Tue, Jun 5 2018, 8:59 AM
Builders & real estate agents are very interested in cost per square foot. How much does it cost to build something in New York City? How about $362 p...
Mon, Jun 4 2018, 8:54 AM
Doing Good Wells Fargo’s charity work is legendary – more than any other company in the United States. The Mortgage Bankers Association has Project Op...
Fri, Jun 1 2018, 9:10 AM
Whenever I mention changes in LO compensation versus changes in lender profit margins, my cat Myrtle seems entirely disinterested. (Come to think of i...
Thu, May 31 2018, 9:08 AM
At the recent MBA conference, plenty of discussion focused on non-QM lending. But plenty “off the record” discussions among execs mentioned changing L...
Wed, May 30 2018, 9:06 AM
Plenty of people I know agree with the this Forbes article titled, “We Have Learned Nothing From The Mortgage Market Meltdown.” Builders are reducing ...
Tue, May 29 2018, 9:06 AM
Plenty of people I know agree with the this Forbes article titled, “We Have Learned Nothing From The Mortgage Market Meltdown.” For example, certainly...
Fri, May 25 2018, 9:07 AM
Did you know that the number of female chief executives of Fortune 500 companies this year declined by 25 percent (from 32 to 24)? Not good. One of th...
Thu, May 24 2018, 9:18 AM
The conference this week? I attended various presentations dealing with housing finance and the economy in general. Even in the face of rising rates, ...
Wed, May 23 2018, 9:11 AM
Every vendor here at the MBA conference suggests they can help clients close more loans faster, more efficiently and compliantly. If only all these le...
Tue, May 22 2018, 9:10 AM
The U.S. mortgage industry likely recorded an operating loss in the first three months of 2018 due to falling loan volumes and growing expenses, the M...
Mon, May 21 2018, 9:12 AM
Hello from the MBA Secondary Conference in NY! Lenders are talking about LO comp (“they need to share the margin pain, but no one wants to be the firs...
Fri, May 18 2018, 9:18 AM
Folks heading to the MBA’s Secondary conference should know that there are 329 street-level newsstands in New York City. (The peak was 1,500 in the 19...
Thu, May 17 2018, 9:45 AM
I don’t go anywhere without my sugar glider, including most of this week spent in Austin, TX with TMS . No, a sugar glider is not a risqué pet name fo...
Wed, May 16 2018, 9:10 AM
What does a chief operating officer do, and how much do they make? For builders, the role is vague but is often the #2 person at the company. COO comp...
Tue, May 15 2018, 9:12 AM
Legal eagles out there are buzzing about PHH deciding not to appeal the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C.’s January decision in its CFPB challenge. Recal...
Mon, May 14 2018, 9:10 AM
“Forward” lenders can’t ignore that 10,000 people a day in the U.S. turn 62. Of course, not every one owns a home, or has appreciation – but many do. ...
Fri, May 11 2018, 9:12 AM
HMDA data tells us that California accounted for 21% of residential loan volume in 2017, and 23% in ’16. It’s a big market. Thus, the industry is foll...
Thu, May 10 2018, 9:16 AM
Amazon, Google , Apple, Uber (largest food delivery system in the world) taking over the world? Perhaps, especially if we’re willing to give it to the...
Wed, May 9 2018, 9:11 AM
Psst… want a snapshot file that contains the national HMDA datasets as of April 18th, 2018 for all HMDA reporters, as modified by the Bureau to protec...
Tue, May 8 2018, 9:09 AM
Air travel is an interesting thing, and very safe by most metrics. Did you know that there are between 440,000 and 660,000 people in the air over the ...
Mon, May 7 2018, 9:13 AM
Nearly every residential lender is selectively scaling back, or rumored to be scaling back, for a multitude of reasons. Suddenly a company cutting a L...
Thu, May 3 2018, 9:10 AM
Moody’s addresses what every LO knows – the next area of “opportunity” in the mortgage market: next area of “opportunity” in the mortgage market : cas...
Wed, May 2 2018, 9:15 AM
Greetings from the American Mortgage Conference in Pinehurst, NC! Fun with numbers: A penny is about 1/16 of an inch, or 192 per foot. A mile is 5,280...
Tue, May 1 2018, 9:16 AM
May Day – how are we 1/3 of the way through 2018 already?! Folks are gearing up for this month’s MBA National Secondary conference in Manhattan. (Jung...
Mon, Apr 30 2018, 9:11 AM
Demographics will tell you that it makes more sense organizing populations by how they live – rather than where they live – is a much more precise way...
Fri, Apr 27 2018, 9:15 AM
Huh? Nearly half of borrowers don’t rate shop? Freddie Mac tells us that this is indeed the case (although every LO and broker I know would disagree)....
Thu, Apr 26 2018, 9:13 AM
I'm a capital markets guy, so, by some people’s definition, don’t know much about numbers. But I know that .250 (a quarter point) on a $100,000 loan i...
Wed, Apr 25 2018, 9:22 AM
Amazon Web Services, the conglomerate’s cloud computing division, has announced AWS Blockchain Templates, which will compete with similar offerings fr...
Tue, Apr 24 2018, 9:12 AM
Where should a lender reduce expenses? I received this note from STRATMOR’s Jeff Babcock. “In our numerous conversations with client mortgage originat...
Mon, Apr 23 2018, 9:12 AM
“A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon, you’re talking real money,” was never actually uttered by Illinois politician Everett Dirksen. ("Oh, I ...
Fri, Apr 20 2018, 9:18 AM
Did you know that Wells Fargo gives more assistance and aid to people and communities through its Foundation than any other company in the United Stat...
Thu, Apr 19 2018, 9:11 AM
Rumors continue to swirl about practically every lender out there, and exaggeration is rampant. A company eliminates low producing LOs in Arizona and ...
Wed, Apr 18 2018, 9:15 AM
The MBA tells us that both volume and profits were down in 2017. “ Independent mortgage banks and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks made an ave...
Tue, Apr 17 2018, 9:10 AM
One of the things that impact servicing values is foreclosure laws, and rates, in certain states. Foreclosures have dropped, thankfully the number of ...
Mon, Apr 16 2018, 9:14 AM
There is always something new in the legal arena, right? Below is news that JPMorgan Chase is pursuing remedies. Is it “legal” for Zillow to compete w...
Fri, Apr 13 2018, 9:16 AM
“Rob, are you hearing of companies where branches are being picked off due to new budgetary constraints, and where new recruiting has become problemat...
Thu, Apr 12 2018, 9:11 AM
This commentary posts plenty of job opportunities. I have a site – www.LenderNews.com – where folks can post resumes for free (under “services) and co...
Wed, Apr 11 2018, 9:06 AM
Here’s some trivia for Happy Hour tonight. Who is Irene Triplett? Triplett is the sole surviving person sole surviving person to be receiving a Civil ...
Tue, Apr 10 2018, 9:08 AM
Plenty of folks are moving to Florida, where I am today for a VA Conference. Do property taxes matter? Sure they do. Enough to move to an entirely dif...
Mon, Apr 9 2018, 9:14 AM
What’s the retail residential competition up to? Eave (not to be confused with Eaze !) launched a new software that automates mortgage applications an...
Fri, Apr 6 2018, 9:18 AM
What happens when you combine an already tight housing market, marijuana, a Chinese crime syndicate, and the U.S. government? The answer is not a movi...
Thu, Apr 5 2018, 9:13 AM
My father was in the U.S. Navy for 20 years (1942-1962) and his first home loan in 1967 was a VA 30-year fixed rate mortgage. That was obviously pre-i...
Wed, Apr 4 2018, 9:14 AM
As residential origination volumes and margins contract, plenty of lenders are looking at construction, non-QM, bond, government, ARM, SBA, and USDA l...
Tue, Apr 3 2018, 9:13 AM
If anyone ever asks you, the average parking space is 180 square feet, which works out to 242 parking spaces per acre. Reuters reports that, due to Vo...
Mon, Apr 2 2018, 9:15 AM
This year the usual Tax Day (April 15) falls on a Sunday, and the next day is Emancipation Day, a legal holiday in D.C. That means you have until midn...
Thu, Mar 29 2018, 9:13 AM
In the time I spend with loan officers (and I am fortunate to meet some top-notch producers), I hear plenty of stories about walking a real estate age...
Wed, Mar 28 2018, 9:13 AM
Supply and demand drive markets and prices, including luxury items and especially housing. What do you give the person who has everything? How about a...
Tue, Mar 27 2018, 9:20 AM
Studies indicate 1.2 billion people worldwide do not have proper shelter. A startup in Austin, Texas decided it would work to change that. Using a hea...
Mon, Mar 26 2018, 9:04 AM
Interesting economic times, the latest example being gunmaker Remington filing for bankruptcy. Lenders wish things weren’t so interesting: Independent...
Fri, Mar 23 2018, 9:14 AM
The Census Bureau defines millennials as those born between 1982 and 2000, which means this year their age ranges from 18 to 36. Many will argue that ...
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