{"id":34591,"date":"2020-03-05T15:44:34","date_gmt":"2020-03-05T20:44:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/?p=34591"},"modified":"2020-03-05T22:44:47","modified_gmt":"2020-03-06T03:44:47","slug":"caroline-hommel-loan-originator-reflects-on-30-years-in-local-home-mortgage-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2020\/03\/caroline-hommel-loan-originator-reflects-on-30-years-in-local-home-mortgage-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"Caroline Hommel, Loan Originator, Reflects On 30 Years In Local Home Mortgage Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Caroline Hommel of Homestead Funding has been a mortgage originator for three decades. She says the economy and housing market in the Saratoga area are healthy and strong.
\u00a92020 Saratoga Photographer.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Susan E. Campbell
\nThe 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.
\nA 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.
\n\u201cThere have been so many highs and lows over the years. Mostly highs,\u201d said Hommel. \u201cThe relationships with customers are certainly high points.\u201d
\nHommel 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.
\n\u201cI was mentored by a smart and savvy loan officer, who I mirrored for a solid year,\u201d she said. \u201cThen I became aware of this growing new company that happened to be in the building where my office was.\u201d
\nThat company was \u201ca very young Homestead.\u201d
\n\u201cI could tell it was a great group of fun people my age and there was just this sense that they were building something special,\u201d she said. \u201cI wanted to be a part of it.\u201d
\nBack then, there was no licensing, training, or education for mortgage originators. New ones simply learned on the job.
\n\u201cNow it is very time-consuming and training-intensive to get and maintain the required licensing and education,\u201d said Hommel.
\nThe guidelines for that national registration system for residential mortgage loan originators comes from legislation enacted in 2008 as part of the SAFE Act.
\n\u201cThe 2008 \u2018crash\u2019 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,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was also, of course, devastating to many homeowners.\u201d
\nWhile the faint of heart may have transitioned out of the industry, Hommel weathered the changes alongside her peers at Homestead.
\n\u201cThat core group who were there very early on are almost all still there,\u201d she said. \u201cThere are decades of friendships having shared all of life\u2019s milestones together.\u201d
\n\u201cMy relationships with my co-workers and the Realtors, attorneys, and appraisers in the industry are a key to success,\u201d she said. \u201cGetting a transaction to the closing table takes a team.\u00a0And the teams I find myself a part of are some of the best in the business.\u201d
\nWhen Hommel first entered the lending field, fixed mortgage rates were 9.5 percent and have fallen steadily ever since, she said.
\n\u201cRates are incredibly low right now and it\u2019s an amazing time to buy or refinance,\u201d she said. \u201cThe 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.\u201d
\nHommel said she delights in the customer relationships she has built over the years.
\n\u201cMy customers call me again and again throughout the years, whether they\u2019re buying, refinancing, or just wanting to brainstorm ideas,\u201d she said. \u201cI hear from them often.\u00a0And it\u2019s always fun when they refer their adult children to me for advice.\u201d
\n\u201cDespite all the numbers and spreadsheets and market indicators, this is a business of helping families make some very big and sometimes hard decisions,\u201d she said.
\nCustomers experience a range of emotions throughout the process of home buying, she said.
\n\u201cThere are the nervous, excited first-time buyers, the confident, forward-thinking move-up buyers and the melancholy, nostalgic empty-nesters moving on,\u201d said Hommel. \u201cEveryone has a story.\u00a0And knowing their stories helps me to help them.\u201d
\nHommel said she believes a mortgage originator\u2019s job is \u201cideally suited to the way many women think.\u201d
\n\u201cWe are so used to multi-tasking and juggling,\u201d she said. \u201cThis job requires your attention to be sharp in many different directions all at the same time.\u201d
\nReflecting further on her career, Hommel said, \u201cAll in all I would say it\u2019s been a pretty steady ride with a predominate number of highs, but enough lows to provide invaluable lessons and insight.\u201d
\n\u201cThe 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,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":196,"featured_media":34592,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-women-in-business"],"yoast_head":"\r\nCaroline Hommel, Loan Originator, Reflects On 30 Years In Local Home Mortgage Industry - Saratoga Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2020\/03\/caroline-hommel-loan-originator-reflects-on-30-years-in-local-home-mortgage-industry\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Caroline Hommel, Loan Originator, Reflects On 30 Years In Local Home Mortgage Industry - Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Susan E. 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