Tired of playing Rummikub with the fam? (Why are those red 11’s always in short supply?) Let’s divert your attention and ease back into residential mortgages with a news story from the Census Bureau. Sorry California: for the first time since 1957 Florida is the fastest growing state. Sure, in “God’s waiting room” there are hurricanes, and the place is as flat as a pancake, but a 0 percent state income rate versus California’s 12 percent may have something to do with it. And then we have those winter temperatures to help one forget about the palmetto bugs (aka, wood cockroaches). Returning to the numbers, Florida has no state income tax, no tax on retirement income, no inheritance or estate taxes, has homestead exemptions for permanent residents, property tax cuts for anyone over 65 and for older veterans. Florida is certainly not broke but where do to ducats come from? Florida’s state government generates the bulk of general revenue (75
The other day I walked in on Myrtle who was looking at the litter cleaning robot on the screen as if to ask, “What’ll they think of next?” Businesses and arrangements are always coming and going. There’s a new in-house appraisal product, noted below. Who wants to go in with me on starting a 2nd home company with a common-sense name, nothing foreign sounding. “Let’s Split It.” (Tagline: “Your Perfect Vacation Home Awaits.”) Wouldn’t “I Gotta Guy” be a cool name for a business? And useful? Call the number, they hook you up with a plumber who shows up, or a gutter repair person who is competent, or whatever you need. New companies are out there. Ever heard of “Calque”? Me neither until Morgan C. from Highland Mortgage pointed out “The trade-in mortgage.” Freddie Mac announced its newly enhanced mortgage rate survey. Progress Residential, with over 85,000 single-family rental (SF
Happy 420 Day. (Tomorrow, by the way, is Happy Surprise Drug Test Day.) Another day, another layoff story from Better.com. The human tragedy in Ukraine continues, but the world financial markets seem to be concentrated on the mounting inflation numbers. Our Federal Reserve is viewed as playing catch up, and we are reminded of its mandate of “maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates.” Here in Atlanta, in the MBA and STRATMOR Peer Group Roundtable meetings, much of the conversation revolves around bank and non-bank lending. Banks and credit unions are interested in shifting to HELOCs, construction lending issues, and more portfolio lending due to excess cash and deposits, all the while trying to keep trained staff on board. For independent mortgage bankers, the attention is on reducing costs, adjusting staff levels, and how to work preapprovals and enable cash buyers. Indeed, IMBs need to hunker down to outlast their competitors. The human el
The mortgage talk here in Cleveland is how, “Tough times never last but tough people do.” Many estimates have residential production hitting $4.8 trillion in 2021, so is there anyone left to refinance? Of course there is, and in many conversations with lenders, rate & term refis have been replaced by cash out. Black Knight, a mortgage technology and data provider, says there are still 3.8 million people who would benefit from refinancing (30-year fixed-rate mortgage holder with a maximum 80% loan-to-value ratio, a credit score of 720 or more, and a likelihood of reducing their current first lien rate by at least 0.75%) and potentially save $1 billion per month. But many MLOs and lenders have turned their attention to the purchase biz, so what are they doing? The current STRATMOR blog is, “What’s Next” about how lenders and MLOs are shifting to a purchase-centric focus. And unfortunately, even “purchase business” has a solid p
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