Welcome to February 29; The 366th day is added to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical year or seasonal year. What do astronomers know that we don’t? In general, what do “they” know that we don’t? Recall when Wells Fargo left correspondent, and other correspondent investors wondered the same thing. Now Rocket Companies will shut down Rocket Pro Originate in June, a mortgage origination platform for real estate agents and other financial pros. What does Rocket know? (More below). This biz is always changing, and this week I spent some time with Alanna McCargo, President of Ginnie Mae (without Ginnie Mae execution, FHA & VA programs would not be able to scale), and Ginnie is definitely trying to stay ahead of the curve which in turns helps first-time home buyers. (Found here after 8:30AM ET, this week’s podcast is brought to you by nCino, makers of the nCino Mortgage Suite for the modern mortgage lender. nCino Mortgage S
At the TMBA’s Secondary Conference in Houston a topic is obviously interest rates and the economy… And the fact that the nation’s interest payment expense now exceeds our defense expense! It’s also a fact that Texas’ business climate is very friendly for companies. The #1 state in the nation for residential lending, California, not so much. Overheard here in the hallway: “California is a blue state wrapped up in red tape.” That said, permit process aside, California gets a lot of flak for its high cost of living, but that is for income tax rather than property tax, as exhibited in “Property Taxes by State in 2024” comparing home and vehicle taxes across the nation. Californians pay the 34th highest annual taxes on homes priced at state median value. New Jersey, Illinois, and Connecticut have the highest annual taxes on homes. Each year, the average American household spends $2,869 on real-estate property taxes plus another
A correction to yesterday’s Commentary regarding the next holiday (Memorial Day) being two months out. Several emailed that Memorial Day is actually three months away! Overheard here in Texas the hallways at the TMBA Secondary Conference: “So if we don’t let athletes bet on games that they have the ability to influence, why do we allow Congress to invest in companies they regulate?” Here at the conference, the wise use of technology is definitely an important topic (today’s Mortgages With Millennials focuses on this), as are the desirability of better mortgage regulations rather than more regulations, how many politicians seem more focused on their reelection prospects rather than bettering things, and the role of Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac going forward. (Found here, this week’s podcast is brought to you by nCino, makers of the nCino Mortgage Suite for the modern mortgage lender. nCino Mortgage Suite's three core products
If you’re in Chicago, the newest attraction is “the rat hole.” Here in Denver, besides the cat I saw in the airport yesterday being walked on a leash, one attraction is the National Ice Core Lab, where, you guessed it, ice sample cores from all over the world are kept for research purposes at temperatures even colder than those outside. It is around this time of year when plenty of people think about vacations or moving to warmer places… Like Phuket in Thailand. In 2023 it saw 6.24 million airport arrivals, up 88 percent from 2022, and the real estate market is booming. The island has 26 beaches and a population of 420,000. Phuket is trying to move away from over-reliance on tourism by simply selling to wealthy outsiders, often Russians: 27,000 Russians have moved to Phuket in the past 12 to 18 months, fueling a development boom. Follow the money, right? Today’s podcast can be found here, and this week’s is brought to you by nCino, makers of th
Then VP Al Gore supposedly said, "It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it." Here in San Diego (current low temperatures in the high 40s), residents are very pleased about a new wastewater treatment plant being built south of the border, since SD has suffered beach closures for years due to effluent flowing north. Effluent aside, much of the mortgage talk here is about repurchases and early pay off penalties, as well as how independent mortgage banks (IMBs) have not been retaining servicing but instead have not only been selling everything servicing released to the usual correspondent suspects, but also selling the servicing they had retained during 2020 and 2021 in order to cover their origination costs. The lack of inventory is an issue, of course. Speaking of which, up north, between San Francisco and Lake Tahoe to the east, along Highway 80, 20,000 homes for 50,000 people