It will take innovation and adaptation for mortgage loan originators to survive today's market conditions, according to a book written by two mortgage industry veterans.

Bill Dallas, CEO of Ownit Mortgage Solutions, and Tim Braheem, founder of the educational and marketing resource firm LoanToolBox, co-wrote Strategic Financing: A Survival Guide for Loan Originators.

The 70-page paperback, also available as a free e-book, offers guidance from Dallas and Braheem on how to cope with the market of today by examining the historical trends of the past, how to use current data to predict the future, and what originators simply must do to remain successful in the mortgage industry.

Chock full of pertinent data, Dallas points out that the median age of Americans has risen to 40 and that within 44 years Hispanics will make up a quarter of the U.S. population.

"The loan originators who focus on the Hispanic and Latino emerging market will be highly rewarded," he says.

In addition, there is another new demographic that shouldn't be overlooked. Dallas calls it the Mass-Non-Affluent group -- 84 million households or individuals ages 35-54 with income less than $100,000.

Addressing the retirement and savings concerns of this demographic and innovatively creating mortgage solutions to suit their needs is key to winning the mortgage business of this group, Dallas says.

"Originators who are focused on evolving their program and guideline knowledge will be successful as we head into this next cycle," Dallas says. "Their ability to structure and place less traditional loans will be at the core of their success."

Dallas predicts that purchase loans will continue to dominate the market and advised originators to be sure to have a referral relationship plan in place with "the usual suspects" including Realtors, builders, financial planners, etc.

Braheem suggests that to succeed in these relationships originators work closely with real estate agents to develop innovative financing plans to entice borrowers to buy in this tight real estate market.

"Beyond the obvious duties of getting borrowers qualified and educating them on financing options, you can assist inventory holders with creatively marketing their properties with strategic financing," Braheem says.

This will also make the originator a great referral source for real estate agents, builders and for-sale-by-owner sellers too by offering a "unique selling proposition," Braheem says.

Braheem offers several marketing ideas and financing strategies including using buydowns and nontraditional mortgage programs.

On the technology end, Dallas predicts that by the end of 2007, "end-to-end electronic origination will virtually eliminate loan processing and shopping as the broker's competitive advantage."

Other predictions he makes include that over one quarter of an originator's loan business will come from lead aggregators or over the Internet and that the large-scale adoption of broadband communication networks would accelerate the increase of online mortgage business.