Mon, May 13 2019, 9:08 AM
I want an Ethereum-powered home loan! It doesn’t matter that I don’t know what Ethereum is; apparently they’re on their way to NY and CA . “Tokenizing...
Fri, May 10 2019, 8:50 AM
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced a a package of incentives to encourage multi-family property owners to invest in thousands of neigh...
Thu, May 9 2019, 9:01 AM
Attributes like trust, humility, honesty, and transparency aren’t traits assigned to websites focused on originating loans. Human capital is valuable,...
Wed, May 8 2019, 9:00 AM
VA mortgage lenders hit with federal subpoenas ? Apparently. Secondary markets (the demand for loans and what investors are willing to pay for them) d...
Tue, May 7 2019, 8:36 AM
If you want to have more of your financial future tied to lending, PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (PMT) announced the pricing of an underwritten p...
Mon, May 6 2019, 9:09 AM
Welcome to May 6th, the anniversary of the first tequila hangover. (Yes, for those of you who wrote, I know that May 5 is not Mexican Independence Day...
Fri, May 3 2019, 9:08 AM
On the trading desk we would always chuckle when someone would occasionally cry out, “Oh! I was working so hard I forgot to eat!” Really? One thing is...
Thu, May 2 2019, 9:28 AM
I was on a flight yesterday to Orlando for the MBAG annual conference on the coast. The plane was packed, half with 4-13-year-old passengers bound for...
Tue, Apr 30 2019, 9:02 AM
Well, we’ve sailed through another perfectly good month. Wasn’t it just New Years? There are plenty of interesting things going on in residential lend...
Mon, Apr 29 2019, 9:08 AM
When I was a kid in California, as with my parents and their parents, and their parents, flowers and fruits had seasons. Roses bloomed in the spring. ...
Fri, Apr 26 2019, 9:26 AM
M&A is rampant, big and small, and is expected to continue throughout 2019. There’s a constant stream of individual branch or small company moves, but...
Thu, Apr 25 2019, 9:22 AM
In low down payment and HFA news, HUD, dba the FHA, has agreed to a 90-day stay in implementation of Mortgagee Letter 19-06 (regarding down payment as...
Wed, Apr 24 2019, 9:08 AM
How often do you buy candles at retailer Pier 1? Me neither. Due to poor earnings Pier 1 Imports announced it will close another 45 stores (up to 150 ...
Tue, Apr 23 2019, 8:57 AM
Should small, non-depository mortgage bankers be concerned about big banks renewing their interest in FHA loans? Probably. Bank of America is promotin...
Mon, Apr 22 2019, 9:19 AM
Remember NINA loans from 10-15 years ago where the lender would purposely discard anything in the file dealing with income because underwriters didn’t...
Thu, Apr 18 2019, 9:15 AM
Experienced originators know that lending is a numbers game. Every 100 cold calls result in 20 conversations, which result in 5 potential leads, which...
Wed, Apr 17 2019, 8:31 AM
Economic doldrums? Probably not – but there is always someone out there claiming dire straits are right around the corner. A CNBC survey of Wall Stree...
Tue, Apr 16 2019, 8:22 AM
Things aren’t always what they seem. Does the mainstream press, or politicians, think about how about how much money it takes to attract top talent to...
Mon, Apr 15 2019, 8:41 AM
M&A grab current headlines (Freedom buying JG Wentworth’s mortgage biz being the latest) but it’s hard to put the past behind us, as an industry, when...
Fri, Apr 12 2019, 9:04 AM
Loan officers everywhere tell me about “The Bank of Mom and Dad” helping buy homes , either through gifts or co-signing, helping overcome that down pa...
Thu, Apr 11 2019, 9:11 AM
Kim Kardashian has vowed to take and pass the bar exam in 2022 without attending law school. You go girl! Few who go that route pass the test. Then ag...
Wed, Apr 10 2019, 8:56 AM
“My 8-year-old daughter can already read at a 5th grade level and ignore me at a 12th grade level.” Talking about young ‘uns, who needs great grades w...
Tue, Apr 9 2019, 8:17 AM
Free ice cream at Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shops today? Count me in! Going back a few days, in Saturday’s commentary I mentioned a company offering blockch...
Mon, Apr 8 2019, 8:24 AM
The move down in rates has sparked optimism about volume (and perhaps margins) out there. But mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and the details thereof,...
Fri, Apr 5 2019, 9:05 AM
Some New Yorkers like to think that they’re at the Center of the Universe. But, though larger Java, in terms of islands, in Indonesia, is home to 135 ...
Thu, Apr 4 2019, 8:56 AM
NASA has taken another step to make interplanetary living a reality, naming the top three finalists for its ongoing 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge . I a...
Wed, Apr 3 2019, 8:45 AM
Anyone traveling near San Francisco may have seen “The Flintstones House” perched on a hill next to the freeway. Neighbors don’t like it. But I guess ...
Tue, Apr 2 2019, 9:05 AM
“Probability tells you that a toddler has a 50-50 chance of putting their shoes on the correct feet. Parenting tells you otherwise.” Merging or acquir...
Mon, Apr 1 2019, 9:09 AM
(Yes, here is today’s actual commentary.) It is well known among loan officers that real estate agents don’t know their client’s credit situation befo...
Fri, Mar 29 2019, 9:16 AM
Wells Fargo’s continuing saga continues with the resignation of its CEO Tim Sloan over opening accounts without customer’s permission. “Fortunately” t...
Thu, Mar 28 2019, 9:02 AM
Be careful with your advertising! HUD announced today that it is charging Facebook with violating the Fair Housing Act by encouraging, enabling, and c...
Wed, Mar 27 2019, 9:42 AM
Despite finding programs to fit their borrowers being the emphasis for lenders, pricing and margins are a constant discussion topic. For lenders the d...
Tue, Mar 26 2019, 8:59 AM
“Rob, are you hearing that the sudden increase in lock volume is from borrowers who had a lock with one lender moving to another lender?” Not yet, and...
Mon, Mar 25 2019, 8:56 AM
Sometimes you’re stuck in the middle . (Thanks to Myrtle for that one.) Right now, it seems, rates are done being stuck in the middle and have edged b...
Fri, Mar 22 2019, 8:47 AM
Congrats to former President Jimmy Carter. As of today he is no longer just the oldest living U.S. president, but now is the longest-living in the nat...
Thu, Mar 21 2019, 10:33 AM
Want a growth industry? How about aging? PulteGroup's Del Webb 55+ brand will build 10 new Del Webb communities , planned to open over the next 18 mon...
Wed, Mar 20 2019, 9:22 AM
Why do us capital markets folks seem to speak a different language? To better understand what secondary marketing folks deal with every day, here’s a ...
Tue, Mar 19 2019, 8:51 AM
At roughly $8,500 per loan and continuing to defy gravity, scholars disagree on whether vendors lower the cost of originating a residential loan. But ...
Mon, Mar 18 2019, 8:30 AM
I hope that I never get to the point of writing things down on my “to do” list even after I’ve done them, just so I can cross them off the list. Or en...
Fri, Mar 15 2019, 8:55 AM
I didn’t know that America has a “most hated” type of home loan until Bloomberg “informed” me that reverse mortgages are… hated. Hated? Couldn’t the a...
Thu, Mar 14 2019, 9:00 AM
Happy pi day, 3.14… Did you hear about the three statisticians that went out hunting? They spotted a rabbit. The first shot too high. The second shot ...
Wed, Mar 13 2019, 9:12 AM
Builders, appraisers, & real estate agents love to talk about square feet. Houses are becoming larger as households have become smaller. Right now, th...
Tue, Mar 12 2019, 8:41 AM
This morning I’m feeling old after a 3AM wake up call to travel from Ellie Mae’s conference in San Francisco to the MBAKY in Louisville. (Speaking of ...
Mon, Mar 11 2019, 8:52 AM
How do you pay your bills? (Do you pay your bills?) Cash? Check? Automatic debit? There is a myriad of ways that borrowers remit their mortgage paymen...
Fri, Mar 8 2019, 9:04 AM
Catsup or Ketchup? Language is fascinating. The mortgage biz is filled with acronyms, and the last time I counted there were over 850 commonly used ab...
Thu, Mar 7 2019, 9:37 AM
“Rob, one of my LOs was heard about a program that offers 97% 1st with no MI and up to a 105% CLTV with a community 2nd, when approved for the 1st, th...
Wed, Mar 6 2019, 9:39 AM
As most of us gird our loins for “springing ahead” this weekend, it is important to remember that U.S. citizens are, in general, a giving people. Than...
Tue, Mar 5 2019, 8:44 AM
Equal pay rates and equality for men and women in the U.S.? Nope – our world ranking isn’t so hot. Turns out, however, that the construction industry ...
Mon, Mar 4 2019, 9:38 AM
As the nation watches the terrible tornado-related events and casualties in Alabama, and sympathizes with those impacted, the rebuilding has already c...
Fri, Mar 1 2019, 11:51 AM
I like economists and math PhD.’s but there is some truth that “experts” have picked 8 of the last 4 recessions. While the U.S. economy is considered ...
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