Origination

A panel of diversified lenders at the Urban Land Institute's spring meeting in Charlotte described a healthy mortgage market in which only the long shots are having trouble finding funding these days.

The National Flood Insurance Program is due to expire at the end of this month and the Senate still can’t seem to find a way to pass a short-term extension or move ahead with a comprehensive reform bill that re-authorizes the program for five years.

You remember the HARP program, don’t you? Originally, the idea was to refinance current but high LTV Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac borrowers into new, lower-rate loans—provided they were current. Home values (and lack of equity) reeked havoc on the concept so Uncle Sam took the LTV girdle off.

Mortgage interest rates may be at historically low levels, but the housing industry is not helping the overall economic recovery in the U.S. With the secondary market all but dried up except for Freddie and Fannie, who together purchased over three-quarters of originations in 2011, getting a mortgage these days is near impossible—perfect borrowers need only apply.

Given today’s rancorous partisan atmosphere, which has almost shut the Congress down, what measure do you think you could get a 400-0 vote on?

Like any other discipline, selling should be learned and practiced in order to achieve effective results. Seminars, sales coaches, tapes, books, blogs and articles are some resources that might prove informative.

For No. 3 producer Shelly Logemann, it is being responsive to her clients, plus having the proper work/life balance which is important to her success as an originator.

Abhinav Asthana of Wipro Gallagher Solutions discusses issues and trends around mobile technology.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the government’s Small Business Review Panel next week will hold a private forum on its new proposal to revise the way loan officers, brokers and lenders are compensated on loan transactions.

One of the nation’s largest real estate brokerage firms said home sales were essentially flat in April after a 25% spike in March.