Wed, Mar 18 2015, 10:40 AM
What is the Willis Tower? I don't know, but the $1.3 billion Sears Tower , complete with a $775 million loan, was sold to Blackstone.
The WSJ repor...
Tue, Mar 17 2015, 10:26 AM
Happy
St. Patrick's Day! Irish or not, many celebrated last Saturday instead
of tonight, although in honor of today Hal M. writes, "The Irish
in...
Mon, Mar 16 2015, 9:44 AM
Practically
everyone has been involved in failed business ventures. Some go away
entirely, but some try to bounce back. Anyone who has ever flown ...
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 ...
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