Loan Think

What to do when it’s time to update your marketing and the creative juices aren’t flowing.

Just when you think there may not be much of a future for nonbank lenders, the government tightens the screws (or threatens to) changing the playing field. I'm talking about, of course, the Obama Administration's plan to impose new fees on banks as a way to recoup some of the $700 billion bailout money allocated via the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. I'm not saying this tax will force depositories to become nondepositories but it might shape some future strategies. The key determinant for any owner of a lending business is capital -- as in: "Do we have enough of it?" The FDIC is also looking at penalizing banks for what it calls "risky compensation" practices. As I recall, during the height of the lending boom, many depository lenders paid their wholesale account executives based on how many loans they brought in via loan brokers. Is the FDIC thinking of wholesale AEs in contemplating its new rules? Meanwhile, later today National Mortgage News will break yet another story about a new entrant to the warehouse lending sector...

A couple of weeks ago I asked the readers of this column to let me know what they are looking for from me in 2010. The response was swift and sure. You very much want to be connected to the reverse mortgage world and our senior clients. You want guidance and to feel your efforts are being supported. You've come to the right place.

NATION STILL IN RECESSION WITH 85,000 JOBS LOST IN DECEMBER 2009

There's no way to put a positive spin on the new origination forecast unveiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association this morning. At $1.28 trillion, if the MBA's number becomes reality, it would be the industry's worst year since 2000 when just $1.067 trillion of mortgages were funded. The only rational positive spin that comes to mind is this: yes, loan volumes are expected to fall, but keep in mind that homes today are worth quite a bit less than the past few years -- and with falling home prices comes a lower dollar volume of originations. In other words, perhaps we should focus on the number of loans originated, not the dollar volume. If mortgage rates stay steady, or even rise a bit, servicing rights will increase in value. For that story see this week's front page story of National Mortgage News...

In his first TelE-Sales Tip for the New Year, Art Sobczak, the president of Business By Phone Inc., Omaha, Neb., gives his take on "How to Make 2010 Your Best Sales Year Ever." These are the similar tips to those he has given at the beginning of years past and they are worth the time for sales professionals to revisit them.

It's still preliminary, but we've been hearing reports that at least two different Wall Street firms may soon come to market with nonperforming residential loan portfolios north of $100 million each. No names were mentioned, at least that we could verify. Unbeknownst to most of the public, many of the major Wall Street firms have trading desks that buy and sell nonperformers. As for these companies disclosing what they are up to in regard to NPLs, you can forget about it...

If anyone still thinks the Federal Reserve will stop buying GSE-backed MBS at the end of March they can look at today's new unemployment release from the Department of Labor and rethink their prediction. (U.S. employers unexpectedly cut 85,000 jobs in December.) All week, we heard media reports quoting analysts who were hoping for a December "surprise." But when the number came out this morning all the optimism that had been built up, popped. With the jobs picture still ugly, it's highly likely the Fed will want to keep mortgage rates low and one way to do that is to keep buying GSE MBS. Economist Mark Zandi was quoted as saying he thinks the unemployment rate will still be at 10% come election day -- which will be bad news for the party in power. At National Mortgage News we spend a lot of time looking at employment reports and related news because we know that employment is a key determinant of where delinquencies and new loan applications are headed. Meanwhile, we understand there was a little pow-wow at the FDIC this past week. The agency predicted that 250 to 300 banks will fail this year. That's probably no surprise, though...

I thought this story, an oldie but a goody, would be the very appropriate for the first article of the year. Enjoy!

2010 brings with it new ideas, innovations and technology. The New Year also brings numerous predictions from analysts regarding their view of the technology space. Here is a list of the 2010 technology predictions from the likes of Gartner, IDC and RedMonk. Highlights of these predictions are listed below.