Business is gradually improving, but the lack of inventory and high rates has forced mortgage loan officers to come up with novel ways to get buyers into homes. Business is gradually improving, but the lack of inventory and high rates has forced mortgage loan officers to come up with novel ways to get buyers into homes.
“I'm a multitasker. I can listen, ignore, and forget all at the same time!” We won’t, however, soon forget this part of the business cycle. “Rob, thank you for all your help placing ads for Ops staff for us. With the ‘Work from Home’ movement, and cutbacks, we don’t need all of this office furniture. Would you run an ad to sell it?” First off, I told the person that no, I wouldn’t. But more importantly, this well-known lender is experiencing what many lenders are, which is that cutting back can be just as difficult, if not harder, than expanding. We all knew that “refi burnout” would happen, but the speed at which mortgage rates have moved higher cutting refis, and purchase business not filling the void, surprised many. Originators have changed their tactics; Todd Duncan, renowned mortgage sales and training expert, will be discussing how LOs can adapt to this environment on The Rundown with Rich &
When you’re working from home, how interesting can next Thursday’s, April 28th, “Take Your Children to Work Day” be? WFH, or hybrid arrangements, is a continued concern for managers, and one of the informal topics in the hallways here in Memphis at The Great River Conference is how the next generation of leaders can’t learn how to run a company over Zoom. There are plenty of other things being discussed, such as the cost per loan, as measured by the MBA, increasing for six straight quarters in a row beginning in the 3rd quarter of 2020. On the good news category, it appears that developers are building houses again: Residential home construction unexpectedly rose in March to the highest level seen since 2006, hitting an annualized rate of 1.79 million new homes. That also seems poised to rise, as applications to build hit 1.87 million, which is a proxy for future construction. New house construction in single-family dwellings hit 1.2 million, well abo
Yes, it’s March 4th… the only day that is a command for us humans. We thought it was our ability to love that made us human, but it turns out that it is actually our ability to select each image that contains a traffic light. (Put another way, to prove to a robot that we are not a robot.) Underwriters know a thing or two about human nature, and about collateral. This morning I leave San Diego, recently in the press for “de-throning” San Francisco as the least affordable city in the United States. Do your underwriters care if the loan is on a townhome? (Think single-family dwellings with at least two floors that share a wall with another house, each individually owned.) If they do, you should know that townhome construction has surged in the last year or so. By the most recent numbers, townhomes now make up nearly 13% of all single-family starts and have notched a 38% uptick in just a single year. Why? Follow the money. Oh, and larger homes are coming your wa