Wed, Sep 4 2024, 11:53 AM
I don’t know what, exactly, separates irony, satire, or paradox. Whatever category this falls into, it’s a classic tale of biblical proportions. (Othe...
Tue, Sep 3 2024, 11:39 AM
It was the third of September, a day I’ll always remember… Will September 18th be remembered as the day that the Federal Reserve lowers fed funds for ...
Fri, Aug 30 2024, 11:48 AM
(In honor of labor, there is no Commentary tomorrow; Tuesday will be the next one. But in honor of August 31 being National Bacon Day, we celebrate wi...
Thu, Aug 29 2024, 11:45 AM
“Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?” The future is always murky, at best, even to those who tell us that they can predict things. Fannie M...
Wed, Aug 28 2024, 11:50 AM
How dedicated are you to mortgages? This dedicated? I hope not. Owners and CEOs of smaller companies are certainly dedicated to our business, but are ...
Tue, Aug 27 2024, 11:41 AM
Why can’t lending be simple… like “The Revolutionary Haircutting System You've Come to Love!” They even have the forethought to take the summer off. V...
Mon, Aug 26 2024, 11:38 AM
A pair of scissors is not trivial. Did you read the story on how thirty-six flights were cancelled, and 201 delayed, at a Japanese airport after a pai...
Fri, Aug 23 2024, 11:41 AM
“There's a fine line between a numerator and a denominator. Only a fraction of people will find this funny.” Our business is a business of numbers. My...
Thu, Aug 22 2024, 11:55 AM
“Great news! I got the whole plane to myself! The large group going to the psychic’s convention all cancelled at the last minute.” (No, this didn’t ha...
Wed, Aug 21 2024, 11:32 AM
This morning, I head from Los Angeles to Orlando, FL for the big NAMMBA Connect event. I received this question. “Rob, in your travels, are you hearin...
Tue, Aug 20 2024, 11:52 AM
Sometimes things are confused with other things. (What do racoons think of Tesla trucks? Those trucks are easy to make fun of.) There isn’t a lot of c...
Mon, Aug 19 2024, 11:35 AM
A quick note for anyone coming to the California MBA’s Western Secondary via LAX and taking a ride share to the venue: grab the lime green shuttle bus...
Fri, Aug 16 2024, 12:03 PM
On a sad note, entrepreneur “Famous Amos” passed away a few days ago. Cookies are a major food group for me, and here was a fellow who had fun and mad...
Thu, Aug 15 2024, 11:55 AM
Looking at the attendees of various mortgage events around the nation over the last several months, I remember back to when a “new hip joint” meant so...
Wed, Aug 14 2024, 11:51 AM
This morning I head through Chicago to Michigan to the MMLA Conference, where one of the discussion topics will be the NAR changes and how they impact...
Tue, Aug 13 2024, 11:44 AM
“I ordered a book titled, ‘How to scam people online’ two months ago. It still hasn't arrived yet.” Let’s open today’s Commentary with a couple topics...
Mon, Aug 12 2024, 12:22 PM
With almost three more months of political jabbering, here’s a town in Kentucky that keeps politics in perspective with qualified candidates. In a mix...
Fri, Aug 9 2024, 11:35 AM
“How do you tell when you're out of invisible ink?” How do you tell when interest rates are “where they’re supposed to be?” Arguably, rates, based on ...
Thu, Aug 8 2024, 11:51 AM
Do you believe there is no opportunity out there, or nothing you haven’t heard of? First of all, there’s an interesting “moonlighting” commercial job ...
Wed, Aug 7 2024, 12:04 PM
Some things are surprising, like this video of a small child being chased by a wild pit bull. (Parental discretion may be advised.) What if you’re a l...
Tue, Aug 6 2024, 11:11 AM
“Borrow money from pessimists: They don't expect it back.” We are re-entering conference season, and mortgage conference attendance is all over the ma...
Mon, Aug 5 2024, 11:48 AM
This morning I head to Orange County, which has the same population as Arkansas or Nevada, for the CAMP conference where the economy will be discussed...
Fri, Aug 2 2024, 12:02 PM
Remember when Intel was “the cat’s meow” in the IT and chip world? Intel is laying off 15,000 to save $10 billion in costs. Big numbers… Sometimes you...
Thu, Aug 1 2024, 11:46 AM
Thank you to Ira S. who points out that today marks the Spirit Halloween Stores opening. The origins of Halloween go back thousands of years via dozen...
Wed, Jul 31 2024, 11:46 AM
“Hard work pays off in the future; laziness pays off now.” Joking aside, competitors out there sure aren’t being lazy. Who wants your previous clients...
Tue, Jul 30 2024, 12:54 PM
Is it a surprise to anyone that millions of renters could afford to buy a home with their mortgage payment not exceeding 30 percent of their income? D...
Mon, Jul 29 2024, 12:03 PM
Language has oddities. For example, plurale tantums: items that are usually referred to in plural, often preceded by “pair of” even when there is only...
Fri, Jul 26 2024, 12:00 PM
The only thing constant is change. After 53 years, Southwest Airlines is ending its 100 percent open seating policy! (I don’t mind lining up.) People ...
Thu, Jul 25 2024, 11:38 AM
As lenders continue to deal with change (the latest rumors have Flagstar is selling its mortgage group to Mr. Cooper; rumor only, ask your rep for rea...
Wed, Jul 24 2024, 12:05 PM
In Utah every year, July 24th commemorates “Pie and Beer Day,” the day in 1847 when the first group of pioneers reached the Salt Lake valley and their...
Tue, Jul 23 2024, 11:49 AM
Before President Biden quit his reelection bid, markets had been pricing in a “Trump Trade.” This meant investors placing bets on a steeper yield curv...
Mon, Jul 22 2024, 12:18 PM
No way, President Biden decided to drop out of the presidential race on National Ice Cream Day! The markets (take your pick… stock, bond, currency, wh...
Fri, Jul 19 2024, 11:32 AM
I get asked if I think our industry puts too much emphasis on what the Federal Reserve is doing, and its being able to control inflation. In a word, m...
Thu, Jul 18 2024, 11:49 AM
It’s not just Americans who can’t afford U.S. homes. International purchases of U.S. homes over the past year declined 36 percent to 54,300 properties...
Wed, Jul 17 2024, 11:48 AM
Is anyone else seeing those sensational, “yellow journalistic” headlines saying that real estate is plummeting? Think again. The American Enterprise I...
Tue, Jul 16 2024, 11:29 AM
The percentage of refinances of overall volume has fallen dramatically from a few years ago, leaving purchases to be the basis of business out there. ...
Mon, Jul 15 2024, 11:39 AM
Yes, I know that this is a mortgage commentary, but some things are way above that. (Warning: tissues may be required; what’s happened legislatively s...
Fri, Jul 12 2024, 11:37 AM
“I’m sorry, but you can’t always be ‘experiencing a higher volume of calls than average.’ That’s not how averages work.” The “average” person has a st...
Thu, Jul 11 2024, 11:40 AM
I have good news and bad news, which do you normally prefer receiving first? Today (7/11) is Slurpee Day at 7-Eleven (good news), where Citigroup exec...
Wed, Jul 10 2024, 11:48 AM
“The only time I get asked for sex is on application forms.” Ba-dum-ching! Speaking of applications, most lenders will agree that the loan officer sho...
Tue, Jul 9 2024, 11:43 AM
“Your call is important to us. Please stay on the line until it is no longer important to you.” To state the obvious, serving customers can make or br...
Mon, Jul 8 2024, 11:48 AM
During a recent password audit, it was found that a blonde was using the following password: "MickeyMinniePlutoHueyLouieDeweyDonaldGoofySacramento". W...
Fri, Jul 5 2024, 11:47 AM
Before the internet, everything worked fine without it, right? Just ask the members, whether they be depositors or borrowers, of credit union Patelco,...
Wed, Jul 3 2024, 11:43 AM
Did you know that there were 2.5 million estimated people living in the newly independent nation of the United States in July 1776? Per the Census Bur...
Tue, Jul 2 2024, 11:36 AM
Cracker Jacks, Quaker Oats, Ferris Wheels, and 1893 Chicago have something in common. World’s Fairs, and World’s Expos, have pretty much gone away due...
Mon, Jul 1 2024, 11:53 AM
Do you know anyone in a “Situationship?” You know, a romantic or sexual relationship that is not considered to be formal or established? People in man...
Fri, Jun 28 2024, 11:38 AM
“They” say that as you age, life is like a toilet paper roll: the closer you get to the end, the faster it goes. Dang. But… 2024 almost half over? Wha...
Thu, Jun 27 2024, 11:55 AM
“What did people from the Midwest call a small can of pop? A Minnesota.” (Say it out loud to your 3 rd grader.) While we’re on a “pop,” lenders in th...
Wed, Jun 26 2024, 11:25 AM
“Don’t waste a good crisis.” Continuing data breaches constitute a crisis, the latest example being LendingTree Inc., cloud-based data analytics firm ...
Tue, Jun 25 2024, 11:54 AM
Everyone’s above average, right? If you are a lender and making money, you’re in the majority. It’s not that you’re not special, it’s just that with c...
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