Tag Archive for: COVID

Why Rates Will Now Stay Elevated Even When The War Ends; But Don’t Worry…

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West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil was down to $64 per barrel last week before the Iran war. Today, WTI is close to $74 per barrel – a whopping 16% increase that will work its way into every other thing we purchase. This is because the war threatens the supply and transportation of a huge portion of the world's oil and liquid natural gas (over 20%). Gasoline prices are already up 20 cents per gallon – the largest jump we’ve seen over a short period in over 20 years.Read More

A Tale of Two Businesses; One Thrived; One Died; AI Can’t Replace “The Dude”

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I wrote this blog in 2022, after every lender rode the COVID wave and got too lazy on the customer service front – after business just gushed in no matter what for two years. We liked the message so much in fact that we inserted it into our training program. I am repeating it now though for two reasons: (1) it’s a great story and reminder; and (2) AI makes it more applicable than ever.Read More

Supply Chains Untangling; Inflation Waning? Who Was Right?

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For much of 2021 we were shown photos of container ship parking lots drifting far out to sea – with dire warnings of inventory crises and mass shortages. But today, Leonard Steinberg shared this in his Compass blog:Read More

Fastest Rate Increase Since 1981; Will Recession Lower Rates?

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The Fed has engineered the fastest increase in mortgage rates since 1981 – as rates have nearly doubled over the last several months. And, interestingly, housing continues to appreciate for the usual reasons we cite often: (1) inventory remains at record low levels primarily due to a lack of building, not demand, since 2008; (2) demand remains stronger than ever primarily as a result of demographics or millennials hitting homebuying age; and (3) affordability has not been affected as much as people think because incomes have risen with inflation.Read More

Housing Inventory Crisis! How Bad Is It?

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Picture yourself walking into your local Whole Foods and seeing 2/3 of the shelves entirely empty. That is exactly the state of the single-family residential real estate market today, according […]Read More

“I’m Having My Best Year Ever; Why Don’t I Qualify?” “What Are My Options?”

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The title of this blog is a lament we hear all too often from self-employed borrowers, and last week was no exception, as we received an email that said exactly […]Read More

America Always Bounces Back; Sage Investment Advice! Good For Psyche Too

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We all might be wise to remember that the media needs to scare the bejeebers out of all of us to sell more papers, to garner more viewers, and to get more clicks. We might also remember that politicians also like to exaggerate concerns on occasion too because it enables them to justify more spending and government expansion. So, hopefully this blog will help readers remain more relaxed when the next crisis comes, and it will.Read More

5 Major COVID Effects After One Year; Way Hotter Housing Market – WHY?

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It was one year ago this month that the World Health Organization declared that the “Coronavirus” (old-fashioned name for COVID) was a “pandemic.” And holy smokes has the world changed (understatement of the year).Read More

2.7M Borrowers Still In Forbearance; Foreclosure Crisis Coming?

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If we do see an increased number of foreclosures, it will likely be at the lower end of the market, precisely where demand is the strongest. So, I suspect any “excess inventory” hitting the market will be absorbed quickly in any case.Read More

Biden Wins & Vaccine News; Effect On Mortgages & Interest Rates

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Joe Biden was declared the winner of the election over the weekend, and the markets … did very little. When I refer to “the markets,” I am referring to both stocks and bonds – which often move in opposite directions. Hence, when stock prices move upward, bond prices often move downward (with the effect of pushing interest rates up). So, when stock prices are up, interest rates often move up as well.Read More

4 Reasons NOT to Fear “The Coming Tsunami of Foreclosures”

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Making matters worse are the foreclosure moratoriums that were imposed in March that have prevented lenders from pursuing foreclosure actions. This is why we have not seen more foreclosures already but will see them en masse in 2021 after lenders can legally start the process again.Read More

Mark Cuban Was Right; SF’s Death & Revival; IKEA & Honey Badgers

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A few weeks ago I blogged about The Death of New York City, citing another blog by James Altucher that set out reasons why NYC is not going to recover: […]Read More

Why COVID-19 Is Not Hitting Housing Prices

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A few weeks ago, I blogged about why we are not seeing more foreclosures despite our severe recession and a huge number of delinquent borrowers. The reasons include: (1) borrowers […]Read More