©2020 Saratoga Photographer.com
By Susan E. Campbell
The mortgage market is driven by a variety of complex factors that make the times look more or less attractive to those seeking to buy, renovate or refinance a home.
A mortgage originator for three decades, Caroline Hommel of Homestead Funding has experienced just about every permutation and combination of circumstances imaginable, from severe market corrections to record-setting interest rates.
“There have been so many highs and lows over the years. Mostly highs,” said Hommel. “The relationships with customers are certainly high points.”
Hommel joined Homestead Funding in 1995 after a few years as assistant to the PR and communications director for the New York State Association of Realtors and then as a mortgage broker for a small firm.
“I was mentored by a smart and savvy loan officer, who I mirrored for a solid year,” she said. “Then I became aware of this growing new company that happened to be in the building where my office was.”
That company was “a very young Homestead.”
“I could tell it was a great group of fun people my age and there was just this sense that they were building something special,” she said. “I wanted to be a part of it.”
Back then, there was no licensing, training, or education for mortgage originators. New ones simply learned on the job.
“Now it is very time-consuming and training-intensive to get and maintain the required licensing and education,” said Hommel.
The guidelines for that national registration system for residential mortgage loan originators comes from legislation enacted in 2008 as part of the SAFE Act.
“The 2008 ‘crash’ was much more impactful to the lenders that were doing alternative types of financing, such as loans to individuals with no income, no assets, or poor credit,” she said. “It was also, of course, devastating to many homeowners.”
While the faint of heart may have transitioned out of the industry, Hommel weathered the changes alongside her peers at Homestead.
“That core group who were there very early on are almost all still there,” she said. “There are decades of friendships having shared all of life’s milestones together.”
“My relationships with my co-workers and the Realtors, attorneys, and appraisers in the industry are a key to success,” she said. “Getting a transaction to the closing table takes a team. And the teams I find myself a part of are some of the best in the business.”
When Hommel first entered the lending field, fixed mortgage rates were 9.5 percent and have fallen steadily ever since, she said.
“Rates are incredibly low right now and it’s an amazing time to buy or refinance,” she said. “The timing is very good for buyers and homeowners who want to take advantage of the equity in their homes for debt consolidation, home improvements, college costs, and other financial needs.”
Hommel said she delights in the customer relationships she has built over the years.
“My customers call me again and again throughout the years, whether they’re buying, refinancing, or just wanting to brainstorm ideas,” she said. “I hear from them often. And it’s always fun when they refer their adult children to me for advice.”
“Despite all the numbers and spreadsheets and market indicators, this is a business of helping families make some very big and sometimes hard decisions,” she said.
Customers experience a range of emotions throughout the process of home buying, she said.
“There are the nervous, excited first-time buyers, the confident, forward-thinking move-up buyers and the melancholy, nostalgic empty-nesters moving on,” said Hommel. “Everyone has a story. And knowing their stories helps me to help them.”
Hommel said she believes a mortgage originator’s job is “ideally suited to the way many women think.”
“We are so used to multi-tasking and juggling,” she said. “This job requires your attention to be sharp in many different directions all at the same time.”
Reflecting further on her career, Hommel said, “All in all I would say it’s been a pretty steady ride with a predominate number of highs, but enough lows to provide invaluable lessons and insight.”
“The economy and housing market in the Saratoga area are healthy and strong and this part of the country is typically more stable than many others, whether the economy is accelerating or receding,” she said.