Wed, Jan 20 2010, 5:22 PM
Warehouse lenders are critical for mortgage bankers. It’s hard to function as a mortgage bank without one. Having a relationship with more than one ...
Tue, Jan 19 2010, 2:06 PM
As I’ve watched the news on Haiti, I was trying to bring some perspective into the recent economic damage we all experienced from the mortgage meltdow...
Tue, Jan 19 2010, 1:54 PM
Originator Commission Splits and Salaries; Subprime Loan Delinquencies; Acquiring a Bank; Revenue Leakage
Fri, Jan 15 2010, 4:11 PM
If you are mortgage banker or broker that survived the last several years, you’re probably feeling pretty good after 2009. Last year will stand out a...
Thu, Jan 14 2010, 3:20 PM
As a top producing loan officer, I would want to work for a company that had this type of reward system in place that would help me generate higher co...
Wed, Jan 13 2010, 3:24 PM
Most mortgage bankers don’t want to talk about or deal with investor loan repurchase requests, but they are not going to miraculously disappear throug...
Tue, Jan 12 2010, 2:00 PM
Many mortgage banking CEOs are past production people that believe a company’s success is based on growing production. Production is part of the equa...
Tue, Jan 12 2010, 1:59 PM
Top Mortgage Servicers; Should Lenders Be Worried; Failed Bank Update; The Dornbusch Law; Keeping GMAC Alive
Mon, Jan 11 2010, 3:33 PM
Gain on Sale revenue leakage and wine leakage from barrels is not good for either business. Any leakage is a waste and reduces the opportunity to mak...
Mon, Jan 11 2010, 1:44 PM
Banks currently have a low cost of funds, but only a handful of low risk/high return investment options (borrow short and lend long) with which to put...
Mon, Jan 11 2010, 1:33 PM
We’ve come a long way, but it still takes up to 30 days to get a loan funded after the loan application is taken by the loan officer. It’s interestin...
Mon, Jan 11 2010, 1:33 PM
We’ve seen state regulators impose six figure fines on companies for violation of state regulations. And the repurchase of one loan and corresponding...
Mon, Jan 11 2010, 1:33 PM
One of the major job responsibilities of a branch manager is to locate and hire loan officers. Recruiting is not easy and it takes time to find, recr...
Mon, Jan 11 2010, 1:33 PM
I had a meeting last week with another mortgage banker that is wrestling with the decision to stick it out on his own, partner with a stronger better ...
Mon, Jan 11 2010, 1:32 PM
Barriers of entry are increasing and will push out many players. Capital and a solid balance sheet are going to be paramount to compete as a mortgage...
Mon, Jan 11 2010, 1:32 PM
In short, CDS are a type of insurance policy that protects bond holders in the event of a default. Let’s look at a simple example of the use of a CDS...
Mon, Jan 11 2010, 1:32 PM
Several years ago, at the beginning of the subprime meltdown, I had the opportunity to audit a large national subprime company. I was hired by their ...
Mon, Jan 11 2010, 1:32 PM
Early this year I attended a loan production seminar in Lake Tahoe sponsored by C.O.R.E. Both loan officers and production managers were present at t...
Mon, Jan 11 2010, 1:31 PM
Our focus on Loss Mitigation is the process mortgage bankers have developed to manage issues such as early payment defaults (EPDs), repurchase request...
Mon, Jan 11 2010, 1:31 PM
The quality of senior management drives the entire performance of a firm. A typical mid-sized mortgage company will be organized with a CEO and a CFO...
Mon, Jan 11 2010, 1:30 PM
The Texas Ratio is one measure of a bank’s financial strength and sometimes is an indicator of banks that may fail. It is calculated by dividing the v...
Mon, Jan 11 2010, 1:29 PM
We talked yesterday about the opportunity for community banks to partner with a mortgage banker. If a community bank is not interested in the mortgag...
Mon, Jan 11 2010, 1:28 PM
We heard this over and over again this year: The wholesale business is dead and brokers aren’t going to survive. Everyone hates this business model f...
Mon, Jan 11 2010, 1:28 PM
Wine sales are driven by the ratings of 3-4 wine publications such as Wine Spectator. A higher rating from these publications boosts the sales and pr...
Mon, Jan 11 2010, 1:28 PM
We recently reviewed a company that had a pretty good prefunding quality control process. Every loan is audited before funding. Based on what we’ve s...
Mon, Jan 11 2010, 1:28 PM
One of the studies we perform for mortgage bankers is a review of the capital markets area. We review various policies and procedures, controls, hedg...
Mon, Jan 11 2010, 1:28 PM
As mortgage banking consultants and advisers, we have an opportunity to talk to many folks in our industry on a daily basis. These folks come from al...
Mon, Jan 11 2010, 1:27 PM
While origination is a pivotal part of the process (without it there would be no loan cycle)...heading into the new era of mortgage lending, focusing ...
Mon, Jan 11 2010, 1:27 PM
As we visit mortgage operations around the country, we see many types of business models. Within the broad areas of the mortgage loan life cycle are i...
Mon, Jan 11 2010, 1:27 PM
In short, there are some parallels, though a different motivation, with the two governments’ intervention in the real estate and mortgage space. Two ...
Mon, Jan 11 2010, 1:27 PM
Over the past month, we‘ve had a few private equity groups contact us that are interested in making an investment in a mortgage banking company. Gen...
Mon, Jan 11 2010, 1:27 PM
One of the questions we ask CEOs during our FOCIS –plus review is: What do you think are the key risks confronting you in the next couple of years an...
Mon, Jan 11 2010, 1:26 PM
If the loan officer is performing much of the front end underwriting and processing using technology – lap tops, websites, PDAs and cell phones, is it...
Mon, Jan 11 2010, 1:25 PM
Owners of small mortgage banking and brokering companies are passionate, energetic and motivated. It takes a certain personality and genetic code to ...
