Here in Las Vegas (Why did the Dalai Lama go to Las Vegas? Because he loves Tibet) the population is about 650,000 with all manners of housing, subdivisions, and lifestyles. But around the nation and world, there are numerous ways and places to live. Here’s a story about a former NFL star who says he saved money by living inside Cincinnati Bengals stadium. What do Stowe, Vermont, Whitefish, Montana, and Lake Placid, New York have in common? The three U.S. towns made Travel & Leisure’s 25 Most Beautiful Small Towns. If you only want a house for part of the year, with elevated mortgage rates and home prices having risen considerably, the solution might be buying 1/6 of a house. Or sharing equity, which is what some of your borrowers and homeowner clients consider. “An Unlock HEA gives you cash in exchange for a portion of your home’s future value.” Or one can live underwater. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s i
Here in Louisville, at AgFirst’s Correspondent Lending Conference, much of the discussion involves going after builder business (“focusing on how fast they get paid so they can pay their subs”), rural programs (“know how to communicate with your clients, or else”), top producer success (“treat your processor like royalty, and fill out the information correctly in the first place,” “set boundaries,” “sell yourself, not rates”) and agriculture. In ag news, the amount of butter the U.S. has in cold storage is down 22 percent compared to a year ago, and the average price of Grade AA Butter is up 80 percent year over year: seasonal milk production is down, there were 11,000 fewer milk-producing cows on U.S. farms compared to a year ago, and dairy products that see seasonal surges like cream cheese and eggnog are eating into supplies of milk that would otherwise go into butter. As butter prices rise, people switch t
Singer/actress Olivia Newton John AND author David McCullough, both dying to start the week? (I just finished “Mornings on Horseback.”) After I die, I want my remains to be spread over Disneyland in Southern California. But I don’t want to be cremated. (Think about it.) Brokers know that also involving Southern California is today’s loanDepot earnings call at 2PM PT. “LD” has made some very public pronouncements of cutbacks in recent months… Will today continue that streak? Stay tuned. One can only imagine. Follow the money… how ‘bout the budget reconciliation bill that include $80 billion for the IRS for audits and enforcement, among other things?! Capital markets staff certainly focus on money, and the current STRATMOR blog is titled, “Capital Markets: Protecting Margins and Assets.” Does your company offer a 2nd mortgage behind someone else’s 1st? Interesting… Independent mortgage banks (IMBs)