Making Waves In Miami

Like many of you, I enjoy summer vacations at the beach. And every summer I try my luck at surfing. But due to a combination of growing older and a noticeable lack of athletic ability, I usually get tossed about by the waves and end up with my head spinning. Nonetheless, I always feel exhilarated from the experience.

I felt that way again as I was leaving this year’s annual Customer Conference in Miami. There was clearly a wave of excitement going through the event. It was our biggest ever with over 1,000 attendees, two great receptions, three general sessions and 18 breakout meetings, ensuring that there was something interesting and relevant for everyone. Right from the get-go, there was a contagious, positive vibe. It was a true celebration of our 2016 successes and appreciation for our amazing customers.

A Positive Buzz From the Start

After arriving Monday, I poked my head into the Conference’s first session, a co-ed panel and networking event sponsored by Women in Multifamily. The room was packed and the crowd seemed riveted to the panel’s discussion. What a great way to begin the Conference—talking about how to ensure the success of your entire team.

And speaking of creating positive “buzz,” it sounds like 70+ customers and Freddie Mac staff took this concept literally as they painted hundreds of hornets, the school mascot, on the walls and basketball court of nearby Phillis Wheatley Elementary School for our annual community service event. Thanks to all of you who helped to make this event so successful.

Rolling Out Process Innovations

2016 has been a transformative year for us, so I was excited to announce a number of changes that have made doing business with Freddie Mac simpler and faster. Things like point-in-time pricing, standardized quote sheets, kickoff calls as soon as loan applications are signed, and transaction managers dedicated to promoting a more transparent and consistent customer experience, have truly made a difference so far this year. If you missed this session, watch our process innovation video to see more on what we’re doing to meet the needs of our customers. The improvements won’t end with the Conference either. We’re committed to continue to innovate every day to make it easier for you to do business with us.

Along with improving our processes, we continue to update and enhance our product offerings. This year we introduced Green Advantage^SM, a program that rewards borrowers who improve their properties by going green. In addition to saving energy and water, they may also qualify for better pricing and higher proceeds. Since launching Green Advantage in August, we’ve received positive feedback from numerous customers about how easy and simple it is to reap the benefits of this offering.

Amazing Speakers

I don’t know about you, but I was blown away by all of our speakers — Miami-Dade County Mayor Gimenez’s welcome message, HFF’s Jody Thornton’s interview with Don Layton, David Brickman’s update on the state of the industry and Billy Beane’s inspiring message of innovating baseball scouting by challenging the status quo.  Our final keynote interview with Starwood Capital Group CEO and visionary, Barry Sternlicht was the perfect cap to this top-notch speaker line-up.

We Have the Best Customers

This year’s Customer Conference was surely our finest in every sense. We have the greatest customers any business could hope for, which goes along with our best-in-class production, underwriting, legal and servicing teams. This is a great time to be in multifamily, and we truly appreciate your partnership with Freddie Mac.

Join Us in Phoenix in 2017

I am already counting the days to next year’s Customer Conference in Phoenix, October 16-18, 2017, at the Arizona Biltmore. You won’t want to miss it. There may not be a beach, but that won’t keep us from making waves.

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