What color of front door “sells” the best? Some say black, although in a related topic red is the most popular. Doesn’t that mean red sells the best if there are more red front doors? Statistics are interesting things. LOs everywhere tell me that the deals are harder, and as an indication of both statistics and harder deals, a report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) revealed that 11 percent of Americans have a "thin or stale" score file, and therefore it's impossible to generate a current, valid credit score for them. Another 11 percent are considered to be "credit invisible," meaning that they don't have a credit file with any of the three major credit bureaus. That's a total of 22 percent of the adult population of the United States, around 50 million, that doesn't have a credit score at all. As an investor or a lender, and one of these adults wants to buy a home, even with meag
Mortgage news temporarily aside, how about the government contemplating a law that would require cars to have AM radio?! AM radio goes farther than FM or cellular streaming services which is why, in out-of-the-way places, like in mountains, you can tune in to an AM station for traffic reports. If you think radio, or the mortgage process, is confusing, try visual entertainment, with too many cable channels and media outlets to fill with 24-7 options and opinions. Too many shows cast across streaming channels. Too many hours on cable TV with financial pundits offering crazy predictions, just to get on TV. I wish that I had an org chart showing who is in charge of what, and how they fit together. I now have three remotes and need to figure out the relationship between Roku, Apple TV+, Prime Video, VUDU, Discovery, YouTubeTV, Sling, Disney+, HBO Max (“Max”), Hulu, Netflix, Paramount+, Peacock, Showtime, Starz… the list goes on and on. And what the heck i
While Academy Mortgage is in the headlines again about its data breach and ransomware, from which no company seems immune, remember that, “In a democracy it's your vote that counts. In feudalism it's your count that votes.” Setting mortgage rates isn’t a voting matter, but would you like your voice heard on how Freddie and Fannie price loans? Here’s your chance, as the FHFA is asking for input. It’s one thing for the FHFA or a presidential administration to spell out lending and housing goals. Translating those down the food chain into state, county, and local action is a whole ‘nother thing. The same goes with statistics. Every month dozens of housing stats come out; We can talk about existing home sales, new home sales, the FHFA price index, and on and on, but if a loan officer or real estate agent are focused on a certain area, national stats mean little to them. As home prices and bidding wars vary throughout the U.S., real
“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