Mark Teteris News Today

This morning (as I head to Chicago) and every morning, I keep myself sharp by regularly asking myself the tough questions like, “What happened yesterday?” and “What was I planning on doing just now?” Looking forward, as some attendees of last week’s conference made note of the MBA Annual’s dates in Denver for next year butting up against Halloween, successful salespeople will tell you that many of their best business meetings last week, or at any confere...

“I dance like people wish they weren't watching.” Someone sure is watching, and counting, empty houses. Lack of available housing inventory has helped keep housing costs high throughout many of the nation’s big cities, but nearly 5.5 million homes sit vacant across the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas. The average vacancy rate across these 50 metros is 7.22 percent, with New Orleans (13.9 percent), Miami (12.7 percent), and Tampa (12.2 percent) having th...

This morning I head to Dallas, Texas, where, if you ask Redfin, prices are up 5 percent for the year. Or Zillow will tell you prices are down 2 percent. Can’t we all agree on something? Certainly, we can all agree that inflation is simply too many dollars chasing too few goods. How about when too many houses are chasing too few insurance companies? No insurance company wants to be the last one standing. (Today’s “Mortgage Matters: The Weekly Roundup” at 11AM PT, 2PM E...

It isn’t as if building or lending products, or ways of doing business, were handed down by Trappist monks. Change is always afoot, for better or worse. What is old is new again. Teachers are moving to oral exams to counteract AI and ChatGPT, similar to ancient Greek and Roman times. In the West and Southwest, adequate water rights and supplies have always been contentious but have resurfaced (get it?) with news that may impact other cities and towns: Arizona began limiting approvals for ...

A friend of mine who lives in her own unit in a mobile home park was telling me that her rent is about to go up by a huge amount, and said that, “That Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are behind it.” Correct or not, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae don’t need this kind of publicity and the public to have that impression, but sure enough, a quick news search turns up: “'Trapped': How Federally Backed Financing is Making Mobile Homes Less Affordable.” The wor...

Where should we start the week? How about how predictions and forecasts are nearly worthless when they’re out of date one week later? How about with an old-fashioned run on a bank, eliminating any talk of another Fed rate increase. People wonder, “Where do I bank? Is it big enough? Is there enough regulation?” Lenders are making sure that their warehouse funding is not only from one bank, since nothing will shut down a faster than lack of liquidity and inability to fund loan...

As Brian B. reminds me, “In the New England you can tell the changing of the seasons by the changing color of the leaves. In Florida you can tell the changing of the seasons by the changing colors of the license plates.” Speaking of moves, geography, and distance, if you’re a lender or a vendor, how’s your 2023 travel and entertainment budget shaping up? I figured. The Mortgage Bankers Association believes (some say optimistically) that total mortgage origination volu...

Sue W. writes, “After I say, ‘That’s crazy’ twice, please wrap up your story.” There are a lot of stories out there now as residential lenders tighten their belts, their payrolls, and their expenses in the face of rising rates, the worst inflation since 1981, and per loan costs of over $10,000. Hey, corporate has taken a hit, branches have taken a hit… is it time for LO comp to take one? Time will tell, but meanwhile ops staff are grappling with a number...

“I'm a multitasker. I can listen, ignore, and forget all at the same time!” We won’t, however, soon forget this part of the business cycle. “Rob, thank you for all your help placing ads for Ops staff for us. With the ‘Work from Home’ movement, and cutbacks, we don’t need all of this office furniture. Would you run an ad to sell it?” First off, I told the person that no, I wouldn’t. But more importantly, this well-known lender...

“Do you know that humans eat more bananas than monkeys? Think about it, when was the last time you ate a monkey?” Words and terms are important. At this point, any company not having layoffs, reductions in force, or “right-sizing” (such a PC term) makes news, not the organizations actually making cuts and changes. (In K-pop news, even BTS announced a “hiatus” to focus on solo careers after nearly 10 years together.) And lenders aren’t the only one...