Rocket Pro TPO's new leader on championing broker choice

January 6, 2023 5:00 AM

Rocket Mortgage is promoting a pair of leaders in its Rocket Pro TPO arm following a tumultuous year for the mortgage market at-large and plenty of change in the wholesale channel.

Mike Fawaz is Rocket Pro TPO's new executive vice president, taking the helm Jan. 1 from Austin Niemiec, who himself was promoted to Rocket Mortgage chief revenue officer. Niemiec takes the chief revenue officer title formerly held by current Rocket Mortgage President Tim Birkmeier, according to the company.

Mike Fawaz, Rocket Pro TPO executive vice president.

Courtesy of Rocket Mortgage

Fawaz, formerly Rocket Pro TPO senior vice president of sales, brings over a decade of experience to the role, beginning his career in 2011 with the mortgage giant as a broker. In the past few months, the department has rolled out a number of tools for mortgage brokers amid a competitive and rocky wholesale environment.

National Mortgage News spoke with Fawaz about his new role and what he thinks mortgage brokers are seeking in today's market. Fawaz also voiced his concerns about an anti-competition mandate from major competitor United Wholesale Mortgage that continues to undergo court challenges.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

How will your role with Rocket Pro TPO evolve, and how will your working relationship with Austin Niemiec change?

"When I think about the role and promotion it's just a title change in my opinion. What Austin did for our channel is incredible, and I plan on continuing the same path and continuing to want to grow with our broker partners. We will be very, very close. He's not just a mentor, he's also a friend and a brother of mine. To me, the most immediate change is just a change of schedule, change of how my structure looks like.

"My ultimate goal — and I've been focused on that for at least the last three years — is building relationships with our broker partners, building relationships in a broker community, and continuing to have conversations on a daily basis. I spent the last two years on the road and I visited brokers, whether they're partners with us or not, and I got to see what they built, and the infrastructure and the business and the brand. I got to experience firsthand their struggles. My goal with this role is, how do I put my hand out there for the broker community and help them?"

What are you hearing from mortgage brokers when they’re exploring a partnership with Rocket Pro TPO?

"They're looking for incredible, consistent pricing. There's no one better than Rocket. We've proven it year-over-year, day-over-day, month-over-month. We proved that to the entire community during the coronavirus pandemic. When we saw a lot of wholesale lenders take a step to the side and really shy away from providing that service, at that time we onboarded thousands of brokers because there was a need in the market and we were there. So we're consistent when it comes to marketing.

Some companies last year exited the wholesale channel. Who is Rocket Mortgage’s biggest competitor today?

"I don't think of any of them as competitors, because in my opinion, competition is actually a good thing. When other wholesale lenders went out of the space, I do believe wholeheartedly that was not a good thing for the broker community. The broker community is built based on competition, it's built and based on their ability and the freedom to go anywhere you want. You need that optionality."

Recently, a federal judge allowed an antitrust claim against UWM’s competition ultimatum to persist in a lawsuit from a mortgage broker. What are your thoughts on UWM’s ultimatum now that it’s been in practice for almost two years?

"It's absolutely a very bad thing in my opinion to the broker community. Brokers are some of the savviest, most intelligent professionals in America. You have broker shops across the nation that built their company, built their brand, stood up a company and did all this on their own and they did it because they want to be independent. To have someone go out there and tell them who they can use, that goes against everything this broker community stands for.

"I want to make sure that everybody understands that if you are a broker-owner, your superpower is choice. To allow anyone to take that from you or for anyone to think that they have the right, or think they are big enough to take that away from a broker in this incredible country, it's not a good thing for a broker community at all. I know brokers know that. I talk to brokers for hours every single day. The last thing they want to do is to have someone have control over their business."

What are your thoughts on the market in 2023?

"I think about maybe somewhere between $1.6 billion, $1.9 billion [in volume for 2023]. I think the market will look similar to what has been seen in the second half of 2022.

"In 2022 there was that rate shock. We are now seeing that consumers are starting to realize where the market is and that they're getting comfortable with it. I don't think we're going to deal with that in 2023, so that's going to be something that's going to help when it comes to just the market itself. At the end of the day, there's always going to be a need to purchase a house or refinance a home and we're going to see as we embark on the purchase season."

What's the best piece of advice you heard in 2022?

"Think long-term. Yes, it's tough today. But we all know that the mortgage industry is a very rewarding industry. We all enjoyed 2020 and 2021. There's always the cycle and this is just one of those cycles. So my advice is, think long-term. The ones that ride this wave and ride the cycle, they'll make it at the end and they'll feel good about what they can accomplish once that cycle turns. In my opinion it's consistency, it's resiliency, knowing where the market is at and knowing where you're going to think long term."