Worcester Business Journal

28 Worcester Business Journal | October 17, 2022 | wbjournal.com If you were like many in Central Massa- chusetts looking to buy a home at the start of the pandemic, you may be among the countless house hunters who were discour- aged by the market. Don't despair because things are changing. The good news is home inventory is improving, meaning your likelihood of finding a home has improved. The bad news is mortgage rates are rising. Here are things to know when getting a mortgage in a rising rate environment like this one. 5) People matter. Real estate is now and has always been a people business. You need to have a team of professionals helping guide you through the home-buy- ing process. Your Realtor, loan officer, and attorney will be your trusted advisors, not only for this transaction, but likely for years to come. 4) Bidding wars are declining. This doesn't mean your dream home is suddenly available at a discount. But it can mean you're less likely to come up against the intense competition many prospective homebuyers faced over the past two years. 3) This is not the 2008 housing crisis. Don't allow the housing crisis of 2008 to cause trepidation. Underwriting standards have been bolstered, which has resulted in some of the most credit-worthy borrowers in mortgage history. This means if your lender has approved you for a mortgage, your lender has evaluated your ability to repay and is confident in your creditworthi- ness. 2) Mortgages are like going in a conve- nience store. There are a lot of products to choose from. Product features include fixed rates, adjustable rates, state agency programs, federal programs, grant pro- grams, equity lines, equity loans, and more. Inquire about product variations and ask your trusted advisors to guide you toward the options best suited to your needs and financial position. 1) You're likely going to refinance your loan. Pre-2020, the average mortgage last- ed about seven years. While that number has risen, there are a variety of circum- stances that may lead you to refinance your loan, including finding a lower rate, family changes, debt consolidation, and tuition expenses. K N O W H O W Lower your cyber insurance rates 10 1: A nyone who's an executive knows part of the job is to inspire an employee base. But whether it's because of an especially busy time, a stressful situation, or even something at home, burnout can find its way in. Here are some ways to manage burnout when it happens, without anyone even noticing. Stick to a healthy schedule. When remote work became the norm during COVID-19, the lines between work and home life became more blurred. Now that two and a half years have gone by, it can be a good opportunity for execu- tives to assess how much time they're actually putting into work. "Remember, being the boss doesn't mean that you have to personally manage everything that's happening," Mark Moses, found- ing partner and CEO of CEO Coaching International, wrote in a post on his company's website. "You're the poet, not the plumber. Set targets, put measurable, actionable steps in place that will move the company toward those targets, and delegate responsibility." Take breaks. Breaks as a concept are simple, but in the corporate world, they're oen overlooked. Unoma Okora- for, CEO and founder of Texas-based Herbal Goodness and president of the nonprofit WAAW Foundation based in Nigeria, wrote in a Forbes article it's important to take real, honest-to-god breaks not merged with work at all. "It could be as simple as lunch in the breakroom or taking a nature walk to stretch out, and it could be as elaborate as taking a vacation," Okorafor said. "e important thing is finding time to look away from building your business and just kicking back for a bit." Reignite the fire. Sometimes in times of extreme stress, it's a good idea to remem- ber how it all began. "I own a comic book company, so I go back to the comic book store and find an old comic I can get excited about that reignites my passion," Ross Richie, CEO of California-based BOOM! Studios, told Fast Company. "I leave the office for an aernoon, avoid email, turn off the phone, and go into a research hole that refreshes my spirit." 5 T H I NG S I know about... ...Getting a mortgage in a rising rate environment MICHELLE DROLET Special to WBJ I n its second pulse survey of 2022, international professional services firm PwC cites cyber as the top business risk. But getting a cyber insurance policy can be tricky and costly. As cyber attacks have escalated across every business small and large, cyber policies have followed suit, if you can even find a carrier willing to underwrite one. ankfully, organizations can follow cyber strate- gies to arrive at more favorable policy terms and lower premiums. e rule is simple: e greater the cyber risk, the greater the insurance cost. Conversely, the better your secu- rity program, the cheaper your premi- um and the better your coverage terms. Insurers are risk-averse by nature; the coverage they offer must be directly proportional to the assumed risk. When it comes to cyber, there's no shortage of risk factors. ese include the size and nature of the business; flaws in systems or processes; un- patched vulnerabilities attackers can exploit; third-party and supply-chain partners not abiding by standard security practices; compliance man- dates overlooked or ignored, which can lead to data breaches and class-action lawsuits; social engineering attacks causing users to click on bogus links allowing attackers to bypass even the best security technology. e absence of policies, procedures, planning, tools, and security awareness training can have negative fallout and contrib- ute to cyber risk. To obtain value from a cyber insurance policy at lower monthly premiums, businesses should undergo a thorough cyber risk assessment to identify weak spots and implement safeguards to reduce risk factors. In- surers come to the table primed with these basic expectations. To make sure the meeting is productive for both parties, a range of security audits need to be tackled upfront for data, vulnerabilities, compliance, third-par- ties, network, cloud, and application assessments. Specifically, the discovery and classification of data, its sensitivity, location and security controls; identi- fication and prioritization of security vulnerabilities across the organiza- tion; gap analysis against industry-ac- cepted standards or frameworks; identification and prioritization of third-parties based on risk factors; a security posture review of on-premise IT infrastructure, cloud environments and soware as a service or third-par- ty applications. Review the level of cyber hygiene and awareness of com- mon social engineering scams among employees. Get buy-in from the top on the direct ties cyber has on busi- ness continuity. Preventive measures can be taken by running biannual penetration testing to harden defenses against known attack vectors. e path is long and not easy but help is available. e consequences of not obtaining a settlement aer incurring damages can obviously be devastating. In brief, negotiating a cyber policy for risk coverage requires organizations to present tangible evidence that the business remains resilient and compliant with digital and even physical security best practices. Michelle Drolet is CEO of Framingham IT services firm Towerwall. Reach her at michelled@towerwall.com or (774) 204-0700. BY LAURA FINALDI Special to WBJ By Darryl Caffee Jr. Darryl Caffee Jr. is senior vice president, director of retail lending and community reinvestment officer for Webster Five Cents Savings Bank in Auburn. Reach him at dcaffee@web5.com. H O W T O M A N A G E B U R N O U T A S A L E A D E R W W W

• Cover