Loan Think

In 1848, the discovery of gold in California proved to be one of the most significant events in U.S. history. The dream of striking it rich and reaping the benefits of copious finds held a strong allure for many adventurous risk takers. Today, investors armed with reams of data and metrics, and that same adventurous spirit, are looking at the foreclosure to rental property market with that same gleam in their eyes.

For those of you who have doubts about pointing your marketing efforts towards online and the social media, here are a few tidbits of data, courtesy of Experian Marketing Services' 2012 Digital Marketer: Benchmark and Trend Report.

This week the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released correspondence clarifying (or rather correcting) the Federal Reserve Board's interpretation of the LO comp rules. In previous conference calls, various Federal Reserve employees stated that the LO comp rules prohibited profit of loans from having direct impact whatsoever on an LO's compensation.

Oftentimes, mortgage business owners have a confused picture of what marketing really is. They see it as some kind of gamble. Sometimes it pays off; other times it is a waste of money. But that just isn't the case. You can use marketing to consistently grow your mortgage income - and it has nothing to do with luck.

A federal court has frozen assets at five California companies that are being investigated for trying to scam U.S. homeowners facing foreclosure. The Federal Trade Commission says it has opened an investigation into companies, which charged its customers up to $10,000 for legal advice and forensic audits.

Technology is an essential factor in the ongoing efforts to advance the efficiency and effectiveness of field service providers’ operations.

If there is any one thing the mortgage sales person should take away from what has happened in the last few years (and still what is happening in the loan modification segment), is that they must operate with ethics and integrity. The taint of a few taints everybody.

Your prospect won't close themselves; as a salesperson you need to be prepared to close the transaction at every available opportunity. This might sound like Selling 101 but you would be amazed at how many times a salesperson will meet with a prospect and never attempts to close the sale. I decided to write about this because of two situations I encountered that supports my theory.

With spring right around the corner, and signs of economic recovery everywhere, there is a feeling that brighter days are ahead. Glimmers of hope can even be seen in one of the most distressed U.S. housing markets in the country.

Here's a pop quiz for all jumbo MBS fans: what's the biggest stumbling block to the private label securities market taking off? Answer: the subordination levels on jumbo deals are about twice what they used to be, which means the credit pendulum has swung overly far to the conservative side.