Tag Archive for: mortgage industry

30% Down Requires No Appraisal Contingency Or Shortfall Funds, UNLESS…

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This is a reminder that appraisal contingencies and/or proof of funds to cover appraisal shortfalls are unnecessary with large down payments. This is because lenders can easily shift financing from 30% down to 10% down, for example. Buyers can then use the savings from the smaller down payment to cover shortfalls – if an appraisal comes in low. We have, in fact, saved many 10% down purchases by shifting them to FHA financing with only 3.5% down. But there is a huge exception to this rule – and it is also good news!Read More

When Rich People Can’t Get Loans! We Need “Liquid Assets” And “Seasoned Income”

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In 1999, my wife Heejin started a mortgage company (long before we were married) – and everything went wrong. She went all in too – large office, new furniture, office equipment, dozens of new hires, elaborate phone system, expensive CRM, etc. Not long after she started, though: (1) the dotcom crash hit, stalling the purchase market and wiping out much of Heejin’s own stock portfolio; (2) one of her loan officers started to steal her leads, and sell them to other firms; (3) another loan officer stole her entire database outright and aggressively pursued all of her clients; (4) an employee/family member sued her for nonsensical issues that went nowhere but cost Heejin a ton in attorney’s fees; (4) a basement flood wiped out her phone system, costing her $60,000 and putting her out of business temporarily; and (5) an overzealous district attorney fined her $300,000 for not including the correct fine print on a mailer. And when she finally started to cash flow, a competing mortgage company began to lure her top-producing loan officers away with large cash bonus offers. It was an amazing spectacle of perseverance and resilience (and a great reminder of what a lot of startups go through – especially in the mortgage industry).Read More

First-Time Homebuyer Advantages Every Buyer Needs To Know

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From the mid-1990s up through 2008 (during my loan officer years), there was often no real advantage for First-Time Homebuyers (FTHBs) because the best loan programs did not require FTHB status. But that has changed over the years, and now there are some huge advantages (and misconceptions) that I want to discuss.Read More

Rates Will Skyrocket When Fannie & Freddie Are Privatized

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There is much talk now about pulling Fannie and Freddie out of conservatorship and effectively privatizing them again – and this is something I personally very much support even if it results in rates going up (because I think it will be temporary).Read More

Why The Mortgage Industry Is So Brutally Competitive. No Monopolies Here

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There are almost 100,000 producing loan officers in America fighting over a pie that shrank from $4.5 trillion in 2021 to less than $2 trillion now. But, a shrinking pie is not the only reason our industry is so crazy competitive.Read More

If the Stock Market Crashes, What Happens to the Real Estate and Mortgage Industries?

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“I hope the stock market continues to boom because that means more money for down payments, a willingness to buy no matter what, and more appraisals for me…” I have a friend in the SF Bay Area who has been appraising for almost 40 years, and he made the above observation to me last week.Read More

Are Things FINALLY Turning Around For The Better?

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“Things Are Turning Around” Barry Habib told us today in his morning update. He pointed out that rates are finally falling consistently, existing homes were up in November (despite record-high rates when those buyers were shopping in October), and inventory is climbing as well. All this is happening during “slow season” too, so things should be far better by the busy spring selling season.Read More

5 Reasons Why Interest Rates Matter So Much – For Real Estate Agents

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They Screamed: “Never Sell Rates!” I was a member of The CORE Training Program years ago, and it was very effective, as they preached focus, financial discipline, time-blocking, non-stop selling, […]Read More

Government Shutdowns – Much Ado About Very Little; The Impact of Shutdowns!

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It looks like we averted another government shutdown at the 11th hour over the weekend. While shutdowns do impact people within the government, they do not actually impact the rest of us that much. The media like to make a big deal of out shutdowns because their biggest impact is often making one of the political parties look worse in the eyes of voters, and thus impacting elections.Read More

Nordstrom, Walmart, Or Both?; Millennials Demand Both

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Balancing High Service with Competitive Pricing: The Nordstrom-Walmart Strategy I was at a coaching event last year listening to an extremely successful loan officer, with a huge team, explaining how […]Read More

Car Industry Vs. Mortgage Industry; Consolidation Coming? We Want To Be Ford In 1913

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At the turn of the 20th century, there were almost 100 different car companies operating in Detroit alone. But by the 1920s, there were basically three companies – Ford, General […]Read More

In Defense of Cities & Large Offices

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I once had a client who was a commercial airline pilot living in San Francisco. As a pilot, he could live anywhere in the U.S., so he decided to sell […]Read More

Yoga Babble & Pizzas Under Cost – Heading Our Way Soon!

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A prominent mortgage bank posted this employment ad last week in a very popular mortgage blog: The company culture at ****** Mortgage is a direct reflection of the lender's vision to Inspire Hope, Deliver Dreams, and Build Prosperity.Read More

Contingency Periods During COVID-19 Crisis

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I mentioned yesterday that we are still getting purchase contracts and agents are still making offers, and asking us about contingency periods in light of the COVID-19 crisis.Read More