Tue, May 23 2017, 1:33 PM
Ask anyone house hunting this spring, and they'll tell you there are far too few homes for sale. But, really, it's the price tags of the homes for sal...
Tue, May 23 2017, 10:01 AM
I do my best to group updates to create a narrative that is more "user friendly" than to just throw news out there. But some updates don't fit into co...
Mon, May 22 2017, 8:53 AM
I recently heard a CEO say, “I am fine competing on product, price, and service. But we shouldn’t have to compete on subjective interpretations of rul...
Fri, May 19 2017, 9:33 AM
For me this week included time in Salt Lake City, Columbus, Milwaukee, San Francisco, and Raleigh. (The mood is good as individuals continue to share ...
Thu, May 18 2017, 9:57 AM
Imagine being able to keep the money you earn!? Per Mr. Mel Watt, Fannie & Freddie might have to keep their profits to avoid rescue . Mr. Watt, who ha...
Wed, May 17 2017, 8:51 AM
A Bank Director survey of bank directors, execs, and HR officers finds the top compensation challenges last year were, in order, tying compensation to...
Tue, May 16 2017, 9:18 AM
In compensation news, Merrill Lynch's wealth management unit will discontinue signing bonuses for experienced brokers beginning June 1, instead focusi...
Mon, May 15 2017, 8:56 AM
Economists, like royal children are not punished for their errors. Data revision can be a career strategy for some, and certainly some companies wish ...
Fri, May 12 2017, 11:49 AM
Want to help educate a real estate agent, or a home buyer? Show them this site . "...comprehensive, accurate, and reliable neighborhood information. F...
Thu, May 11 2017, 10:32 AM
For me this week includes Maryland , Utah, Wyoming , and California. There are all kinds of rumors out there, ranging from Donald Trump naming Brian M...
Wed, May 10 2017, 9:35 AM
For appraisers, sometimes a simple 3 bedroom, 2 bath tract home can have complications that make things difficult. What about houses that actually "hi...
Tue, May 9 2017, 10:08 AM
I hate to break the news, but racial diversity exists in the United States. In fact, many will tell you that it is one of the U.S.’s strongest attribu...
Mon, May 8 2017, 9:31 AM
Is LBHI's third wave of claims against and lenders and brokers starting? According to the American Mortgage Law Group's Managing Member, James Brody, ...
Fri, May 5 2017, 9:31 AM
Today on “Jobs Friday,” don’t think California has some pull? It is home to 1 in 8 Americans and its economy is the 6th largest in the world. It has 5...
Thu, May 4 2017, 11:22 AM
May the 4th be with you! People wonder if anyone from Freddie Mac has ever actually visited Fannie’s location for an office visit. Yes! Here’s actual ...
Wed, May 3 2017, 9:28 AM
As the 1,400 or so registered participants in the MBA’s Secondary Marketing conference head home, bleary-eyed, the tag-line for the conference could h...
Tue, May 2 2017, 9:55 AM
Overheard yesterday here at the National Secondary Conference: “She is not the brightest crayon in the box.” Funny. But there are plenty of “bright cr...
Mon, May 1 2017, 9:27 AM
Do you think the regulatory environment in residential lending is tough to navigate? Just think about who is going to regulate flying cars? Dust off t...
Fri, Apr 28 2017, 9:17 AM
For 2015, retail originators averaged total compensation of $88,415 versus $80,376 for Consumer Direct originators, per a STRATMOR Insights report on ...
Thu, Apr 27 2017, 10:20 AM
In a recent survey, 97% of millennials said that they were tired of being surveyed. Seriously, well that probably is seriously, according to a new Tra...
Wed, Apr 26 2017, 8:44 AM
How about this quote from the tech world? “If you're not paying for the product, you are the product.” If you don't want companies to collect and sell...
Tue, Apr 25 2017, 9:23 AM
How much do the CEOs of builders make? Turns out they make some decent gravy , certainly good news for them. In other good news, this time for WF, the...
Mon, Apr 24 2017, 9:55 AM
Nature always bats last. Just ask singer Paul Simon who is moving his New York cottage away from the eroding ocean. Thinking about things like "oceans...
Fri, Apr 21 2017, 9:28 AM
The origins of job interviews? Here you go . And speaking of employment, yesterday the commentary mentioned companies coming and going. Here in Florid...
Thu, Apr 20 2017, 9:41 AM
Do you think your small competitor is going to be around at the end of 2017? Perhaps. But I am reminded of some Deloitte research from late 2015 that ...
Wed, Apr 19 2017, 9:16 AM
The English language is always changing. For example, when did “blackstone” become a verb, as in, “I was ‘blackstoned’ last week and will start collec...
Tue, Apr 18 2017, 9:36 AM
There are plenty of companies out there, banks and non-banks, trying to raise money. Since lots of folks like lists, let’s start Tuesday with the top ...
Mon, Apr 17 2017, 9:24 AM
“It was a Monday, a day like any other day. I left a small town, for the apple in decay” - so sang Foreigner many years ago. But the Big Apple’s real ...
Thu, Apr 13 2017, 9:16 AM
The Trump administration is working to revise or replace the Dodd-Frank Act, President Donald Trump told a group of CEOs. House Financial Services Com...
Wed, Apr 12 2017, 9:24 AM
“Marriage is a legal and religious alliance entered into by a man who can’t sleep with the window shut and a woman who can’t sleep with the window ope...
Tue, Apr 11 2017, 11:07 AM
Soaring prices are hitting the vacation home market, as a growing number of Americans now choose to rent rather than buy their beach and mountain home...
Tue, Apr 11 2017, 9:09 AM
TD research finds rising home prices have driven up equity so much tha t 33% of millennial homeowners now say they are considering applying for a home...
Mon, Apr 10 2017, 9:03 AM
In response to a note I had Friday about Domino’s Pizza being required to post all 34 million calorie combinations of its pizzas, ThomsonReuters’ Mich...
Fri, Apr 7 2017, 9:55 AM
If you think mortgage regulations are running amok, as part of the Affordable Care Act, restaurants with 20 or more locations will soon have to post s...
Thu, Apr 6 2017, 9:36 AM
Want a good statistic to demonstrate how tight the housing market is? 57% of all realtors have been involved in a sale with at least 10 offers on a si...
Wed, Apr 5 2017, 9:05 AM
U.S. auto loan debt hit a record $1.16 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2016. That averages out to $6,100 in car payments per licensed driver. In fac...
Tue, Apr 4 2017, 9:11 AM
How much free time do you have? Not much? You’re not alone, as this story points out, "The rich were meant to have the most leisure time. The working ...
Mon, Apr 3 2017, 9:33 AM
Welcome to Q2! I am attending the NYMBA conference for a few days, but 1,300 miles south, in Florida (aka "God's waiting room"), folks are talking "re...
Fri, Mar 31 2017, 9:47 AM
Let’s end the week with a non-mortgage question, but one that you mathaletes will enjoy. What would happen if you were hit by a penny falling from a s...
Thu, Mar 30 2017, 9:48 AM
On this date in 1867, 150 years ago, a few years before I started trading MBS, Seward’s Folly was created. Put another way, on this date a treaty was ...
Wed, Mar 29 2017, 9:39 AM
The average residential loan file has 367,000 documents - and each one must be verified by the underwriter. Okay, just kidding. But every Boeing 737 (...
Tue, Mar 28 2017, 9:39 AM
As an industry, we continue to be reminded of a small minority’s wrongdoings. The latest example comes from New York where a Copiague man was sentence...
Mon, Mar 27 2017, 1:58 PM
Housing remains in high demand in most of the nation, but the housing recovery looks increasingly uneven, depending on location. Whether buyers are sh...
Mon, Mar 27 2017, 11:06 AM
This week involves a fair amount of cross-country travel for me (California, Washington DC, Florida, and Utah), and as it turns out Wells Fargo is the...
Fri, Mar 24 2017, 10:22 AM
In legal news, Experian , one of the nation's three major credit reporting bureaus, misled consumers by telling them that the credit scores they purch...
Thu, Mar 23 2017, 9:10 AM
Have you been asked to join the Trump Administration’ new group focusing on mortgage finance policy? No? My cat Myrtle hasn't gotten the nod (yet) eit...
Wed, Mar 22 2017, 5:36 PM
“Dance like no one is watching. E-mail like one day it may be read aloud in a deposition.” Here's some pithier legal news. The Department of Justice i...
Tue, Mar 21 2017, 10:16 AM
Who can you trust? Digital Journal reports new malware targets Google Chrome users with a pop up that indicates a new font needs to be installed for w...
Mon, Mar 20 2017, 10:58 AM
Say it ain’t so! Fannie is being bought by an Italian company?! Sure enough, Italy’s Ferrero International SA is buying U.S.-based Fannie May Confecti...
Fri, Mar 17 2017, 9:03 AM
The Fed reported US household net worth (total asset value minus total liability value) jumped to a record $92.8 trillion in Q4 driven by stock market...
