Page 2 - One Touch Underwrite News Today

“Why did New Jersey get all the toxic waste and California get all the lawyers? New Jersey got to pick first.” (Hey, I don’t write ‘em.) Quips aside, California accounts for 20 or 25 percent of the nation’s residential lending, depending on who you ask. The Golden State’s economy has been growing steadily while the global economy has at times faltered, and as a result it’s poised to surpass Germany to become the fourth-largest economy on the plane...

Forget about layoffs, salary cuts, revenue problems. There’s extra leftover candy in the lunchroom! Uh… do we still have lunchrooms? I hope so. And Thanksgiving will be here before you know it, and with it, pumpkin pie. (Yes, I know that this is a mortgage commentary, but even pumpkins have their share of regulation and controversy.) Pumpkin is a variety of squash belonging to the “Cucurbitaceae,” or gourd family which also includes melons and cucumbers. The FDA allow...

For me, the next ten days includes time in Chicago, the Wisconsin Dells, and Atlanta. It isn’t a scary agenda. At the ready for tonight’s Halloween fun? Polls seem to indicate that the most popular treat is Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, followed by Reese’s Miniatures, Twix, Kit Kat, and Snickers. Regardless of treats being handed out at doorsteps, there are “ticks” in an unfortunate affordable housing situation that is an example of the difficulty of imple...

While investors who “jumped the gun” on establishing their own conforming conventional loan limits ahead of the official proclamation at the end of November by the FHFA are wondering if they “spoke too soon” as values drop, time is rushing by. Kids are back in school, learning about Cuba and having pizza. We’re losing about 3 minutes of daylight a day. Children are picking out Halloween costumes. There are fake Christmas trees in Costco. We don’t turn ba...

One can always focus on lending activity hitting a 25-year low, or the once mighty loanDepot reducing its own liquidity or handing raises out to executives, or Better.com’s CEO back in the headlines. So let’s veer off the mortgage track for a bit. Not everyone in residential lending is a baseball fan, but everyone in our biz knows a thing or two about money. Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees hit his 62nd home run of the season, a new record. The ball was caught by a fan, and the ...

Yogi Berra, when asked about staying in a particular hotel, replied, “The towels were so thick there I could hardly close my suitcase.” I’ve attended my share of conferences in the last few months (no towels were purloined), and the two big general concerns for lenders everywhere are a) providing the best products, price, and service to clients, and b) the general economic and interest rate climate and its impact on their business model. Regarding the second topic, mergers a...

Now we have a butter shortage raising prices ahead of the holidays. Great. While margarine makers are licking their chops over the news, vegans and other readers should know that no animals are ever harmed in the making of this commentary! But speaking of harm, in the current environment, and probably for the next couple quarters, vendors and lenders working 30 percent harder to make 40 percent less. Or worse. If the Fed’s actions can push asset prices higher, it’s actions can also...

This is the start of Fat Bear Week. (My money’s on Popeye.) Those poor bears don’t have much privacy, and it turns out that neither do humans. Consumer Reports tells us that TikTok is tracking people even when they don’t use TikTok. Another blow to keeping everyone’s personal data personal. With satellites and drone photos, there isn’t any privacy from above, and the devastation in Florida is horrendous, a portion of which is shown in these before and after pho...

Whether it is independent mortgage banks or companies with the largest market caps in the world, new products are being developed and rolled out to help drive growth. Apple unveiled new iPhone models, versions of the AirPods Pro, and several smartwatches yesterday. Closer to home, lenders are also exploring new products to drive volume. Newrez announced a 40-Year IO option, designed to increase purchasing power for homebuyers by offering a 40-year loan term with interest-only payments for the fi...

California is currently going through a heat wave (Sacramento set a temperature record on Tuesday at 116°), taxing the state's power grid as energy demand breaks records and power officials request homeowners to turn down their air conditioning. A break in the heat could come due to Hurricane Kay bearing down on the state, which would mean California may be trading the heat for flooding. Did you know that 66 percent of Americans don’t feel fully prepared for potential nat...