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When I first started as an originator (long ago) I looked around at what everyone else was doing to get new business and I started doing the same things. Seems logical, doesn't it? Maybe you did the same thing? I'm sure you have had advertising people bombard you with ads telling you "You need to get your name out there so when people think of mortgage they will call you." This is the advertising salesperson's standard pitch.
February 17
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The House of Representatives is debating and voting on the Economic Stimulus bill this afternoon. Early reports indicate that the $15,000 tax credit for home buyers is out the window. (I guess Congress realized that the Treasury needs the revenue.) But all is not lost: it appears that a $7,500 tax credit will survive -- but only for first-time home buyers. For updates visit: http://www.nationalmortgagenews.com/â¦
February 13 -
THIS JUST IN: On Friday Colonial Bancgroup of Alabama closed near its 52-week low of 55 cents a share. What does this have to do with mortgage banking? Colonial is one of the few remaining warehouse providers to non-depositories. If Colonial finds itself in financial hot water, you can scratch yet another warehouse provider off the list. Non-bank mortgage originators that depend on warehouse money are praying that the bank will receive TARP funding and that liquidity will not be an issue. According to recent press reports, in late January Colonial divulged that it must raise $300 million in equity in order to receive a $550 million capital injection through the Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program. The bank is now the subject of lawsuits by shareholders who have seen the value of their holdings fall dramatically...
February 13 -
What's next for loan brokers? Let's see: wholesalers are exiting the business like stampeding wildebeest, mortgage insurance firms are putting onerous restrictions on broker-sourced loans, and now net branch operators are struggling because they cannot get warehouse lines of credit. One positive sign: the Federal Housing Administration has not yet banned loan brokers. For the full roundup read the Monday edition of National Mortgage Newsâ¦
February 12 -
DOING OUTSIDE SALES OVER 50% OF THE TIME MAKES THE EMPLOYEE EXEMPT FROM OVERTIME LAWS IN FLORIDA
February 12 -
Not all residential wholesalers are exiting the business. Case in point is Franklin American Mortgage of Tennessee. Using loan brokers Franklin table funded $1.32 billion in the fourth quarter, a 19% gain from the same period a year earlier. A company official told National Mortgage News that over the past two years Franklin has hired 350 workers. "We're a very conservative lender," he said. "We stayed out of subprime"â¦
February 11 -
The year 2009 is one in which lenders and vendors will be challenged to uncover more qualified leads, engage customers, produce better results, and do it more efficiently. There is a great deal of innovative technology that has been developed over the last couple of years to address a number of these specific challenges. While many of us are aware of these innovations, and a number of us have acquired these innovative technologies, the real question is whether there is an effective strategy to receive the maximum ROI from these powerful tools?
February 11 -
It appears that the $15,000 tax credit for home buyers will not make it through the House-Senate conference on the Stimulus bill and instead will be replaced by a $7,500 tax credit. The situation, to say the least, is fluid. There's also no income limit on the credit which is for all home purchasers, not just first-time buyers. According to one estimate, the $15,000 tax credit, as proposed, would cost the Treasury roughly $19 billion over timeâ¦
February 10 -
Sometime this week representatives from the The Warehouse Lending Project, Glen Corso's group, will meet with Federal Reserve officials to discuss the liquidity crisis facing non-depository mortgage banking firms. One thing they will talk about is reducing the risk weighting on warehouse lines from the current 100% capital charge. (100% means for every $100 outstanding the bank has to hold $8 in capital.) The WLP has about 30 members. Meanwhile, the Mortgage Bankers Association is asking for a meeting with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on the issue of warehouse liquidityâ¦
February 9 -