rates: Loan Lessons From My 3-Month Old Daughter
- 08/11/09 02:29 AM
If mortgage truth can be found in the sprawling vastness of Internet and tucked away in the blurbs of the Bradenton Herald, then surely it can be discovered in the life of my little daughter, Chloe Sky. I suppose the "experts" would tell you that you need to be intimately acquainted with mortgage backed security trading to know which way rates are going to go, you must study the new MDIA and HVCC guidelines to predict turn times, and you have to be familiar with your 19 different lenders to understand whether or not you can write a loan on a … (8 comments)
rates: Garage Salonomics
- 07/15/09 06:50 AM
Our neighborhood held their annual "no-holds-barred" bargainmania called the GreyHawk Rummage Sale. You know the drill. Find your junk. Tag your junk. Sell your junk. Get up at stupid-o-clock, start the IV drip of coffee, and hit the up button on your garage door to find a half dozen cars lurking curbside waiting for you to display your wares. And then the negotiating that would put a hostile corporate takeover begins. Will you take 10 cents for this 25 cent item? Throw retail out the window; this is the land of resale and everything must go. As a seller, you hold on … (0 comments)
rates: Are We Headed Toward 7% Mortgage Rates?
- 06/11/09 02:07 PM
Seriously, I'm holding out until rates goes to 4%. The newspaper and media experts all told me it would happen. Heck, even the US Treasury Department talked about it. But here we are at 5.75% (in a matter of a few weeks, after being closer to 4.875% for months) and there's a pretty good chance we are headed toward 7%. Many blogs ago, I predicted we'd hit 5% (rates were about 6.25% at the time) and just this evening a fellow brother in the mortgage industry, KEVIN HANCOCK, commented on my lucky prognosticating and asked where I thought we were heading. Back to … (5 comments)
rates: Will Rates Go to 5%? They Just Fannie Mae.
- 09/15/08 03:58 AM
OK. Time to get out the crystal ball. We've been hovering in the low 6% range with the 30-yr. fixed interest rates (despite what all of the pop-up ads on Internet proclaim) and a few bits of news lead me to believe we may hit 5% by the end of the year. 1. I see, I see. I see wheelbarrows full of money being rolled into the farmhouse of Mortgage-Back Securities (MBS). With the FED stepping in and bailing out, I mean, backing, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, our mortgages have become attractive again and investors are lining up to buy. … (6 comments)
rates: What's All the Bracket? NCAA Tourney Thoughts
- 04/01/08 07:25 AM
Big week in the Men's College Basketball world. The field has narrowed from 63 teams to the Final Four. Interestingly, the four teams that were seeded #1 are the four teams that are left. There's usually some surprise team in the final couple of games; some underdog that rose from obscurity to greatness in the course of a few weeks. But not this year. The four best teams have outlasted the rest of the field. Kansas, UCLA, Memphis, and North Carolina. At the last second, I joined a pool with 9 other guys, threw in my $20, and hoped for the best. … (3 comments)
rates: The Truth About Traffic
- 02/25/08 02:27 AM
I've been seeing these things a lot lately. Those black tubes stretched across the various roadways I drive. At first I thought they were some kind of traffic enforcement device and there were cops lurking nearby waiting for suckers like me to fly over them at unlawful speeds. But no, they are actually there to measure traffic counts. As the tires pass over the rubber tubing, the change in air pressure registers on the digital readout. I guess road planners use these readings to strategize traffic flow. I'm sure other folks use them to provide information for commercial real estate purposes, enticing would-be investors … (9 comments)
rates: One Down, Twenty-Five To Go
- 02/05/08 01:11 AM
I just read an article about the 2007 Chicago Marathon and my calf muscles cramped just thinking about what these 25,000 people went through. In case you hadn't heard about it, Chicago had an unseasonably warm race day, to the tune of 82 degrees and 78% humidity at the start of the race. Not a cloud in the sky either. Extra watering stations were added, misting tents were set up, and thousands of volunteers lined the streets to help the runners on their way. A couple of hours later, the marathon was in full disaster mode. Runners were collapsing, fainting and falling … (13 comments)
rates: Mutant Carrier Pigeons, Dancing Lizards, and Cashew Perfume
- 02/04/08 06:09 AM
The Superbowl has come and gone, but the memories of the commercials linger in the air like the smell of wet socks. From what I heard, a 30-second time slot ran the advertisers something like $2.7M. Or $100,000 a second. Just you reading my first three sentences would've cost $500,000, if you're a fast reader. Sure, there was some memorable moments like the E*Trade commercial with the baby who talked and spit up after buying stocks online, but for the most part, I'm not really sure that was money well spent. Which made me think of my 30 second commercial. I've heard when … (2 comments)
rates: I'm Mike Tullio and I Endorse The Following Message
- 01/31/08 07:25 AM
I laugh every time I see a political ad on TV and at the end, the candidate's mug pops on screen, they offer up a cheesy smile, stare sincerely into the camera, and tell us how they endorse the commercial. Really. Oh, now I believe all of the political wrangling and posturing that just took place for the past 30 seconds now that you've put your stamp of approval on it. I find myself thinking: Does it really matter that they endorse the ad? A few hours ago, I had a mental dot connecting moment. Endorsements. Ultimately what these folks in the … (12 comments)
rates: Burning Your Tongue Despite the Warning Label
- 01/30/08 04:58 AM
<-----Do you see it? The little warning at the bottom of the cup telling you how extremely hot your beverage is? I saw it too, but I figured enough time had passed since ordering my venti, and I tipped the cup back and proceeded to sear the kris kringle out of my tongue. Which left me wondering a couple of things: 1. Why do we ignore warnings if they aren't convenient for us to heed? If the small print said, "If you bring this cup back to Starbucks to recycle, we'll give you $1," I think I'd be all over reading and … (7 comments)
rates: Ignoring the Dashboard Warning Lights
- 01/24/08 12:52 AM
We've all done it. You're driving along and suddenly a bright little icon blinks on. Check engine it tells you. So what do we do? Ignore it. Hope it flickers out. Maybe it's just stuck. My engine is fine; it must be a mistake. I'll deal with it later. Pretty light, so pretty. A couple things can happen at this point. First, the light actually can go off. Which is the worst possible thing that can happen because then it reinforces the belief that all of the warning lights on my dashboard are a ploy designed by the engineers who made my … (4 comments)
rates: Line Dancing: More Than A Country Music Fad
- 01/22/08 09:22 AM
I was never any good at line dancing. Nor did I look good in tight jeans, boots, and a cowboy hat. But the line dancing this post refers to isn't done to a Brooks and Dunn song. The DJ in this case is Fannie Mae. The tune they are playing is the "Declining Market Value" boogie. Pretty much the entire state of Florida has been declared a sinking ship. Fannie Mae has red-tagged us with a 5% off sign, and our wholesale lenders have in turn reduced the loan to value limits in kind. On a 100% product, I can now only … (10 comments)
rates: Dude, Your ARMS Are Looking Good!
- 01/18/08 06:01 AM
No, not a self-photo. Although I did pump some iron this morning to keep the pythons looking healthy. More importantly, I took a look at my wholesale lender rate sheets today, and it turns out, I'm the dumbell. Funny how you get used to doing things a certain way, and for the past year, I've gone straight to the 30 Year Fixed section of my pricing sheets when running loan scenarios. Why? Because the LIBOR has been so high during that time, ARM loan rates have been the weakling product. And after all the bad press ARM loans got last year, no … (9 comments)
rates: It's A Full Doc World, and I'm A Full Doc Girl.
- 01/16/08 01:37 AM
No, I'm not really a girl. I think I had a Madonna song stuck in my head. But the heart of my title is this: Lenders are slowly squeezing loans back into the full doc box. If you haven't heard, no doc loans are gone (other than hard money). In fact, any loan with the word NO in it is virtually becoming extinct. Even Stated Income loans are being scrutinized to death. Case in point. Had a borrower with 780 credit, plenty of assets, and a perfect mortgage history. I chose a Stated Income/Asset product to make life easier on my client as … (11 comments)
rates: Are You a Donkey or a Moose?
- 01/15/08 01:11 AM
No, this is not a question about which political party you favor. It is a question I'd like you to consider. I was jogging on the treadmill in the gym this morning burning off some holiday grease and I saw this news blurb come on about a moose that fell through the ice. Rescuers did some fancy manipulations with ropes and they were able to free the moose from the frigid waters. Moments later the newscaster mentioned that the moose returned to the same hole in the ice and died a few hours later. Pretty depressing, but hey, it's the news. On … (20 comments)
rates: The World's Biggest Lender: The Universal Bank of Ameriwide
- 01/11/08 12:33 AM
So it's really going to happen: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22606833/ It's funny. I've seen quite a few posts about this in the past week. Rumors of CW going BK. Rebuttals from the PR spin doctors at Countrywide. Every prediction under the sun from media pundits to the fine folks in AR. And here we are. The new Microsoft of the lending world. What does this mean for our industry? What it does for the moment is bring relief. The financial world let out a collective sigh and BOA is proclaimed hero of the day. The world keeps turning. But obviously it's no easy task for the … (11 comments)
rates: Hunting Rabbits With a Bowling Ball
- 01/10/08 09:07 AM
Is anyone else having a hard time keeping up? Just when you think you learn the new rules of lending, they change. You study program guidelines, check out lender websites, grill your account execs, and tattoo new Fannie Mae manuals on your forearm to no avail. I'm just too slow. OK. 100% No Doc programs for investors couldn't last forever; I get that. But what happened to cash-out refis over 75% LTV? Are there any 100% loans left? For folks like us in Bradenton, Florida who have been tagged with a 5% CLTV penalty for being in a declining market, I guess not. Isn't … (6 comments)
rates: Analysis Paralysis
- 01/09/08 09:04 AM
Proverbs 23:7 "As a man thinketh, so he is." What if a man thinketh way too much and doesn't doeth anything about it? Then we have a serious real estate log jam with inventory out the ying-yang. Being a mortgage consultant, I see the financial side of real estate transactions and it seems like there's a lot of lookers and not a lot of buyers. Folks want to be prequalified, but that's about as far as it goes with their level of committment. Are you guys seeing that in your market? What is it going to take to get people to stop … (0 comments)
rates: Such Cutting Remarks
- 01/08/08 03:17 AM
OK, the title is a little misleading. The cutting remarks I'm referring to aren't the ones that professional wrestlers hurl at one another before grappling on the WWE. I'm talking about the ones the Federal Reserve (more specifically, the FOMC) are in charge of implementing. Recently there have been some remarks that seem to indicate a darned-near 100% chance of at least a .25% rate cut, and a 50% shot of a half percent rate cut. That's great right? After 3 cuts in the past 3 FED meetings (totaling 1.00%), I've gotta say I'm a little concerned. Here's why. Yes, rate cuts are good for our slowing … (5 comments)
rates: I'd Like To Sell A Vowel, Please.
- 01/07/08 01:56 AM
It blows my mind, but back in 1939, an author did publish a 50,000 word book, "Gadsby", without using an "e". Crazy, I know. What an amazing thing to accomplish. This Wright guy had such focus and insight; his singularity of thought did allow him to attain his goal. How was a story told this way without making it sound ludicrous? Focus. Options. Avoiding what's common. Trying variations on typical words. Not allowing limits to hold him back. What's holding us back from grasping our goals for 2008? Is it a possibility to modify what I normally do in my daily habits to attain a … (20 comments)
If mortgage truth can be found in the sprawling vastness of Internet and tucked away in the blurbs of the Bradenton Herald, then surely it can be discovered in the life of my little daughter, Chloe Sky. I suppose the "experts" would tell you that you need to be intimately acquainted with mortgage backed security trading to know which way rates are going to go, you must study the new MDIA and HVCC guidelines to predict turn times, and you have to be familiar with your 19 different lenders to understand whether or not you can write a loan on a … (8 comments)
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