Here in Las Vegas (Why did the Dalai Lama go to Las Vegas? Because he loves Tibet) the population is about 650,000 with all manners of housing, subdivisions, and lifestyles. But around the nation and world, there are numerous ways and places to live. Here’s a story about a former NFL star who says he saved money by living inside Cincinnati Bengals stadium. What do Stowe, Vermont, Whitefish, Montana, and Lake Placid, New York have in common? The three U.S. towns made Travel & Leisure’s 25 Most Beautiful Small Towns. If you only want a house for part of the year, with elevated mortgage rates and home prices having risen considerably, the solution might be buying 1/6 of a house. Or sharing equity, which is what some of your borrowers and homeowner clients consider. “An Unlock HEA gives you cash in exchange for a portion of your home’s future value.” Or one can live underwater. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s i
Putting out this daily commentary is like being in the army: I usually do more by 6AM than many people do during much of the day. The commentary is a little early this morning since I received an email on Thanksgiving from IsabelleDuvall@opale-voyages.fr that my U.S. Government social security account password had expired and for me to send her my social security number and a new password. I wanted to take care of sending Isabelle the information first thing this morning, and am sure that everything will be just fine. It’s not fine in the credit world any more than the tale above is. The industry was given an early Christmas “present” by Fair Isaac and the three credit bureaus, although this is not “official”: the vast majority of the mortgage lending industry will most likely incur a massive mortgage credit report price increase for 2023. With per-loan costs over $11,000 already, this sure won’t help. For better news, today’s podcast is
A $25,000 donation towards a local fundraiser for Ukraine has exceeded the organizers’ goal, though sunflower seeds are still available to purchase across…
As we edge toward Easter, which isn’t until April 17 this year, the Dallas Fed has released a report on housing prices… have they become unhinged from fundamentals? Those crafty food scientists have been at work creating Black Jelly Bean Spiced Maple Syrup for creative pancake breakfasts. Some people will tell you that accounting can be creative, but one likes to think that publicly-held companies, with the advantages and disadvantages of being public, are an open book, accounting-wise. For example, Guild Holdings (Mortgage)’s the most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission shows its diversity & inclusion efforts (page 6), senior officer compensation (page 18), and what board members earn (page 20). Guild and nearly every lender have shifted to going after purchase business while at the same time grappling with “work from home” and “work from the office” decisions. Lenders are having refinance teams shiftin