Tue, Apr 27 2010, 5:37 PM
Mortgage bankers can’t survive without loan originations. Loan originations create the opportunity to generate revenue through loan fees and secondar...
Fri, Apr 23 2010, 1:58 PM
I recently received my ARM notice from Aurora Loan Services that my interest rate was going to adjust in 30 days. Remember ALS? It was the savings ...
Tue, Apr 20 2010, 3:11 PM
This last Saturday I paddled something new. I’ve had a habit of kayaking 2-3 places and not exploring something new. There are many great bays and l...
Thu, Apr 15 2010, 2:44 PM
During our visits to mortgage companies, we often get asked: Does it make sense to retain servicing? And, if it does, when should be it considered?
Tue, Apr 13 2010, 12:16 PM
We almost never see mortgage bankers doing formal, ongoing due diligence on their counter-party risk, and it always concerns us. The point of looking ...
Fri, Apr 9 2010, 11:32 AM
This week, I visited a small North West retail mortgage banker that is doing around $20M per month. I was hired to perform a FOCIS study on the compa...
Thu, Apr 8 2010, 11:01 AM
If you are a mortgage banker, you know what the new four letter word is: COMPLIANCE. Investors, regulators and consumers will be using compliance viol...
Mon, Apr 5 2010, 12:27 PM
Loan Approvals Before Delegated Underwriting; Repurchase Liability and the Value of a Mortgage Company; Flagstar Stock Dilution; Citi and TARP
Thu, Apr 1 2010, 1:42 PM
If a mortgage banker has been originating and selling loans to investors, it should it should prepare for The Law of Unintended Consequences. One doe...
Tue, Mar 30 2010, 11:46 AM
If you are considering raising capital today, take some time to understand the difference between Common and Preferred Stock. If you are looking to m...
Mon, Mar 29 2010, 2:20 PM
We hate to sound like a nag, but what are you doing to track your leakage? If you’re building in a profit of, say, 150 bps on FHA loans, are you real...
Fri, Mar 26 2010, 11:00 AM
We recently reviewed a FOCIS-plus study with board members and management of a small mortgage bank. What was interesting about this company was its s...
Wed, Mar 24 2010, 12:01 PM
We look at the most recent results of the difference between best efforts and mandatory delivery. There are four key areas a mortgage banker must dev...
Tue, Mar 23 2010, 3:51 PM
It’s hard to manage a company without have the details of revenues, cost of goods sold and expenses. Appropriate placement of the details on the P&L...
Mon, Mar 22 2010, 1:54 PM
Would you invest in a company laden with huge amounts of debt and moderate growth or a company with high growth and no debt? What if the choice were ...
Thu, Mar 18 2010, 12:06 PM
We perform our FOCIS audit for warehouse lenders looking to identify hidden risks and potential “tapebombs” that may result in unexpected losses. We ...
Tue, Mar 16 2010, 1:21 PM
There is a saying in the business world that “you raise money when you don’t need it”. With the many changes in the industry, there have become many ...
Mon, Mar 15 2010, 4:33 PM
Let’s pretend you’re a bank and you’re funding mortgages today with Fed Funds. Fed Funds will cost you 16 bps, and let’s say you’re closing 5% loans....
Fri, Mar 12 2010, 3:51 PM
Top performing mortgage bankers made 90-100 bps per loan. That means, for every $100 million you closed, you should have (and could have) earned $900...
Thu, Mar 11 2010, 12:48 PM
A portmanteau means a blend of two or more words and their meanings into one new word. An example is the word brunch meaning breakfast +lunch. Anoth...
Tue, Mar 9 2010, 2:56 PM
Frank Sinatra’s son was kidnapped on a Friday in 1963, and the singer called up Bank of America, Security Pacific and a few other big banks asking for...
Mon, Mar 8 2010, 3:01 PM
HVCC has been a challenge for originators who don’t have the flexibility they had in the past. Some mortgage bankers complain there are quality issue...
Fri, Mar 5 2010, 12:10 PM
Mandatory commitments offer the opportunity to increase profits and even lower rates, but we must point out the risks associated with mandatory commit...
Thu, Mar 4 2010, 12:07 PM
Those of you who aren’t commercial bankers might ask what the heck is the loans-to-deposit ratio?. Essentially, it’s this: (1) You have $100 in depos...
Wed, Mar 3 2010, 11:15 AM
Over the last year, we’ve seen many loan officers and mortgage brokers desiring to bolt onto a strong regional mortgage bank. Many mortgage brokers a...
Mon, Mar 1 2010, 2:23 PM
We were Compass Analytics users for years back when it was called Tuttle & Co. They were a great hedging advisor then, it may be even better today. O...
Thu, Feb 25 2010, 4:46 PM
The key is to not be an average performer in the mortgage banking space. As an average performer, the risk verses reward is slanted more toward the ri...
Wed, Feb 24 2010, 2:59 PM
Will the mortgage broker ever go away? We know some smart people who’ve started up broker shops recently, and we think they’ll find good niches where...
Tue, Feb 23 2010, 2:28 PM
There’s several sources of gain on sale leakage that result in a reduction of revenues. The key is to monitor each loan to ensure there is little or ...
Mon, Feb 22 2010, 1:35 PM
It’s well into February. Do you have a 2010 budget which allows you to compare actual performance versus budget performance? We’ll flat out tell you...
Fri, Feb 19 2010, 11:46 AM
It is important to have a map or GPS when taking a trip. Without guidance, the journey may take much longer and travel costs could unexpectedly grow....
Thu, Feb 18 2010, 4:51 PM
Profiling is not a lawful practice, but certain types of profiling may be a useful tool when recruiting and hiring employees for a company. Let’s be ...
Wed, Feb 17 2010, 1:42 PM
Economic forecasting can be both art and science. Reviewing accurate data and reading/listening to legitimate commentary can be valuable in preparing...
Tue, Feb 16 2010, 1:56 PM
Out of Business Mortgage Insurers; Hedging with TBA MBS; Ideas to Help Create Job Growth; Reasons to Buy a Bank
Fri, Feb 12 2010, 12:10 PM
We have become pioneers regardless if we want to be one or not. We will have to adapt, adjust and expect the unexpected to survive and thrive. Do yo...
Thu, Feb 11 2010, 5:19 PM
Troubled Banks and Construction Loans; More on the Cose of Loan Repurchases; The Size and Scope of NYC
Wed, Feb 10 2010, 2:01 PM
If you’ve worked in the secondary market area or been around someone who manages interest rate risk for a mortgage banker, you may have heard some str...
Tue, Feb 9 2010, 1:26 PM
Cost of a Loan Repurchase; Budget Deficit; Financial Sector Peformance; MBA Headquarters; ResCap Earnings
The story about the Mortgage Bankers offi...
Mon, Feb 8 2010, 3:54 PM
In the past year, we’ve still seen a few companies allow their loan officers to lock directly with investors. Investors today allow their corresponde...
Fri, Feb 5 2010, 9:56 AM
FDIC Doing "A LOT" of Hiring; Less Loan Production in 2010; Neighborhood Watch Scorecard; California Tax Exempt Bonds; FY2011 Budget
Thu, Feb 4 2010, 11:03 AM
We find time and time again see owners of company, managers of departments and individual loan officers neglecting to measure the performance of their...
Wed, Feb 3 2010, 11:13 AM
We’ve helped many companies identify their trailing risk and develop a strategy to attend to the resulting losses. We agree with Wayne Gretzky that a...
Tue, Feb 2 2010, 12:23 PM
Lots of mortgage bankers talk about buying a bank, but aside from this writer, very few have ever done it. So a huge round of applause to Rob Hirt, ...
Mon, Feb 1 2010, 11:11 AM
Comedian George Carlin had a colorful career winning five Grammy Awards. He was known for his black humor as well as thoughts on politics, the Englis...
Fri, Jan 29 2010, 4:30 PM
If you’re highly dependent on refinances, do you have an exit strategy? What are your plans for what you’ll do when rates go up 100-200 bps and refina...
Thu, Jan 28 2010, 2:25 PM
We are seeing more and more CEOs looking for accurate and concise information about their companies to help detect positive and negative trends. Rath...
Wed, Jan 27 2010, 2:14 PM
Eliminating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; Overaggressive Bank Examiners; Rewriting California's Constitution
Tue, Jan 26 2010, 11:19 AM
Our last post discussed the options mortgage banking operators face with increasing capital requirements. Options three and four looked at partnering...
Mon, Jan 25 2010, 10:59 AM
Garrett Watts Report Newsletter: January 25, 2010: Sloppy Loan Origination; Warehouse Lending Update; TBW Timing; Failed TARP Repayment; Economic Free...
Fri, Jan 22 2010, 11:03 AM
The changes in net worth requirements of FNMA and the 3-year staged increase in net worth of HUD are creating a dilemma for many small mortgage banker...
