Florida is the source of a sizeable percentage of home loans and fine lenders, as well as plenty of “Florida Man” stories. (Don’t read if easily offended.) I head to Orlando this morning, where (unlike this week’s rain and lightning) there are an average of 233 sunny days per year, in addition to the FAMP event this week. Speaking of sunny days, if they can make a car paint that can “heal” scratches by being out in the sun, wouldn’t you think someone could invent a new mortgage product? There are new things in the land of real estate agents, and thank you to Indiana’s Carol K. who, as a notary, recently completed a rather interesting assignment. “It was for a ‘Homeowner Benefit Program’ where the real estate company is buying the rights to be the real estate agents who sell the owner’s property if and when they sell. You get $500 to sign a contract with them that says if you ever decide to sell, you wil
“Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels… Looking back at the years gone by like so many summer fields.” Yes, at the end of today we’re halfway through with 2022 (already). Time passes, hair styles, relationships, people, pandemics, and companies come and go. (Today’s joke has to do with the passing of time.) History is made and remembered. Woody Williams, the last surviving WWII Medal of Honor recipient (Iwo Jima), died yesterday at 98, as did Hells Angel founder Sonny Barger. When was the last time COVID made the headlines? Yesterday the Commentary noted, “Remember names like AmeriLoan, Countrywide, PNC, WaMu, Home Savings of America, Fleet, Great Western, World Savings, Associates, Nat City?” My apologies to PNC, and the many who wrote in, saying that it is alive and well. Business cycles are alive and well: With rates escalating higher and the home price appreciation that has taken place, buyer interest has rapidly deteriorat