Fri, Sep 3 2021, 12:11 PM
“It was the third of September that day I’ll always remember … Papa was a rolling stone… Wherever he laid his hat was his home. And when he died, all ...
Thu, Sep 2 2021, 11:07 AM
“Yeah, I think I’ll put up some plywood and buy some water and just wait out this supposed hurricane. Those scientist/weather people are just exaggera...
Wed, Sep 1 2021, 11:12 AM
Overheard recently: “I just want a man who will make me laugh as we count his family’s money on his rock-hard abs.” Lenders are doing okay, money-wise...
Tue, Aug 31 2021, 10:48 AM
I received some exciting news that I wanted to share with my readers. I received an invitation from a mortgage periodical to receive an award, if I pa...
Mon, Aug 30 2021, 11:01 AM
The Texas Mortgage Bankers Association conference is in full swing. Folks tell me that servicing is a big topic in informal hallway discussions. MCT d...
Fri, Aug 27 2021, 10:53 AM
Last night, my wife asked me if I’d seen the dog bowl. I replied, “I didn’t know he could.” Words are important, and the press is spending plenty of t...
Thu, Aug 26 2021, 11:24 AM
What parent hasn’t heard, “Are we there yet?” from the back seat during a road trip? The same could be said about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Gove...
Wed, Aug 25 2021, 10:50 AM
In the various originator-centric conferences I’ve attended, I’ve never seen a session on, “How to beat up your capital markets group on pricing & ext...
Tue, Aug 24 2021, 10:57 AM
Worried about your privacy? You should be. Illinois’ Lemonade, an AI-enabled provider of homeowners and renters insurance, was hit with a privacy clas...
Mon, Aug 23 2021, 10:49 AM
Fires in California, floods in Tennessee, hurricanes in New York, COVID hospitalizations seemingly everywhere written up by the press. The “fun” never...
Fri, Aug 20 2021, 10:46 AM
Who wants to work on a Friday in summer? Not me! I was pleased to find the Type The Alphabet Game , which times you on how fast you type the alphabet....
Thu, Aug 19 2021, 11:02 AM
So you say that you never learn anything by reading this Commentary? How about Wile E. Coyote's middle name? His first name is an obvious pun on the w...
Wed, Aug 18 2021, 11:28 AM
Technology is nice (the latest bit being UWM’s goal of accepting bitcoin by year end; magnetic strips on credit cards are going away ), but our indust...
Tue, Aug 17 2021, 11:20 AM
The 10-year yield back down to 1.24 percent!? Watch those early pay off penalties. Along those lines, are you servicing loans? Mind your p’s and q’s, ...
Mon, Aug 16 2021, 11:04 AM
People ask me what I do when I finish the commentary and send it out. This will give you an inkling . I don’t know if folks at United Wholesale do the...
Fri, Aug 13 2021, 10:54 AM
As potential buyers of odd properties cogitate on Boston’s Skinny House (reportedly built to spite the owner’s neighbor & brother), and our industry m...
Thu, Aug 12 2021, 10:41 AM
“I hope that I never go to jail because I haven’t memorized a phone number since 2001.” (Speaking of numbers, investors are mulling over Guild’s 2 nd ...
Wed, Aug 11 2021, 11:29 AM
Lenders always have a lot going on. Like “significant competitive pressure and volatility in the capital markets,” as evidenced by Home Point’s $73 mi...
Tue, Aug 10 2021, 10:47 AM
It was one week ago that the “benchmark” 10-year yield hit 1.17 percent. Now we’re back up to 1.32, the same yield that we saw for much of early and m...
Mon, Aug 9 2021, 10:47 AM
Last week I was in Orange County at the Insellerate Experience Summit 21, and this week I am 2,500 miles away in Orlando, FL at the Lenders One Summit...
Fri, Aug 6 2021, 11:04 AM
We live in world of numbers. It has been 76 years since an atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Let’s hope nothing close, with its 140,000 instantaneou...
Thu, Aug 5 2021, 11:28 AM
“Why was the mortgage so depressed? Because it was a loan.” Yes, cutting-edge humor like that is why you read this commentary. No MLO should be depres...
Wed, Aug 4 2021, 10:51 AM
WalletHub released its 2021 Home Overleverage Report after determining where homeowners have the most unsustainable mortgage debts. WalletHub compared...
Tue, Aug 3 2021, 11:09 AM
As the industry digests Fannie Mae’s earnings announcement this morning with its $7.2 billion of net earnings in the second quarter of 2021, did you k...
Mon, Aug 2 2021, 11:10 AM
Who predicted that we’d be at 1.22 percent on the 10-year yield to start August? And 30-year fixed-rate mortgages still chopping around in the high 2 ...
Fri, Jul 30 2021, 11:23 AM
Yesterday I received this note from Tennessee. “Rob, thank you for the commentary, as always. Among several noteworthy items in yesterday’s, one thing...
Thu, Jul 29 2021, 11:12 AM
Mission Statements are so passe. We now have “long term vision statements.” For some, great literature consists of the Bible, or Moby . For others of ...
Wed, Jul 28 2021, 11:05 AM
I didn’t sign up for a 401k. I can’t run that far. Understanding numbers is important, as is accurately reporting them. For example, yesterday I mista...
Tue, Jul 27 2021, 11:18 AM
With Simone Biles injury at the Olympics, let’s shift our attention to lending & housing. Have you ever asked someone, especially a politician, for th...
Mon, Jul 26 2021, 11:17 AM
The headline this morning is seven people dying in a car crash caused by a Utah sandstorm. The damage caused by storms, including hurricanes in the Ea...
Fri, Jul 23 2021, 10:58 AM
How do you know when someone has too much money? How about when they pony up $16k for Tarzan’s 1932 loin cloth ? (“Gosh, if that loin cloth could talk...
Thu, Jul 22 2021, 11:26 AM
How would you like to compete against a company whose tagline is, “We Do It All, Guaranteed!”? The program is part of an existing Weichert Realtors’ o...
Wed, Jul 21 2021, 11:42 AM
Experienced mortgage loan originators (MLOs) know that a rate lock is a rate lock. The removal of the adverse market fee of .5 for conventional confor...
Tue, Jul 20 2021, 11:52 AM
t was bound to happen: My cat Myrtle and I came to blows. She wanted to spend her trust fund money, earned on the catwalk in her prime, to pay various...
Mon, Jul 19 2021, 11:25 AM
“My password is weak? Well, so is my memory, so cut me some slack and let me keep it!” What isn’t weak is the bond market, and rates continue to fall....
Fri, Jul 16 2021, 11:22 AM
I am sure that there are people who read this commentary who firmly believe that the earth’s climate is not changing, and believe that historical grap...
Thu, Jul 15 2021, 11:20 AM
Ask any manager. It was much more fun to announce, “We’re hiring!” than it is to mutter, “We’re laying off.” Currently there are plenty of rumors abou...
Wed, Jul 14 2021, 11:37 AM
Don’t think technology controls you? How about this news that Apple’s weather app will never show a temperature of 69 degrees ? Good mortgage loan ori...
Tue, Jul 13 2021, 11:19 AM
When one thinks of a Constitutional Amendment, many think of the 2nd amendment (right to bear arms, 1789), 13th (end of slavery, 1865), or the 16th (c...
Mon, Jul 12 2021, 11:38 AM
I head to San Diego today for the CAMP event as the industry continues to change back to in-person events. There is always change. (How’s that for an ...
Fri, Jul 9 2021, 10:42 AM
Someone once said, “A loss is not a failure until you make an excuse.” You can apply that to politics or to sports. Or to business. No company wants t...
Thu, Jul 8 2021, 11:34 AM
I head to Salt Lake City today, and on the way to the airport thought to myself, with all the technological and scientific advances being made, the fo...
Wed, Jul 7 2021, 11:52 AM
Sorry the commentary was a little late today. I was on the phone dealing with my car’s extended warranty. Per the personalized recording, they’ve been...
Tue, Jul 6 2021, 11:08 AM
Dang it is becoming more and more expensive to follow all the rules and regulations to originate residential loans. These costs, of course, are borne ...
Fri, Jul 2 2021, 11:27 AM
I realize that this is a commentary about lending, but it is good for MLOs to be cognizant of what their real estate agent client’s clients want… In a...
Thu, Jul 1 2021, 11:00 AM
Halfway done with 2021?! Yes, time is flying, and summer is here. The weather service just published instructions on how to bake a lasagna in your mai...
Wed, Jun 30 2021, 10:57 AM
“Adam and Eve were the first people not to read the Apple terms and conditions.” Who has actually read their phone’s manual? Technology marches on, wi...
Tue, Jun 29 2021, 10:45 AM
Say what you will about huge companies not having an impact on housing, MLOs can’t ignore the fact that they’re here. The latest example is global rea...
Mon, Jun 28 2021, 11:16 AM
Seattle will hit 110 degrees F today. Change is afoot. Last week changes of personnel within the CFPB and the FHFA (hence Fannie & Freddie) captured o...
Fri, Jun 25 2021, 11:29 AM
As lenders are working on adjusting margins, best-ex, and staffing, while at the same time relieved that rates haven’t gone up and pipelines are motor...
