Dec. 3: Tech exec jobs; DPA, DSCR processing, Buy before you Sell products; FDM/AHM partnership; LOs & MISMO; MBA’s Marica Davies interview

Both Dick Van Dyke and Mel Brooks turn 100, Dick in less than two weeks and Mel next summer. 100 years is a long time, and it’s a big number. Despite faster economic growth than peers, the U.S. faces rising deficits and debt levels above 100 percent of GDP . If this impacts our debt ratings further, look out. Political gridlock and reluctance to enact meaningful tax increases or spending cuts echo challenges seen in the UK and France, where governments struggle to satisfy voters, lenders, and…

Market Update – Don’t Blink

It’s the final month of the year… whew, where did the time go? Funny thing is, science tells us that you aren’t just imagining it… time is indeed passing faster, not physically, but relatively. Why? If you think back to childhood, we were hyper-focused on the present moment. With every event seeming like the MAIN event, time felt slower. Today, as adults, we are instead focused on what’s happening beyond this moment, often multitasking, planning, and constantly thinking ahead. Nowadays, the…

I can close a loan in 30 minutes?

The mortgage industry has been embracing the concept of speed as a marketing feature in the past several years. The idea that a mortgage loan can transition from application to closing in a flash is something that loan officers and business owners have become convinced will make them more attractive to clients. Hey, who doesn’t want to apply for a loan while making their morning coffee and get approved before they have finished their bowl of cereal, right? Maybe not. About twenty years ago,…

Dec. 2: AE jobs, TX broker wanted; jumbo, processing, AI, 2nd products; current state of M&A and partnerships

I don’t know about you, but a hot shower or bath always sounds good. Tech wizards, however, have created a human washing machine . I’ll pass. At this point it would be impossible to do a home loan without “technology,” and AI is all the rage. For those trying to figure out how to think about AI, or even where to start, this month’s STRATMOR piece is titled, “Artificial Intelligence in Mortgage Lending.” Should an AI loan officer be licensed? In artificial intelligence, “agentic” AI focuses…

The Model, the Standards, and the Mortgage Machine That Runs on Them

Every industry has its invisible infrastructure, the stuff that quietly works in the background but keeps everything running. In retail, it’s the barcode. In utilities, it’s the grid. In financial services, it’s the payment rails. In mortgage?That quiet, essential infrastructure is MISMO . And at the heart of MISMO’s infrastructure there are two concepts that sound similar but operate very differently: The MISMO Model MISMO Standards In conversations with lenders, investors, regulators,…

Dec. 1: AE, LO jobs; DSCR, non-QM, FHA loss mit products; AI, broker, borrower-focused webinars; STRATMOR on 2026 growth areas

A buddy from Kentucky wrote to me, saying, “Statistics show that the average person has sex 89 times per year. Looks like I’m in for a pretty wild December.” November is behind us, and with it all the noise about President Trump’s 50-year mortgage proposal . Capital markets personnel in the mortgage biz don’t like thinking about how long it would take to create a market for 50-year mortgages, nor do they like volatility, but traders do. The mood among traders has swiftly improved, chiefly due…