In Boston, “wicked pissa smart” is a compliment. I’ll argue that success in lending isn’t based on trying to predict where interest rates are going, since many predictions are a coin toss, but instead on lots of smarts, hard work, and building a business. Sometimes the subject comes up, “My lender ‘owns’ Agency tickets. Are they worth anything?” Yes, there is a dollar value, and STRATMOR’s current blog is titled, “Doing Business with the Agencies: The Golden Ticket?” Certainly the Agencies, namely Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, were in the news yesterday. Yes, the loan level price adjustments based on DTI have been rescinded. Now all those borrowers can rush out and buy… uh, well, check back in several years while the inventory of houses for sale picks up. Even if rates were 0 percent, if there are no houses to buy, good luck. And after the good news had spread, those who actually read the announcement noticed the last statement: “Additional details about the upcoming Request for Input (RFI) on the single-family guarantee fee pricing framework will be released shortly.” Investors reacted quickly: more below. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s is sponsored by SimpleNexus, an nCino company and the homeownership platform that unites the people, systems, and stages of the mortgage process into one seamless, end-to-end solution. Part two of an interview with FundingShield’s Adam Chaudhary on protecting against wire and title fraud.) Lender and Broker Software and Services