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Articles by Steve Goode
Pastor's Corner: Let the redeemed of the Lord say so
“Let the redeemed of the Lord say so” is a call from the Bible, specifically from Psalms 107:2, for those who have been rescued and delivered by God to openly praise and testify about him. kAm%96 H9@=6 G6CD6 C625D 2D 7@==@HDi “{6E E96 C6566>65 @7 E96 {@C5 D2J D@[ H9@> 96 92E9 C6566>65 7C@> E96 92?5 @7 E96 6?6>J]”k^Am kAm%9:D =625D E@ >2?J 4@>>2?5D E92E H6 2D 36=:6G6CD D9@F=5 5@] ~?6 @7 E9@D6 :D 2 42== E@ E6DE:>@?J] %92E A9C2D6[ “=6E E96 C6566>65 @7 E96 {@C5 D2J D@[” :D 2 5:C64E :?DECF4E:@?
Pastor's Corner: Sight or faith?
The Word of God is very clear we walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthains 5:7). However, just as many other things in the Bible we choose to ignore it or justify why we do not do it. We as Christians walk around in fear, or turmoil because of what is happing in our lives, community, or world. It all comes down to two questions. 1) do we believe God? And 2) who or what is our god? Before we dive into both these questions, I would like you to know the meaning of a word we often misunderstand.
Pastor's Corner: A call to Arms
When you first read that title, you automatically think of the news and what is going on around the world. There seems to be a “call to arms” in almost every region in the world. If you really look at it closely, you see a call to arms here in America. If people do not agree with your ideology, philosophy, or what you believe to be true or moral, then the automatic response is a call to arms. This article is going to ask for a call to arms as well.
Pastor's Corner: Some who attend church may not always be the ‘real deal’
Many years ago there was a television show called “What’s Your Line.” It had three people come out and all pretended to be one person. The host would then give the story of the real person his story was about. It was usually a very odd or strange story. Out of the three people, one would be the person and the other two were imposters. There was a panel of judges who went down the line asking various questions to each of the three participants trying to figure out who was the real person.
Pastor's Corner: Pick a pew, any pew
COVID came a few years back and we are still feeling the effects of it. I don’t mean the sickness itself, but the routine of missing church. The devil loves it. He has made it a habit for some to stay home and miss church. “I don’t need to go to church to be a Christian”. “I feel more comfortable at home sitting on my couch in my jammies”. These are things I have heard time and time again. The problem is, they are both lies along with every other excuse for not going.
Appraisal Showdown In The Lone Star State
A report from 2022 titled “Appraised: The Persistent Evaluation of White Neighborhoods as More Valuable Than Communities of Color,” leveraged data from the Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD) sourced from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The study, conducted by sociologists Junia Howell and Elizabeth Korver-Glenn, analyzed appraised home values to identify racial disparities in various neighborhoods across the United States.
Pastor's Corner: Taking off the mask
This time of year is labeled and shown as a joyous time of year. That is great for Hallmark movies, but most of us live in the real world. We have health problems, financial problems, relationship problems plus many others. If we know this, why do we put a mask on when we go into church? I know when someone walks into our church doors we great them with a “hello, how are you?” These are not just words we say as a greeting, but we really want to know what is going on in your life.
Report Reveals Insights On Texas Homebuyers And Sellers
Texas Realtors has released the 2023 Texas Homebuyers and Sellers Report, providing Texans with insights and analysis of the demographics, motivations, and opinions of Texas homebuyers and sellers. The report focuses on real estate transactions between July 2021 and June 2022. It outlines information related to Texas real estate consumers’ income, ethnicity, age, and experience with the home buying and selling process.
An Inspiring Journey Through Habitat For Humanity’s Zero-Interest Mortgage Program
When Jennifer Evans had a personal crisis in 2005, she decided to leave California and move back to her central Texas hometown of Waco to be closer to her parents. After several years of sharing their 700-square-foot home, Evans started looking for some space of her own while working a job that paid her little more than $10 an hour as a recreational director at a local retirement community.
The Tough Cookie
Kristin Stark isn’t just a loan officer. She was a world traveler – an Air Force brat who graduated high school in Germany. Now she’s a mother, a leader of an all-female loan team, and a solutionist. But Stark’s most prominent attribute – one that she doesn’t brag to you about – is that she’s a tough cookie. The mother of two children with special needs, Stark can tell you what it’s like in and out of the office to have patience, attentiveness, and strength.
Austin Is The New Austin
There’s no such thing as a perfect housing market, but Austin is trying to check off all the boxes for would-be buyers. Young and savvy tech professionals are flocking to the funky metro known for its music scene to scoop up jobs and take the plunge into homeownership. Since Austin is attracting new buyers and transforming long-term renters into prospective homeowners, LOs aren’t having trouble wrangling customers to buy loans.
Texas Joins California As State With 30-Million-Plus Population
Texas is now one of only two U.S. states with a population of 30 million or more: the nation’s second-most-populous state reached a population milestone by passing the 30-million threshold. Texas’s population in 2022 was 30,029,572, second only to California (39,029,342), not surprising given its consistent place in recent years among the nation’s fastest-growing, largest-gaining states.
Texas Law Changes Target Equity Lenders
However, the bill requires an expedited release if the mortgagor requests the release on or before the 20th day after the loan is paid in full. If the mortgagor makes the request, the mortgagee or mortgage servicer must deliver or file the release within 30 days of receiving the written request. A mortgage servicer only is required to comply with these requirements if it has the authority to deliver or file a release of lien for the loan.
Servicers Are Sinking Seniors
“Across all these situations, poor servicing communication and insufficient access to housing counseling exacerbate the problems,” the report said. Sarah Bolling Mancini, a staff attorney at the NCLC and the report’s lead author, said her organization spent about six months compiling the information and that it was prompted by complaints they were hearing from housing advocates about homeowner issues, especially the reverse mortgage channel.
Guild Doesn't Fold, It Doubles Down
Garth Graham of STRATMOR Group, a data-driven mortgage advisor and consultant that provides strategies for independent and bank-owned mortgage lenders, also respects Guild’s growth-by-acquisition strategy and agrees the industry is ripe for mergers and acquisitions. Graham, a senior partner, manages M&A strategies for STRATMOR.
Big Bucks From Break Ups
When couples get divorced there is one thing that is almost universally true: Somebody is going to be highly motivated to find a new place to live. When times are tough in the mortgage business, there’s a tendency for loan originators to expand their scope of offerings into niche channels. Non-QM and reverse lending usually come to mind. But what about divorce mortgages?
Beauty And The Basis Point
Alexandra Rivera Berrios, Beauty Pageant Contestant And MLO Keeps On Selling, Even Backstage; Andrea Lightfoot Is A 'Force To Be Reckoned With'; Be Brave! Acting on a whim can have satisfying results (honest); Curiosity Gets Results; Pros, Cons Of The Three Ways Mortgage Companies Get Paid; AI: A Great Tool (With Limitations); A License Renewal Program That Works; Practice Self-Care So You Don't End Up Running On Empty; and Mortgage Women Magazine celebrates success of women in the mortgage...
Taking The Lead
Join Mortgage Women Magazine in celebrating the diversity and success of women in the mortgage industry. They were the top-producing female loan originators and brokers in 2022. In a tough year for the mortgage industry, these Leading LOs found success in 2022 and stayed at the top of their fields. The following pages highlight 11 women who exceed $50 million in total origination volume between purchase and refinance volume.
Health & Wellness, Confused Yet?
When you think of health and wellness, things such as diet, exercise, and self-care come rushing to your mind, am I right? Then you add in how to apply health and wellness to your children’s lives, and your mind explodes (for some of us). I mean I can’t get my 15-year-old to put his phone down and eat three balanced meals a day to save my life … can’t imagine how you get the tiny ones (i.e., the toddler who only wants mac and cheese and will not try broccoli).
Mortgage Barbie, Not Just A Pretty Face
Alexandra Rivera Berrios isn’t just a pretty face. Ok, she is a pretty face, pretty enough to compete in the Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2022 Pageant. But she’s also a college graduate with a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a minor in accounting, a certified public accountant, and a working mortgage loan officer with about 100 loans closed in Puerto Rico since she became an MLO at the age of 21. Pageants are her hobby. The mortgage industry is her passion.
A License Renewal Program That Works
The Mortgage License renewal season starts Nov. 1 in the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System (NMLS) and ends Jan. 31. Let’s talk about what your renewal program needs to include to ensure a successful season. According to a press release by The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) on Oct. 20, 2022, “More than 261,000 mortgage loan originators (MLOs) and companies are licensed to conduct business, accounting for nearly 1.1 million state licenses to be renewed.
AI: A Great Tool (With Limitations)
The recent launch of ChatGPT has brought artificial intelligence (AI) into the spotlight, and it’s clear that this innovative technology is transforming the mortgage industry. From mortgage lenders to tech companies and service providers, AI is changing the way businesses approach their work. As the president of a PR, marketing, content and social media agency focused on the mortgage industry, I have seen the impact of AI first-hand.
Where The Money Comes From
In my last article we discussed what affects the bond price and gave a crash course in hedging. To continue our journey on becoming the interest rate expert, we are going to focus on servicing values and servicing rights. Again, the five main variable components that go into rate-sheet pricing and interest rates are the bond price, servicing value, lenders’ cost to manufacture, loan originator compensation, and the borrowers’ risk profile.
Curiosity Gets Results
Remember your first day of school? Your first date? What about your first day on a new job? What’s the common theme? Hopefully you’ve said, “It’s the unknown.” In each scenario, walking into something unknown creates curiosity. Curiosity poses questions, questions result in answers, and answers give us confidence to take the next step to move forward. I love to coach clients on taking a “first-day” approach to something.
Fighting For Empathy And Technology
This month I have the pleasure of speaking with Andria Lightfoot. Andria is the chief customer officer (CCO) of SimpleNexus, an nCino company. As of April 10, she will be the president/chief operating officer of SocialCoach. She is based in Fairfax, Virginia. Andria was in grad school studying to be a therapist despite having always had a strong facility for math and computer science. She took a job as a loan officer assistant (LOA) because her sister was in the mortgage business.
Be Brave! Try New Things
After overthinking A LOT, on a whim I decided to join a dance class. Being a dancer was a dream of mine at a young age, and I never followed through for many reasons. The main one being a young Mom, which obviously took priority of being a backup dancer … right? LOL! SO when I finally decided to start my “try new things chapter,” dance was the first thing I wanted to check off. I was so nervous walking in that first class, but I did it.
Dream Weaver | Florida Originator
Florida Originator When Sunshine State brokers and lenders need information and opportunity, Florida Originator magazine is there for them. It's the only mortgage publication that criss-crosses all of Florida, and the only one that lets industry pros from Miami to Jacksonville, from Destin to Key West know it all.
Miracle Worker
For the housing market, the years 2020, 2021, and 2022 were a roller-coaster ride. At the start, home sales roared skyward thanks to low interest rates, and the COVID-19 pandemic induced city dwellers to seek leafy suburbs so they could work remotely, creating competition for properties the likes of which had never been seen.
Luxury Second Homes A Bright Spot
The country’s housing market is experiencing a downturn, but the luxury second-home market saw big gains last year with Osceola County, Florida, in the number two spot. Following up at the number four spot was Indian River County, Florida. According to Pacaso, a real estate platform that helps people buy luxury second homes, the average home price in Osceola County last year was $1.65 million. Just south of Orlando, home to the city of Kissamee, the county saw a 6.1% increase in rate locks in 2022.
Space Coast
The year 2022 saw the U.S. enter into a recession, as property prices rose drastically as a result of inflation. For 2023, the financial experts at IBRinfo.org have revealed their property inflation predictions. New data released by the firm also shows $1 million buys a lot less than it used to in three Florida cities. Before analyzing the data for 2023, it’s important to establish the relationship between inflation and property prices.
Florida’s A Winner For Return On Investment
Two Florida metropolitan areas are among the best when it comes to return on investment in housing. Fort Myers, at 85.4%, and Port St. Lucie, at 84.8%, were the fourth and fifth hottest markets, respectively, for return on investment in areas with populations over 200,000. .
Sunny Days Lie Ahead In 2023 For Florida Market
Look to the near-term past to see the near-term future. At least that’s the perspective of economists surveying the Florida real estate market for 2023. Everyone knows the details of the past few years: In 2021 historically low interest rates fueled a buying frenzy that drove up prices to the point that many first-time homebuyers couldn’t compete with buyers offering tens of thousands above asking prices.
NAR: Existing-Home Sales Down Again
Existing-home sales declined again in January, extending the streak to 12 straight months, according to the monthly report from the National Association of Realtors. Sales were mixed among the four major U.S. regions, as the South and West saw increases while the East and Midwest experienced declines. All four regions recorded year-over-year declines.
Pastor's Corner: Counterfeit church
Most of us know why the Secret Service was formed. It was made to investigate counterfeit money in the U.S. The way they did this was remarkable and so simple, we as the church should use the same formula the secret service was built on. Instead of looking at all the wrong things in the fake bills, trying to pick them out each time, they studied the original bills. If the one they were looking at did not match the original, it was fake. Why can’t we do this with our church?
Top Texas Originator Sees No Surrender To 2023
Q: Let’s look at Austin and Houston. How can mortgage originators in those markets smooth out their book of business? Does it come by focusing on low-end loans? Does quantity become more important? In today's market “smoothing” your business begins fishing with a wider net. Right now, that is the name of the game. “Smooth” is ideal but “anything” is helpful. We have to market and be open to every opportunity that presents itself. People, price points and property.
Rocket CFO Predicts First-Time Buyers Will Drive Market In 2023
Says they will benefit from an estimated 5% drop in sale prices. KEY TAKEAWAYS First-time home buyers will drive market in 2023 Will benefit from expected 5% decline in home prices Rocket expects $1.7 to $1.9 billion in loan originations in 2023 More job losses expected in first two quarters First-time homebuyers will drive the housing market in 2023, according to a prediction from Brian Brown, chief financial officer and treasurer of Rocket Companies.
New York Foreclosure Bill Becomes Law
Governor signs legislation that creates hard cap on statute of limitations. KEY TAKEAWAYS Law could cost lenders $1billion. After a seven-month wait, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed a controversial mortgage foreclosure protection act into law — surprisingly to some — without amendments that had been lobbied for by members of the lending industry.
Cost Of Mortgage Fraud Is Way Up
The answer, in the view of the folks at LexisNexis, lies in what has become a new favorite among lenders for its money-saving capabilities, and among younger buyers, many of whom prefer on-line transactions.
Finance of America To Acquire Assets of AAG
The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2023. Finance of America Companies Inc. (FOA), the sixth-largest U.S. reverse mortgage lender by volume, announced Wednesday it plans to acquire assets of the top HECM lender, American Advisors Group. In exchange, FOA will provide AAG with a combination of cash and equity, company officials said.
Pastor's corner: Remember to M.O.V.E.
If one walks across the road and stops in the middle to look down the street, and if there was a car coming down that street, one would move out of the way of the oncoming car. However, in day to day living more and more people are being run over by the traffic of life. It is a little more subtle than an oncoming car, but it can be just as deadly. The car that approaches can be seen at a distance. Your mind can surmise the time needed to get out of the way.
Pastor's corner | Steve Goode: Living a lie
Most of us have been there. We have been told something that was not true either by accident or on purpose. We believe what we were told, then all our actions are based on the “truth” we believe, even though it is not true in reality. Our spiritual life is no different. We have to be careful to what we listen to and to whom we listen to. If not, we start a circle that can be devastating not only to ourselves, but also to others.
loanDepot's 'Vision 2025' Includes Massive Job Cuts
About 2,000 more people expected to leave the company by the end of the year. KEY TAKEAWAYS Vision 2025 includes an emphasis on underserved communities and growing HELOC business. The company also plans to reduce its physical footprint. California-based loanDepot, a national mortgage funder, announced a plan Tuesday to return to profitability by the end of 2022 and beyond.
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