America's #1 Mortgage Broker

Yahoo! featured an ABC News video with a taped confession of conspiracy to defraud lending institutions yesterday.  I queried why the confessor wasn't negotiating a plea bargain with the Virginia State's Attorney General rather than receiving accolades for confessing his criminal behavior.  Now, some have questioned why I'm being so hard on this young man.  In retrospect, he may have been used by his old company.  ABC News certainly twisted his taped confession to suggest that his former company's criminal enterprise was a standard for the industry.  So, Mr. Della Santos, I'll give you a pass.  You're being used again, this time, I believe, by your current employer.  Your current job is more politics than lending.   You're young and won't realize this for a few years so you get the pass.

Some thousand miles up the coast, my colleague, Rhonda Porter, wrote an article today about an e-mail she received from another predatory originator who found God.  An excerpt from his e-mail to Rhonda:

The company that I am speaking of really had me sold on them for a while. I really had company pride and truly believed that my rates, programs, and ease of use were superior to any other mortgage company out there. I slowly began to realize that none of this was true. I studied relentlessly for several months on my own time. The more I learned about the industry the more I realized that the company that I was working for was horrible. I began to lose sleep over the fact that all of the “wonderful” mortgage loan products that I had been providing my clients were really the worst deals they could’ve gotten.

Needless to say I left that company when I realized what was really going on...."

Rhonda, I'd like to answer him:

Bravo, Sir.  Bravo for realizing the misdeeds your former employer foisted upon the American homeowner.  I imagine it should have taken you about 3-6 months to realize exactly what was happening.  Youthful ambition is sometimes used by scummy companies and is rewarded with the lure of big paychecks, sports cars, yachts, and wild parties with bikini-clad women and buff young men, poolside at Rehab at the Hard Rock Hotel in Vegas.  An ambitious young man (or woman) could certainly be lured into that lifestyle and the promise of instantaneous wealth.

Mortgage origination, as a banker or a broker, can be a rewarding business.  Both financial and professional rewards await the new originator who commits to a lifestyle of learning, hard work, and ethical practice.  Now, here's the bitter pill to swallow.  Not a lot of companies, in our small-shop oriented industry, provide adequate training.  The sales and marketing training as well as the product knowledge will come from a personal commitment- that ain't all that bad.  I'm going to help you get started.

You can start by reading weblogs of good originators and lenders:

Rhonda Porter- an over 15 year veteran of lending and escrow (you found her)

Dan Green- a four year veteran of mortgage planning but a pro when it comes to consultative selling.

Tony Gallegos- a 22 year veteran and current regional manger with a MAJOR mortgage bank.

Jeff Belonger- an expert at FHA loan origination

Robert Ashby- Florida's first Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist

Karl Christen- a mortgage planner in Utah

Morgan Brown- a newer originator who said "No Mas" and wrote to tell about it.

Ken Stampe- an originator for a big bank and a guy who's doing it right in Texas

Ken Cook- clearly, a no bullshit guy who wants to fund every loan he can- the RIGHT way

Todd Chasin- a wholesale rep who writes about the industry

Todd Carpenter- His Lenderama Blog is a WEALTH of information

Finally, no list is complete without The X Broker- Jeff Corbett.  He'll rip your face off if he finds out you cheat customers.

Next Step?  Get yourself trained:

Loan Toolbox makes it quite easy to learn loan programs, how to take applications, and how to market yourself.

Strategic Equity can teach you the concept of mortgage planning

Todd Ballenger's been teaching mortgage planning before it was cool.

Final Step?  Get the proper tools.

Your Loan Toolbox membership will get you free subscriptions to Loan Magic software and Barry Habib's Mortgage Market Guide.

Bonus Work? Attend Todd Duncan's Sales Mastery- Todd taught all the great originators of today how to do it- he's been teaching us that for close to 20 years.

Our industry is perhaps the most important financial services industry in America.  Fully 67% of the American adults will need a mortgage; that's like 160 million people.  There's currently some 400,000 loan originators in the country and that number should drop to below 200,000 when this market shakes out.  Close to 1 million households a year buy a home, another 1.5 million refinance an existing one.

There is plenty of business for good, ethical originators.  Lord knows there is a need for us.  Come join us- you've already taken the first step.

Jack Guttentag is a Professor Emeritus at the well-known Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.  He is also known as "The Mortgage Professor" on the internet and the founder of the Upfront Mortgage Brokers Association.

I always thought a lot of Jack until he advocated a price-fixing scheme in mortgage brokerage; his advice was anti-competitive and potentially costly to the consumer.  Needless to say, I've read him with a jaundiced eye since that advocacy.

Jack attempts to counsel a mortgage broker about why the concept of equity optimization is unsuitable for most folks.  This article reveals that "The Mortgage Professor" is completely out of touch with the realities of the housing market and the challenges of Generation X and Y. 

READ MORE AT www.MortgageRatesReport.com

Jumbo mortgage rates are improving.

We advised home buyers to cautiously float their loans last week; nothing happened to mortgage rates.  There is still an irrational fear in the mortgage rates markets about inflation which is causing the lenders to remain stubborn about pricing.  We are changing our stance to a locking bias.  That's research talk for "we think you should lock your loans because we're chicken about the economic figures due out towards the end of the week".  So, if you haven't locked in your loan, and you're less than 21 days from your close of escrow, go ahead and lock.

Rates we're offering, for loans under $417,000, as of September 26, 2007:

Program                    Rate                    APR

Annual ARM            5.625%                5.693%

3/1 ARM                 6.000%               6.070%

5/1 ARM                 6.125%               6.217%

30 Year Fixed          6.125%               6.217%

Rates subject to qualification and market conditions.  Equal Opportunity Lender.

Now, for some REALLY good news.  Pricing for jumbo rates  is improving.  Rates for stated income loans  are getting lower.  If you have applied for a loan that is greater than $417,000 or are not documenting your income, we think you can safely float the rate.  Wall Street investors are dipping their toe in the jumbo and stated income loan markets and starting to buy those loans. 

The portfolio lenders that scalped us when the Wall Street investors stopped buying jumbo loans (portfolio lenders don't sell to Wall Street; they hold the loans) are now aggressively pricing their jumbo loans.  The  jumbo mortgage rates are still not as competitive as they were on July 31, 2007 but THEY ARE IMPROVING.  This aggressive move by the portfolio lenders tells us that the conduit lenders, that sell jumbo loans to Wall Street, are getting good news.

Call me at (858)-503-2318 for jumbo mortgage rate pricing or e-mail me.

In summary, lock loans under $417,000 and float loans over $417,000.  The liquidity crisis ain't over but the desert we've lived in since August 2, 2007 is starting to smell like rain.  That's good news.

Lani Anglin and I write on the acclaimed Bloodhound Blog.  We've never met but we share a whole bunch of things in common.  We've developed a "friendship" commenting on each other's weblogs these past few months. 

Lani lost her brother, yesterday, in a tragic car accident, as he drove to her home.  She reports:

To me, the important thing to know is that the crazy kid in the funny video is my newly 24 year old little brother Aaron who died yesterday on impact. He was driving to my house (to make another silly video) and was driving with his wife (Aleisha Anglin, 25) and their two babies (Eleanor who turns 1 THIS week and McKenzie who is only 6 weeks old).

Aleisha & Eleanor should be released today and McKenzie is in the ICU in improving condition. We have tons of family surrounding us and St. Thomas More parish is providing food this week for our entire family!

Aaron was awesome and his marketing work can be found at http://benaaronanglin.carbonmade.com. He was confirmed in the Catholic faith last week, laughed his butt off at ICanHasCheezburger.com with me this week.

We were born 18 months apart (Irish twins) and grew up as best friends with so many lame stories.

Greg Swann points out the practical needs of the family:

Aaron Anglin is survived by a wife and two very young daughters. The way I’m reading things, he died without life insurance, which puts those three ladies on a very hard road.

If you can spare something for them, put it in the form of negotiable funds — cash, cashier’s check or money order — and overnight it to:

      Aleisha Anglin
      c/o Lani Anglin
      2719 Costa Azul Cove
      Leander, TX
      78641

April is working on setting up a donation account with Bank of America, and I’ll amend this post when that account becomes available.

But: I will promise you that there are people who will want to be paid now, and this young family will have immediate and ongoing needs. There was a time in your life when fate could have hit you this hard. Now is your chance to redeem that good fortune.

Please join me by remembering Aaron and his family in your prayers.  Any help you might give the family will be appreciated.

Fran White asks:

Can You Stop A Moment From Your Busy Schedule... To Help Someone In Need? We Should.

Paula Henry tells us that she's:

Counting My Blessings