Loan Think

Wow, the noise in our industry is getting louder. I typically like to write articles that give you marketing strategies and ideas you can use immediately to generate new business.

This week in a new article Barron's asks the rhetorical: Is the government's mortgage mission accomplished? Boy, oh boy. The last time someone declared 'Mission Accomplished' we all know what happened (Iraq). Then again, as we at National Mortgage News recently pointed out: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are now posting "operating" profits.

We may have reached "the chicken or the egg" stage in social media marketing: does it drive your traditional marketing efforts or it is the other way around.

Should Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans be exempt from soon-to-be-released risk retention rules tied to the qualified residential mortgage test? So went the debate in Washington last week.

On March 9, 2011 a 14-count mortgage fraud indictment was unsealed accusing JOAN C. TEETERS AND JONATHAN MARC NATTIER, RESIDENTS OF FOLEY, ALA., with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud and bank fraud, and they both face a maximum sentence of 20 years as to that count. Teeters was charged in all 14 counts of the indictment.

Depending on who you talk to, the 'current' nonperforming loan market is either a bust or a great opportunity – or perhaps something in between. That covers all the scenarios, really, but I know of at least two firms that have exited the business over the past six months, with one more on the way.

It's no secret that the Treasury would like to unload all, or most, of its stake in Ally Financial this year and until recently it looked as though its chances of a successful IPO were about 50-50. (It's one thing to sell a company, it's another to unload it at a fire sale price.)

To jump start a plan or to get unstuck, you must accept that no matter how good the plan (to increase your sales), you will need to build into it The Law of Continuous Process Improvement for the plan to work over the long haul. Every plan requires continuous analysis and adjustment to find the way forward. Even basic tasks require a plan and a process of continuous improvement. This is important.

It may sound crazy, but some mortgage executives I know are starting to talk about a coming shortage in homes to buy.

Every successful loan officer has a "to do" list. But, consider what your life and your income would be like if you write down the things you will stop doing, the stuff that wastes your time and costs you money.