“Blimps are one of the only forms of advertisement people are actually excited to see.” “Rob, we see all kinds of companies advertising at conferences. We are trying to lower our cost per loan, and I am doing a more formal review of third-party providers. I am wondering if there is a list of vendors who focus on certain areas out there?” Yup: a very good place to start is The Marketplace . Page down to look at the categories. (If your company isn’t on there yet, contact Jake

Recently I paid over $10 for a simple Oscar Mayer 12-ounce package of bacon. Jerome Powell, help me! Well, the U.S. Federal Reserve doesn’t set bacon prices, or things that come from China like rare earth metals, most of which I’ve never heard of but are apparently in my phone and car’s dashboard. Geopolitical tensions and export restrictions in China sending the prices of crucial metal components in electronics way up. The price of dysprosium is up to $910 per kilogram, trip

“No plan survives contact with the enemy.” While Freddie rolled out its AI plans , for some lenders, mortgage companies owned by builders, and the builders themselves, can sometimes be viewed as adversaries. In dealing with buyers of new homes, builders and their lender arm often adjust seller credits, par rates, and buy down programs. Builders, of course, don’t want to actually lower their prices since they want high comp prices for appraisals going forward. According to the

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 vot

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, “age

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 impr