Fri, Sep 11 2026, 11:05 AM
Most of us 30 years old and older have tales about where they were and what they did 25 years ago. Being in capital markets, and selling MBS, for over...
Thu, Sep 10 2026, 11:43 AM
Here in San Antonio, TX, interest rates are obviously part of mortgage event discussion. (On today’s The Big Picture Guild’s David Battany will be dis...
Wed, Sep 9 2026, 11:05 AM
What should we talk about today? Besides TSA bringing back gate access, here’s a leading IMB exec and his wife putting their Florida home on the marke...
Tue, Sep 8 2026, 11:03 AM
Many years ago, it seemed like people bragged about how late they stayed up at conferences. Now they brag about how early they went sleep. Today I hea...
Fri, Sep 4 2026, 11:47 AM
Make sure that your air conditioning is in good condition, as well as clients’. Loan servicers are wondering about their collateral: “Heat in the ocea...
Thu, Sep 3 2026, 11:04 AM
Broker and Lender Products, Software, and Services As AI becomes embedded across the mortgage lifecycle, lenders are rethinking how they use data to...
Wed, Sep 2 2026, 11:25 AM
I’ve been in capital markets for over 40 years, and this rate and affordability environment is tough. Any lender who finds these higher rates boring, ...
Tue, Sep 1 2026, 11:50 AM
I don’t know where August went, but it went somewhere. We’re now two thirds of the way through the 3rd quarter of 2026. Lenders and vendors are adapti...
Mon, Aug 31 2026, 10:34 AM
Grammar is important. Let’s not forget the comma… the difference between “I want you to eat, my friend” and “I want you to eat my friend.” Let’s not f...
Fri, Aug 28 2026, 11:45 AM
STRATMOR’s 2026 Technology Insight® Study Lender Intelligence Survey is now open, giving mortgage lenders a chance to share their firsthand experience...
Thu, Aug 27 2026, 11:45 AM
Thank you to the folks who wrote to me about their concerns with the Reno fire, knowing my ties there (my place is safe). On a broader scale, as of Au...
Wed, Aug 26 2026, 11:45 AM
Hackers intercepted about 103 bank regulators’ e-mails for more than a year, gaining access to highly sensitive financial information, according to tw...
Tue, Aug 25 2026, 11:52 AM
Zillow and Redfin settled their FTC antitrust case, as we figured they would, and certainly technology was involved. With the increase in artificial i...
Mon, Aug 24 2026, 11:47 AM
“People make their wealth out of one investment. People keep their wealth by diversifying their investments.” Owning mortgage servicing rights has cre...
Fri, Aug 21 2026, 11:52 AM
LOs tell me that they are counseling potential borrowers. “If you’re in the market for a home, focus on the things you can control. Save for your down...
Thu, Aug 20 2026, 11:43 AM
Lender and Broker Software, Products, and Services Automating individual tasks isn't the same as transforming mortgage operations. Real efficiency c...
Wed, Aug 19 2026, 11:43 AM
Everyone is racing to bolt AI onto their lending process. QAwerk's Konstantin Klyagin says most of them are skipping the boring part that actually mat...
Tue, Aug 18 2026, 11:52 AM
While Lake Powell and the Colorado River are at their lowest levels ever, and states like Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington are in a drought, would yo...
Mon, Aug 17 2026, 11:41 AM
Some aren’t a fan of new federal escrow laws. Ten states have sued the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency over new federal rules that would pre...
Fri, Aug 14 2026, 11:43 AM
If you think that profit per loan, or gain per unit, is based purely on size, think about this short video. “Profit” can also be a personal measure in...
Thu, Aug 13 2026, 11:45 AM
Innovation, compliance, and affordability were key themes at this week’s Western Secondary. At the state level, for example, Kinder Institute report s...
Wed, Aug 12 2026, 11:15 AM
One of the panels during this year’s California MBA Western Secondary focused on the ramp up of non-Agency/equity lending. Why has it increased as a p...
Tue, Aug 11 2026, 11:45 AM
What are folks talking about here at the Western Secondary? Small things and big things. There’s a brand-spankin’ new private MI company: Anza. (Conta...
Mon, Aug 10 2026, 11:42 AM
Here in the hallways at the Western Secondary in L.A., there isn’t a lot of talk about GSE reform, although this short clip from Sam Valverde, ex-acti...
Fri, Aug 7 2026, 11:52 AM
As many of us prepare to head to So Cal for the California MBA’s Western Secondary (800 or so registered), artificial intelligence continues to be the...
Thu, Aug 6 2026, 10:53 AM
Lender and Broker Software, Products, and Services What if the most important capital markets decision you're making today is based on incomplete da...
Tue, Aug 4 2026, 11:44 AM
After a general summer lull, and with talk of JPMorgan Chase’s $750 billion housing investment rifling through our biz, mortgage conference season shi...
Mon, Aug 3 2026, 11:24 AM
Non-QM investors are “licking their chops” by using the information that the FHFA, through Freddie and Fannie, is requiring a more thorough lender ass...
Fri, Jul 31 2026, 11:49 AM
I am no numerologist, but Freddie Mac’s announcement yesterday, that 30-year mortgage rates are averaging 6.66, caught my attention. Unlike rumors, li...
Thu, Jul 30 2026, 11:56 AM
I was recently doing some bike riding in the Napa Valley and spent some time speaking with a wine maker. She told me that because of the increase in t...
Wed, Jul 29 2026, 11:23 AM
“Technology is dominated by two types of people: Those who understand what they do not manage, and those who manage what they do not understand.” Even...
Tue, Jul 28 2026, 11:32 AM
Does innovation in lending always means building something new? MISMO’s President Brian Vieaux challenges that familiar assumption, instead, he argues...
Mon, Jul 27 2026, 11:45 AM
In 2025, the IMF reported that, across the globe, companies, households, and countries had amassed $251 trillion in debt. Looking toward the end of 20...
Fri, Jul 24 2026, 11:40 AM
Odds are, anything you buy was transported using diesel fuel, the price of which has shot up after Russia banned exports of it, impacting farmers, tra...
Thu, Jul 23 2026, 11:28 AM
There are only twelve (12) legislative days left until the November election, and today on The Big Picture attorney Mitch Kider and I will discuss wha...
Wed, Jul 22 2026, 11:43 AM
There’s always something in the news, whether it is Jimothy the raccoon in the Northwest, or the Canadian wildfire smoke in the Northeast which coinci...
Tue, Jul 21 2026, 11:49 AM
People who say that residential lending and the state or federal governments aren’t intertwined have to look no further than the CFPB. Their new offi...
Mon, Jul 20 2026, 11:50 AM
Dang. I don’t know why I put my entire retirement plan into SpaceX stock… it has lost $1 trillion in book value since its post-IPO high. In 2026 Fanni...
Fri, Jul 17 2026, 11:44 AM
I was speaking with a friend recently, and I asked her what she does for lunch. She replied, “Zentangle.” Yup, it’s a thing, something that wasn’t aro...
Thu, Jul 16 2026, 11:54 AM
Nearly every lender is at least learning about AI, but on the flip side there are things like New York’s ban on data centers. Lenders and vendors are ...
Wed, Jul 15 2026, 11:44 AM
Certainly the cost gap between renting and owning is widening, and the press is filled with stories that our borrowers see, and MLOs should read, like...
Tue, Jul 14 2026, 11:22 AM
Ever heard someone say something that was blatantly misleading? On July 16, at 2PM ET, you can race to buy one of Olive Garden’s 10,000 “Never Ending ...
Mon, Jul 13 2026, 11:55 AM
Recently, MISMO released its new white paper, “From Paper to Performance: How eNotes and eClosing Streamline Liquidity,” providing guidance for origin...
Fri, Jul 10 2026, 11:06 AM
Did you know that 53 percent of statistics are made up on the spot? “Rob, you recently mentioned that 30 percent of repeat buyers paid cash and did no...
Thu, Jul 9 2026, 11:41 AM
This morning, we head to Los Angeles, the site of the fires in the Pacific Palisades area in January 2025. Governor Gavin Newsom recently announced th...
Wed, Jul 8 2026, 12:01 PM
STRATMOR Group has opened participation for its 2026 Compensation Connection® Study, providing mortgage-specific insights into compensation components...
Tue, Jul 7 2026, 10:54 AM
During a recent trip overseas, I spoke to a banker who stated, “Technology doesn’t stop at the border.” True. The days of writing out this Commentary ...
Mon, Jul 6 2026, 11:58 AM
One of the key selling points for an LO talking to a potential client about becoming a homeowner is the landlord/client relationship, which can go awr...
Thu, Jul 2 2026, 11:43 AM
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) reported on the performance of first-lien mortgages in the federal banking system during the first...
Wed, Jul 1 2026, 11:04 AM
We find ourselves in the 3rd quarter of 2026. The stock market has made the headlines, but between a) the reduction in the number of publicly held com...
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