Fri, Aug 24 2018, 9:07 AM
There are definitional differences between PUDs, condos, apartments, and townhomes, including who owns the land. (Based on historical performance of d...
Thu, Aug 23 2018, 9:07 AM
“Rob, I think we’re going to make it.” Thus began a note I received yesterday from the owner of a small retail lender in the mid-Atlantic region. “We’...
Wed, Aug 22 2018, 9:08 AM
Now that we’re more than halfway through the third quarter, how’s it shaping up for lenders? Yes, the industry has reduced its ranks, therefore cuttin...
Tue, Aug 21 2018, 8:45 AM
What can keep interest rates low in the United States? A slow economy. What can cause higher rates? Inflation. To no one’s surprise, U.S. tariffs have...
Mon, Aug 20 2018, 8:55 AM
In my travels around the States, I see that some lenders are nervous. Yes, margins appear to have, for the most part, stopped compressing dramatically...
Fri, Aug 17 2018, 8:55 AM
Capital markets folks know that there are billions of dollars of outstanding 5, 6, 7, and even 8% securities filled with high interest-rate loans. LOs...
Thu, Aug 16 2018, 8:56 AM
Trillions of dollars of securities are tied to LIBOR, but the London Interbank Offered Rate is scheduled to be phased out at the end of 2021. Companie...
Wed, Aug 15 2018, 9:13 AM
Bond prices and mortgage rates, like nearly every commodity, are driven by supply and demand. I mention this because early last week prices of US gove...
Tue, Aug 14 2018, 8:56 AM
A Zen master visiting NYC approaches a hot dog vendor and says, "Make me one with everything." The hot dog vendor fixes a hot dog and hands it to the ...
Mon, Aug 13 2018, 8:54 AM
Don’t think that correct mortgage documentation is important? Think again, or ask Citigroup. The Federal Reserve said Friday it had fined Citigroup $8...
Fri, Aug 10 2018, 8:51 AM
This week in Salt Lake City, mPower hosted an event at the Lenders One Summer Conference, drawing nearly 400 people. The executive panel, led by MBA's...
Thu, Aug 9 2018, 8:55 AM
Lots of originators are fascinated by demographics. Every year, about 27,000 people move from New York City to Philadelphia , making that specific mov...
Wed, Aug 8 2018, 8:45 AM
The U.S. Census Bureau knows a thing or two about numbers, and it tells us that over the 10 years from 6/30/07 to 6/30/17, the number of “renter” hous...
Tue, Aug 7 2018, 8:43 AM
People sometimes ask me how many loans underwriters or closers are doing these days. I turned to the MBA and the STRATMOR Group for hard numbers. Base...
Mon, Aug 6 2018, 8:43 AM
In July I was fortunate to spend time in Colorado, Hawai’i, Nevada, Utah, and California, and I look forward to time in Illinois, Montana, Virginia an...
Fri, Aug 3 2018, 8:59 AM
I don’t think Brookstone, which declared bankruptcy yesterday, ever sold them, but is the “Tiny House” movement getting big? If you’re near Colorado S...
Thu, Aug 2 2018, 9:01 AM
When I was a young teen one of my summer jobs was working for a successful contractor in Cupertino, California at about $5 an hour. Comp has gone up s...
Wed, Aug 1 2018, 9:06 AM
I imagine the Congressional kickball match is really something to watch at its summer picnic. That branch of the government has become very adept at k...
Tue, Jul 31 2018, 8:56 AM
When I was in my 20s and into my 30s, I think I had about $3,000 in my retirement account - hardly enough now to even pay for the line-caught salmon f...
Mon, Jul 30 2018, 8:54 AM
“Buy land – they’re not making any more of it.” Don’t tell that to Hawai’i. While California continues to burn, 2,400 miles to the southwest Hawai’i h...
Fri, Jul 27 2018, 8:59 AM
I received a note yesterday from the CEO of a well-known lender. “Rob, I love it when our competitors, who are losing money, wait weeks or months, aft...
Thu, Jul 26 2018, 8:57 AM
The United States is a fine country, and the residential lending industry is filled with fine individuals working to help borrowers, or help others he...
Wed, Jul 25 2018, 9:05 AM
“Rob, are you hearing that residential lenders are nervous about releasing their 2nd quarter results to warehouse banks, correspondent investors, and ...
Tue, Jul 24 2018, 8:55 AM
Not to sound too preachy, but I bet it would have a noticeable impact on the environment if the hundreds of thousands of folks in residential lending ...
Mon, Jul 23 2018, 8:55 AM
Mortgage bankers have plenty of interests. Baconry, for example. (It’s like falconry, or reverse animal husbandry.) Another is the study of real estat...
Fri, Jul 20 2018, 9:06 AM
A Small Business Administration analysis found that about 90 percent of the country’s damage costs from natural disasters happen in ZIP codes with les...
Thu, Jul 19 2018, 9:13 AM
“Rob, are you hearing, now that the CFPB is perceived to have lost its teeth, that some lenders are providing their loan officers two different rate s...
Wed, Jul 18 2018, 8:53 AM
“Your loan officer should be given the opportunity to succeed elsewhere.” Ever heard a CEO recommend that to a branch manager regarding a poorly perfo...
Tue, Jul 17 2018, 8:52 AM
“What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.” While you ruminate on that one, there continues to be evidence and rem...
Mon, Jul 16 2018, 8:50 AM
When Costco rolled out its mortgage option to members, many lenders were very concerned. But despite great potential, Costco/First Choice has not beco...
Fri, Jul 13 2018, 8:58 AM
Events and Training Don't miss out on the Lenders One 2018 Summer Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, August 5-8, at The Grand America. In an age of d...
Thu, Jul 12 2018, 8:51 AM
Chris Whalen notes, “The failure of Bear Stearns & Co a decade ago illustrates the key lesson of financial markets, namely that non-banks are dependen...
Wed, Jul 11 2018, 8:54 AM
U.S. capital markets folks have a way with words. Henry Jonas writes, “I started in this business in a Secondary Marketing in ‘86. Outside of maybe 19...
Tue, Jul 10 2018, 8:37 AM
Pesky technology… it just won’t go away. Online lending platform fintech player (including mortgages) SoFi has launched a banking app (SoFi Money) in ...
Mon, Jul 9 2018, 8:52 AM
As a loan officer, how would you like the borrower’s first contact to be with your CEO or head of mortgage? A Wells borrower is greeted by Michael DeV...
Fri, Jul 6 2018, 8:58 AM
Everyone needs some learnin’, and LOs and underwriters are very interested in income, education, and trends. The US Census Bureau tells us that since ...
Thu, Jul 5 2018, 9:00 AM
Basketball folks have been talking about 33-year old LeBron James signing a four-year, $154 million deal with the Lakers. I don’t know the intricacies...
Tue, Jul 3 2018, 8:52 AM
While the Northeast swelters and California burns, remember that on July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence, s...
Mon, Jul 2 2018, 8:49 AM
I don’t think that my cat Myrtle has been asked any survey questions by any pollsters. (If she has, she hasn’t mentioned it, and if she was, I know ex...
Fri, Jun 29 2018, 8:50 AM
Here’s something that’s kind of interesting. Half of all zero net energy homes have been built in California . “Cali,” a nickname despised by resident...
Thu, Jun 28 2018, 8:57 AM
Ever wonder where manufactured houses are centered? Here’s a nifty map . They are being touted as a possible solution to the nation’s housing shortage...
Wed, Jun 27 2018, 9:01 AM
Today is the last day for the Supreme Court session, and the rumor is that Justice Anthony Kennedy will soon announce his retirement from the $250k/ye...
Tue, Jun 26 2018, 9:02 AM
The interest rate environment is like the weather: we all talk about it, but no one can do anything about it. Lenders have certainly noticed that sinc...
Mon, Jun 25 2018, 9:26 AM
Experienced loan officers know that much of their success is a number’s game: W number of cold calls result in X number of potential leads, X number o...
Fri, Jun 22 2018, 9:00 AM
Don't have the time, or money, to take a trip to Scottsdale, Ariz., to see Frank Lloyd Wright's winter home and studio, Taliesin West? Well, that issu...
Thu, Jun 21 2018, 9:07 AM
Huh? Rumors again that FHLB Atlanta is exiting the HFLB Xtra mortgage program effective at the end of this year? Who can keep track of all the rumored...
Wed, Jun 20 2018, 8:59 AM
onight/tomorrow morning is the summer solstice. I am in Minneapolis at an ACUMA workshop and where the sun will set tonight at 9:03. (I suppose ACUMA ...
Tue, Jun 19 2018, 8:59 AM
When I grow up I want to live in a ranch style… shipping container? If you have a builder complaining about lumber costs or labor to frame a house, th...
Mon, Jun 18 2018, 8:51 AM
Rumors continue to swirl. Will a top-10 bank really terminate hundreds, possibly a thousand, of its retail originators in late July/early August for n...
Fri, Jun 15 2018, 8:59 AM
Taking a tour around the nation…No one has ever used the term “bespoke” in describing any place I’ve stayed. I barely know what it means. But if you’v...
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