Five Questions With: Jesse Kenner

"Personally, I see the short sale/foreclosure market as an opportunity. "

Jesse Kenner is the branch manager of Mortgage Network’s Providence office and is responsible for overseeing mortgage banking sales efforts in Rhode Island. Kenner has been a financial professional for nine years.
He is active in Families First and is on the board of Providence Redevelopment Agency.
Kenner has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Davidson College and a master’s degree in social work from Rhode Island College.

PBN: Based on your nine years of experience in mortgage banking in Rhode Island, what’s your perspective on competition among lenders in the state? Do you think your biggest competitors are banks or other types of lenders?
KENNER:
We compete with quality loan officers, some of whom work for banks and some who work for local lenders. I find the local lenders tend to provide a higher level of service and quicker turnaround times. Rhode Island is a highly competitive market with slightly lower rates than the national average, which benefits consumers.

PBN: Do you see that sellers are getting at or near their asking price now, or is the sluggish economy forcing them to sell below what they anticipated they’d get? How does that impact your company, considering the mortgages you are holding, or in terms of whether these sellers are able to buy another property?
KENNER:
We are seeing reasonably-priced listings selling for near or at asking price. In some markets, if a house is priced right, you may see multiple offers and even the opportunity to get more than the asking price. Sellers that disregard a realtor’s advice and choose to list at a higher price tend to sit on the market longer. There remains a portion of sellers out there that owe more than their house is worth, which delays their plans to list. This is part of what may be keeping inventory low for the entire market. The pace of the market does impact our business, just as it impacts other lenders.

PBN: There are a lot of homes being sold at auction or in a short sale in the state. Isn’t this causing financial stress for mortgage originators? How does Mortgage Network rise above the competition?
KENNER:
Personally, I see the short sale/foreclosure market as an opportunity. These homes are selling, and that is good for both the Rhode Island market and loan originators. There is some stress in the respect that these transactions can be frustrating and time-consuming. The banks are often slow to respond to offers and other requests. In most cases, these banks, when acting as sellers, are also unwilling to do repairs to properties required to meet the minimum conditions for most standard loan programs. To facilitate these transactions, my team and I at Mortgage Network have been originating more renovation loans, like the FHA 203k program, which allows home buyers to finance the costs of repairs and improvements along with the cost to purchase the properties.

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PBN: Some homes on the market that have been foreclosed on appear to be long-time family homes. Do you think that’s the case? Or do you think the mortgage issues are with property owners who bought their homes more recently?
KENNER:
It is my feeling that most of the homes in foreclosure were either purchased or refinanced during the “boom” period when rates were at hitting historic lows and property values were reaching new highs – roughly the period between 2003 and 2008. As far as homes that have been recently foreclosed, I couldn’t really speak to the number of long-time family homes that were refinanced to cash in on the increased equity or how that compares to the number of homes purchased during the “boom” period.

PBN: Naturally, stricter regulations for borrowing can help prevent a future financial meltdown like the one that happened a few years ago? How have the stricter lending regulations impacted mortgage banking in the state?
KENNER:
There is no doubt that stricter enforcement of traditional lending standards would have prevented many bad loans from being made during the boom periods. It has always been my feeling that, as mortgage bankers, our first responsibility is to make sure we are putting buyers in homes that they can reasonably afford. That being said, some of new regulations and recent changes by the agencies – Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac & HUD – have made mortgages more costly to the consumer and are preventing some self-employed borrowers from getting loans that they had previously been able to afford.

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