By the time you see this, we’ll be less than two weeks away from one of the biggest conferences of the year for the title industry, ALTA ONE. This year, it’s at the beautiful Coronado near San Diego. Our own Jimmy Lewis will be speaking on the use of automation to improve staff retention.  It’s something we’ve written about before, and an important emerging topic for title agents. If you’re attending the conference, we hope you’ll join us (or, at least watch the recording later!).

But as we line up our meetings and pack our bags, we also realize that “conference season” is a time for reflection as well. We’re getting into the last quarter of the year. We’ve seen the long-forecasted end of the refinance boom. We’re in a purchase market, although, admittedly, it’s been more like a down market early-on (although we’re hopeful to see things stabilize early in 2023). We’ve also experienced a wave of automation like none we’ve ever seen in the title industry. So as we double check our boarding passes, a few questions we’re asking ourselves in reflection?

  • Which number should we focus on for 2023—the loss of almost half of 2021’s overall mortgage origination volume, or the $2.17 trillion in purchase business Fannie Mae is forecasting?
  • Has the industry “corrected” to a level better aligned with that volume?
  • Will those title businesses that have already automated (or started to automate) see some returns in terms of scalability and efficiency as soon as 2023?
  • What will the businesses that end up growing through the downcycle (it happens more than you might think) do in order to achieve that growth?
  • Will “opinion letters” fade away like other gimmicks we’ve seen in the past (admittedly, we’re not attorneys or regulators, but it’s an important question)?
  • Will the title industry lead the way in the greater real estate and mortgage industry in using automation to better weather the market storm we’re seeing?
  • Will title agents and businesses begin to see the impact of The Great Resignation, or will the pace of layoffs exceed that trend a little longer?
  • Where will ALTA ONE be taking place in 2023?

We’d love to discuss these topics (or others) with you as well. If you’re heading to ALTA ONE, drop us a note and let’s meet up to discuss! Safe travels.

jimmy@truefocusnow.com or sridhar@truefocusnow.com

Photo by Drew Beamer on Unsplash