Fri, Jul 17 2020, 9:12 AM
Want an estimate of how many borrowers might be out there, benefitting from your assistance by you giving them a lower rate (assuming they, and the pr...
Thu, Jul 16 2020, 8:58 AM
I was on the phone yesterday with my psychic who told me, “You will live a long and healthy life if you abstain from anything that brings you joy.” Ok...
Wed, Jul 15 2020, 9:48 AM
I woke up this morning trying to remember if I was working where I am living, or living where I am working. “Personal” and “professional” often overla...
Tue, Jul 14 2020, 9:23 AM
Here's your life graphically under COVID. Many in our business will argue that homes should not be used as piggy banks, COVID or no COVID. For others ...
Mon, Jul 13 2020, 8:59 AM
While in captivity it is important to remember good grooming is important . Good communication is important also. Are salespeople all on the way to ha...
Fri, Jul 10 2020, 9:07 AM
Bubonic plague in China ? What’s next, frogs falling from the sky? Water turning into blood, darkness for three days? A big bank requiring $1 million ...
Thu, Jul 9 2020, 9:16 AM
United Airlines may lay off 36,000? Bed, Bath, and Beyond closing 200 stores? Walgreen’s cutting 4,000? Yup. Lower rates won’t save those jobs, but we...
Wed, Jul 8 2020, 9:57 AM
Crazy times. Brooks Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Rocket Companies filing for an IPO. Genworth Mortgage Insurance completing an excess of ...
Tue, Jul 7 2020, 8:59 AM
This morning analysts are talking about the 5 million people of Melbourne, Australia now under a new 6-week lockdown. Lockdown! In this country, we ha...
Mon, Jul 6 2020, 8:44 AM
Here’s a blunt reminder of what can go dramatically wrong in a fireworks stand. And here’s a blunt email that I received over the weekend. “Rob, what ...
Thu, Jul 2 2020, 8:59 AM
Lenders continue to count the piles of doubloons they booked during another record-breaking month; will July be another? M&A deals are still simmering...
Tue, Jun 30 2020, 8:50 AM
Some days you don’t learn much, other days you learn a lot (skip the ad). We’ve learned that COVID is driving our economy, not fundamental economic ne...
Mon, Jun 29 2020, 9:15 AM
Does this mean we can no longer say, “Hindsight is always 2020”?! It’s too bad that the Tiger King is the most normal thing about 2020. For the people...
Fri, Jun 26 2020, 10:00 AM
There are plenty of tricks in any trade. Just-opened cellulose sponges are already damp because many are premoistened with sterile water. (Without H20...
Thu, Jun 25 2020, 9:02 AM
Some things are uncertain, like whether colleges, driven by ticket & TV income, bring back their football players when the rest of the student body “r...
Wed, Jun 24 2020, 9:07 AM
Companies worldwide are grappling with continued travel bans, and how to bring back employees in waves, if at all. Others are re-designing office layo...
Tue, Jun 23 2020, 9:15 AM
There are all kinds of things that I don’t, or didn’t, know. For example, the other day I learned that when dogs lap water, they’re actually scooping ...
Mon, Jun 22 2020, 9:42 AM
After nearly 100 years, Eskimo Pie ice cream will get a new name . (The name "Eskimo" is commonly used in Alaska to refer to Inuit and Yupik people, a...
Fri, Jun 19 2020, 8:55 AM
Lots in the news. Congratulations to the California MBA (and the MBA and lenders everywhere, since nearly 25% of residential loans come from Californi...
Thu, Jun 18 2020, 9:12 AM
Capital markets folks focus on risk management every day. The public is getting a taste of another kind of risk management when they go to a bar, tatt...
Wed, Jun 17 2020, 8:52 AM
Yesterday afternoon I was doing my quarterly ten minutes of YouTube yoga (“Align those internal organs! “The journey is the reward!”) and my mind wand...
Tue, Jun 16 2020, 8:54 AM
What? You aren’t offering a 30-year rate below 3% yet? Better catch up, because that is where the mainstream press is telling borrowers rates are. Of ...
Mon, Jun 15 2020, 9:03 AM
With the increase in COVID cases, plenty are heading back into captivity, and it is important to keep a level head . (What is so hard to understand ab...
Fri, Jun 12 2020, 9:08 AM
How the heck could anyone value a mortgage company these days? The value is pretty much comprised of its servicing, cash, receivables, and assets (loa...
Thu, Jun 11 2020, 9:08 AM
Despite the early stages of quarantine and captivity seeming to drag, the year is rushing along. They always do. The Chairman of the Federal Reserve t...
Wed, Jun 10 2020, 8:51 AM
Not only are origination staff asking for refreshed marketing efforts as volumes show a tinge of falling off, but how about this note that I received ...
Tue, Jun 9 2020, 8:35 AM
Big picture, in case you haven’t been paying attention, the National Bureau of Economic Research confirmed that the U.S. economy has slowed: The econo...
Mon, Jun 8 2020, 9:47 AM
Who doesn’t like being kept informed at absolutely no cost? There is no reason for anyone not to join the Mortgage Action Alliance as the Mortgage Ban...
Fri, Jun 5 2020, 9:01 AM
Change is certainly constant. “And just like that, every reporter has gone from infectious disease expert to civil rights attorney.” In our biz, if yo...
Thu, Jun 4 2020, 9:03 AM
Yesterday afternoon my cat Myrtle was watching me mop the kitchen floor. (Hey, it’s not going to mop itself, right? And it is mildly amusing to use ce...
Wed, Jun 3 2020, 9:10 AM
From the Bay Area Marcus L. writes, “I miss the days when Tiger King was the most controversial thing going on.” Everything is a controversy these day...
Tue, Jun 2 2020, 8:34 AM
Curfews and civil unrest have replaced COVID in the news. Meanwhile, investors are watching record low debt issuance yields from companies like Amazon...
Mon, Jun 1 2020, 8:56 AM
I was speaking to a successful long-time real estate agent this weekend who is as busy as she’s ever been. Couples are weary of working from home in a...
Fri, May 29 2020, 9:12 AM
Here’s something you can do for your friends, relatives, and borrowers, especially older ones: Remind them that the current batch of coronavirus relie...
Thu, May 28 2020, 8:51 AM
With two business days left in May, one can feel the anticipation of the start of the “National Standing Desk League” opener coming up soon. I’m excit...
Wed, May 27 2020, 10:46 AM
As California prepares to open some retail stores , the racoon has been named the official mascot of 2020: washes hands insanely, always wears a mask,...
Wed, May 27 2020, 9:05 AM
Making the rounds is, “The spread of Covid-19 is based on two factors. #1: How dense the population is. #2: How dense the population is.” As a nation,...
Tue, May 26 2020, 8:43 AM
I doubt if I have ever pressed “7” or “8” on my microwave oven keypad. Speaking of 7 & 8 (I know, a weak segue), originators are keenly aware of what ...
Fri, May 22 2020, 8:52 AM
The Friday before a three-day weekend (honoring the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military)! Can’t you just feel that anxiousness t...
Thu, May 21 2020, 9:00 AM
Some lenders and vendors are easing back into offices, or at least planning voluntary phases. (Hmmm… wear a mask and have 2 per elevator, or work from...
Wed, May 20 2020, 8:47 AM
Jury trial by Zoom? Leave it to Texas to give it a shot. Michigan and Indiana are now offering the bar exam online for aspiring attorneys. Out of Penn...
Tue, May 19 2020, 9:34 AM
It’s one thing to have confusion & bickering over whose turn it is to put the Scrabble tiles away face down after the game. It’s a whole different lev...
Mon, May 18 2020, 8:48 AM
“All of our dogs think we quit our jobs to spend more time with them while all of our cats think we got fired for being the loser they always knew we ...
Fri, May 15 2020, 9:29 AM
I messed up yesterday, not knowing “Bike to Work” Day was postponed until September. Getting out of the bedroom was okay on my Schwinn Varsity, but co...
Thu, May 14 2020, 10:12 AM
As we race toward the Memorial Day holiday on the 25th, for the first time in history we can save the human race by laying in front of the TV and doin...
Wed, May 13 2020, 9:09 AM
Remember the old days at a birthday party when someone would blow on the cake before everyone ate it? Things are certainly changing, including process...
Tue, May 12 2020, 9:51 AM
I have a confession to make. I grew up drinking whole milk. In fact, I’m so old, when we were thirsty playing sports on the street, we drank out of wh...
Mon, May 11 2020, 9:09 AM
In the last two months everyone figured out the difference between “WFH” and “WTF,” and many in captivity are looking forward to being released , if o...
Fri, May 8 2020, 8:59 AM
Huh? Your company has 20,000 square feet of office space along 635 in Dallas, or 15 in Salt Lake City, or 405 in Orange County, that’s been empty for ...
Thu, May 7 2020, 9:08 AM
Plenty of people are clamoring to be released from captivity , and changes in staying sequestered or opening up has become political. The lending clim...
