He said the challenge is to keep pushing forward even when everyone around a broker is hitting them with negativity.
“Your family is like, ‘Oh, I heard interest rates are high.’ And what are you supposed to be like? ‘Yeah, it’s awesome,’” Ishbia said sarcastically. “Because they want to commiserate. Ninety percent of people, they like negative things. They like to talk about the bad because the bad is what’s fun to talk about, because nobody wants to talk about the good, which is ridiculous. Be different. Think differently. Be positive all the time.”
Desmond P. Smith, EVP and chief growth officer at UWM, told Mortgage Professional America that the rate environment itself was beside the point.
“When I first started in the early nineties, rates were in the high nines,” Smith said. “But most of these people have never experienced that. And guess what? The market kept going. The market will keep going. People will continue to buy houses. People need cash out. I think credit card debt is at the highest level. People need cash out to improve cash flow.”
He said the market’s direction has never been something originators could control in the first place.
