Will lenders soon be implementing fees for originators to lock a loan? This practice was almost standard decades ago, but got lost along the way. Some investors already charge mortgage bankers and brokers a fee, typically credited back at the time of purchase. This is especially prevalent with “lower tier” originators: those that have a [...]

The trend in the business seems to be to classify lender’s customers into categories. Brokers and lenders alike are grouped, based on pull through, the quality of production, paying fees in a timely manner, and various other metrics. It appears to be very popular, so I decided to try the new Customer Segmentation Program on [...]

I decided that if overlays (restrictions on guidelines or pricing) are good enough for our investors, they’re good enough for my family! So last night I told my daughter, 14 years old but going on 24, that I loved her – but with overlays. “I love you, but when you glare at me there’s a [...]

Berkshire Hathaway CEO and market oracle Warren Buffett Told CNBC today that U.S. inflation is “exploding” … such a statement from a credible source makes a great headline. Will it surpass the Fed decision (see our previous story from today on Fed rate decision and discussion of inflation) in it’s market influence? Hasn’t so far, [...]

Looking for something interesting at the next foreclosure sale? Jose Canseco has abandoned his home near Los Angeles, leading to foreclosure. “He made a mathematical decision and just let it go,” said Gregory Emerson, Mr. Canseco’s lawyer. He bought the 7,300-square-foot home for $2.8 million in 2005, and his trust defaulted on mortgage payments in [...]

Last week, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress that it’s almost impossible to predict a recession. This week, Berkshire Hathaway chief said that “by any commonsense definition, we are in a recession.”

Warren Buffett said this morning that his company Berkshire Hathaway has offered to reinsure up to $800b in muni bonds currently backed by troubled firms MBIA, Ambac and FGIC. Stocks are rallying sharply at the cost of a deep bond sell off. Mortgage bonds are down 38 basis points and Treasury bonds are off 75 [...]

Warren Buffett said Wednesday that the finance firms who “brewed this toxic Kool-Aid” of risky mortgage and other derivative products “found themselves drinking a lot of it in the end.” No big surprises here as the credit bubble unwinds. Supporting a point we’ve been making, Buffett also said money is cheap but the re-pricing of [...]