Broker Magazine articles from January 2007

Broker Magazine archives from January 2007

The Ghosts of 1998.(market conditions of 1998)
January 1, 2007... At the end of the last refinance boom, around the start of 2005, I began to pose the theory that the nonprime mortgage business is setting itself for a repeat of what took place in the fall of 1998. Back then, there was a macro-economic...

Survey: Execs Work While On Vacation.
January 1, 2007... A recent survey conducted for Menlo Park, Calif.-based OfficeTeam found more than three-quarters of executives said they attend to office duties at least a few times a week while on vacation and one-third said they conduct business every day...

Be Careful About What You Say.(Loan officers' interview)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... With more and more loan officers hitting the street looking for new employment, the job interview takes on new meaning as more people compete for fewer jobs. One expert said it is important in these interviews to watch your mouth. ...

Resolutions for the Office.(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... The office, where we spend so much time, is a place that people often neglect when making their New Year's resolutions. IBT-USA Inc., a consulting firm, has asked its clients and associates around the United States, "What's on your top 10...

Precedent-Making Settlement: Countrywide ends NY AG HMDA investigation.(Countrywide Home Loans Inc.)(Attorney General Eliot Spitzer)(Home Mortgage Disclosure Act )
January 1, 2007... NEW YORK Expert: "Settled Cheaply" Countrywide Home Loans Inc., Calabasas has entered into a fair lending agreement with Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, closing a regulatory investigation into the company's 2004 Home Mortgage...

Helping Builders Build: Joel Pate is spreading the word about the one-time close construction-to-permanent loan, a niche he says more brokers should be interested in.
January 1, 2007... Whether they chose to learn the ropes of loan processing through a trainer or other venues, loan originators who familiarize themselves with construction-to-permanent loans and builders who get to see the financial benefits of the one-time...

Dear Brian: Industry expert Brian Sacks will be happy to answer your most pressing marketing questions each month in the Dear Brian column.(Column)
January 1, 2007... Dear Brian, I have had a website for a few years now and it never really seems to do anything but cost me money each month. I have tried pay-per-click, paying for search engine rankings and various other online ideas. Over the past year I...

Top Florida LOs 2005: Our survey of the most productive originators in the state.(Statistical data)(List)
January 1, 2007... Florida is one of the leading states for mortgage brokers, both in terms of numbers and in the industry in general. It was one of the first to adopt mandatory education requirements, with its trade group, the Florida Association of Mortgage...

Wholesalers' Perspective: Our panel at the 2006 Mortgage Bankers Association convention discusses what they look for from the mortgage brokers they work with.(Lisa; Kamran; Josh)(Discussion)
January 1, 2007... BRAD: Do you have any requests from your brokers to help them deal with the expected drop off in volume? LISA: There is no doubt about that. All of our brokers are looking for more educational opportunities, to learn more about how to keep...

Creating Offices: This year branching operations believe their business will increase while other parts of the industry struggle.
January 1, 2007... Home prices may stay high in spite of warnings that owners might lose their window of opportunity. Homebuilders are seeing a falloff of new starts with no upturn expected until the fourth quarter of 2007, if then, while condo construction and...

Podcast People: Companies have learned portable MP3 players are used to listening to more than music.
January 1, 2007... In today's ever-changing market, more and more companies are using podcasting as an educational tool to strengthen their programs and become more interactive with brokers. Many believe for a business to be successful, using a professional...

Warning: Fraud's Growing.
January 1, 2007... If there is one lesson that mortgage brokers can take away from the SourceMedia Mortgage Fraud Conference is that they will be under greater scrutiny from their wholesale investors in this area. Part of this is just a natural consequence of the...

The Broker Loan Guide.(Table)
January 1, 2007... Residential Decision One Program Name Core Portfolio Plus Alt-A Min Credit Score 520 (580 to get 100% CLTV) 580 620 Max LTV/CLTV 90%/100% 100%/100%...

Is This Fraud?: A poster asks the www.mortgagegrapevine.com community if a situation is considered to be unethical.
January 1, 2007... JustplainMarvin: I need attorneys and credit experts in on this. Is this fraud? I was just talking with some brokers who advise their customers to add themselves to friends and/or relatives' credit cards and other accounts to make it look like...

Advertisers' Index.
January 1, 2007... Aegis Home Equity 22 American Brokers Conduit Cover 2 Argent Mortgage Company 14, 15 Citimortgage 31 Document Systems 3 Ellie Mae Cover 4 Equifirst 1 First Magnus 43 First Metropolitian Mortgage 26,...

The Wrong Number: The things they don't tell you about selling over the telephone.(servicing inbound calls)
January 1, 2007... While there are many mortgage companies with "outbound" telemarketing centers, it's how you handle the "inbound" telephone calls that will make you more money. What are inbound calls? They are calls that are made to you. They could be from...