Here's how a brokerage CEO has kept his business resilient in a volatile market
Affordability has been a persistent challenge in the housing market nationwide, particularly in areas affected by a volatile market in 2025. Despite the headwinds, one broker has seen his business continue to thrive, and he remains optimistic in the face of the challenging market.
Chris Sbonek (pictured top), president and CEO of Mitten Mortgage Lending in the Detroit, Michigan area, has seen customers struggle with tariff-related work slowdowns. He has also seen fewer visitors from Canada, which is impacting local businesses.
Both of those factors have disrupted the housing market. However, his brokerage has continued to do well. He believes one of the major keys is offering a wide range of products for borrowers.
“I think it's more important than ever to have more options,” Sbonek told Mortgage Professional America. “When we first started back in 2018, we didn't have as many options because we didn't really see the need for it. I would say the pool of borrowers was not nearly as diverse and unique. But as time goes on and you get more people who are self-employed, trends kind of change.
“Lifestyle and trends change, so having different products available for different sets of borrowers is by far more important than ever, because you're getting a lot of people in a lot of really unique spots right now.”
He said that while the tariff battle with Canada hasn’t necessarily affected the number of mortgage loans he has done, he has seen the effects of tariffs in other ways.
“Being so close to the auto industry, we've seen some unique stuff with different companies or different people,” Sbonek said. “They have not necessarily been laid off, but they've been off for a week because they were waiting on stuff to come in from somewhere, because they were waiting on tariffs to work themselves out before stuff was shipping from places.”
Rising costs of everything
What Sbonek has noticed over the last few months is the continued challenge of affordability. Furloughs related to tariffs are impacting household cash flow.
“A sign of the economy is people's lack of excess cash that they've just had,” he said. “If you haven't had excess cash for a couple months, it's one thing. But when you haven't had excess cash for a couple of years, a lot of the extra stuff just gets cut out. We're definitely seeing that locally, things are just slower because people don't have that extra money.”
Not only have tariffs impacted his customers, but rising tax and insurance costs have also increased the price of mortgage payments.
“Taxes are almost double,” Sbonek said. “Most buyers were getting into a house where taxes were $150 a month, they bought it, and now magically it’s $300 a month. Insurance is another big one. You’ve just got to shop and look at your insurance options.”
He also criticized the rising costs of credit reporting, which has received an extra spotlight lately thanks to the introduction of VantageScore as a credit reporting option for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. However, FICO pushed back, blaming the three credit bureaus for the rising costs.
Regardless of where the fault lies, Sbonek can’t believe how quickly credit costs have increased.
“We were going through some systems and were looking at credit reports from back in 2018, 2019 and even 2020,” he said. “And at that time, depending on the report and the situation, we were paying somewhere around $20 or $30 per credit report. You can get credit reports now that are $120. Same report, same exact thing, but now four or five times the cost.
“There’s no reason in the world that a credit report, which is a PDF, same technology, I log into the same website, I pay the same bill, and it literally looks the same. Nothing’s different, it’s just five times more. And they sell it, and they sell more trigger leads than they’ve ever sold before.”
The importance of a broker
Despite the headwinds, Sbonek remains optimistic that the mortgage market will soon pick up. His optimism is understandable, given that his brokerage had one of its highest sales months in June.
“I think if you’re working with a good mortgage broker and a good real estate agent right now, there are certainly deals to be found,” Sbonek said. “I think rates might get a little worse before they get better, but I do think that rate relief is coming soon. There’s just too much pressure for it not to happen.”
Tyler Hodgson, Executive Vice President of Growth at UMortgage, highlights that while affordability remains a nationwide challenge, uneven markets in major metropolitan areas mean buyers could face anything from seller concessions to multiple offers. https://t.co/RYbLHfiJTn
— Mortgage Professional America Magazine (@MPAMagazineUS) July 21, 2025
He encourages those who have been waiting for big rate drops to stop waiting and meet with a mortgage professional. While some people might still hesitate, he believes that now may be the best time to get into a home due to reduced competition from other buyers.
“Everybody who said they were just going to wait has been waiting this whole time,” he said. “I also tell people, don’t let the rate, the sound of the rate, or what you think about the rate stop you. ‘Oh, I heard rates were 7% and I went to Google and plugged in a mortgage calculator, and that payment is too much.’
“Well, let’s have a conversation about that. What house are you interested in? Has it been on the market for a little while? Can you get concessions? Can you do a buy-down, and now you have a lower rate for a year or two? Talk to someone who knows what they’re doing.”
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