“I'm at a place in my life where errands are starting to count as going out.” No one’s getting any younger, and like time marching on, technology does as well. For history buffs, here is a recording of the voice of someone born in 1800, at the 13:30 mark in the video. Fast forward, and something that enthralled countless kids has run its course: The last Chuck E. Cheese animatronic band in the world will exist in Northridge, California. Remember when that chain was popular for kids’ birthday parties? Assumable mortgages were, at one point, popular as well, but not any longer. “Assumable mortgages are hard to find, take long to process, and are only good for certain buyers.” But that doesn’t stop them from grabbing the public’s attention when they’re in the headlines. (Today’s podcast can be found here, and this week’s is sponsored by Richey May, a recognized leader in providing specialized advisory, au
“I threw my phone from the roof, and it broke. I guess airplane mode wasn’t working.” Plenty of folks will be traveling soon. Here’s some trivia for tomorrow at the dinner table! (One wonders if residential lending is heading in this direction) … But there are only 12 passenger airlines in the United States. That’s up from 10 just a few years ago but down from about 80 airlines at the peak industry in the 1980s due to a series of bankruptcies and mergers. Four of those companies (Delta, United, American, and Southwest) control 80 percent of the market, with the remaining 20 percent being low-budget airlines that are increasingly struggling. The average airline fare has declined 13 percent over the past year, and that’s been causing issues for the companies that specialize in lower fares, as many of their customers are now seeing the big guys as more accessible than before. (Today’s podcast can be found here, sponsored by Candor. C
“Hey Chet, since you’re the new guy here with the park U.S. Geological Survey in Hawai’i, you’re going to be the one placing the live cam on the volcano for our YouTube feed. Splendid! We’ll be behind you all the way.” (Apply to mortgage banking however you see fit.) Scooting back to lending, I am occasionally asked about high balance conforming conventional loans, and why so much of the country doesn’t care about them (to be somewhat blunt). The MBA put out a fine map showing “high-cost areas” defined by the FHFA as “areas in which 115 percent of the local median home value exceeds the baseline conforming loan limit.” The loan limits are permitted to be higher than the baseline loan limit until a ceiling of 150 percent of the baseline limit is reached. That said, remember that 20-25 percent of the nation’s home loans come from California. (Today's podcast is brought to you by SimpleNexus, an nC