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 Yes, the loan level price adjustments based on DTI have been rescinded.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 not
“We are going to have a sales contest this month. The winners will get to enter next month’s contest.” Hardy har har, right? (Note: watch Glengarry Glen Ross.) As rumors swirl, and you know what they say about rumors, about the FHFA rescinding recent changes to its loan level price adjustment matrix this afternoon, I received this note. “Hey Rob, do you think that the CFPB is wise to some lenders switching referral sources to switch commission structures? Like where a loan comes in off the street, and a price is quoted with 1.25 for the LO, and client balks, so then the loan is referred in-house and the LOs commission knocked down to .50 to keep the deal?” Yes, I have heard that they are and the CFPB is probably aware of those kinds of things too, but you should check with your lawyer or compliance department to see if that runs afoul of LO comp rules. Whether the original street LO receives zero commission when a loan goes to the in-house team/call c