Appraisal Review, Equity, QC Tools; Jumbo Competition, Microsoft News Implications? STRATMOR Tech Survey

The ancient Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu said, “Sometimes the best victory is the battle that was not fought.” In a shrinking residential market there are a lot of potential battles, for example: “Rob, are you hearing that some IMBs are not charging an origination fee or putting caps on LO comp for jumbo loans?” Of course, especially if the independent mortgage bank, or broker, is in an area where’s you’re battling it out with credit unions and banks. If you have a $2 million loan, and an IMB’s LO is charging a point, that’s $20k, but if an originator at a CU or depository bank is charging $5,000 for the same loan because they’re capped at that, well, what’s borrower supposed to do? So, yes, many IMBs do cap comp or origination fees. Not only that, but with interest rates where they are, and jumbo adjustable rate mortgages a viable product, often banks and CUs have a solid offering. There are some good deals to be had because of the poor affordability, but buyers not in the business of buying homes have a hard time wrapping their head around all of it versus five years ago. (Today’s podcast can be found here. This week’s ‘casts are presented by FICO. As the industry's most predictive credit score, FICO Score 10T combines proven performance with deeper insight into borrower behavior to help support a stronger and more resilient housing finance system. Today’s has an interview with Areal’s Argun Kilic on automating closing disclosures, funding reviews, and post-closing tasks.)