Why more real estate agents are getting their mortgage loan originator license 

A buyer signs a purchase agreement with their agent, then gets handed off to a loan officer they’ve never met. From there, the agent is mostly on the outside looking in, texting for updates, hoping the underwriter doesn’t ask for one more document, watching a closing date slip because of a delay happening somewhere they can’t see. A small but growing number of agents have started closing that gap themselves. They’re adding a mortgage loan originator (MLO) license to their real estate license, a move known as dual licensing. What changed in 2022 Dual licensing itself isn’t new. Agents have technically been able to hold both licenses for years. What changed was a December 2022 letter from the Federal Housing Administration that brought renewed attention to the issue of multiple roles and compensation in FHA-insured transactions. That letter didn’t open a locked door. It did add clarification to one that was already ajar. What did matter was the timing of the letter and the conversation around dual licensing that followed. By December 2022, the 30-year fixed rate had climbed to 6.31%, according to Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis data, up from around 3.12% just a year earlier. Agents...