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From Chatbots to Storyboards: How Technology is Helping Loan Officers Connect in New Ways
In my last piece, I wrote about Sora 2 and its potential to transform video creation for mortgage professionals. What led me there wasn't curiosity about video. It started a few months earlier when I began building a series of custom GPTs for FinLocker. Those projects became my testing ground for understanding how emerging technology can actually make a difference in how loan officers show up for their clients and partners. I built the FinLocker GPT Toolkit to solve a simple
Ethan Vieaux
Oct 20, 2025
Oct. 14: LO jobs; signing, borrower retention & capture, LOS, QC audit, AVM tools; slowing economy = lower rates
“Where do amputees get prosthetics on a budget? The secondhand store.” Budget, stalemate, and shutdown news continues in Washington DC. The sun still comes up in the morning, and there is news on related issues. For example, thank you to Sean S. who told me that HUD opened the suggestions window for improving the HECM (reverse mortgage) product. The reasons why Treasury and mortgage rates remain elevated despite the shutdown and Fed’s rate cuts will be discussed in the Capit
Rob Chrisman
Oct 14, 2025
Introducing Ethan Vieaux – Vice President, FinLocker
As I wrap up my time with FinLocker and step into my role as President of MISMO, I’m happy to share that the MLO VieauxPoint weekly segment will continue with Chrisman Commentary. You’ll just have a new, and improved, Vieaux. Ethan Vieaux, Vice President of Customer Success at FinLocker, will be taking the pen from here. Ethan has spent years in the trenches with loan officers, helping them integrate technology that genuinely serves both their business and their borrowers. H
Brian Vieaux
Oct 13, 2025
Oct. 7: Non-QM, accounting, settlement, POS, borrower assistance tools; LOs and compassion; rates treading water
President Trump has recommended that publicly held companies only report earnings every six months instead of every three. Don’t...
Rob Chrisman
Oct 7, 2025
Selflessness, Compassion, and Support
Last Sunday, my wife and I got a call no parent ever wants to receive. We went from watching Football to packing bags and booking an...
Brian Vieaux
Oct 6, 2025
Sep. 30: TPO, LO, U/W jobs; reverse, commercial, NMLS education products; STRATMOR on borrower experience; LOs & reverse mtgs.
“Why do millennials think the government saved their lives? Because they are indebted to it forever.” Here in Colorado, the United States...
Rob Chrisman
Sep 30, 2025
The Reverse Opportunity Hiding in Plain Sight
Loan officers who want a lasting career should expand their focus to include homeowners 55 and older, who control trillions in housing...
Brian Vieaux
Sep 29, 2025
Sep. 23: HELOC, AI assistant, CE, recapture products; Erin Dee on market-based affordability; LOs and consumer data
At the recent conferences I've attended, including here in Atlanta at the Loan Vision Innovation Conference , talk of federal government...
Rob Chrisman
Sep 23, 2025
Certainty and Confidence: Why Consumer-Permissioned Data is the Key to Winning First-Time Buyers
I’ve been in mortgage since 1991. Rates were north of 10%, “apply now” meant stacks of paper, and the concept of consumer-permissioned...
Brian Vieaux
Sep 22, 2025
Sep. 16: CIO job; broker, QC products; bank M&A; LOs - know your borrower; interview with Figure's IPO star Mike Cagney
My cat Myrtle was always up for a battle with a lizard in the yard. On a larger scale, the ancient Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu said,...
Rob Chrisman
Sep 16, 2025
The 2025 NextGen HomeBuyer Report: What Loan Originators Need to Do Now
I’ve been tracking Kristin Messerli's NextGen HomeBuyer research for five years, and this year’s Financial Literacy Edition is the...
Brian Vieaux
Sep 15, 2025
Sep. 9: HELOC, DPA, non-QM, merge assistance tools; Pennymac/Vesta deal; LOs & consistency; Fannie issuance dropping
Tomorrow I head from Boise to Jackson for the Mississippi Mortgage Banker’s Fall Conference . Certainly a topic in my email in-box and at...
Rob Chrisman
Sep 9, 2025
Coaching, Consistency, and the Green Zone of Modern Originators
I would say the top producers I respect most share two traits you can’t fake: they coach and they show up. Two recent Loan Officer Life...
Brian Vieaux
Sep 8, 2025
Sep. 3: AE, bank LO jobs; Processing, AML, prospecting tools; HELOC & Pennymac's non-QM news; LOs & database importance
“Twas the third of September, that day I’ll always remember … Wherever he laid his hat was his home, and when he died, all he left us was...
Rob Chrisman
Sep 3, 2025
Winning Starts With Your Database
After talking with and interviewing hundreds of mortgage professionals, I can say with certainty: the loan officers who win in this...
Brian Vieaux
Sep 2, 2025
Aug. 27: Cost to originate; Automatic lender, custom software; Disaster news; Mr. Cooper acquisition; Fed independence
I was today years old when I realized that the shovel was literally a groundbreaking invention. The best ads and marketing focus on rates...
Rob Chrisman
Aug 27, 2025
Be the Positive Beacon Your Community Needs
Since originating my first loan in 1991, I’ve lived through plenty of cycles where the Fed gave us a dose of reality. Friday in Jackson...
Brian Vieaux
Aug 25, 2025
Aug. 19: AE jobs; Cap. mkts. class, AI, SOC, credit union, home equity tools; LOs & the HELPER Act; STRATMOR & verification trends
Apologies first! Yesterday I mistakenly wrote, “ARMs now account for nearly 50 percent of applications…” Thank you again to those who...
Rob Chrisman
Aug 20, 2025
Why the HELPER Act Deserves More Than Silence
If you’re unfamiliar, the HELPER Act (Homes for Every Local Protector, Educator, and Responder) proposes a straightforward idea: allow...
Brian Vieaux
Aug 18, 2025
Aug. 12: LO jobs; Variable rate HELOC, fraud, marketing tools; LOs should educate borrowers; Inflation data as expected; ARM market ahead?
“Nothing refreshes my memory about what I need at the grocery store like coming home from the grocery store.” Remember adjustable-rate...
Rob Chrisman
Aug 12, 2025
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