system is seamlessly integrated, providing exceptional account management flexibility in desktop and mobile banking. Our new technology includes features such as:
• View all your accounts in one location, including external accounts
• Savings goals – set goals, track progress and set alerts
• Card management – block, unblock card access and alerts
• PayTo – send and receive funds to anyone with a phone number or email, with no fees
• Mobile deposit – deposit checks into your account right from your smartphone
• Credit Savvy – see, track and monitor your credit score, get tips on how to improve it, and receive offers based on qualifications
• Track your spending by category—even on non-Mid Oregon accounts!
• Personalized logins for multiple account users
• Full suite of enhanced features just for business users
The new digital banking system also includes all the current mobile/online conveniences of paying and tracking bills online, account transfers, alerts, and electronic statements, plus enhanced security to protect members from fraud.
Patience During The Transition
The transition was relatively easy for most of our members, and some experienced challenges. In spite of generally tripling our Contact Center team, and re-purposing other staff during the transition, factors led to long wait times for help for come. We apologize for their frustration, and thank them for their patience. The few days notice we had for stimulus check distribution and the Payment Protection Program loans didn’t allow time to make any changes and added to member inquiries. We are happy that members, when engaged in the new system, have been enjoyed the expanded capabilities they now have.
We hope they continue to explore the tools at their disposal, and improve their financial well being as a result.