Tue, Jun 22 2021, 11:03 AM
Is office work returning? Some watch traffic patterns, and, sure ‘nuff, cars on the freeways of Los Angeles are traveling slower indicating that the c...
Mon, Jun 21 2021, 11:03 AM
Today I head to Orlando for the Mortgage Bankers Association of Florida 2021 Secondary and Convention (approaching 250 registrants!) The live and in-p...
Fri, Jun 18 2021, 10:21 AM
When my Dad retired from the navy in 1962 after 20 years, he found a job through the Want Ads in the newspaper. I post jobs here, through the wonders ...
Thu, Jun 17 2021, 11:05 AM
Fortunately for much of the rest of the United States, lumber prices have been falling since May, hopefully cutting the money required for new constru...
Wed, Jun 16 2021, 10:31 AM
Broker and Lender Services and Products Faster applications = happier borrowers = loyal customers. VOE+VOIs are an unnecessary pain in the you know wh...
Tue, Jun 15 2021, 11:40 AM
I was spending a little time yesterday evening at the local cannabis club with my favorite bud-tender (an ombudsman!), and she was telling me about ho...
Mon, Jun 14 2021, 10:44 AM
Elaine F. reminded me of a quote from Hemingway: “Never mistake motion for action.” And basketball coach John Wooden said, “Never mistake action for a...
Fri, Jun 11 2021, 11:14 AM
Friday: time for some random non-mortgage stuff. Everyone knows that if you lose one sense, your other senses become enhanced. Which is why people wit...
Thu, Jun 10 2021, 10:02 AM
With plenty of in-person mortgage events slated for the remainder of 2021, it is good that human brains are specialized for facial recognition and tha...
Wed, Jun 9 2021, 11:34 AM
I hope that Google never shuts down. I know six, maybe seven, things. I know that the President’s plane was delayed seven hours this morning due to ci...
Tue, Jun 8 2021, 11:47 AM
After years of opening mail I’ve come to the conclusion that, when stamped on an envelope in the U.S. mail, “personal and confidential” usually isn’t,...
Mon, Jun 7 2021, 10:54 AM
Time is flying, and the months click by. We’re approaching the Summer Solstice. (Here in Sitka, AK, the official sunrise is around 4AM and it sets aro...
Fri, Jun 4 2021, 10:22 AM
A while back I made an appointment at a new doctor and under, “What do you wish to be called?” I wrote, “The Chosen One.” Wednesday, I heard the recep...
Thu, Jun 3 2021, 10:52 AM
Here’s your pro tip of the day: occasionally blow on the wine in your coffee mug to convince the rest of the Zoom meeting that it is tea. Speaking of ...
Wed, Jun 2 2021, 10:47 AM
Real estate agents will tell you that offering above asking price is only the first step, with many buyers also waiving contingencies, skipping inspec...
Tue, Jun 1 2021, 10:56 AM
June, already. Plans to return to the office? The Mortgage Bankers Association, for example, is gearing up for a July 12 return. And you can bet it’s ...
Fri, May 28 2021, 10:31 AM
Traffic is already bad out there! Here’s a sign on a beekeeper’s truck: “If you see me running, things have gone poorly, and you should run too.” Life...
Thu, May 27 2021, 10:52 AM
I was telling my cat Myrtle about the labor shortage in the United States, but she didn’t seem fascinated, to say the least. In fact, she gave me a lo...
Wed, May 26 2021, 11:08 AM
Do you think that creativity is waning? Hardly. Some great products and ideas come out of the mundane. Wonder what happens to your unused hotel soap a...
Tue, May 25 2021, 10:24 AM
Are you ready for a real-live holiday on Monday? With millions more Americans vaccinated since the last holiday, and the end-of-May weather, it’s a sa...
Mon, May 24 2021, 10:48 AM
What is your, and your company’s, value proposition? Lenders must be vigilant, which means paying attention to trends, big and small. For example, on ...
Fri, May 21 2021, 10:34 AM
Should we start the finish of the normal workweek with some non-mortgage stuff? There are green monkeys living near a Florida airport who are connecte...
Thu, May 20 2021, 10:50 AM
There are some who firmly believe that the Hubble Telescope was sent into space to spy on us. These people are better advised to wonder what Google is...
Wed, May 19 2021, 10:58 AM
Face facts: There are many differences between men and women. One of which is that when returning home from the grocery store, women typically are mor...
Tue, May 18 2021, 9:26 AM
The guy I was talking to yesterday asked about my background. I gave him a detailed history of my upbringing, my education, work experience, and why I...
Mon, May 17 2021, 11:00 AM
Here is a dab of trivia to start the week. There are only about 2,000 heart transplants every year in the United States. So, on average, that’s only a...
Fri, May 14 2021, 10:20 AM
Let me start Friday with an apology… to Alaska. (I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.) Jul...
Thu, May 13 2021, 10:44 AM
People around the nation are “voting with their feet.” Illinois: Seven straight years of population declines . California: Losing population during a ...
Wed, May 12 2021, 10:41 AM
Is Better.com worth $7.7 billion , as indicated by the SPAC deal announced yesterday? I guess things are worth the price at which a willing buyer and ...
Tue, May 11 2021, 10:40 AM
The real estate and lending industries operate in a world filled with laws, lawsuits, and regulators. (The latest example is REX’s suit against Zillow...
Mon, May 10 2021, 10:09 AM
Here at the MBAG event in Northern Florida some of the topics of conversation is the economy, the inability to predict interest rates, families, and l...
Fri, May 7 2021, 10:11 AM
It’s Friday, so how ‘bout some non-mortgage supply and demand stuff? Let me start with an apology to Willie Mays’ family (who may or may not read this...
Thu, May 6 2021, 10:44 AM
While the market is digesting the implications Rocket’s earnings (the shares are down in pre-market trading), remember when, in March 2020, it was as ...
Wed, May 5 2021, 10:15 AM
Today celebrates Mexico’s victory over France in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. It was a relatively minor battle (and the French reclaimed Puebl...
Tue, May 4 2021, 10:30 AM
Most other countries construct homes out of concrete, stone, steel, or brick, but here in the good ol’ USA we use wood. A renewable resource, right? I...
Mon, May 3 2021, 10:18 AM
Who is Guramrit Hanspal? Every servicer and lender hope good ol’ Gur doesn’t start giving lessons in how to avoid making mortgage payments , which he ...
Fri, Apr 30 2021, 10:19 AM
How are we 1/3 done with 2021 already? Few are sitting on their hands as the months roll on. Exxon had its first profitable quarter since 2019. Fannie...
Thu, Apr 29 2021, 10:36 AM
A “google” is the large number of 1 with 100 zeroes after it. For lenders, a billion is a large number, and it would be unheard of for a lender to sav...
Wed, Apr 28 2021, 10:55 AM
There sure is a lot going on out there! From California comes news that Finance of America is buying “certain assets” from California’s Parkside Lendi...
Mon, Apr 26 2021, 10:51 AM
While the market digests the acquisition of Flagstar by NY Community Bancorp by the end of 2021, and talk of more deals in the works, in previous gene...
Fri, Apr 23 2021, 10:28 AM
My cat Myrtle seems immune to marketing and advertisement. Not everyone is, of course, and there are some clever, albeit ominous, ways to get messages...
Thu, Apr 22 2021, 10:25 AM
Not you, of course, but many other people in our biz are elderly. Sure you haven’t seen them in person in a year, but they’re there. Or they have elde...
Wed, Apr 21 2021, 9:50 AM
Over the weekend I visited a gas station, and the fellow in the kiosk had a name tag with, “Tim, Fuel Leader” inscribed on it. I will leave making fun...
Tue, Apr 20 2021, 10:13 AM
Whenever I ask my cat Myrtle about her opinion of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, she remains mum. But the CFPB has been in the press lately. ...
Mon, Apr 19 2021, 10:19 AM
As lenders are wondering who will be the next merger or acquisition announcement (news of the Sterling Bancorp and Webster Financial came out this mor...
Fri, Apr 16 2021, 10:48 AM
Suddenly everyone’s ruminating on upcoming mergers and acquisitions (and there will definitely be some), but in the lower management ranks, lenders ar...
Thu, Apr 15 2021, 11:12 AM
There are some clever people out there, especially when it comes to satisfying demand . Lenders know that mortgage pricing is a function of supply and...
Wed, Apr 14 2021, 11:53 AM
"I wear a stethoscope so that in a medical emergency I can teach people a valuable lesson about assumptions.” People shouldn’t assume that all offices...
Tue, Apr 13 2021, 11:07 AM
Why do all underwriters have soft hair? Because they over-condition! (How do your underwriters feel about bitcoin? Brokers up in Canada are now accept...
Mon, Apr 12 2021, 10:35 AM
I received this over the weekend: “I just want to make enough money to live a life that doesn't include Microsoft Teams in my work life.” Many people ...
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