“Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.” Corporate changes are the name of the game. Atlanta’s Crescent Mortgage’s bank owner is aligning all mortgage facets of the enterprise and moving to “retail only” and eliminating third party. Rather than wind down, Colorado’s Universal Lending is inking an agreement with Lower LLC in a partnership setting up Universal Home Loans being in the same markets as a division of Lower LLC and improve its competitive position. Every discussion that I’ve had with real estate agents lately involves a) thousands of agents leaving the business due to the lack of… business, and b) how 8 percent mortgage rates have absolutely ground transactions, and even interest in looking at properties, to a halt. Meanwhile, I’m having similar conversations with loan originators as a) NMLS licenses are declining, and b) 8 percent mortgage rates have ground activity to a halt. From a broker-d
“Who closes the door when the bus driver gets off? The world is full of questions. “Why have all the predictions of lower rates been wrong?” Yesterday I was in the SF Bay Area giving a speech to a group of LOs and management and was asked, “Rob, are you hearing that lenders are requesting clients pay for the credit report(s) up front?” Absolutely I am. Lenders have grown weary of paying for the credit reports of loans that don’t fund and heaping those rising costs on the loans that do. “Rob, are mergers and acquisitions going to pick up?” Yes. We had one recent depository bank deal (Mississippi’s Guaranty Capital Corporation will acquire Lafayette Bancorp, Inc.), but we can expect continued deals in an 8 percent mortgage rate world as lenders and vendors, big and small, re-evaluate either their position in the market or even if they want to continue to exist. (Today’s podcast can be found here: Sponsored by nCino, ma