Page 2 - Broker Software News Today

“What do hospital gowns and insurance policies have in common? You’re never covered as much as you think you are.” Although loan officers are not insurance experts, they are seeing the escalating cost of homeowner’s insurance impact affordability. (Last Friday’s TMC show focused on why insurance costs are rising.) Insuring homes is not the only issue, however. The average bill for the repair of an American vehicle is $4,437, and for an electric vehicle that is ...

“Sometimes it takes me all day to get nothing done.” But things are always changing. When I was a kid I “got a drink of water.” Now kids “hydrate.” Really? A few years ago, a good originator could do 10-20 loans per month. Now, it is rumored that 80 percent of volume is being done by 40 percent of originators, and lenders have instituted minimum production numbers: “If you’re not funding 2 loans per month, we’re going to let you find...

“I threw my phone from the roof, and it broke. I guess airplane mode wasn’t working.” Plenty of folks will be traveling soon. Here’s some trivia for tomorrow at the dinner table! (One wonders if residential lending is heading in this direction) … But there are only 12 passenger airlines in the United States. That’s up from 10 just a few years ago but down from about 80 airlines at the peak industry in the 1980s due to a series of bankruptcies and mergers...

“This commentary is only available while supplies last!” In the fall of 1621, the Pilgrims, working hard in Plymouth Colony after coming to North America with limited supplies in 1620, held a three-day feast to celebrate a bountiful harvest: the nation's first Thanksgiving. No football was involved. (During the Lincoln Administration it became a national holiday in 1863 to be observed on the fourth Thursday of November.) 300 miles to the southwest, New Jersey has spent $2.6...

When you own your own home, you don’t have to deal with unreasonable landlords. (Warning: uncensored.) And then there are those who own their own homes that have no mortgage: almost 40 percent of Americans own their places outright, an all-time high. Do you think that you could live in 200 square feet? There are tiny homes, and then there is this place that kind of folds up! (Thank you to Arch’s Sharon K. for sending this along.) Meanwhile, among lenders there are many reports of, ...

Talk can be humorous. "That lowdown scoundrel deserves to be kicked to death by a jackass, and I'm just the one to do it." (Attributed to a congressional candidate in Texas.) Here in Dallas, mortgage talk is certainly wide-ranging and varied as there’s a lot going on out there as we head toward Thanksgiving week, including cost cutting, M&A, and Fair Lending. Today’s Rundown features Feliks Viner, VP of Capital Markets with First World Mortgage...

“Every disaster movie starts with the government ignoring a scientist.” Vendors and lenders can’t ignore red ink. Here in Kansas City, one of the discussion topics is how relationships are important during these days when the balance sheets of many lenders and vendors don’t look so great after, for many companies, several quarters of losses. How much pain do some owners want? Balance sheets were plump after 2020 and 2021, and warehouse banks and investor counterpartie...

Besides Janet Yellen’s In-N-Out foray, it is a rough environment out there: Hope you don’t want a Wells Fargo HELOC. Or just ask Citizens who is exiting the wholesale channel; More below on that. Many lenders are reporting unit volumes dropping by 50-70 percent, in part due to higher rates caused by inflation expectations. Buying stuff in the holidays will be more expensive this year, and here’s a personal tale of inflation. I happened to be near a See’s Candy store r...

This morning I head to Kansas, greeted by the news that Southwest is raising drink fees for the holidays. Has the “Let’s circle back after the holidays” season officially begun in your office or in your meetings with vendors? Chortles aside, one of the discussion topics in KC will certainly be the impending move in credit prices as lenders everywhere move toward charging borrowers up front. Whether the cost change is driven by Fair Isacc or the credit bureaus, and then being...

Whether it is an obscure band or an eatery in San Diego, a well-known palindrome is “tacocat.” Huh? Yes, it’s the same spelled backward or forward. You hadn’t heard that one? How about this one: “Rob, have you heard that when Lender XYZ funds a loan, it is sold to an investor, and usually the servicing is sold to someone else, but then Lender XYZ and its LO quickly offer to refinance the loan when rates drop. At that point Lender XYZ makes its origination fee a...