Tue, Jan 23 2018, 9:23 AM
Now that the government has re-opened and furloughed bison are streaming back into various national parks, let’s turn back to… LO comp? “Rob, are you ...
Mon, Jan 22 2018, 9:19 AM
If you want to read up on the latest Fannie lawsuit, here’s one dealing with a stripper hired into Fannie’s IT group but with unusual manager expectat...
Fri, Jan 19 2018, 9:00 AM
As if we don’t have enough measures of housing and real estate prices, here’s another one. The RE/MAX National Housing Report tells us what most alrea...
Thu, Jan 18 2018, 9:18 AM
“Employee engagement is a hot topic for organizations big and small. Regardless of size, a highly engaged workforce is a company’s greatest asset and ...
Wed, Jan 17 2018, 9:14 AM
“It doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor, as long as you have money.” Banks are where the money is, and plenty of them are paying attention to Congr...
Tue, Jan 16 2018, 9:16 AM
Replacing real estate agents with “something else that doesn’t earn a 6% commission” is certainly a discussion topic. Here’s one new venture: peer to ...
Fri, Jan 12 2018, 9:14 AM
Plenty of people tell me that I’m “long in the tooth.” (A way of gauging a horse’s age.) Tooth? Thanks to Emily W. for sending in something that all o...
Thu, Jan 11 2018, 9:13 AM
When I grow up I want a million-dollar house! Tight inventories, costs, and appreciation have created an increase of houses worth seven figures - the ...
Wed, Jan 10 2018, 9:13 AM
Sharing a king bed with your 80-year old aunt, or the refrigerator with your twin 25-year olds who can’t afford to move out, probably isn’t high on yo...
Tue, Jan 9 2018, 9:13 AM
“A sea change:” A radical change or transformation. One wouldn’t call last Friday’s note from the CFPB a sea change, but the fact that the Consumer Fi...
Mon, Jan 8 2018, 9:17 AM
The first five days after the weekend are the hardest. Welcome to Day 1. Events, Training, and Webinars This Week Register for Plaza’s January 8th web...
Fri, Jan 5 2018, 9:11 AM
Today is “job’s day,” and it seems like many people I talk to in other professions have 2-3 jobs. (“Yeah, I graduated with a degree in physical therap...
Thu, Jan 4 2018, 9:17 AM
A shift in housing? Returns for landlords softened last year as about 400,000 units entered the US multifamily-housing market, outstripping demand, ac...
Wed, Jan 3 2018, 9:18 AM
Regardless of weather, there are 251 business days in 2018, one more than in 2017. For years we’ve been counting the days for rates to move higher, ye...
Tue, Jan 2 2018, 9:17 AM
One court ruling from 2017 is that a mortgage broker is not a real estate professional , so passive activity rules apply. Yes, 2017 is now in the hist...
Fri, Dec 29 2017, 9:14 AM
Demographics and Residential Lending Age, population trends, and gender do matter in the home buying process. There, I said it. Someone in their early...
Thu, Dec 28 2017, 10:05 AM
For further evidence of the uneven recovery among U.S. housing markets , how's this: In the 10 most expensive U.S. metropolitan areas, median home val...
Wed, Dec 27 2017, 9:32 AM
Private education pays well. There were 58 people making over $1,000,000 per year in total compensation as the presidents of private, non-profit colle...
Tue, Dec 26 2017, 9:14 AM
Congrats to The Money Source. It is on a major hiring spree to build an in-house ad agency in the greater Detroit area. The marketing team will serve ...
Fri, Dec 22 2017, 9:16 AM
What's age got to do with anything? In the new issue of STRATMOR Group's Insights report, Sr. Partner Jim Cameron debunks several of myths many lender...
Thu, Dec 21 2017, 9:15 AM
Welcome to the Winter Solstice (yes, more sunlight ahead of us in the Northern Hemisphere!). Things are slowing down ahead of Christmas, shipping and ...
Wed, Dec 20 2017, 9:36 AM
“Look, if a man says he will fix it, he will. There’s no need to remind him every six months.” Humor aside, it seems that Facebook is fixing things so...
Tue, Dec 19 2017, 9:24 AM
Demographics and politics make interesting bedfellows. There are eight senators who are at least 80-years-old, nearly twice as many as ever before. To...
Mon, Dec 18 2017, 9:16 AM
We start the week with something pertaining to words and the internet, both near and dear to all of us. Here’s the New Yorker's cartoon take on the Tr...
Fri, Dec 15 2017, 9:20 AM
Originators, who work with plenty of renters who want to be owners, should know that the Harvard Joint Center tells us that, “We’re finally seeing the...
Thu, Dec 14 2017, 9:15 AM
There’s a lot of airport travel coming up. It is best to stay cool, calm, and collected . Unfortunately, something else that is cool, and calm, is the...
Wed, Dec 13 2017, 9:16 AM
Word on the street has House and Senate negotiators agreeing to scale back the mortgage interest deduction in the latest version of the GOP tax bill. ...
Tue, Dec 12 2017, 9:16 AM
Today I find myself in Florida spending time with American Bancshares. Did you know the area code for Cape Canaveral is 321…as in a countdown? 2017 is...
Mon, Dec 11 2017, 9:22 AM
Lenders making tough personnel decisions can’t “kick the can down the road” like Congress and the President. On Dec. 8, the National Flood Insurance P...
Fri, Dec 8 2017, 9:34 AM
Trio is a lease with an option to purchase that you can use to finance your new home." Its sister company is Ownoption Mortgage , doesn't appear to be...
Thu, Dec 7 2017, 9:20 AM
Upset that Richard Cordray has left the CFPB and is officially running for governor of Ohio ? Bored with lending here, and want to go into the home fi...
Wed, Dec 6 2017, 9:17 AM
How long will venture capital firms enjoy being in a declining margin business like residential lending, historically dominated by individual, family,...
Tue, Dec 5 2017, 9:19 AM
It’s good to keep things in perspective, and here’s some Tuesday trivia. Today, 2 billion adults around the world remain without a bank account, inclu...
Mon, Dec 4 2017, 9:20 AM
Lenders in the Courts In yet again another lesson about not putting all your retirement money in one basket (think WAMU, Countrywide, Nat City...), Wa...
Fri, Dec 1 2017, 9:21 AM
December already? There are all kinds of scurrilous M&A rumors out there, or of rumors about companies going belly up, and will continue to be. And ha...
Thu, Nov 30 2017, 9:18 AM
In non-residential news, just because people have to eat doesn’t mean every grocery store chain thrives. There is chatter out there in the commercial ...
Wed, Nov 29 2017, 9:26 AM
Lenders everywhere are facing a basic dilemma: Diminished volumes and leaving profit margins alone, or reducing profit margins and trying to maintain ...
Tue, Nov 28 2017, 9:11 AM
Remember when everyone waited with bated breath for Fannie & Freddie’s loan limit announcement? (It happens every year around Thanksgiving, in recent ...
Mon, Nov 27 2017, 9:10 AM
The darkest, blackest material known to man? Vantablack . Don't be the last to paint your car with it. Speaking of looking into voids, who is in charg...
Fri, Nov 24 2017, 9:13 AM
Plenty of lawyers are basketball fans. What had once looked like a defense slam-dunk now isn’t: A federal judge declined to dismiss a fan’s suit that ...
Wed, Nov 22 2017, 8:59 AM
The lending world has plenty of truly very busy people. (Or maybe that is what they tell their bosses.) How best to communicate with them? Here’s an a...
Tue, Nov 21 2017, 9:19 AM
What is more relaxing than breakfast in bed? IHOP is there for you, and is testing IHOP home delivery in various states. Roshambo to see who answers t...
Mon, Nov 20 2017, 9:14 AM
Thanksgiving week already! Let’s temporarily shift from residential lending to economics. According to the SalaryforPilot website, Air Force pilots ea...
Fri, Nov 17 2017, 9:22 AM
Here’s a tidbit for Happy Hour tonight. Currently, about 21 percent of filers take the mortgage deduction, but under the new framework only about 4 pe...
Thu, Nov 16 2017, 9:09 AM
I think the rumors out there about Richard Cordray taking a much deserved break and then, forget that governor stuff, stepping into Dave Stevens' shoe...
Wed, Nov 15 2017, 9:18 AM
I remember when being worth a million bucks really meant something, and my parents occasionally pointed out someone who they thought was a millionaire...
Tue, Nov 14 2017, 9:23 AM
Are we destined to have robots making home loans ? I sure hope not, although no one has ever accused robots of being shilly-shally. And I sure hope th...
Mon, Nov 13 2017, 9:15 AM
Wells Fargo’s retail lending division & core bank have really “taken it on the chin” in the last year or so, what with the car insurance, sales practi...
Fri, Nov 10 2017, 9:17 AM
In lending we should all continue to champion and applaud the individuals and companies that are making a difference in our quest for equality, especi...
Thu, Nov 9 2017, 9:14 AM
Regardless of presidential administration, immigrants, and millions others, need places to live, and this morning a story was published about Fannie M...
