Blog - JVM Lending

Recession Coming Soon – DESPITE A STRONG JOBS REPORT!

February 3, 2023/in Interest Rates, Our Blog

“IF A RECESSION IS COMING, HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THE STRONG JOBS REPORT?” That was an email I received this morning from the most prominent voice/blogger in the mortgage industry. He is very successful, a great guy, and much more knowledgeable than I am overall, but it is interesting to see how even he follows […]Read More

Fannie Mae’s Greatest Hits! (You Don’t Want To Miss This)

February 2, 2023/in Interest Rates, Our Blog

We recently locked a refinance for a borrower at 6.875% – after he was quoted 5.25% by another loan officer. The borrower did not use the other loan officer because that loan officer failed to account for many of Fannie Mae’s greatest hits! Fannie’s “hits” are actually just increases in an interest rate for the […]Read More

Deciphering The Terrifying Housing Decline Numbers from Case-Shiller

February 1, 2023/in Interest Rates, Our Blog

RATES FALL IN THE FACE OF FED RATE INCREASE Rates fell today even though the Fed will increase “rates” today. I encourage everyone to re-read or re-share this blog: The Fed Does Not Control Interest Rates! BUT – our jumbo rates are largely the same today because the CFPB pushed Wells Fargo out of the […]Read More

Market Shockingly Hot; Fast Closes Are A Thing Again; Out Of State Lender Horror Story

January 30, 2023/in Homebuying, Our Blog

HORROR STORY OF THE MONTH A buyer came to us recently after making offers for over two months and losing out on every one. He was using an out-of-state lender that needed 35 days to close. We pre-approved him in a day and he got his offer accepted the next day. What we did differently: […]Read More

DANGER! Don’t Look Through the “2008 Lens!”

January 27, 2023/in Homebuying, Our Blog

Lyn Alden is probably my favorite Macro Analyst, as she is clearly brilliant and also very articulate and objective. I HIGHLY recommend following her on Twitter and on any podcast she happens to hop on. Last week, she was on one of my favorite macro podcasts – MacroVoices – and I also recommend that, as […]Read More

The Dreaded “Declining Market” Box On Appraisals! Ignorance? Pure Evil? Or – Appraisers Just Doing Their Job?

January 26, 2023/in Appraisals, Our Blog

MEDIAN = MISLEADING Chevron is moving its entire headquarters complex from California to the much more business-friendly Houston, TX area. I happen to know a lot of Chevron employees – and what is interesting is that most of the younger and newer employees are moving to Houston too, as they don’t really have a choice. […]Read More

GREAT NEWS! 10 Year Treasury Yields No Longer Track Mortgage Rates

January 25, 2023/in Interest Rates, Our Blog

The 10 Year Treasury Yield is 3.46%, as I am typing this blog. The average 30-Year Mortgage Rate is 6.21%, per Mortgage News Daily. That is a spread of 2.75%. What makes that so interesting is the fact that prior to 2022, the spread between the 10 Year and Average Mortgage Rates was about 1.7%, […]Read More

Quoting Rates Honestly (Seems Obvious, But…)

January 23, 2023/in Interest Rates, Our Blog

We recently quoted an interest rate to a borrower in contract, but before we had a chance to lock the rate, rates improved by 1/8%. So naturally, we locked the lower rate and let the borrower know. We did this even though we did not have to (the borrower was very happy with our initial […]Read More

Housing Data Remains Strong – Despite “Imminent Crash”

January 20, 2023/in Interest Rates, Mortgage Industry, Our Blog

Steven Van Metre is a macro analyst and financial planner who has been predicting an “imminent housing crash” for over a year, including here, here, here, here, and… here. Despite Steven’s constant “sky is falling” rhetoric, I actually enjoy his videos, as they are data-laden and always interesting. I am bringing him up today because […]Read More

Will Artificial Intelligence (AI) Take Over Mortgage Lending? So We Can Push A Button & Get A Loan?

January 19, 2023/in Mortgage Industry, Our Blog, Self Education

Knock knock. Who’s there? Real Estate. Real Estate who? Real Estate the perfect home for you Yeah, I didn’t get it either… BUT – that was the result when I asked an Artificial Intelligence (AI) engine to tell me a knock-knock joke about real estate agents. So, AI is clearly not ready for prime time, […]Read More

The Fed Does NOT Control Interest Rates! Follow the Data Guys!

January 18, 2023/in Interest Rates, Our Blog

The Fed raised “rates” last year at the fastest pace in history! There were 7 “rate” increases in total: 0.25% in March 0.50% in May 0.75% in June 0.75% in July 0.75% in September 0.75% in November 0.50% in December BUT – DESPITE INCREASES TOTALING 1.25% OVER NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER, 30-YEAR MORTGAGE RATES HAVE […]Read More

Wells Fargo Is Exiting Mortgage Lending & Why It Matters; Hate & Love for WFB

January 13, 2023/in Mortgage Industry, Our Blog

Embessler Stole $300,000 From Me And Heejin In 2011, Heejin and I caught our bookkeeper embezzling money from us. It was over $200,000 we knew for sure, but we never figured out the exact amount because of … Wells Fargo. As soon as we got suspicious of our bookkeeper, we went to Wells Fargo and […]Read More

Rates Fell 1/2% … Almost.

January 12, 2023/in Interest Rates, Our Blog

The Most Important News Report Of The Year Dropped Today! The most important news report was today’s inflation data, as depicted in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report. It is extremely important for those of us in the mortgage and real estate industries because almost nothing drives interest rates more than inflation news. And, as […]Read More

How To (& Why) Buy a $1.1MM Home With Only $39,000 Out of Pocket

January 11, 2023/in FHA, Homebuying, Our Blog

Marketing Rate Buydowns: This is a quick reminder that we love to help listing agents market temporary interest rate buydowns with their listings. We are still seeing agents offer buydowns as very enticing incentives with tremendous success. Please reach out if you’d like more info. How To Easily Buy A $1.1 Million Home With Only […]Read More

January Lead Season and Weather

January 9, 2023/in Mortgage Industry, Our Blog

Hockey in -25 F Weather; Peddling Through Blizzards; Working When It Is Raining Outside 😊 When I was a kid in rural Minnesota, we played hockey at an outdoor rink. The games were supposed to be called when the temperature dipped below -25 F, but I remember playing anyway on one of the occasions when […]Read More

Is the U.S. Dollar Going to Die? Does It Matter?

January 6, 2023/in Financial Planning, Our Blog

At some point the U.S. Dollar will likely crash and lose its reserve currency status – sending the entire U.S. economy into a tailspin. Throughout history, the world’s most powerful country (economically and/or militarily) has usually provided the world’s reserve currency. Since the 15th century, Portugal, Spain, The Netherlands, France, Great Britain (1815 – 1920), […]Read More

1.5% Lower Rates For First-Time Homebuyers! Please Understand How HUGE This Is!

January 5, 2023/in Interest Rates, Our Blog

In late October, Fannie Mae eliminated most of the fees (that effectively increased the interest rates) for first-time homebuyers (FTHBs). I blogged about it in November – Fannie Mae Made Rates Way Lower for First-Time Homebuyers – and I strongly recommend re-reading that blog, as I want to make sure readers know how HUGE this […]Read More

Waiting for “Housing Bargains” Never Works

January 4, 2023/in Homebuying, Our Blog

Bargain Obsession Costs Buyer $200,000 I have blogged numerous times about a client we had who was obsessed with getting the absolute best deal on the planet when it came to buying a house. She at first refused to buy at all, waiting for the market to “bottom out.” When she did finally start to […]Read More

Southwest Airlines and Mortgages; BEWARE!!!

December 30, 2022/in Mortgage Industry, Our Blog

WHAT KIND OF LOAN NEVER DEFAULTS? In the 1990s, I had one destination for borrowers with a lot of equity and savings, and excellent credit: First Nationwide/Cal Fed. The lender required only an appraisal to prove there was a 25% equity cushion, proof of liquid assets equal to 6x “stated income,” and a credit score […]Read More

Why Did Rates Shoot Up 3/8% Over the Last 10 Days?

December 29, 2022/in Interest Rates, Our Blog

Dear Congress, Please stop spending money. I know it helps your careers… but it really hurts the rest of us. Sincerely, Jay That was the letter I wrote to Congress, but they ignored me – again. It was unfortunate too because the $1.7 trillion spending bill Congress just passed is just one of the reasons […]Read More

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