There is one less mortgage publication as MortgageOrb announced that it is calling it quits and today is its last day. Like lender’s closing departments, I am sure that it will be a busy day there for the staff. But otherwise, it will be a quiet day today for many with a little spare time. For those of you who like photographs and history and have time to scroll, here are 46 photos “that tell the story of the century so far.” For those of you who enjoy learning, and are in

How many people live in the United States, and the world? Here you go , as accurately as you’re going to see anywhere. Loan originators are acutely aware of demographics (“know your borrower,” right?). Naming generations is relatively recent, and then-People Magazine Editor Landon Y. Jones coined the term Baby Boomer. (He died last year.) The oldest Baby Boomers turn 80 in 2026. By the end of this decade, all baby boomers will be 65 and older , and the number of people 80 and

“Vladimir Putin arrives at an airport, gets in line at the customs desk. Customs officer: ‘Occupation?’ Putin: ‘No, just visiting.’” Some percentage of readers reading today’s Commentary are doing so from an airport in the Northeast, waiting for their delayed flight to depart. Whether manmade or natural, climate change and weather “occurrences” are a fact of life, and can’t be corrected with technology, but data is certainly used in predicting weather. Vendors and lenders thi

Did you know that the average age of a real estate agent, per the NAR, is 87? Okay, I’m just kidding. (Hey, the day after Christmas, before the weekend… there are probably 18 people reading this, so I could have gotten away with that one.) It’s in the 60’s. But for those originators or sales people who want to know their customer and who’s out there buying, the NAR has some decent stats for you to peruse. Are there Rocket Mortgage billboards promoting free Redfin leads any t

We’re coming up on some time off, with bank wiring not changing schedules despite President Trump giving federal workers more time off. Lenders and vendors like their time off. The Christmas and New Year’s Day holidays are considered to be federal holidays in many countries… but not all countries. In fact, those days are not ones that most people have off worldwide ! There are 5.5 billion people who live in a country where December 25 is a public holiday, and 4.3 billion peop

Will rates impact the latest MBA origination forecast of $2.2 trillion next year? Sure, although… The Federal Reserve has cut overnight rates, but longer-term rates (like 15- and 30-year mortgages) have done little or have gone up. Recently news came out that Freddie and Fannie are buying securities that they produce. If GM is buying its own cars, should its stock price go up, or does the price of its cars go up? Do GSE MBS purchases really move rates? The recent news that t

“My mother used to say that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Wonderful woman, lousy surgeon.” Jokes about jobs are usually decent, and, speaking of jobs, as we approach the end of the year, we’re seeing the usual interest in other opportunities, especially if pipelines aren’t full or management is dealing with people “aging out.” I received this note: “Rob, I need a very targeted approach to finding a new CFO, as my current one is retiring. Know anyone who can

The way time flies can be jaw dropping; change is constant. (Lenders wonder if the change to Federal workers holidays next week impacts wiring.) Sunday is the Winter Solstice, a time when plenty of nature lovers, witches, and wiccas head to unique outdoor venues and celebrate the gradual, daily increase in daylight for the next six months. Something else that is jaw dropping is… Toni Basil . You know, of “Mickey” fame? She’s 82 years old and interacted with Elvis Presley and

Husband: "I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?" Wife: "The good news." Husband: "The good news is that your car's airbag worked perfectly." Good news or bad news, the news that lenders and LOs have to pay attention to continues into the holidays. There’s the UWM/Two Harbors news, sliced and diced below. For LOs who want to spread the news of their business, licensed loan officers can now view their 2025 Loan Officer Recap Highlight Reel , a free, pe

Nothing is permanent except for change, including changing issues and narratives. The Rolling Stones have cancelled their 2026 tour… medical issues with 82-year-old Keith Richards. Jack in the Box is closing 200 stores and is struggling… a lack of dedicated fans. Lennar’s stock price is falling due to “housing headwinds.” Meanwhile, on tomorrow’s The Big Picture  at 3PM ET, Mike Metz engages in an end-of-year conversation on the issues and narratives shaping housing and mortg

“’Girl math’ is booking a trip so far in advance that you’ve forgotten how much everything costs, so the trip is basically free.” What isn’t free is running a mortgage company, and lenders are trying to cut costs and increase efficiency everywhere. For example (and this is not a paid ad), Lenders One offers some member benefits that may be of interest: L1 Credit for credit reports and fraud tools, L1 Flood for NFIP compliance, and L1 Insurance to help borrowers get competiti

“Apparently you can’t use ‘beef stew’ as a password. It’s not stroganoff.” Not only is technology a proverbial conference favorite, but now nearly every event or webinar discusses AI. (This month’s STRATMOR piece is titled, “Artificial Intelligence in Mortgage Lending.” ) Last week U.S. President Donald Trump signed  an executive order  aimed at blocking states from enforcing their own artificial intelligence (AI) regulations. "We want to have one central source of approval,"

“Rob, what happened with the DSCR appraisal issue in Baltimore earlier this year?” Good question. Baltimore is not alone: This week we have investors either pricing themselves out of, or ceasing loans from, the Philly market for certain non-owner loans.) The whole Baltimore thing seems to have quieted down, and up until recently the last news came in October although this week along came, “ Baltimore is striking fear into private lenders across the country.” “Over the past t

“With all this craziness, you’d think the United States was cursed. Like it was built on an Indian burial ground. Oh, wait…” Roughly 2.6 million people die in the United States every year. (This shot up well above 3 million in 2020 and 2021, despite those who say COVID didn’t or doesn’t exist.) Our birth rate has been going down for many years, with its own set of issues. Lenders are on the front line of these trends and usually shift their product lines to accommodate chan

Somewhere, in a parallel universe, Mariah Carey is walking around some supermarket, sick of listening to me sing Christmas carols. This is, of course, a humorous assumption, but what isn’t so humorous is the discussion begun by the Trump Administration about assumable mortgages, arguably the bane of MBS investors. Locked-in mortgage rates and frozen inventory have pushed an old idea back into the spotlight: the assumable mortgage, a feature long limited to FHA and VA loans bu

“Seminar ‘How to avoid frauds’ is canceled. Tickets are non-refundable.” Collectively, we don’t want mortgage fraud, right? It’s a non-partisan issue. A grand jury rejected a new mortgage fraud indictment against New York Attorney General Letitia James . Meanwhile, it must be difficult living under a constant microscope, and yesterday a story broke that “ Trump’s Own Mortgages Match His Description of Mortgage Fraud .” (Government watchers also noted that Treasury Secretary S

“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