At the TMBA’s Secondary Conference in Houston a topic is obviously interest rates and the economy… And the fact that the nation’s interest payment expense now exceeds our defense expense! It’s also a fact that Texas’ business climate is very friendly for companies. The #1 state in the nation for residential lending, California, not so much. Overheard here in the hallway: “California is a blue state wrapped up in red tape.” That said, permit process aside, California gets a lot of flak for its high cost of living, but that is for income tax rather than property tax, as exhibited in “Property Taxes by State in 2024” comparing home and vehicle taxes across the nation. Californians pay the 34th highest annual taxes on homes priced at state median value. New Jersey, Illinois, and Connecticut have the highest annual taxes on homes. Each year, the average American household spends $2,869 on real-estate property taxes plus another $448 for residents of the 26 states with vehicle property taxes. (Found here after 8:30AM ET, this week’s podcast is brought to you by nCino, makers of the nCino Mortgage Suite for the modern mortgage lender. nCino Mortgage Suite's three core products - nCino Mortgage, nCino Incentive Compensation, and nCino Mortgage Analytics - unite the people, systems, and stages of the mortgage process. Interview with SoFi’s Liz Young on the need for Treasury auctions and how supply and demand at those auctions impacts consumer interest rates.) Lender and Broker Services, Products, and Software