Tue, Apr 16 2024, 11:30 AM
“Congratulations to the Kardashians on their 20th season. And to me for never having watched a single minute of a single episode.” There are certainly...
Mon, Apr 15 2024, 11:28 AM
No one is getting any younger, not even Clint Eastwood. Time marches on, as does, apparently, the cost of mailing a letter. The post office wants to j...
Fri, Apr 12 2024, 11:24 AM
When I win the lottery, I am going to buy one of these to heat my blankets at home. Of course, that would mean that I will have to start playing the l...
Thu, Apr 11 2024, 11:35 AM
The next time you complain about your job, just be thankful you’re not working at Cinnabon. (Excuse the language.) Did you know that tomorrow is “Take...
Wed, Apr 10 2024, 11:43 AM
Remember when lenders were fretting about Amazon rolling out a major home loan program? The new acronym that the mortgage industry was about to start ...
Tue, Apr 9 2024, 11:37 AM
Here in the Hill Country near Austin, Texas, there’s an active market of sellers and buyers of real estate. It is a safe bet that most use agents; aro...
Mon, Apr 8 2024, 11:01 AM
“A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.” April 15th is in a week, the traditional date when taxes are due. Time flies. Do yo...
Fri, Apr 5 2024, 11:47 AM
I head to Central Texas today (A53 on Southwest; something about maybe seeing an eclipse); statewide Texas home ownership rate is about 64 percent. Th...
Thu, Apr 4 2024, 11:30 AM
Think you can predict the future? I don’t think so. (Click on that link and think about that caption.) Some foresaw the drop in volume and income afte...
Wed, Apr 3 2024, 12:00 PM
The other night, at the Bruce Springsteen concert in San Francisco (it was great), he did a crowd favorite, singing, “Baby I got my facts learned real...
Tue, Apr 2 2024, 11:53 AM
“I think it’s disgraceful that after 55 years, people don’t know who Neil Armstrong was… or even the type of trumpet he played.” Time flies. Did you k...
Mon, Apr 1 2024, 11:44 AM
In real Commentary news, many folks who read this Commentary are workin’ for a livin’, and many of them are managers. On a recent Truv Zoom call, Lowe...
Thu, Mar 28 2024, 11:50 AM
Here’s a tip of the day for anyone manning a conference booth: instead of a pen, or mouse pad, how about a locally made treat? Hats off to Aimee, Bobb...
Wed, Mar 27 2024, 11:55 AM
Could anything be better than Krispy Kreme coming to McDonalds! Yes! The new HMDA data is here! (More of a more serious note below.) Whether donuts or...
Tue, Mar 26 2024, 11:15 AM
As conjecture swirls about the economic impact of the collapse of the bridge in Baltimore, did you ever notice that when you put the two words "The" a...
Mon, Mar 25 2024, 11:54 AM
Here in Louisville, KY, at the TMC event, this one is making the rounds. “What does a real estate agent’s wife say if she can’t sleep? ‘Honey, tell me...
Fri, Mar 22 2024, 11:55 AM
I saw a sign recently: “Psychic Fair Cancelled Due to Unforeseen Circumstances.” No one can see into the future, or can read minds, and communication ...
Thu, Mar 21 2024, 11:38 AM
“90 percent of bald people still own a comb; they just can't part with it.” Many companies that retained servicing in 2020 and 2021, complete with low...
Wed, Mar 20 2024, 11:39 AM
Anyone wonder what happens after someone steps away from mortgage banking? Well, after exiting Ellie Mae/ICE, Jonathan Corr finds himself involved in ...
Tue, Mar 19 2024, 10:37 AM
One never knows what one will learn at a mortgage event, like yesterday learning from Lender Toolkit’s Alex K. that Collinsville, Illinois has the lar...
Mon, Mar 18 2024, 11:05 AM
Lenders are refinancing borrowers who took out intermediate ARMs 3, 5, or 7 years ago and whose rates have gone up. Some here in Las Vegas, walking ar...
Fri, Mar 15 2024, 11:22 AM
Just once, I want a username and password prompt to say, “Close enough.” Speaking of technology, this weekend Robbie and I head to Las Vegas for the I...
Thu, Mar 14 2024, 11:37 AM
Fun with numbers: Did you know that, at age 22, Billie Eilish has won twice as many Oscars (2) than 80-year-old Martin Scorsese (1)? (And yes, Samuel ...
Wed, Mar 13 2024, 11:25 AM
To the best of my knowledge my cat Myrtle, despite being at the top of the food chain, has never hunted eagle… But who can resist a good live bald eag...
Tue, Mar 12 2024, 11:17 AM
“I heard that 80 percent of car accidents occur within one mile of a person's residence, so I moved.” But it turns out that moving doesn't improve you...
Mon, Mar 11 2024, 10:56 AM
When I was a teen, I worked a variety of jobs but never at a fast-food joint. No one made much money working at Mickey D’s or Dairy Queen. Now, in Cal...
Fri, Mar 8 2024, 10:40 AM
“Horses have lower divorce rates. It's because they are in stable relationships.” Here on the Central Coast of California, there are plenty of horses ...
Thu, Mar 7 2024, 11:39 AM
“I saw a woman at Walmart with March Madness teeth... She was down to the final four.” No one is talking about 30-year mortgage interest rates heading...
Wed, Mar 6 2024, 11:35 AM
Here in Southern California, there are plenty of swimming pools and tennis courts, but none of them belong to me. Under the header of, “Why didn’t I t...
Tue, Mar 5 2024, 10:55 AM
Conference season is cranking back up, and some believe that apple orchards are in danger of extinction give the amount of “applewood smoked” bacon in...
Mon, Mar 4 2024, 10:58 AM
Last year I mentioned that today is the only day that is also a command. A few folks corrected me, saying that “March first” fits that bill as well. L...
Fri, Mar 1 2024, 11:09 AM
As I watch it snow here in the Sierra, hey, if you’re going to watch one video this week, watch this 15-second classic (with sound) on how our banking...
Thu, Feb 29 2024, 11:33 AM
Welcome to February 29; The 366th day is added to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical year or seasonal year. What do astronomers...
Wed, Feb 28 2024, 11:09 AM
At the TMBA’s Secondary Conference in Houston a topic is obviously interest rates and the economy… And the fact that the nation’s interest payment exp...
Tue, Feb 27 2024, 11:01 AM
A correction to yesterday’s Commentary regarding the next holiday (Memorial Day) being two months out. Several emailed that Memorial Day is actually t...
Mon, Feb 26 2024, 11:05 AM
Saturday was George Thorogood’s 74th birthday, and fans know that he wrote the classic tale of rent collection, land ladies, and payment avoidance. Ti...
Fri, Feb 23 2024, 10:52 AM
“Alexa, where’s my damn package?” (Page down 3-4 times to the video.) Life is full of surprises, good and bad. Rates aren’t a surprise… The U.S. Feder...
Thu, Feb 22 2024, 10:49 AM
Did someone say, “National Margarita Day”? (Splendid timing, especially as vendors and lenders contemplate a rate and volume environment that may not ...
Wed, Feb 21 2024, 2:36 PM
There’s an old LO joke, telling their client, “When you’re buying a house, be sure to do it with a significant other, and make sure that one of you ha...
Tue, Feb 20 2024, 11:26 AM
Two vultures are in a field, eating a dead clown. One vulture says to the other, "Does this taste funny to you?" The last thing you want to hear about...
Fri, Feb 16 2024, 10:42 AM
It was a sad day earlier this week for anyone who likes food out of a toaster as the inventor of Pop-Tarts passed away at age 96. (Yes, Pop-Tarts were...
Thu, Feb 15 2024, 11:01 AM
In my travels I’ve eaten some unusual foods, although maybe not this unusual, but here in Boise the talk is about how unusual it is that applications ...
Wed, Feb 14 2024, 11:50 AM
Have you ever been to a chiropractor? You know, where there’s something out of alignment, you describe it to them, and then they work their magic? Her...
Tue, Feb 13 2024, 11:36 AM
In our biz, you never want to hear, “deception,” “targeting the elderly,” or “abusive tactics” related to a company. But there they are in this report...
Mon, Feb 12 2024, 11:36 AM
Why should lenders and vendors care about servicing? (STRATMOR’s current blog is titled, “It’s 2024: Do You Know Where Your Servicing Is?”) Not only d...
Fri, Feb 9 2024, 11:35 AM
Sometimes there is no shortcut when you want to make a lot of money. Speaking of making money, and creating wealth for clients, owning real estate con...
Thu, Feb 8 2024, 11:17 AM
Economists have their favorite indices to measure the health of the economy. GDP, if men are buying underwear, CPI, RV shipments, GDP, plastic surgery...
Wed, Feb 7 2024, 11:11 AM
When this commentary gig gets old, I think I’ll take up… throwing needles? But so far so good, putting this out six days a week. Yesterday I glanced a...
Tue, Feb 6 2024, 10:45 AM
Every month we receive statistics showing how prices are going up, or down, and our Federal Reserve is continually mentioning controlling inflation wh...
Mon, Feb 5 2024, 10:39 AM
“If I had a dollar for every girl that found me unattractive, they would eventually find me attractive.” New York Community Bancorp, buyer of Flagstar...
