Hollerbach & Associates recently continued its tradition as the only settlement services firm to sponsor the Texas Bankers Association’s Home Equity Seminar series: Home Equity Lending Update 2010. The events took place in Arlington, March 11, 2010; San Antonio, April 7, 2010 and Houston, April 8, 2010 Owner Jim Hollerbach played a major role in the advocacy for home equity lending in the state of Texas, where the product was once prohibited. “Home equity lending is a powerful tool for consumers, and a strong line of business for many banks and mortgage lenders,” he said. “Its prohibition in Texas was based on arcane regulation, and really, was keeping this great state from being as competitive as possible in the national lending space. It didn’t take much impetus for us to get involved in the process of opening the doors to home equity, and we believe the results speak for themselves.” As many as 200 industry thought-leaders were expected at the seminars.

Hollerbach & Associates, an independent title research and abstract firm in San Antonio, will continue its strong partnership with the Texas Paralegal Association, including advertising support for the Texas Paralegal Journal. “The paralegal is the lifeblood of the law firm,” said owner Jim Hollerbach. “These are the people who put glue around the legal process every day,” he said. “We are proud to support the Texas Paralegal Association, which has a long history of promoting and sustaining its membership, and the critical role of the professional paralegal in the legal process.”

Hollerbach & Associates, an independent title research and abstract firm based in San Antonio, will celebrate its 25th year of servicing local and national clients by continuing its long standing partnership with the Texas Bankers Association. One of a select group of settlement services firms explicitly endorsed by the organization, Hollerbach & Associates enters into its INSERT year of partnership with the prestigious organization. “The Texas Bankers Association has been a trusted partner to us for a long time,” said owner Jim Hollerbach. “We’ve seen the industry change quite a bit in the past decade, from the markets to the introduction of home equity products in Texas,” he said. “But the TBA has always remained ahead of the curve, and we are happy to continue our association.”

After starting up as a small, independent title research and abstract firm almost three decades ago, only some things have changed at Hollerbach & Associates, which is celebrating its 25th year of service to the mortgage and title insurance industry in 2010. Today, the firm is larger, better-known and serves clients from around the country with title research needs in Texas and beyond. Owner Jim Hollerbach observes that the firm’s customers today include large national mortgage lenders, national vendor management companies and title insurers as well as a wide variety of Texas-based and southwestern lending institutions and mortgage companies. But other things have remained the same. The common denominator? “Texas,” answers the owner. “We’ve stuck to what we’ve always done best—title research and abstract work with emphasis on our understanding of our own backyard.” Of course, in Hollerbach’s case, the “backyard” is the greater Southwestern U.S, and the firm has done work in most of the 50 states. However, as Hollerbach observes, “Texas is a unique state with unusual and varied regulations and processes when it comes to property data,” says Hollerbach. “If one doesn’t know a county well, it’s easy to run into unanticipated delays in the search process.” The firm remains independent and family-owned 25 years later, and plans to remain so. “Our clients are happy with us and what we do—and we still love doing it!” said Hollerbach.

Here is a video of Jim Hollerbach welcoming you to TAPS and the Alamo City.

The site encompasses a group of five frontier mission complexes situated along a stretch of the San Antonio River basin in southern Texas, as well as a ranch located 37 kilometres to the south. It includes architectural and archaeological structures, farmlands, residencies, churches and granaries, as well as water distribution systems. The complexes were built by Franciscan missionaries in the 18th century and illustrate the Spanish Crown’s efforts to colonize, evangelize and defend the northern frontier of New Spain. The San Antonio Missions are also an example of the interweaving of Spanish and Coahuiltecan cultures, illustrated by a variety of features, including the decorative elements of churches, which combine Catholic symbols with indigenous designs inspired by nature.

 
For more information and a closer look, check out reimaginethealamo.org

Sounds simple, but a good vetting process which is reviewed and updated periodically can save a lender time and money in the long run. Your partners don’t just help you deliver a loan product. They’re also your face to the borrower in many cases. Carefully qualify your new settlement services and mortgage partners, and audit them regularly. Check references. Check their tech. Then, check again. Do they know the geographic market you are asking them to service? Are they experienced with the non-traditional lines of business such as default or commercial REO—or did they just add the services when the refi boom ended? Ask your customers how that vendor is performing. A good vendor can have a real impact on your margin. The “cheaper” option may end up costing you far more down the road.

Mortgage and real estate lending success begins with the little things. From time to time, we’ll let you know what we hear from our lending partners, and refresh you on the details that make a good mortgage lender great!

 

The mortgage and real estate market may be struggling a bit right now, but many of us in Texas are staying busy with the oil and gas boom fueled (yes, pun intended) by the Barnett and Eagle Ford Shales. For land research firms like Hollerbach & Associates, that means working on due diligence of mineral assets; mineral exceptions and convergences of trusts, amongst other things. That’s one of the beautiful things about Texas. Our economy is not a one-trick pony. Although our housing market may be a bit slow at the moment, we are able to rely on the drive for new energy sources, a growing population and a business friendly government, which allows for a good amount of diversity in the types of economic engines here. Nonetheless, we’re expecting a bounce back sooner or later in the residential real estate market (especially if we continue to grow as we are). In the meantime, there’s plenty of work to go around in O&G!