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Daily Mortgage News & Commentary
Dec. 21: The CFPB and Zelle, dead & divorced borrowers, PACE, HMDA... Saturday Spotlight: Foundation Mortgage; a clever poem
The Winter Solstice! People in Anchorage (sunset 3:41) and Minneapolis (sunset 4:34) are happy to know that, due to the earth’s tilt,...
chrismancommentary
9 min read
Today's Commentary
December 2024
Dec. 20: LO, AE, IT, funding jobs; NAR settlement info; TPO products; STRATMOR on 2025 strategies; gov't shutdown info for lenders
There are only a few days left until Christmas, and possibly buying last minute presents. Guys, be careful out there in your selection !...
chrismancommentary
13 min read
Dec. 19: Sec. mktg., AE, IT, Ops, LO jobs; Non-QM servicing, HELOC, POS products; FHA news; rates... now what?
When I see a headline with “housing” and “crash” in it, I think it is merely clickbait, and the author is trying to attract readers. For...
chrismancommentary
11 min read
Dec. 18: LO jobs; price & credit breaks, valuation, verification, marketing tools; Lender & investor FHA & reverse news
“When a woman says, ‘What?’ it’s not because she didn’t hear you. It’s because she’s giving you a chance to change what you said.” Things...
chrismancommentary
9 min read
Dec. 17: Product specialist, LO, FHA jobs; DPA, subservicing, pricing, AVM products; USDA & VA news from the source
Number progressions can be deceiving and surprising. Thank you to Eric D. who reminded me of “The Wheat and the Chessboard” example,...
chrismancommentary
10 min read
November 2024
Nov. 30: Christmas idea - Books for your staff or friends by/about authors in our biz; vendor updates; inflation from unusual sources
I doubt if prices are going to drop like the trusting folks in this video . Despite what was said during the campaign, no president, or...
chrismancommentary
9 min read
Nov. 29: Lender wanted; LO jobs; PR, dashboard, automation, cap. markets school products; FHA, HECM, HUD updates
“I was late to my cannibal family's Thanksgiving dinner. I got the cold shoulder.” LOs are experts on family life and demographics. The...
chrismancommentary
10 min read
Nov. 27: LO, AE, Ops jobs; automatic workflow, POS, IRS verification tools; 2025 conforming loan limit changes begin 1/1
“Rob, my borrowers would be really happy with rates well below 7 percent. When will we get there?” A wise economist with the MBA once...
chrismancommentary
10 min read
Nov. 26: SVP of Credit job; exec available; pre-approval letters, IRS verification, DPA tools; Impending changes in regulators; MBA drops forecast
“If there's anyone out there who has no family and is planning to stay home alone this Thanksgiving, please let me know. I need to borrow...
chrismancommentary
11 min read
October 2024
Halloween: Portfolio mgr., production leader jobs; hedging, HMDA compliance, non-QM search, QC tools; FHA & Ginnie news
I recently went to my favorite local Mexican restaurant, and there was a sign in the window, “Sorry, we are closed due to short staff.”...
chrismancommentary
9 min read
Oct. 30: Retail leader, LO jobs; foreign national, servicing products; events & webinars through Turkey Day; apps drop again
As I head from Denver to the Bay Area early this morning, I thought to myself, “Why are corn farmers great at eavesdropping? Because they...
chrismancommentary
11 min read
Oct. 29: Collections job, brokers and branches wanted; VOIE, POS, servicing tools; Disaster updates; F&F news of note
Heard in the hallways here at the MBA’s annual convention in December. “I wonder if the MBA’s volume estimate of $2.3 trillion for 2025...
chrismancommentary
11 min read
Oct. 28: Cap mkts, LO jobs; servicers wanted; lead recapture, non-QM, servicing, commercial tools; MBA's Future Leaders Program opens
Thousands of lenders and vendors braved the gate lice to fly to Denver (the term for people who crowd around the gate at an airport,...
chrismancommentary
12 min read
September 2024
Sep. 30: LO jobs, partners wanted; trading app, warehouse, soft pull, reverse products; Helene & other disaster news; Fairway steps up
Well, this is the week that many have been waiting for: Fat Bear Week ! The nearly 600 mortgage folks here in Las Vegas at the ACUMA event...
chrismancommentary
10 min read
Sep. 28: Disasters... the new norm? Fairway reacts to Helene; Opinion about signing bonuses; Saturday Spotlight: Wilqo
“Why did the Dalai Lama go to Las Vegas? Because he loves Tibet.” Tomorrow I head to Las Vegas for the ACUMA event , and I highly doubt...
chrismancommentary
10 min read
Sep. 27: LO jobs; Credit scoring, AI closing, POS tools; STRATMOR & customer experience; today's live shows; Misc. investor news of note
“Who was the first person that used technology? Moses. He had two tablets that were connected to the cloud.” Technology is a two-edged...
chrismancommentary
9 min read
Sep. 26: Hedging, correspondent, accounting, pre-qual, auditing tools; lots of VA, USDA, FHA news; dour predictions
We’re all following Hurricane Helene and its impact on lives and housing stock in the news. Will Rogers famously said, “All I know is...
chrismancommentary
12 min read
August 2024
Aug. 30: Verification, marketing, broker products; NAR settlement opinion; inflation easing helping keep rates stable
(In honor of labor, there is no Commentary tomorrow; Tuesday will be the next one. But in honor of August 31 being National Bacon Day, we...
chrismancommentary
8 min read
Aug. 29: LO jobs; hedging, compliance, dashboard tools; STRATMOR & the importance of relaxing; Patelco cyberattack; Primer on the yield curve shift
“Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?” The future is always murky, at best, even to those who tell us that they can predict...
chrismancommentary
8 min read
Aug. 28: Title insurance co. for sale; AVM, compliance, fee collection, Non-QM products; Conventional conforming program updates
How dedicated are you to mortgages? This dedicated? I hope not. Owners and CEOs of smaller companies are certainly dedicated to our...
chrismancommentary
7 min read
Aug. 27: Broker programs, processing & workflow automation, business strategy, webinars & conferences to mid-September
Why can’t lending be simple… like “The Revolutionary Haircutting System You've Come to Love!” They even have the forethought to take the...
chrismancommentary
11 min read
July 2024
July 15: IT, LO jobs; AI u/w, DPA, POS, insurance tools, CFPB Townstone case; inflation takeaways
Yes, I know that this is a mortgage commentary, but some things are way above that . (Warning: tissues may be required; what’s happened...
chrismancommentary
9 min read
July 6: A letter about the Atlanta market; a debt primer; Saturday Spotlight: First American Data & Analytics
Key talking points for loan originators while speaking to potential homeowners are rent levels and increases, the cons of apartment...
chrismancommentary
8 min read
July 5: AE jobs, companies wanted; CU Patelco ransomware attack; Fed primer; jobs data nudges rates lower
Before the internet, everything worked fine without it, right? Just ask the members, whether they be depositors or borrowers, of credit...
chrismancommentary
8 min read
June 2024
June 29: AI primer; fire retardant system to help insurance woes? Saturday Spotlight: MoneyThumb fraud prevention
I know that this is a Commentary on mortgages, but plenty of lenders eat out, stay in hotels, and have office space. There was once a...
chrismancommentary
11 min read
June 28: LO jobs; website compliance, warehouse, fee collection tools; investor & lender news incl. UWM’s 0 per down program
“They” say that as you age, life is like a toilet paper roll: the closer you get to the end, the faster it goes. Dang. But… 2024 almost...
chrismancommentary
9 min read
June 27: AE, LO jobs; Mission score execution, pet-centric marketing, website compliance tools; STRATMOR on tough refi biz; upcoming webinars & events
“What did people from the Midwest call a small can of pop? A Minnesota.” (Say it out loud to your 3rd grader.) While we’re on a “pop,”...
chrismancommentary
12 min read
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