Josh Neumarker News Today

Here in the Hill Country near Austin, Texas, there’s an active market of sellers and buyers of real estate. It is a safe bet that most use agents; around 90 percent of buyers use them, and Clever released data on average real estate commission rates in the U.S. as they stand now. Clever found that on the median-priced home of $431,000, the average U.S. home seller pays real estate commission fees of about $23,662. In a survey of 630 partner agents, the average real estate commission rate ...

If you’re really happy when a scheduled conference or Zoom call is cancelled, does that mean you’re in the wrong line of work? (Asking for a friend.) The demand for Team or Zoom calls certainly skyrocketed during the pandemic, although as companies have moved back into the office to some extent, the demand for them has dropped. Supply and demand determine mortgage pricing, so there is little use in a lender originating loans if there is no demand by investors or portfolios for thos...

Hey, why wouldn’t you want to join the Mortgage Action Alliance? It doesn’t cost you a penny, and there’s strength in numbers. Signing up takes about 90 seconds. And the information you receive is much more reliable than mine! The U.S. Census Bureau produces some reliable information, unless you’re some conspiracy theory nut, and they have information that loan officers love: where most owners are free and clear of any home loan. And 30-year rates, which probably won&...

Fun with numbers! 1: the number of Chinese surveillance balloons over Montana. (That we know of.) Did you know that the last day of 2023 is 123123? (You heard it here first!) While we’re on random numbers, Atlanta has almost 25 thousand surveillance cameras, grabbing the honors as the most heavily surveilled city in the U.S. with 50 CCTV cameras for every 1,000 inhabitants. (“The research also suggests that there is little correlation between higher camera figures and lower crime i...

Mortgage rates dropped after mid-June. Momentarily switching gears, given their role in cakes, breakfasts, custards, and breads, if eggs didn’t exist, would a food scientist have to had invented them? I mention this because the benchmark price of eggs in the U.S. was down to $2.16 a dozen two weeks ago, down 37 percent from the record high $3.38 a dozen in mid-July. These lower prices should be reflected at grocery stores with prices dropping by a dollar a dozen or so. The cause for the s...

Loan officers who’d like to learn a thing or two about the current prospecting environment are invited to listen in today at 2PM CT/noon PT as Steve Richman discusses how LO’s activities are much more important than near-term results, database management is critical, new LOs shouldn’t mind going after traditional lower-level referral partners, and the importance of making calls and working on a Friday afternoon. And while we’re on sales, and marketing, the STRATMOR Gr...

“What do you get when you cross the Atlantic Ocean with the Titanic? Halfway.” We’ve crossed the halfway point of 2022, and where’s everyone’s attention? As always, lenders offer product, service, and price. Cheap HELOCs, 2nds, down payment assistance programs, and bond programs are in vogue, and any time the possibility of an insurance cut for FHA-backed loans makes it into the Wall Street Journal, it’s become mainstream thinking. Lenders have ramped up...

We’re all trying to save a few pennies. We have the increase in postal rates coming soon and perhaps pick up a roll, or ten, of Forever Stamps. It’s not like they have an expiration date, unlike, apparently, lenders. Remember names like AmeriLoan, Countrywide, PNC, WaMu, Home Savings of America, Fleet, Great Western, World Savings, Associates, Nat City? “We are writing to share an update on _____’s efforts to address significant, unexpected, and unprecedented economic...

Ops, MLO jobs; Marketing, Subservicing, HFA, Warehouse Products; Agency/GSE Changes May 19 2021, 8:02AM Face facts: There are many differences between men and women. One of which is that when returning home from the grocery store, women typically are more level-headed and carry normal bag loads, whereas men typically carry as many bags as possible to save trips, sometimes with unfortunate consequences. I bring this up because the same bag of groceries seems to cost mo...