Skip to main content

Who is (is not) Likely to Provide your Next Mortgage Loan

Sitting around the closing tables (business may be slow, but i do close every now and then) I have been noticing far fewer buyers using mortgage brokers to close their loans lately... and far fewer brokers still in business.

Consolidation and tough, tough market changes are taking a toll on that segment of the money lending industry. How bad is it? Check out this report from National Mortgage News:

The dollar amount of mortgages funded through loan brokers hit a new low in the second quarter in terms of market share — just 14.9% of all originations. Wholesale lenders tabled funded just $87 billion in loans in Q2, out of a total origination pie of $583 billion. Loan brokers' dominance of mortgage lending peaked in the fourth quarter of 2007 just shy of 30%

Business volume cut in half over the last 18 months? yikes!

On the bright side, the brokers who are surviving seem to be doing very nice loans for my clients. The processing times seem to be running shorter than the retail lenders. The "hassle factor" right now seems to be FAR FAR lower too. The retails tout low costs and low rates, but my gosh, can it possibly be worth the aggravation and delays that borrowers must endure to get there? (no.)

If you are in the market for a new home, or have a client or colleague who is, I will be more than happy to introduce you to the survivors - and to the opportunities they afford.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

FHA Loans and Condo Sales - Is Relief on the Way?

By all outward appearances, state government in Illinois has ground to a complete halt, with all eyes focused on the Governor's "problem" and all the related fal - der -rah. Its hardly business as usual in Springfield, but not everything has ground to a halt. Several new bills have been introduced this week. That is not to say that they will be of benefit to we the people. Nonetheless, the cogs and gears are turning, and we are hoping for the best. One such proposal comes from Rep. LaShawn Ford of Chicago's west side, who is himself a real estate broker and entrepreneur . He is the author of House Bill 155 , introduced & referred to the Rules Committee Wednesday. It seeks to address one of the most common problems I am seeing in condominium resale transactions these days; the tension between many Declarations of Condominium and FHA loan guidelines. Many Condo Declarations provide Associations with a "right of first refusal," which basically allows t

So.... about the blawg

Nov. 2022 Hello Dear Reader. I started blogging on this site 15 years ago.  Crazy right? May or may not Chicago's longest-running blog about real estate law. I think so, but who knows, Whether it is or isn't doesn't, of course, really matter.   Either way, it's been a blast.  But things change. We've pulled up the tent stakes here and are relocated on other platforms. Want to follow along? Join us on the mothership I'm also writing on LinkedIn Thanks for everything.

PLM Title Shuttered

Title insurance is a critically important part of any real estate transaction; or at least it should be. The title company guaranties the "quality" of an owners interest in the property - that there aren't any (unknown) liens or defects. No buyer that I work for will purchase a property without it. Title insurance is only as good as the insurer. We want to know that the insurance company, like the Rock of Gibraltar , will always be there. We want to sleep easy at night, knowing that the client is protected. That said, it was a bit distressing to see that PLM Title Company shut its doors, without any forewarning last week. Worse still, this morning's news is that there is a criminal investigation underway - and that we do not yet know why. Old timers like me shudder with memories of the great Intercounty Title debacle five years ago. Here's to hoping that this one is nothing like that one. Set aside the problems involved trying to make a claim against a defun