Loan Think

Word of mouth marketing and the social media complement each other and need to work together in order for one's marketing efforts to be successful.

What will the shape of a new secondary market look like?It could be one where lenders shun the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage.

The Federal Reserve Board does not want to back down on its loan officer compensation rule despite congressional requests and industry lawsuits to delay the April 1 effective date. The FRB has taken a hard line on compliance issues and repeatedly rejected industry proposals that would allow more flexibility.

At this point, there seems to be plenty of confusion about the new loan officer compensation rule but with just about everyone in the industry subscribing to the notion that loan brokers are at a competitive disadvantage to depositories and well capitalized nonbanks.

Remember that 1972 movie “The Poseidon Adventure” when the cruise liner flips over in the ocean and is turned completely upside down in the water and the only way out is to hike north to the hull? (Then again, what do you do when you get to the hull? Pray?) The way I see it, the Gene Hackman character is a loan broker/loan officer. He has a firm belief that he’s right, even though the odds are insurmountable.

There’s a few things we know about Republicans and Democrats. Most members of the GOP would love to dismantle Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as soon as possible even though both are now reporting operating profits. (Of course that profit applies to 4Q. First quarter 2011 earnings will be out in about five weeks.)

Nothing good ever comes out of a government shutdown, except for lower mortgage rates. Follow my logic here. The 'Tea Party' folks in Congress hold to their principles and the GOP doesn't come to terms with Democrats. The government shuts down Friday night and both sides hold their positions, refusing to compromise.

If only, if only. If it weren't for a handful of revolutions/evolutions in the Middle East and rising oil prices ($108 a barrel this morning) the U.S. economy might be humming along at a nice clip. Then again, even with oil prices rising by so much the past two months hiring has picked up. But how long can it last?

We seem to be bombarded daily with some new fangled way to generate business. We are not even talking about all of the hype most products and programs have. That’s for a whole separate article.

We got us a government shutdown. Or maybe not. The story (to say the least) is fluid, but if Uncle Sam has to pull the plug on non-essential workers and programs what will become of FHA, whose money comes directly from the U.S. budget?