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 ...
Thu, Feb 28 2019, 9:13 AM
Lenders need to be aware of the myriad of things that indirectly impact our business. The poverty rate declined overall in 2017 but the rate among His...
Wed, Feb 27 2019, 9:04 AM
As opposed to HomeBridge Financial, which appears to be buying HomeStreet’s origination biz, it is no secret that JPMorgan Chase isn’t an ardent fan o...
Tue, Feb 26 2019, 9:01 AM
We all learn something every day. For example, did you know that the grocery chain Trader Joe’s is owned by a huge German supermarket chain? Yup. How ...
Mon, Feb 25 2019, 8:57 AM
When you hear “Midwest” what comes to mind? Missouri? Illinois? What about “Mideast?” Some place a long way from Missouri! “Rob, have you heard that t...
Fri, Feb 22 2019, 8:53 AM
In the good news category, we can all knock “lumber prices” off the list as a hindrance to builders. Prices are down 25% in the last year. Is it “easi...
Thu, Feb 21 2019, 8:58 AM
“Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.” A clever quote about differences which reminded me that there are differences between the na...
Wed, Feb 20 2019, 8:24 AM
Watch out for spam emails asking for your phone number. Seems like they are trying to get past the two-factor authentication that sends a six-digit co...
Fri, Feb 15 2019, 9:04 AM
Huh? Radian was recently in takeover talks ? I only know what I read in the newspapers! Sometimes I wonder if everyone isn’t in M&A talks to one degre...
Wed, Feb 13 2019, 9:17 AM
Amazon accounts for nearly 50% of the ecommerce activity in the United States. With that kind of delivery service, it isn’t hard to see why malls are ...
Tue, Feb 12 2019, 8:56 AM
From Twitter: “When self-driving cars become mainstream, dead old people will occasionally just arrive places.” Morbid humor aside, will it really hel...
Mon, Feb 11 2019, 8:57 AM
When I grow up, I want to live…next to the airport? Usually, airports are there before people move in around them, and then the residents all complain...
Fri, Feb 8 2019, 9:11 AM
Here’s some trivia for today’s potluck in the Shipping Department: Las Vegas has 150,000 hotel rooms and spending a night in each would take you 411 y...
Thu, Feb 7 2019, 9:25 AM
Guys – here’s your one-week warning for Valentine’s Day. In related news, countless scientific studies have proven that a male human being is incapabl...
Wed, Feb 6 2019, 9:03 AM
Fun with numbers! Here’s something interesting in the finance world: The number of public companies in the U.S. has decreased by almost 50% from 1996 ...
Tue, Feb 5 2019, 8:55 AM
The other day I was on a Southwest flight and I noticed someone on the aisle seat crumple up a couple of unused tissues and put them on the empty midd...
Mon, Feb 4 2019, 9:04 AM
“All mushrooms are edible. Some are only edible once.” I am positive there are families in the U.S. that only buy or sell a house once in their life, ...
Fri, Feb 1 2019, 9:02 AM
I can tell it’s almost Valentine’s day since Costco just put out the Halloween decorations. Speaking of Costco, its minimum wage is now $14 per hour. ...
Thu, Jan 31 2019, 8:55 AM
Rumors of a cancelled President’s Club award event in a mortgage division of a bank in the Northwest have tongues wagging about acquisition rumors by ...
Wed, Jan 30 2019, 9:07 AM
Here’s something for senior management to do some time. Casually ask someone under the age of 30, who is not in the business, like your server at The ...
Tue, Jan 29 2019, 9:16 AM
Think you have trouble finding good talent in the mortgage biz? The L.A. Times writes that President Trump signed an order to hire 15,000 new border a...
Mon, Jan 28 2019, 9:02 AM
Another 5-day work week. Sigh. To some it’ll seem “longer than a CVS receipt.” To others it will fly by. What is also flying is the market in Boise, I...
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