Loan Think

Thinking of starting a blog? Or, have you started your blog-but find that no one is reading or commenting on your "interesting" topics? Don't do it until you answer a couple of questions and take the three steps listed below first.Here are those questions to ask yourself:

I haven't really been paying attention to ARM rates lately, because, well, I just assumed that we are living in a fixed-rate world. But the Mortgage Bankers Association released its new weekly application index with this one startling finding: the average contract rate on a one-year ARM is 7.15%

Although there has been a lot printed and the act itself will not really take effect for six-to-18 months when the regulations are due to be published, here is a further summary. The more you read about it, the more you will absorb and be comfortable with.

Banks tell consumers: We don't need your stinking deposits! Okay, that wasn't exactly the headline but it's the gist of a story published by our sister publication, American Banker. AB reported that with "attractive lending opportunities hard to come by" depositories are doing what would have been unthinkable just two years ago: discouraging deposits.

If getting a website was the marketing buzz of the "00" decade, the marketing buzz of the "10" decade, at least at this very early stage of it, is create your social media presence.The latest to jump on the bandwagon is the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents. What this trade group is doing for its membership could be something the mortgage and ancillary services trades consider offering to their members as well.

Some time this fall the Federal Housing Administration should provide an update on how much cash is left in its depleted insurance fund. We assume the fund is still in the black, but analysts that work in the mortgage industry are extremely worried about the quality of loans insured by FHA in 2008 and the first-half of 2009.

THIS JUST IN: It's no secret that GMAC inked a deal with Freddie Mac a few months back to settle a large chunk of its mortgage buyback problems. No details were disclosed (of course) but one number we heard was $600 million. I'm not sure if that's how much GMAC/Residential Capital Corp. paid or bought back. No one is talking at these companies (because loose lips sink ships, I guess). But we do know this: Uncle Sam doesn't want to hold onto its 50%-plus stake in the firm forever. Even though many mortgage bankers keep telling me that President Obama is a dyed-in-the-wool socialist, he really doesn't want the government in this business. And we all know that selling ResCap this year as a standalone is not going to happen. A few investment bankers I've been talking to think the plan is this: Take the FDIC-backed bank (Ally), mush it together with ResCap and whatever financial service bank-like assets there are at GMAC, and take the thing public—this year. I mean, if General Motors can go public again (it's in the works), why not GMAC/ResCap/Ally? If you have any insight, drop me a line at Paul.Muolo@SourceMedia.com...

Well, the Dodd-Frank regulatory reform bill is now the law of the land and some mortgage bankers are hopping mad. One key sticking point is the caps on what loan officers and brokers can earn.

Was the increase in your business from the first-time homebuyer tax credit good for your bottom line? Was it expected or was it unexpected? Usually everyone says that they expect a good thing to happen to them, so I'll bet your answer is "Oh yea, I expected that."But did you expect the drop off in business when the tax credit expired? Usually the answer is "I thought in the back of my mind that business could drop off but I never expected it to drop off this much." Is that you?Your business, your family, your life, is an organization. Organizations require management. There are a number of aspects of management that you need to address. One of them is "The Unexpected."

There is chatter in the industry that Barclays is putting together a fund to invest in distressed mortgages. Could it be that over the next year the nonperforming loan market might finally pick up some real steam?