“A lot of really veteran originators are resisting something that I call the CEO oversight of sales, which is that we always have to be acquiring new clients and new referral partners,” she said. “I challenge them to examine and not assume that the poor referral base is just the market, to really look at what they’re getting and go back to the basics.”
She said the basics include scoping out a geographic area, using the industry’s vetting tools, and not writing off a realtor who already works with another lender. Independent brokers are CEOs of their own shops, she said, and nobody is coming to tell them to rebuild their sales funnels.
Beckwith also encouraged brokers not to write off cash-out refinances, even in an elevated market. JD Power’s 2026 U.S. Mortgage Servicer Satisfaction Study found 59% of borrowers are financially vulnerable, stressed, or overextended and 30% fear losing their home.
The focus needs to be on the benefit of the move, rather than the rate change, she said.
“Sure, your rate’s going to go up,” Beckwith said. “But if you get rid of this $30,000, $40,000 unprecedented high revolving compounding interest debt on credit cards and you maybe grab some cash, put yourself in a better reserve position, that increase to your mortgage rate, even though your mortgage payment may go up, your overall savings may be paramount. Your re-securing and resetting of your financial position may be paramount.”
