Mon, Mar 16 2020, 9:03 AM
Gosh, what should we talk about today? If there’s a “winner” with the coronavirus, it is dogs. They are experiencing unprecedented levels of people be...
Fri, Mar 13 2020, 8:44 AM
Here’s an economic tidbit for you. The Port of Los Angeles is reporting a 22.9% decrease in cargo volumes for February compared to 2019, with expectat...
Thu, Mar 12 2020, 9:07 AM
Here’s a sign of the times. “Rob, I would think many lenders are for sale; they just don't know it yet. EPOs, servicing write-downs, renegotiations, m...
Wed, Mar 11 2020, 8:58 AM
First, a note of clarification. Yesterday’s commentary mentioned that there was talk of “warehouse banks temporarily suspending funding refi biz.” I r...
Tue, Mar 10 2020, 8:55 AM
There sure is a lot going on out there! There is talk of warehouse banks temporarily suspending funding refi biz, lenders charging lock fees, lenders ...
Mon, Mar 9 2020, 9:04 AM
As everyone grapples with changing the clock in their car… The world’s shortest horror movie? At 14 seconds, here you go . (Thanks to Kevin K. for tha...
Fri, Mar 6 2020, 9:16 AM
Yesterday, as I was working on my commentary, I looked down. There I was, wearing my WAMU sweatshirt over my Lehman Brother t-shirt, sipping cocoa out...
Thu, Mar 5 2020, 8:57 AM
“Spring Forward” really needs to be a Friday at 4PM thing. At this point most lenders would like another hour instead since most have their hands full...
Wed, Mar 4 2020, 8:52 AM
March 4th: the only day that’s also a command. Lenders across the nation will be seeing plenty of “commands” in their in-boxes asking them for money i...
Tue, Mar 3 2020, 8:56 AM
Overhead on the phone line. “Uh, hello Morgan Stanley? Remember that $20 million MBS we sold you last month? Can we just forget that ever happened? Or...
Mon, Mar 2 2020, 8:51 AM
Huh? You don’t know what a “Gig Line” is? Someone’s buttons, belt buckle and zipper should all line up in the Gig Line. (See? And you say you never le...
Fri, Feb 28 2020, 9:48 AM
We’re almost at the end of February already. Mortgage bankers are funding loans, throwing axes, working overtime, learning about skydiving, all kinds ...
Thu, Feb 27 2020, 8:57 AM
I was telling my cat Myrtle that U.S. lenders are continuing to bask in the glow of a great 2019 and a start to 2020 (with March and April now looking...
Wed, Feb 26 2020, 8:48 AM
Remember the concerns of chaos prior to the UK leaving the European Union? Despite Brexit, the average London house prices increased 2.3% in 2019, the...
Tue, Feb 25 2020, 8:50 AM
People have a choice in financing their home: debt or equity. (Debt, of course, is what supports our industry. Equity, however, has been experimented ...
Mon, Feb 24 2020, 8:52 AM
With the coronavirus driving worldwide markets and politics dominating the headlines, who doesn’t like “easy?” Easy: Krispy Kreme is launching donut d...
Fri, Feb 21 2020, 8:31 AM
Yesterday’s commentary mentioned that there were “rumors” of Citi re-entering the correspondent channel. I apologize for any confusion. Readers should...
Thu, Feb 20 2020, 8:50 AM
Morgan Stanley buying E-Trade is causing some chatter this morning, and last night’s Democratic debate had plenty of chatter. (Some would use a strong...
Wed, Feb 19 2020, 9:57 AM
Everyone is looking to increase production and cut expenses. MI companies, for example, are re-focusing on their highlighting their value proposition ...
Tue, Feb 18 2020, 8:32 AM
Odd times that we’re living in. Here in New Orleans (“Anything worth doing is worth overdoing!”) some of the talk is about the Boy Scouts of America d...
Fri, Feb 14 2020, 9:14 AM
Does anyone out there care that credit-card debt rose to a record $930 billion in Q4 2019? (Total mortgage debt hit $9.56 trillion.) How about that th...
Thu, Feb 13 2020, 9:17 AM
Do we really have nine more months until the actual election? While you’re answering questions, does someone in your office speak Spanish? Tagalog? Ma...
Wed, Feb 12 2020, 9:31 AM
Clients want LOs to be subject matter experts on products and current events. But what do lenders know about their LOs, their originator turnover rate...
Tue, Feb 11 2020, 8:51 AM
In 1988, there was only one city in America where the average home price was over six times the annual median income. Today there are more than twenty...
Mon, Feb 10 2020, 9:11 AM
The U.S. is divided up into regions. Have you ever noticed that we say, “Out West” or “Back East” – a holdover from centuries ago. It’s never, “Back W...
Fri, Feb 7 2020, 9:09 AM
I can’t predict the future, don’t even know what I’m doing for lunch today, but in October this commentary suggested that with the MOU inked in Octobe...
Thu, Feb 6 2020, 9:07 AM
For years there has been name confusion between Fannie Mae and Fannie May . Name overlap isn’t limited to those two; MERS, familiar to mortgage banker...
Wed, Feb 5 2020, 9:04 AM
Let’s take any brokerage or small mortgage banker, 10 loan officers doing an average of 3 loans per month for 30 loans/month. The company has the oper...
Tue, Feb 4 2020, 9:02 AM
Fitness instructor: “Have you ever done a marathon?” Me: “You mean like on Netflix?” Both take stamina (of some sort), as does merely looking at the U...
Mon, Feb 3 2020, 8:57 AM
“I boarded a Southwest flight over the weekend, sat down, sneezed, and muttered something in Mandarin. I had the whole row to myself for entire flight...
Fri, Jan 31 2020, 9:02 AM
Interesting times. Our CFPB has a new Chief Experience Officer . United Wholesale has an ad in the Super Bowl , recommending brokers to consumers. Exp...
Thu, Jan 30 2020, 9:00 AM
What if you bought into an investment thinking you were going to earn a decent return for 30 years and instead it paid off in four months? Not only th...
Wed, Jan 29 2020, 9:08 AM
My cat Myrtle never paid much attention to Brexit, up until recently a hopeless parliamentary quagmire. (“Brexistential fear”: An irrational fear that...
Tue, Jan 28 2020, 8:50 AM
Loan officers and lenders know that the population in the United States continues to shift, and this creates some continued great opportunities to inc...
Mon, Jan 27 2020, 8:23 AM
Remember when there actually was an “average,” and you weren’t afraid to say that someone was average? Now everyone is “above average.” (Did my sarcas...
Fri, Jan 24 2020, 8:37 AM
Yes, the change in FICO scores garnered some attention, but much of the focus is on Wells Fargo which just can’t stay out of the spotlight… for all th...
Thu, Jan 23 2020, 10:20 AM
Did you know that you can vote by smart phone in Seattle ? Did you know that less than 20 percent of the world's population has ever taken a single fl...
Wed, Jan 22 2020, 9:08 AM
What does $4.6 billion dollars buy you these days? A couple casinos: a Blackstone-sponsored JV is paying that for MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay in Las Ve...
Tue, Jan 21 2020, 9:03 AM
Everyone is aging, right? “I finally did it! I bought a new pair of shoes with memory foam insoles. No more forgetting why I walked into the kitchen!”...
Fri, Jan 17 2020, 9:22 AM
I’ve gotta hand it to those writers who put out listings for real estate agents. Maybe if I had a bunch of money I could live in a “secluded retreat” ...
Thu, Jan 16 2020, 8:55 AM
For folks who like numbers and trends, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s national and state population estimates released in December, 42 states a...
Wed, Jan 15 2020, 9:07 AM
We find ourselves at Wednesday already. How about some numbers for Hump Day? Years ago Arnold Schwarzenegger famously said, “Having more money doesn't...
Tue, Jan 14 2020, 9:00 AM
There are some clever people out there creating abbreviations and acronyms. Megxit? Yes: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle exiting from certain royal dut...
Mon, Jan 13 2020, 9:03 AM
Lenders, and all financial sector firms, continue to ruminate on the privacy law in California that now gives people the right to access and delete pe...
Fri, Jan 10 2020, 8:52 AM
Markets have taken the view that brief military conflicts have little long-term impact on economic trends. Gold, oil and the Japanese yen jumped after...
Thu, Jan 9 2020, 8:52 AM
Nobody, that I recall, predicted that 2019 would be a banner year for mortgage originators. And how about that stock market! My 401k’s balance certain...
Wed, Jan 8 2020, 9:06 AM
Hey, I want to buy my own house without the “nuisances” of a large down payment, difficult credit standards, massive debt, or long-term commitments. O...
Tue, Jan 7 2020, 9:08 AM
Money attracts criminal activity. I know that isn’t late-breaking news, but here’s a scam I hadn’t heard of involving, once again, real estate and app...
Mon, Jan 6 2020, 8:35 AM
“Rob, I know that it costs less to retain an existing employee than to train a new one. Last year companies were reportedly paying big signing bonuses...
Fri, Jan 3 2020, 8:49 AM
In state news, happy belated CCPA Day! The California Consumer Privacy Act officially went into effect 1/1, and it’s a big deal. Full compliance expec...
