Real Estate Transaction Management: Share knowledge and experiences with peers who are looking for directional support

Tarrah Mueller, Senior Vice President, Director - Servicing Business Development, NorthMarq

A. What are some of the major challenges and trends that have been impacting the Real Estate Industry lately?

A. From a loan servicing perspective:

I. Challenges

1.Customer service experience for lenders is declining. Service providers are placing less focus on the relationship after loan closing. Lenders must make their programs fit into the established box of the servicer, rather than customizing for their business platform. As a basic example, loan servicing contacts are distribution lists, rather than a designated contact for the term of the loan.

2. Property insurance risk manage[1]ment is a complex piece of loan servicing. The commercial property insurance industry is incredibly specialized, its own industry withing the commercial mortgage loan servicing industry. Lend[1]ers and servicers are often lacking ex[1]pertise in-house.

ii.Trends

1. Lenders are combining loans with servicers to create efficiencies for their lending team. The commercial mortgage loan teams within investments groups often run lean and need to maximize efficiency while managing mortgage banking relationships. One way to create efficiencies is to standardize the information received from loan servicers by using one or fewer service providers.

2. Streamlined, prompt access to data for lenders is important. Every lender needs data, spanning from detailed loan information to high level portfolio reporting and analysis. Meeting lender requirements to supply data at each stage of their technology journey is challenging.

Streamlined, prompt access to data for lenders is important. Every lender needs data from detailed loan information to high-level portfolio reporting and analysis

B. NEW: How are you addressing these challenges and trends?

a. Northmarq’s loan servicing and asset management team’s greatest strength is our premier customer service. We customize our service to our lenders by assigning designated contacts for portfolio and asset management, as well as insurance. We want our lenders to know who to call at a moment’s notice. We have an industry leading insurance team with deep knowledge and ability for risk management of our portfolio. We are constantly working with our existing lenders to deliver data in a way that is meaningful for them, including customized reports, automated delivery, and portal access. Our lenders say they value the responsiveness of their Northmarq servicing contacts. “Our contact consistently does an excellent job on our portfolio. She knows the loans, remembers each unique quirk, and writes thorough explanations and narratives.” Quite simply, we service each lender’s loan as if it is our own. We will customize our processes to be unique to the lender’s program, supporting growth of each lender’s business line and repeat business with their borrowers.

C. Can you tell us about the latest project that you have been working on, and what are some of the technological and process elements that you leveraged to make the project successful?

a. Multiple times this year Northmarq onboarded sizable commercial mortgage loan portfolios with unique challenges including short timelines, technical dependencies, and service expectations. On each occasion, we were able to assign a designated, experienced team to the project who listened to the client to understand their priorities and expectations. We created unique execution plans with clear deadlines for all parties to manage. From a technology perspective we were able to automate data delivery to the lenders’ digital platforms and develop customized reporting delivered on established schedules. The key to the success for each project? Partnership. Per one lender, “We value the constant communication between NM and Lender every step of the way with every member of the NM onboarding team. The partnership has made the biggest difference in the successful onboarding of our portfolio.”

D. What are some of the technological trends which excite you for the future of the Real Estate Industry?

a. Developing analytics tools that produce important data to our customers. As a servicer, we have access to extensive data. We want to provide insights and trends that are meaningful to our lenders whether monitoring individual loans, or their entire portfolio. We are focused on allowing lenders to customize the data, so it is unique to their business or strategic goals. Coupling access to data with our best-in[1]class customer service model will deliver an exceptional, customized experience for our lenders.

E. How can budding and evolving companies reach you for suggestions to streamline their business?

a. E-mail or call Tarrah Mueller, Director of business development for Northmarq’s Loan Servicing and Asset Management teams. Tarrah and her team are driven to build authentic business relationships with new and existing clients by sharing Northmarq’s premier customer service model and customized business approach to commercial loan servicing and asset management. The Northmarq Team is powered to support and exceed lender experiences and results.