Thu, Jan 30 2020, 9:00 AM
What if you bought into an investment thinking you were going to earn a decent return for 30 years and instead it paid off in four months? Not only th...
Wed, Jan 29 2020, 9:08 AM
My cat Myrtle never paid much attention to Brexit, up until recently a hopeless parliamentary quagmire. (“Brexistential fear”: An irrational fear that...
Tue, Jan 28 2020, 8:50 AM
Loan officers and lenders know that the population in the United States continues to shift, and this creates some continued great opportunities to inc...
Mon, Jan 27 2020, 8:23 AM
Remember when there actually was an “average,” and you weren’t afraid to say that someone was average? Now everyone is “above average.” (Did my sarcas...
Fri, Jan 24 2020, 8:37 AM
Yes, the change in FICO scores garnered some attention, but much of the focus is on Wells Fargo which just can’t stay out of the spotlight… for all th...
Thu, Jan 23 2020, 10:20 AM
Did you know that you can vote by smart phone in Seattle ? Did you know that less than 20 percent of the world's population has ever taken a single fl...
Wed, Jan 22 2020, 9:08 AM
What does $4.6 billion dollars buy you these days? A couple casinos: a Blackstone-sponsored JV is paying that for MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay in Las Ve...
Tue, Jan 21 2020, 9:03 AM
Everyone is aging, right? “I finally did it! I bought a new pair of shoes with memory foam insoles. No more forgetting why I walked into the kitchen!”...
Fri, Jan 17 2020, 9:22 AM
I’ve gotta hand it to those writers who put out listings for real estate agents. Maybe if I had a bunch of money I could live in a “secluded retreat” ...
Thu, Jan 16 2020, 8:55 AM
For folks who like numbers and trends, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s national and state population estimates released in December, 42 states a...
Wed, Jan 15 2020, 9:07 AM
We find ourselves at Wednesday already. How about some numbers for Hump Day? Years ago Arnold Schwarzenegger famously said, “Having more money doesn't...
Tue, Jan 14 2020, 9:00 AM
There are some clever people out there creating abbreviations and acronyms. Megxit? Yes: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle exiting from certain royal dut...
Mon, Jan 13 2020, 9:03 AM
Lenders, and all financial sector firms, continue to ruminate on the privacy law in California that now gives people the right to access and delete pe...
Fri, Jan 10 2020, 8:52 AM
Markets have taken the view that brief military conflicts have little long-term impact on economic trends. Gold, oil and the Japanese yen jumped after...
Thu, Jan 9 2020, 8:52 AM
Nobody, that I recall, predicted that 2019 would be a banner year for mortgage originators. And how about that stock market! My 401k’s balance certain...
Wed, Jan 8 2020, 9:06 AM
Hey, I want to buy my own house without the “nuisances” of a large down payment, difficult credit standards, massive debt, or long-term commitments. O...
Tue, Jan 7 2020, 9:08 AM
Money attracts criminal activity. I know that isn’t late-breaking news, but here’s a scam I hadn’t heard of involving, once again, real estate and app...
Mon, Jan 6 2020, 8:35 AM
“Rob, I know that it costs less to retain an existing employee than to train a new one. Last year companies were reportedly paying big signing bonuses...
Fri, Jan 3 2020, 8:49 AM
In state news, happy belated CCPA Day! The California Consumer Privacy Act officially went into effect 1/1, and it’s a big deal. Full compliance expec...
Thu, Jan 2 2020, 9:02 AM
Florida, also known as “God’s waiting room,” is the nation’s third most populous state, behind California and Texas, with a population of 21.3 million...
Tue, Dec 31 2019, 8:58 AM
“I can’t remember how to write 1, 1000, 51, and 500 in Roman Numerals! IM LIVID.” Some in the industry may be livid over Associated Bank’s announcemen...
Mon, Dec 30 2019, 8:56 AM
I was telling my cat Myrtle that I have a problem when people ask me what I’ll be doing tomorrow after midnight. I don’t have 2020 vision! Barring any...
Fri, Dec 27 2019, 9:00 AM
If Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae didn’t exist, would we create them now? Turkey will establish a new mortgage financing firm, Birlesik Ipotek Finansmani ...
Thu, Dec 26 2019, 1:14 PM
“I hate it when people ask me what I’ll be doing in six days. Come on folks. I don’t have 2020 vision.” You can be guaranteed that the Republicans wil...
Tue, Dec 24 2019, 9:02 AM
Where are the well-known Democratic presidential hopefuls on housing issues? As with most politicians, it’s a little vague . While we’re on politics, ...
Mon, Dec 23 2019, 12:38 PM
There sure are lots of people, borrowing lots of money, for lots of houses out there! And the bump in activity is coming from non-bank lenders and is ...
Fri, Dec 20 2019, 9:01 AM
As we zip toward the end of the decade, do you want the U.S. economy to be “Hotter than the hinges of hell?” Probably not, as rates would shoot higher...
Thu, Dec 19 2019, 9:16 AM
Sure the world noted that Sweden’s central bank hiked its rate to 0%. But in this country, Michigan is making mortgage news. First, United Shore/UWM h...
Wed, Dec 18 2019, 8:57 AM
My background is in capital markets, with a razor-sharp mind for figures. Not anymore. Remember when you’d have dozens of phone numbers memorized? Now...
Tue, Dec 17 2019, 8:50 AM
Mark Twain famously said, “When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21,...
Mon, Dec 16 2019, 8:56 AM
No one wants their labors to go to waste, whether you’re an underwriter who is over-ruled by the head of credit, or an MLO who finds out your approved...
Fri, Dec 13 2019, 8:57 AM
While the markets are talking about Boris Johnson’s victory in the U.K. (“get Brexit done”), here’s your trivia of the day: Every month that starts on...
Thu, Dec 12 2019, 9:06 AM
We never see the headline, "Psychic Wins Lottery!" No one has a crystal ball, but originators often ask their capital markets staff about the directio...
Wed, Dec 11 2019, 9:41 AM
Aloha! As any servicer with borrowers in Hawai’i knows, if you’re going to ask, “Is Ms. Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele* home?” or “Do you live on...
Tue, Dec 10 2019, 9:26 AM
If you knew the value of the house was going to decline, or that the borrower has bad credit and would default, would you make the loan? There’s alway...
Mon, Dec 9 2019, 9:24 AM
With the Fed content with rates hovering here for the foreseeable future , lenders can focus on other things. "Rob, are you hearing that real estate a...
Fri, Dec 6 2019, 8:53 AM
I hope that you didn’t lay off your compliance department earlier this year, because there’s a lot going on. For example, from out of California comes...
Thu, Dec 5 2019, 10:33 AM
In the lending world, folks are talking about the change in FHA loan levels . Economists and investors have their eye on debt. Have a balance on your ...
Tue, Dec 3 2019, 9:39 AM
There’s an old saying among economists regarding predicting the future. “You can put a date on it, and you can put a number on it, but you can’t do bo...
Mon, Dec 2 2019, 8:14 AM
Did your company make any money in the 3rd quarter? I hope so, and I hope the 4th quarter is looking bright as well. (Just like I hope that MLOs on yo...
Fri, Nov 29 2019, 8:53 AM
There are seven members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and each region has a President. For 2019, the annual salary for the ...
Wed, Nov 27 2019, 9:18 AM
Loan officers know that rent is a “piece of the puzzle,” “a part of the equation” in the homebuying decision. They should be glad to know that the typ...
Tue, Nov 26 2019, 8:54 AM
“Rob, with the announcement a while back that Quicken Loans inked a mortgage deal with Charles Schwab, and now with Schwab buying TD Ameritrade, do yo...
Mon, Nov 25 2019, 1:14 PM
An LO from Wyoming recently reminded me that, “At the end of the day we sell a product driven by rates.” And we may be at, or near, these rates for a ...
Fri, Nov 22 2019, 8:48 AM
Many believe that 3-D printed houses will be the wave of the future in construction, and there’s someone in this article talking about printing 1,000 ...
Thu, Nov 21 2019, 9:05 AM
Government shutdown worries, the impeachment hearings, the trade war, video of a bear stuck in a car near Lake Tahoe … Is there anything good happenin...
Wed, Nov 20 2019, 8:49 AM
A new analysis from the real estate brokerage firm Redfin shows the typical homeowner in the United States now stays in their house for 13 years, five...
Tue, Nov 19 2019, 1:50 PM
A pass rate of 51% on July’s California bar exam may not seem like cause for celebration, but it’s the first time in six years that a majority of peop...
Mon, Nov 18 2019, 8:53 AM
Do you dread “Smonday?” (That’s when Sunday stops feeling like a Sunday, and the anxiety of Monday kicks in.) Here is something to dread. All this tal...
Fri, Nov 15 2019, 8:59 AM
This week I’ve been running football quotes in the joke section at the bottom. Thanks to Gary B. who sent Chuck Noll’s, “Pressure is something you fee...
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