Bob Howard, a mortgage industry veteran who has worked in both the prime and nonprime sectors, is working with a nonbank lender to enter the jumbo market.
Howard, who last summer sold his stake in Safe Harbor Mortgage of Lake Oswego, Ore., to his partner, said he could not identify the nonbank lender but is trying to secure warehouse financing for the company. He is finding the task difficult.
"We have a take-out and the capital," he said, "but finding a warehouse lender to fund jumbos is taking some time." Howard is a member of the lender's board.
Even though liquidity has returned to the warehouse sector, most banks in the space are only financing mortgages slated for sale to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, or that carry guarantees from the Government National Mortgage Association.
