Think your job has its ups and downs… How’d you like to be a lipstick tester? (You should see the rest of him!) For me it is off to Birmingham tomorrow, where no lipstick testing is on the agenda, but I am sure that one of the topics at the MBA of Alabama Conference will be how best to lend in an era of constrained supply of houses to buy. But that may be changing: Florida is seeing its inventory of homes for sale skyrocket and price growth stagnate, largely due to homebuilders rushing to accommodate a flood of newcomers. Because we’ve done such a great job keeping building costs on land down, while at the same time not polluting our oceans, let’s build a floating city for 20,000. (Sarcasm font required.) Whether it is real estate, beer cans, or the value of companies, values are determined by supply and demand, so here’s something interesting: Berkshire Hathaway’s cash pile has hit a record as Warren Buffett cut its stake in Apple, a company t
Two vultures are in a field, eating a dead clown. One vulture says to the other, "Does this taste funny to you?" The last thing you want to hear about your company is that it “preyed upon” customers, which is the opposite of funny. “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time”: A federal court has issued an order banning the operators of the Home Matters USA mortgage relief scam from the telemarketing and debt relief businesses and requiring them to turn over $19 million as a result of a lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission and the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation. Named were Home Matters USA, Academy Home Services, Atlantic Pacific Service Group, and Golden Home Services America, and the owners of the companies, Michael R. Nabati, Armando Solis Barron, Dominic Ahiga (also known as Michael D. Grinnell), and Roger S. Dyer… taking millions of dollars from thousands of struggling homeowners s
“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 up to $6,618, about 49 percent higher. Collision insurance claims have increased 64 percent between 2018 and 2022, fueled by increasingly sophisticated cars and more complicated things that need to get fixed when they get broken. No longer are we just hammering out dents, but rather we’re taking computers out of the car and fixing it. Insurance costs may be on the agenda (the why’s mortgage rates certainly will be) when the California Association of Mortgage Professionals (CAMP) pr
Is it just my imagination or do restaurants no longer have salt and pepper shakers on the tables after COVID? Is it just my imagination or do organizations with initials that begin with “N” have trouble keeping their leadership? In August of 2023 the chief of NAR resigned, last week it was the NRA, and this week it is NAR’s turn again, this time losing Tracy Kasper to blackmail! Meanwhile, keeping on with real estate news, and realizing that anyone can sue anyone, news came out after Christmas that Zillow, which also owns Zillow Home Loans, is suing rivals over software that schedules property showings.  Agency news Freddie Mac (FHLMC) and Fannie Mae (FNMA) still have the lion’s share of the applications coming through lenders. What’s going on with their conventional conforming products? Fannie Mae SVC-2023-06 December Servicing Guide update advises large non-depository sellers/servicers of updates to the frequency of financial