This week’s HW+ member spotlight features Arjun Dhingra, who serves as sales and business development at All Western Mortgage. Dhingra has over 20 years of experience helping homebuyers and real estate agents and is an expert when it comes to harnessing the power of social media to help educate and inform people on the home-buying process. Creating a large following on Instagram, he offers updates on the housing market, tips on the home-buying process and so much more.
Below, Dhingra answers questions about the housing industry:
HousingWire: What were some of your biggest takeaways from last year’s HW Annual event?
Arjun Dhingra: Technology is not replacing us in the mortgage industry, it is enhancing and empowering us. Those that leverage technology to reach more, do more and provide more value will ultimately outlast the competition. Those that don’t evolve and adapt, will be pushed out because of technology. Embrace it or be pushed out by it.
HousingWire: Why do you think people should attend HW Annual this year?
Arjun Dhingra: I feel everyone in our industry should attend because (1) it’s great to be back with people in person, (2) the presenters, speakers and authorities in our industries that you will hear from are not only impactful but incredibly collaborative, giving you access and opportunity to connect with them that you would otherwise never be able to have.
Most importantly, it supports our industries of housing, technology, real estate and lending. HousingWire is an amazing resource to all of us and anything they are doing for our space is something that should be supported by all.
HousingWire: What is your current favorite HW+ article?
Arjun Dhingra: I am a super fan of Logan Mohtashami, so anything he writes or speaks about is something I will always look to absorb!
HousingWire: If you had picked a different career path what would it be?
Arjun Dhingra: If I had picked a different career path, it would have been acting. I was told by my high school theater teacher to skip that business school pursuit, drop everything and become an actor. Somehow ended up a mortgage banker!
HousingWire: What has been one of the biggest learning opportunities in your career?
Arjun Dhingra: My biggest learning opportunities in life/markets have come when there is real turmoil/challenge. The housing crash of ’08 was a gut check and a real soul-searching evaluation of what purpose I really serve, who am I meant to help and how to best do it.
HousingWire: What is your most useful tech tool?
Arjun Dhingra: My most useful tech tool is my social media (all of it). It’s how I reach 1000’s of new people every week, provide value at scale, and connect with so many industry professionals in a short time. I would not have a business or the ability to leverage other forms of technology to grow my business if not for these platforms.
HousingWire: What’s one thing that people aren’t paying attention to that you think they should be paying attention to?
Arjun Dhingra: One thing that people were not paying attention to but it’s quite clear now that it’s going to be here with us for a while is inflation. For so long, the government dismissing it as transitory or not a permanent thing was giving the general public a false sense of security about the state of affairs. Now it is screamingly obvious to everyone that it is a household term and not going anywhere, so everyone is paying attention (no pun intended with “paying”) and seeing it show up in their daily life (gas prices, etc.).
HousingWire: What do you think will be the big themes for the housing market in 2022?
Arjun Dhingra: I think for housing it will still be all about inventory and interest rates. Rates have trended up sharply here to start the year and will continue to do so until inflation gets under control.
A recession could potentially arrive later this early or early next year — either by way of inflation itself or a general slowing of the economy overall. In either scenario, we could see mortgage rates actually decrease, so that is something I am paying particular attention to because it leads into the inventory spotlight.
Inventory will remain tight but the relationship between itself and pronounced buyers will level off due to rising rates and some buyers exiting or pausing their searches. This is not a bad thing for the market, but if rates were to decrease, you would see the “frenzy” from years past ensue all over again with more buyers flooding the market and still a low inventory situation.
To learn more about HW Annual 2022, click here.
To become an HW+ member, click here.
For more information on HW+ benefits, click here.
To view past issues of our HW+ exclusive HousingWire Magazine, go here.
