The unofficial Chrisman LLC sarcastic slogan is, “We do this not because it is easy, but because we thought it would be easy.” Hopefully, there are no lenders out there with that slogan, as residential lending, done the right way, is not easy. Sometimes residential lending seems discombobulated. Sometimes things settle down and become more orderly: recombobulated! (Workflow and improved lender efficiency are the topics of today’s Mortgage Collaborative Rundown featuring Donielle Geiser with Thrive Mortgage.) Not only is our biz not easy but it is also unpredictable. 2024 is shaping up to be another tough year for mortgage originations due to the market environment, and every basis point will matter. Capacity still needs to be right sized across the industry, and the market and your competitors will force that to happen. Would you rather have profitability or market share? If you’re losing money what difference does market share make? If you don’t have
We are pleased to introduce the latest episode of Navigating Mortgage M&A, a collaborative effort between Mayer Brown and Mortgage Advisory Partners. This series is dedicated to providing valuable.
Here in the Milwaukee area (yes, the autumn colors are stellar), I attended a Newrez joint venture event and one of the conversation topics (besides lenders either saying “no mas” and exiting or being purchased, more below, or NAR’s legal events, more below) is the changing landscape of down payments and down payment assistance programs. STRATMOR’s current blog is titled, “Mind the Down Payment”. Despite high mortgage rates and low buyer demand, home prices are still at record highs in many parts of the country leading to higher down payments. LendingTree analyzed data from more than 580,000 users of our platform who lived in one of the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas. A down payment on a home across the nation’s 50 largest metros averages $84,499. While down payments vary significantly by location, no metro in this year’s study has an average of less than $47,900. California is home to the three metros where down pa
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
Talk in the hallways here at the MBA Annual in Philly? How about the cost of insurance of all types. Case in point: “What Happens When the Flood Insurance Market Goes Underwater?” The NAR commission legal issues are a big, big deal, possibly impact real estate agents’ commission structure. The cost of credit will be going up, with the evening up of tiers: ask your CRA about it. Buybacks (repurchases) have been a problem for months. Several sales managers have told me that a new reason to touch base with previous clients, besides asking about outstanding 30 percent credit card debt, is LOs reminding previous borrowers about investing their money in a money market or Treasury Direct account and earning 5 percent. The CFPB’s attention, as well as that of other regulators, is on redlining, and we can expect to see fines and penalties due to that. (Today’s podcast can be found here: Sponsored by nCino, maker of the nCino Mortgage Suite, built for the moder