This morning (as I head to Chicago) and every morning, I keep myself sharp by regularly asking myself the tough questions like, “What happened yesterday?” and “What was I planning on doing just now?” Looking forward, as some attendees of last week’s conference made note of the MBA Annual’s dates in Denver for next year butting up against Halloween, successful salespeople will tell you that many of their best business meetings last week, or at any conference, contained very little business and didn’t take place in a meeting room. I’ve seen this in action many times over the years. Numerous conversations were personal in nature and took place in the hallways or at social events. Yes, the sessions were valuable, although if you’re a company whose unofficial slogan is, “Survive until ’25,” you’re not likely to care much about some Agency’s “Five Year Plan.” (Today’s podcas
“I dance like people wish they weren't watching.” Someone sure is watching, and counting, empty houses. Lack of available housing inventory has helped keep housing costs high throughout many of the nation’s big cities, but nearly 5.5 million homes sit vacant across the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas. The average vacancy rate across these 50 metros is 7.22 percent, with New Orleans (13.9 percent), Miami (12.7 percent), and Tampa (12.2 percent) having the highest vacancy rates. Vacancy rates are lowest in Minneapolis, Austin, and Washington, D.C., the only metros in the study with vacancy rates below 5 percent. Just because an area has a high vacancy rate doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s something wrong with its housing market. Roughly one-quarter of vacancies are due to being empty for rent, one-fifth because they're only used part time, and one-twelfth because they're being repaired or renovated. (Today
Our industry continues to be battered. Starwood Capital-backed Reverse Mortgage Funding and its parent company Reverse Mortgage Investment Trust have filed for bankruptcy. Inlanta Mortgage told the state of Wisconsin it plans to wind down its business. Switching gears, to celebrate the first day of December, spend 5 minutes taking one of my favorite quizzes, focused on figuring out where you’re from based on the words you use for certain common things. (What do you call the little bug that rolls up into a ball when you touch it? Sneakers versus tennis shoes? Y’all versus you guys?) It’s uncanny! What isn’t uncanny are the number of predictions we’ve heard about a recession, many dating from nearly a year ago. Recessions generally mean lower rates. Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan says that a "mild recession" is likely next year but that concerns about a more severe downturn appear to be abating, noting households have maintained st
The other day I walked in on Myrtle who was looking at the litter cleaning robot on the screen as if to ask, “What’ll they think of next?” Businesses and arrangements are always coming and going. There’s a new in-house appraisal product, noted below. Who wants to go in with me on starting a 2nd home company with a common-sense name, nothing foreign sounding. “Let’s Split It.” (Tagline: “Your Perfect Vacation Home Awaits.”) Wouldn’t “I Gotta Guy” be a cool name for a business? And useful? Call the number, they hook you up with a plumber who shows up, or a gutter repair person who is competent, or whatever you need. New companies are out there. Ever heard of “Calque”? Me neither until Morgan C. from Highland Mortgage pointed out “The trade-in mortgage.” Freddie Mac announced its newly enhanced mortgage rate survey. Progress Residential, with over 85,000 single-family rental (SF
As Brian B. reminds me, “In the New England you can tell the changing of the seasons by the changing color of the leaves. In Florida you can tell the changing of the seasons by the changing colors of the license plates.” Speaking of moves, geography, and distance, if you’re a lender or a vendor, how’s your 2023 travel and entertainment budget shaping up? I figured. The Mortgage Bankers Association believes (some say optimistically) that total mortgage origination volume will decline to $2.05 trillion in 2023 from the $2.26 trillion expected in 2022. The “pie” will shrink, and every lender is striving to increase customer service. Under the category of “Know your clients,” buyers who bought homes in the year from June 2021 to June 2022 moved a median of 50 miles away from their previous residences, a huge increase. Over the preceding five years it was pretty much flat at a median of 15 miles, which was the highest going back to 200