“I hate it when people subtly brag about where they went to college. I have this friend who went to Harvard, and he just won’t shut the hell up about it. He’s always been like this, even when we were in college together.” Nature abhors a vacuum, and if students don’t want to go to college in their own countries, where are they going to go? The environment for people around the world coming to the U.S. has changed, whether for college or to live, impacting to some degree the d

Wasn’t it just New Years Eve? Time flies, this morning Punxsutawney Phil "saw" six more weeks of winter, and “the IMB” is already here. What is the chatter in the hallways at the MBA’s Independent Mortgage Banker’s conference in Florida? “Holy smokes it's cold in Florida (Jacksonville’s low is 26 F today; everyone is bundled up to even go to the hotel lobby). The Ritz is relatively small, so the room block sold out quickly. As a result, many people are staying at hotels in th

Fans of MASH know that Alan Alda turned 90 yesterday, and the remaining actors from the show joined him on the beach . When you reach a certain age you don’t care about the employment picture. Amazon laying off another 16,000, as announced this week, won’t help anyone’s “the economy is doing great” argument. As economist Elliot Eisenberg points out, “The most disturbing piece of information from last week’s income data is the confirmation of a complete lack of income growth o

Yeah, I know that this is a daily commentary on the world of mortgages, often about how companies are evolving, leveraging technology, and constantly changing their product in their pursuit of customers. How about the opposite business model? Unlike just about every other online business today, Craigslist is a completely honest, straightforward business. There is no hidden toll or price (your data) for “free” (the company makes revenue elsewhere) and the transaction is straig