Tue, Mar 6 2018, 9:10 AM
“Rob, in past decades, near the end of every credit cycle, lenders seem to head back down the credit score scale and seem to be more aggressive with u...
Mon, Mar 5 2018, 9:13 AM
The Senate is set to vote this week on a bill by Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, that would revise several sections of the Dodd-Frank Act . Among the bill's...
Fri, Mar 2 2018, 9:16 AM
As various parts of the nation are hunkered down due to weather, just think of “2.4 million.” That is a lot of anything, especially when that is how m...
Thu, Mar 1 2018, 9:12 AM
Welcome to March. What happened to January and February? This commentary occasionally discusses “tiny homes” (yes, okay with the Agencies if comps can...
Wed, Feb 28 2018, 9:09 AM
As an industry we don’t want headlines about the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) spending $31,000 on a dining set spending $31,000 o...
Tue, Feb 27 2018, 9:13 AM
Every home owner was, at one time, a first-time home buyer, right? Now it seems that every lender, investor, politician, and special interest group is...
Mon, Feb 26 2018, 9:03 AM
As local, state, and national organizations plunge into another year’s worth of conferences, there is some good news for those that imbibe in adult be...
Fri, Feb 23 2018, 9:10 AM
Are you an LO interested in receiving a $5 Amazon Gift Card for your participation in a short survey? Tobe Agency, a digital marketing agency focused ...
Thu, Feb 22 2018, 9:12 AM
Jobs & housing drive the economy, and yesterday we learned that Existing Home Sales fell 3.2% in January, according to NAR . Lawrence Yun, NAR's Chief...
Wed, Feb 21 2018, 9:12 AM
Why couldn’t the sesame seed leave the gambling casino? Because he was on a roll. In an admittedly weak segue, rolls are made in kitchens, and LOs may...
Tue, Feb 20 2018, 9:12 AM
Welcome to Day 1 of the longest period in the United States without a federal holiday: President's Day to Memorial Day. Some will think, “That’s a dra...
Fri, Feb 16 2018, 9:11 AM
Mortgage rates are greatly influenced by supply and demand. And if both the U.S. government and individuals need to borrow money, the government usual...
Thu, Feb 15 2018, 9:08 AM
If you claim that many areas of the nation have few houses for sale, no one will disagree. (“Rob, when are those big funds that own tens of thousands ...
Wed, Feb 14 2018, 9:19 AM
Two men are sitting in a bar when Mark Zuckerberg walks in. One of the men says to his friend, “This is awesome! On average, everyone in this bar is w...
Tue, Feb 13 2018, 9:13 AM
Every lender has seen rates move higher, and nearly every lender has seen the inventory of homes for sale decline. With rates moving higher, which sho...
Mon, Feb 12 2018, 9:11 AM
People are usually surprised to learn there are more boating licenses issued in Wyoming then in Hawai’i. Arizona and flooding? CoreLogic research find...
Fri, Feb 9 2018, 9:14 AM
Here’s a riddle for tonight’s Happy Hour for snowed-in Chicagoans: What do New Day Financial, Nations Lending Corp., Freedom Mortgage Corp, LoanDepot....
Thu, Feb 8 2018, 9:13 AM
People are usually surprised to learn there are more boating licenses issued in Wyoming then in Hawai’i. Arizona and flooding? CoreLogic research find...
Wed, Feb 7 2018, 9:10 AM
Amazon Go opened its doors in Seattle as the first digital grocery store without any cashiers. (One initially simply downloads an app to use the digit...
Tue, Feb 6 2018, 9:12 AM
As all the pre-printed “Patriots: 2018 Super Bowl Champions” t-shirts are being shipped off for donation to 3rd world countries (yes, that is what hap...
Mon, Feb 5 2018, 9:12 AM
I know plenty of folks in Nebraska. And people who went to school there but left soon afterward. But I don’t know Elsie Eiler, who is the only residen...
Fri, Feb 2 2018, 9:06 AM
The total number of slot machines in Las Vegas is down 23 percent from its peak in 2001, partially because slot gambling never really clicked with you...
Thu, Feb 1 2018, 9:14 AM
Whale oil manufacturers… switchboard operators… real estate agents? “Knock does everything a traditional real estate agent does and so much more.” Lau...
Wed, Jan 31 2018, 9:11 AM
“Rob, are you hearing an issue regarding ‘individual CRMs?’ Where LOs are purchasing their own CRMs, which move with them to various companies, and th...
Tue, Jan 30 2018, 9:23 AM
Opening today’s note with something non-business related, before the commentary comes out Wednesday (tomorrow) morning, we’ll have a full lunar eclips...
Mon, Jan 29 2018, 9:12 AM
Lenders in the US should be aware of what’s going on in the United Kingdom’s mortgage community – it won’t make any investor in mortgages feel better ...
Fri, Jan 26 2018, 9:13 AM
When I grow up I want to… live in a shipping container live in a shipping container ? Hey, don’t laugh… they’re here, and some suggest are a piece of ...
Thu, Jan 25 2018, 9:13 AM
Yes, rates have gone up, but residential applications have been up for three straight weeks. There is little denying that employment, housing, and the...
Wed, Jan 24 2018, 9:16 AM
“The kids convinced me to make popcorn for breakfast. That makes me either the best or worst dad ever – not sure which.” Breakfast at home is a fond m...
Tue, Jan 23 2018, 9:23 AM
Now that the government has re-opened and furloughed bison are streaming back into various national parks, let’s turn back to… LO comp? “Rob, are you ...
Mon, Jan 22 2018, 9:19 AM
If you want to read up on the latest Fannie lawsuit, here’s one dealing with a stripper hired into Fannie’s IT group but with unusual manager expectat...
Fri, Jan 19 2018, 9:00 AM
As if we don’t have enough measures of housing and real estate prices, here’s another one. The RE/MAX National Housing Report tells us what most alrea...
Thu, Jan 18 2018, 9:18 AM
“Employee engagement is a hot topic for organizations big and small. Regardless of size, a highly engaged workforce is a company’s greatest asset and ...
Wed, Jan 17 2018, 9:14 AM
“It doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor, as long as you have money.” Banks are where the money is, and plenty of them are paying attention to Congr...
Tue, Jan 16 2018, 9:16 AM
Replacing real estate agents with “something else that doesn’t earn a 6% commission” is certainly a discussion topic. Here’s one new venture: peer to ...
Fri, Jan 12 2018, 9:14 AM
Plenty of people tell me that I’m “long in the tooth.” (A way of gauging a horse’s age.) Tooth? Thanks to Emily W. for sending in something that all o...
Thu, Jan 11 2018, 9:13 AM
When I grow up I want a million-dollar house! Tight inventories, costs, and appreciation have created an increase of houses worth seven figures - the ...
Wed, Jan 10 2018, 9:13 AM
Sharing a king bed with your 80-year old aunt, or the refrigerator with your twin 25-year olds who can’t afford to move out, probably isn’t high on yo...
Tue, Jan 9 2018, 9:13 AM
“A sea change:” A radical change or transformation. One wouldn’t call last Friday’s note from the CFPB a sea change, but the fact that the Consumer Fi...
Mon, Jan 8 2018, 9:17 AM
The first five days after the weekend are the hardest. Welcome to Day 1. Events, Training, and Webinars This Week Register for Plaza’s January 8th web...
Fri, Jan 5 2018, 9:11 AM
Today is “job’s day,” and it seems like many people I talk to in other professions have 2-3 jobs. (“Yeah, I graduated with a degree in physical therap...
Thu, Jan 4 2018, 9:17 AM
A shift in housing? Returns for landlords softened last year as about 400,000 units entered the US multifamily-housing market, outstripping demand, ac...
Wed, Jan 3 2018, 9:18 AM
Regardless of weather, there are 251 business days in 2018, one more than in 2017. For years we’ve been counting the days for rates to move higher, ye...
Tue, Jan 2 2018, 9:17 AM
One court ruling from 2017 is that a mortgage broker is not a real estate professional , so passive activity rules apply. Yes, 2017 is now in the hist...
Fri, Dec 29 2017, 9:14 AM
Demographics and Residential Lending Age, population trends, and gender do matter in the home buying process. There, I said it. Someone in their early...
Thu, Dec 28 2017, 10:05 AM
For further evidence of the uneven recovery among U.S. housing markets , how's this: In the 10 most expensive U.S. metropolitan areas, median home val...
Wed, Dec 27 2017, 9:32 AM
Private education pays well. There were 58 people making over $1,000,000 per year in total compensation as the presidents of private, non-profit colle...
Tue, Dec 26 2017, 9:14 AM
Congrats to The Money Source. It is on a major hiring spree to build an in-house ad agency in the greater Detroit area. The marketing team will serve ...
Fri, Dec 22 2017, 9:16 AM
What's age got to do with anything? In the new issue of STRATMOR Group's Insights report, Sr. Partner Jim Cameron debunks several of myths many lender...
Thu, Dec 21 2017, 9:15 AM
Welcome to the Winter Solstice (yes, more sunlight ahead of us in the Northern Hemisphere!). Things are slowing down ahead of Christmas, shipping and ...
