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Daily Mortgage News & Commentary
Rob Chrisman
8 min read
Feb. 21: LO jobs; verification, LO database, construction appraisal tools; Fiscal vs. monetary policy primer for lenders
While much of the nation deals with the severe cold, I received this note from a new loan officer in Oklahoma. “Rob, I overheard my...
Today's Commentary
February 2025
Rob Chrisman
10 min read
Feb. 20: LO jobs, FHA layoff news; Non-Del, SAM, onboarding, default solutions; webcasts in the next few days; inflation in the news
“Inflation is really getting out of hand... But that's just my 5 cents.” Inflation impacts the prices of fixed-income securities, like...
Rob Chrisman
12 min read
Feb. 19: AE, LO jobs; Non-Agency, HELOC, pre-qual, CRM products; In-person events for your calendar; ugly apps number
So, you drive across town to a gym to walk on a treadmill? There are always interesting and strange things going on out there. Huh? The...
Rob Chrisman
11 min read
Feb. 18: LO jobs; pricing, AI, DPA, customer service tools; Bill Emerson interview; training this week; conv. conf. news; STRATMOR CD workshop
This weekend I spent a little time in the Miami Airport and overheard two people discussing how they were waiting for a builder in...
Rob Chrisman
10 min read
Feb. 15: Redwood Trust results dissected; builders & tariffs; Sovereign Wealth fund explained; Saturday Spotlight: SWBC Mortgage
Winter tends to see the annual spike in people pulling homes off the market, responding to lower demand in the cold months, and...
January 2025
Rob Chrisman
12 min read
Jan. 31: AE jobs, companies wanted; FHA underwriting, POS, Community Lending products; Maryland's lending quagmire; Feb in-person events
Here in Las Vegas, I asked a German girl if Germans are afraid of numbers. She said 9. Numbers are interesting, as we will find out with...
Rob Chrisman
9 min read
Jan. 30: Cap. mkts., u/w, AE jobs; POS, servicing tools; fraud, home equity, IMB studies; new companies doing new things
Any capital markets person will tell you, “What’s a surefire way to double your money in a casino? Fold it in half and put it back in...
Rob Chrisman
10 min read
Jan. 29: Reverse jobs; servicing, operating system, prospecting tools; STRATMOR & profitability; the anatomy of how presidential policy can hit lenders
“Did you ever notice that when you put the two words "The" and "IRS" together, it spells "Theirs"? The impact of taxes and tax cuts...
Rob Chrisman
10 min read
Jan. 28: LO, AE jobs; POS, servicing, Fair Lending products; program changes around the biz; opinion on mortgage bond prices
“Last year I joined a support group for procrastinators. We haven't met yet.” Lenders and vendors are certainly meeting here in Austin....
December 2024
Rob Chrisman
9 min read
NY Eve '24: Demographics of wealth; Thought leadership on pipeline pricing; a primer on lock extensions for those who ask for them
Besides being enthralled with Tiger King and My Octopus Teacher four years ago, what do AL, CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, MD, MA, NJ, NY, NM, NC,...
Rob Chrisman
9 min read
Dec. 30: LO jobs, lender wanted; pricing, commercial loan products; a primer for lenders on Treasury auctions; weather damage mounts
“What do they call the 4th of July in nursing homes? In Depends Day.” (Another joke at the bottom.) There are plenty of elderly people,...
Rob Chrisman
10 min read
Dec. 28: State-level regs to track; vendor news; Secondary marketing deals; Saturday Spotlight: Prudent AI
Can you imagine doing a mortgage in reverse? I know, farfetched. It popped into my mind watching this video of “evil” firefighters , in...
Rob Chrisman
9 min read
Dec. 27: LO jobs; processor efficiency, commercial lending tools; Agency news; tariff primer for lenders; joke for Realtor clients
“I've just checked my home insurance policy and apparently if my blanket is stolen in the middle of the night, I’m not covered.” For many...
November 2024
Rob Chrisman
9 min read
Nov. 30: Christmas idea - Books for your staff or friends by/about authors in our biz; vendor updates; inflation from unusual sources
I doubt if prices are going to drop like the trusting folks in this video . Despite what was said during the campaign, no president, or...
Rob Chrisman
10 min read
Nov. 29: Lender wanted; LO jobs; PR, dashboard, automation, cap. markets school products; FHA, HECM, HUD updates
“I was late to my cannibal family's Thanksgiving dinner. I got the cold shoulder.” LOs are experts on family life and demographics. The...
Rob Chrisman
10 min read
Nov. 27: LO, AE, Ops jobs; automatic workflow, POS, IRS verification tools; 2025 conforming loan limit changes begin 1/1
“Rob, my borrowers would be really happy with rates well below 7 percent. When will we get there?” A wise economist with the MBA once...
Rob Chrisman
11 min read
Nov. 26: SVP of Credit job; exec available; pre-approval letters, IRS verification, DPA tools; Impending changes in regulators; MBA drops forecast
“If there's anyone out there who has no family and is planning to stay home alone this Thanksgiving, please let me know. I need to borrow...
October 2024
Rob Chrisman
9 min read
Halloween: Portfolio mgr., production leader jobs; hedging, HMDA compliance, non-QM search, QC tools; FHA & Ginnie news
I recently went to my favorite local Mexican restaurant, and there was a sign in the window, “Sorry, we are closed due to short staff.”...
Rob Chrisman
11 min read
Oct. 30: Retail leader, LO jobs; foreign national, servicing products; events & webinars through Turkey Day; apps drop again
As I head from Denver to the Bay Area early this morning, I thought to myself, “Why are corn farmers great at eavesdropping? Because they...
Rob Chrisman
11 min read
Oct. 29: Collections job, brokers and branches wanted; VOIE, POS, servicing tools; Disaster updates; F&F news of note
Heard in the hallways here at the MBA’s annual convention in December. “I wonder if the MBA’s volume estimate of $2.3 trillion for 2025...
Rob Chrisman
12 min read
Oct. 28: Cap mkts, LO jobs; servicers wanted; lead recapture, non-QM, servicing, commercial tools; MBA's Future Leaders Program opens
Thousands of lenders and vendors braved the gate lice to fly to Denver (the term for people who crowd around the gate at an airport,...
September 2024
Rob Chrisman
10 min read
Sep. 30: LO jobs, partners wanted; trading app, warehouse, soft pull, reverse products; Helene & other disaster news; Fairway steps up
Well, this is the week that many have been waiting for: Fat Bear Week ! The nearly 600 mortgage folks here in Las Vegas at the ACUMA event...
Rob Chrisman
10 min read
Sep. 28: Disasters... the new norm? Fairway reacts to Helene; Opinion about signing bonuses; Saturday Spotlight: Wilqo
“Why did the Dalai Lama go to Las Vegas? Because he loves Tibet.” Tomorrow I head to Las Vegas for the ACUMA event , and I highly doubt...
Rob Chrisman
9 min read
Sep. 27: LO jobs; Credit scoring, AI closing, POS tools; STRATMOR & customer experience; today's live shows; Misc. investor news of note
“Who was the first person that used technology? Moses. He had two tablets that were connected to the cloud.” Technology is a two-edged...
Rob Chrisman
12 min read
Sep. 26: Hedging, correspondent, accounting, pre-qual, auditing tools; lots of VA, USDA, FHA news; dour predictions
We’re all following Hurricane Helene and its impact on lives and housing stock in the news. Will Rogers famously said, “All I know is...
August 2024
Rob Chrisman
8 min read
Aug. 30: Verification, marketing, broker products; NAR settlement opinion; inflation easing helping keep rates stable
(In honor of labor, there is no Commentary tomorrow; Tuesday will be the next one. But in honor of August 31 being National Bacon Day, we...
Rob Chrisman
8 min read
Aug. 29: LO jobs; hedging, compliance, dashboard tools; STRATMOR & the importance of relaxing; Patelco cyberattack; Primer on the yield curve shift
“Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?” The future is always murky, at best, even to those who tell us that they can predict...
Rob Chrisman
7 min read
Aug. 28: Title insurance co. for sale; AVM, compliance, fee collection, Non-QM products; Conventional conforming program updates
How dedicated are you to mortgages? This dedicated? I hope not. Owners and CEOs of smaller companies are certainly dedicated to our...
Rob Chrisman
11 min read
Aug. 27: Broker programs, processing & workflow automation, business strategy, webinars & conferences to mid-September
Why can’t lending be simple… like “The Revolutionary Haircutting System You've Come to Love!” They even have the forethought to take the...
July 2024
Rob Chrisman
9 min read
July 15: IT, LO jobs; AI u/w, DPA, POS, insurance tools, CFPB Townstone case; inflation takeaways
Yes, I know that this is a mortgage commentary, but some things are way above that . (Warning: tissues may be required; what’s happened...
Rob Chrisman
8 min read
July 6: A letter about the Atlanta market; a debt primer; Saturday Spotlight: First American Data & Analytics
Key talking points for loan originators while speaking to potential homeowners are rent levels and increases, the cons of apartment...
Rob Chrisman
8 min read
July 5: AE jobs, companies wanted; CU Patelco ransomware attack; Fed primer; jobs data nudges rates lower
Before the internet, everything worked fine without it, right? Just ask the members, whether they be depositors or borrowers, of credit...
June 2024
Rob Chrisman
10 min read
June 29: AI primer; fire retardant system to help insurance woes? Saturday Spotlight: MoneyThumb fraud prevention
I know that this is a Commentary on mortgages, but plenty of lenders eat out, stay in hotels, and have office space. There was once a...
Rob Chrisman
9 min read
June 28: LO jobs; website compliance, warehouse, fee collection tools; investor & lender news incl. UWM’s 0 per down program
“They” say that as you age, life is like a toilet paper roll: the closer you get to the end, the faster it goes. Dang. But… 2024 almost...
Rob Chrisman
11 min read
June 27: AE, LO jobs; Mission score execution, pet-centric marketing, website compliance tools; STRATMOR on tough refi biz; upcoming webinars & events
“What did people from the Midwest call a small can of pop? A Minnesota.” (Say it out loud to your 3rd grader.) While we’re on a “pop,”...
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