Wed, Sep 6 2023, 9:59 AM
This morning I head to Dallas, Texas, where, if you ask Redfin, prices are up 5 percent for the year. Or Zillow will tell you prices are down 2 percen...
Tue, Sep 5 2023, 10:40 AM
It was a rough weekend. My cat Myrtle, resting comfortably at the top of the food chain, was visibly miffed at me not nominating her (again) for the v...
Fri, Sep 1 2023, 10:06 AM
Some things in life are fleeting, like a frosty glass of rose, enemy troops singing Christmas carols in the trenches during WWI, or the time when lend...
Thu, Aug 31 2023, 9:37 AM
The great thing about inflation is if you spend the same on groceries, the bags are lighter and easier to carry home. Restaurants and food companies r...
Wed, Aug 30 2023, 10:02 AM
Studies have shown that women who have large backsides live much longer than the men who comment on them. Studies also show that there are three basic...
Tue, Aug 29 2023, 10:18 AM
“What did the happy real estate agent put on her sign? I have lots to be thankful for.” (Feel free to use that gem at your next presentation at Sotheb...
Mon, Aug 28 2023, 10:31 AM
As the rumor spreads that millions of women are lined up to be weighed at the Fulton County Jail, we head into late summer and early autumn, rarely a ...
Fri, Aug 25 2023, 12:00 PM
What color of front door “sells” the best? Some say black, although in a related topic red is the most popular. Doesn’t that mean red sells the best i...
Thu, Aug 24 2023, 10:51 AM
“I’m not a fan of elevator music. It’s bad on so many levels.” Whether or not you think that the environment and value of owning stock in lenders and ...
Wed, Aug 23 2023, 11:02 AM
As the Western Secondary winds up, and weary capital markets staff & vendors head home from Orange County, perhaps humming “California Gurls,” working...
Tue, Aug 22 2023, 9:59 AM
Phantom Planet sang, California here we come, right back where we started from.” Many here at the Western Secondary have spent their entire career in ...
Mon, Aug 21 2023, 10:59 AM
For those attending the Western Secondary, remember, it never rains in Southern California. Except for now. Here’s one person who won’t be seeing So C...
Fri, Aug 18 2023, 10:49 AM
As numbers approaching a thousand head to Orange County, CA, for the California MBA’s Western Secondary, keeping an eye on the remnants of a hurricane...
Thu, Aug 17 2023, 10:28 AM
Time flies, and we’re more than halfway through the 3rd quarter. Few lenders and vendors look forward to heading into the autumn or winter of any year...
Wed, Aug 16 2023, 10:00 AM
If I am not borrowing money, the impact of higher rates isn’t a big direct hit to my lifestyle or spending. But if I had a credit card from Kohl’s, pa...
Tue, Aug 15 2023, 10:37 AM
Sorry the commentary is a little late this morning. I received an email from my IT department that I needed to change my username and password. It too...
Mon, Aug 14 2023, 10:27 AM
For anyone attending the California MBA’s Western Secondary starting this weekend, here’s a challenge too good for any tennis players to pass up. Augi...
Fri, Aug 11 2023, 10:22 AM
As the MMLA conference wraps up (congratulations to Dan Grzywacz, CMB, and nearly 40-year industry vet, who was this year’s James T. Barnes Award winn...
Thu, Aug 10 2023, 10:02 AM
A general discussion topic of those here at the MMLA conference in Michigan is the ups and downs we’re all facing. While mortgage applications drift d...
Wed, Aug 9 2023, 10:55 AM
“Once things were so tough for me, I worked at a cheap pizza shop to get by. I kneaded the dough.” Things are indeed tough out there. The other day I ...
Tue, Aug 8 2023, 10:41 AM
Lending continues to be intertwined with legal and compliance issues. Here’s a story from overnight that is catching a lot of attention: “Equifax stoc...
Mon, Aug 7 2023, 10:39 AM
Jordan Peele met his famous comedy partner Keegan-Michael Key around 2002 at Second City in Chicago, and eventually performed this classic routine tha...
Fri, Aug 4 2023, 11:40 AM
Planet Home’s Michael B. reminds me, “I miss every shot I don’t take.” The topics here in Orlando at the FAMP convention include not only prospecting,...
Thu, Aug 3 2023, 10:50 AM
Mark Weber sends, “Can I take my 2.5 percent loan to another property? Remember the portable loan idea? When will we see real estate agents advertisin...
Wed, Aug 2 2023, 8:26 AM
“If you have no interest in banking, you are not a loan.” (Best said out loud to a 6th grader.) Cutting edge humor aside, this morning I head to Orlan...
Tue, Aug 1 2023, 10:05 AM
Overheard last night at a bar here in Austin, Texas: “It’s hotter than the hinges to the gates of hell.” Not so hot, as residential lenders know, are ...
Mon, Jul 31 2023, 9:49 AM
“Yesterday I completed a chore I’ve been putting off for four months. It took me 20 minutes. I will learn nothing from this.” That sums up a lot of my...
Fri, Jul 28 2023, 10:56 AM
Mortgages are only part of our lives, right? I only know what I read online, although Abraham Lincoln once said, “Don’t believe everything you read on...
Thu, Jul 27 2023, 10:54 AM
“I’m trying to organize a hide and seek tournament, but good players are really hard to find.” Good LOs (trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courte...
Wed, Jul 26 2023, 10:40 AM
Today's Fed meeting announcement is the last one until September 20. Mortgage rates, of course, are prone to moving around even without the Fed’s dire...
Tue, Jul 25 2023, 10:40 AM
“I am part of the 4 percent who want to ban the teaching of math. We are a quarter of the country, and we will not be ignored! And that number is grow...
Mon, Jul 24 2023, 10:11 AM
Some things are fortuitous. For example, if Sting hadn’t been in Montserrat windsurfing when Dire Straits was recording “Money for Nothing,” would we ...
Fri, Jul 21 2023, 11:02 AM
Isn’t ice cream a great food!? In fact, I worked in an ice cream plant in my early 20s. Did you know that Moose Tracks ice cream was named for a minia...
Thu, Jul 20 2023, 10:16 AM
Ever see the movie “Cocoon”? Is there an X-rated version? Seven of the 10 fastest-growing metro areas over the past year are in Florida. The Census Bu...
Wed, Jul 19 2023, 11:07 AM
Think mortgage math is complicated? Many in the nation are focused on air conditioning. Why is it measured in tons? It harkens back to the days of usi...
Tue, Jul 18 2023, 11:08 AM
There’s a definite shift going on in banks as continued layoff rumors in jumbo and portfolio divisions are rampant. At the other end of the job chain,...
Mon, Jul 17 2023, 10:25 AM
I am often asked about the jumbo segment of our business. Frankly, aside from the coasts and a couple cities in-between, much of the nation is not ove...
Fri, Jul 14 2023, 10:48 AM
“If they raise the interest rates one more time, you're going to hear Janet Yellen.” Much of the talk in the hallways here at the California Associati...
Thu, Jul 13 2023, 10:38 AM
As rumors continue to swirl regarding the purchase of a well-known Southeastern Texas mortgage bank, lenders are watching the current drop in rates. I...
Wed, Jul 12 2023, 10:39 AM
Who’s in your wallet? I imagine every compliance person at every bank, large and small, are once again reviewing their policies after the Consumer Fin...
Tue, Jul 11 2023, 10:05 AM
Don’t forget that today, 7-11, is Free Slurpee Day, but that this Sunday the price of a first-class mail stamp is going up from 63 cents to 66 cents, ...
Mon, Jul 10 2023, 10:05 AM
“The world is going to come to an end tonight at midnight. Tune in tomorrow to see if it did!” Sensationalist headlines or bad predictions are tiresom...
Fri, Jul 7 2023, 10:32 AM
What’s our Federal Reserve concerned about? I was in a restaurant last night in Truckee, California, and was shown the table and handed the menu. When...
Thu, Jul 6 2023, 10:35 AM
Apparently China is not paying interest on its sovereign debt… What is it waiting for? If you’re waiting for lower rates to give your business a “shot...
Wed, Jul 5 2023, 9:29 AM
Hey, I’ve got news for you: 2023 is half over. Sometimes reality bites, and vendors and lenders can’t sit there, wringing their hands, waiting for thi...
Mon, Jul 3 2023, 10:25 AM
The other night my cat Myrtle began squeaking in her sleep and moving her paws. She was either dreaming about a Chupacabra, a CFPB exam, or the Depart...
Fri, Jun 30 2023, 10:22 AM
We’re halfway through 2023 already. Time flies. It doesn’t seem that long ago when I was a kid and I had to learn how to make my own bowl of cereal wi...
Thu, Jun 29 2023, 10:24 AM
A “crisis” is a time of intense difficulty, trouble, or danger. Think calamity, catastrophe, or disaster. The word makes for attention-grabbing headli...
Wed, Jun 28 2023, 10:02 AM
As the U.S. faces nationwide flight delays, one must ask if there are processes in place for the FAA to deal with them. “Trust the process” is a commo...
Tue, Jun 27 2023, 10:27 AM
Dang there’s a lot going on in Texas. One week it’s raining “hail the size of goat balls” (not my term; it was the phrase used by the woman mortgage b...
