Fri, Mar 13 2015, 10:51 AM
Last
month I had the privilege of spending some time at the Florida Ellie
Mae Encompass event with CEO Jonathan Corr. I was reminded that he had
...
Thu, Mar 12 2015, 10:43 AM
Charles Dickens walks into a bar and asks for a martini. The bartender asks, "Olive or twist?"
Some things have a clever twist, others not so much -...
Wed, Mar 11 2015, 10:50 AM
"Most mortgage bankers know that if they're attacked by a mob of clowns to go for the juggler."
And most mortgage bankers know whether or not the co...
Tue, Mar 10 2015, 10:17 AM
The
mortgage industry continues to deal with unintended consequences of
over-regulation, including higher prices for borrowers. The barrel
indus...
Mon, Mar 9 2015, 10:25 AM
Occasionally
I am asked about how the agencies handle certain types of debt. As a
reminder, Fannie Mae requires that all deferred installment debt...
Fri, Mar 6 2015, 11:04 AM
Daylight
Savings commences for many parts of the U.S. dark and early Sunday
morning. For many this means spring is around the corner, with improve...
Thu, Mar 5 2015, 10:49 AM
At
this time of year mortgage bankers everywhere are asking the same
critical question: "Is it acceptable to make an entire lunch out of Girl
Sc...
Wed, Mar 4 2015, 9:45 AM
Nothing
ruins your Friday like realizing it is only Wednesday! I lose track of
what we're celebrating this month: I was all geared up for the Iris...
Tue, Mar 3 2015, 10:52 AM
Irish-American Heritage is celebrated throughout the month of March and St. Patrick's Day is on March 17 th .
Once again our Census Bureau has its f...
Mon, Mar 2 2015, 9:59 AM
National MI recently added a Homebuyer Education
course to its offerings. This online course will help first-time
homebuyers navigate the home ...
Fri, Feb 27 2015, 11:06 AM
Zillow published an article
indicating that low-income renters have moved away from living in
rural, dense communities and into more affluent su...
Thu, Feb 26 2015, 12:10 PM
Here
in North Dakota, at -9 degrees this morning, appraising properties is a
walk in the park, right? What about for appraisers in the Lake Erie ...
Wed, Feb 25 2015, 9:27 AM
Although
the focus of this 6-day a week commentary is residential, it is good to
have an awareness of commercial lending - especially as it compet...
Tue, Feb 24 2015, 10:55 AM
Zelman and Associates published its January Homebuilding Survey ,
indicating that 2015 is off to a strong start. Order growth increased
32% year-...
Mon, Feb 23 2015, 10:34 AM
Young adults are stacking up, but not shacking up -
according to a recent Zillow analysis .
Most young adults are living with their parents or l...
Fri, Feb 20 2015, 11:00 AM
I
have been speaking with plenty of mortgage bankers in recent weeks -
what are they saying? The refi biz is alive and well but slowing
markedly...
Thu, Feb 19 2015, 10:50 AM
Quicken
Loans recently released its monthly Home Price Perception Index (HPPI)
and Home Value Index (HVI). According to the HPPI, appraiser's ho...
Wed, Feb 18 2015, 10:20 AM
Bank
tellers and other bank employees are very aware of elder abuse, and
train regularly to spot it. (Hopefully I won't be accused of it - my
ne...
Tue, Feb 17 2015, 10:16 AM
Here's
the riddle of the day. What is "165"? Answer: it is the number of
business days until August 1, when the RESPA-TILA rules go into place . ...
Fri, Feb 13 2015, 10:58 AM
Friday the 13 th comes three times this year, and this is one of them.
I
can think of three more companies that won't be sending chocolate to
...
Thu, Feb 12 2015, 10:11 AM
A
Pew survey finds the typical middle class family could only replace 21
days of income with readily accessible funds. What is even scarier
perh...
Wed, Feb 11 2015, 10:27 AM
There
are plenty of states with plenty of mountains. In fact, while many say
it is "as flat as a pancake" in Kansas, you might be interested to kn...
Tue, Feb 10 2015, 10:32 AM
Tonight
I head to Houston for a couple days, and the city certainly has its
share of coffee houses. What if purchasing your next house near a
St...
Mon, Feb 9 2015, 10:59 AM
Next Monday is a Federal Holiday. When I was a kid we had
both Lincoln's and Washington's birthdays off, and it serves as a
reminder that we got g...
Fri, Feb 6 2015, 11:00 AM
"Rob, do you know where I can find a list of
the largest credit unions?" Yes I do: credit union ranking .
Credit unions in the United States serv...
Thu, Feb 5 2015, 10:55 AM
In
the last few weeks I have had the opportunity to visit Florida, Oregon,
Colorado, Southern California (its own state), Arizona, Texas, and
Fl...
Wed, Feb 4 2015, 9:43 AM
Appraisers, and pet lovers, will find this house dedicated to felines
of interest. Personally, I view it as somewhat quirky. Maybe not so
quirky...
Tue, Feb 3 2015, 10:20 AM
What's
ahead of us this month? Valentine's Day, that's what. "The Hallmark
Holiday" is quickly approaching and hopefully you have bought your love...
Mon, Feb 2 2015, 10:18 AM
The economy is filled with surprises , and people warning us about them
- and us not listening. Every time we fill up our gas tanks we are
remi...
Fri, Jan 30 2015, 10:48 AM
The
U.S. Census Bureau has published some facts featuring the metro areas
represented by the two teams playing in Super Bowl XLIX (the New England...
Thu, Jan 29 2015, 10:45 AM
"Rob, I just heard of a major lender offering an internal incentive for originating FHA streamline refinances .
The bonus is 100 bps on top of thei...
Wed, Jan 28 2015, 9:57 AM
Don't
forget that last Friday Ocwen Financial reached a settlement with a
California regulator that will allow it to continue operating in the
...
Tue, Jan 27 2015, 10:29 AM
I
see a fair amount of state-level news, and it seems to be the season
for lenders to meet with legislators. What items are on the agendas? As
a...
Mon, Jan 26 2015, 10:42 AM
One never knows what will cause mass hysteria . Maybe the storm hitting the Northeast? I doubt Ocwen's troubles
will cause it, but the industry h...
Fri, Jan 23 2015, 10:48 AM
I
am in Portland, Oregon today, but I flew, of course, commercial. In
things to note, in Davos, Switzerland, where the famous finance folks
are,...
Thu, Jan 22 2015, 10:55 AM
Youth might be wasted on the youth, but maybe not education. MBA Education today announced the launch of Mortgage Banking Bound , a program designed ...
Wed, Jan 21 2015, 10:34 AM
A new JPMorgan Chase report indicates that summer jobs for young adults have significantly declined .
Less than half of young people (46%) who appl...
Tue, Jan 20 2015, 10:29 AM
Whether
you're upper class, middle class, lower class, or drinking class, do
you really think the distribution of wealth is somewhat widespread?
...
Fri, Jan 16 2015, 10:59 AM
Poor
Baby Boomers. The industry is so fixated on waiting for the "trophy
generation" Millennials to figure out what they want for housing (see
u...
Thu, Jan 15 2015, 10:36 AM
Have
some spare doubloons sitting in your bank account, and want to put them
to work? You could buy a Japanese 10-yr note and earn about .25% per ...
Wed, Jan 14 2015, 10:23 AM
After
being in Colorado earlier this week and preparing for a trip to Florida
Friday, I must admit that to save time most of today's commentary ha...
Tue, Jan 13 2015, 10:47 AM
"I
didn't make it to the gym again today. That makes five years in a row."
Speaking of streaks, ""Even if you played 60 million hands of poker for...
Mon, Jan 12 2015, 10:28 AM
Not
everyone is wild about the FHFA (which oversees Freddie & Fannie)
joining the Federal Home Loan Bank System. Last week the MBA submitted
its...
Fri, Jan 9 2015, 10:34 AM
I
guess it is a "new" economy? Coca-Cola has announced plans to lay off
about 1,800 employees globally, in an effort to cut costs by roughly US
...
Thu, Jan 8 2015, 10:22 AM
Congrats
to Allan Landon, the former CEO of Bank of Hawaii Corp. President
Barack Obama plans to nominate him to be a Federal Reserve governor
a...
Wed, Jan 7 2015, 9:56 AM
Plenty
of LOs and lenders rely on the FHA's programs for their livelihood.
(FHA loans account for about 10% of all applications, VA 11%, USDA 1%.)...
Tue, Jan 6 2015, 10:44 AM
I'm hooked on watching Buying Alaska, but heck it could be Buying Bismarck, ND for
all I care; there's just something interesting about looking at ...
Mon, Jan 5 2015, 10:44 AM
"The
first five days after the weekend are the toughest." And after two
holiday weeks, this week is going to seem pretty long. And how the heck
...
Fri, Jan 2 2015, 10:27 AM
The U.S. Census Bureau projected the United States population to be 320.1 million as of yesterday.
(And no, not all of them contribute to NAR.) Th...
Wed, Dec 31 2014, 10:55 AM
Those who
follow this kind of thing note that 32% of adults lived with someone
other than a spouse or partner in 2012 vs. only 26% in 2000. From a...
