Phil Grossfield's Blog

My Schedule…and A Little Extra:  |1| Did you see Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke said, “…it seems likely at this point that the pendulum has swung too far the other way, and that overly tight lending standards may now be preventing creditworthy borrowers from buying homes, thereby slowing the revival in housing and impeding the economic recovery.”  Really, you think?  Nice to hear him say that, eh?  |2|  TAKE 2 – Unscrupulous Agents – I received many comments about my post yesterday but I don’t have time to copy and paste them here this morning…I have a sick kid and my wife has appointments she could not cancel…I’m on kid duty early this morning as I take my daughter to the doctor.  So, in the interest of time, and since I got so many positive comments on yesterday’s post, I am putting it here today for your reading enjoyment, or, for your annoyance if you already read it yesterday….

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?!  Before I tell you how unscrupulous this real estate agent is, let me say the purchase transaction in question was submitted just 6 calendar days ago and we had an underwriting decision within 2 days.  The only issue on the approval is the gift which was coming from an LLC and we conditioned that it come from an individual.  My broker called me to tell me the real estate agent is upset on how long it’s taking and she has advised the borrower to cancel the loan and go with her broker instead.  Are you blanking kidding me…it’s been 6 days!?  The borrower invested in an appraisal!  The Broker has spent time putting the transaction together!  Interbank has spent time in receiving and underwriting the loan!  She is clearly trying to steal the business away for her own broker which I wouldn’t be surprised if she receives a kick-back.  Too many times I hear this ridiculous complaint from real estate agents that they are putting a Notice To Perform if this or that.  It’s a completely bogus threat.  All they are doing is putting a ton of undue pressure on everyone and I’m sick of it.  This is 2012 and the lending environment is challenging.  Everyone is doing their best including the broker and lender.  Now I’m not suggesting that there aren’t fowl-ups, but most of the time things go well.  Brokers work their butts off and processors work endless hours and endure a very frustrating process in today’s world.  And at Interbank we are constantly trying to improve the process which is why we invested so much time and money into a new automated CIC and closing process.  And we funded near $1 billion last month and I personally funded 143 loans for almost $50 million.  We’re doing something right, right?  I know there are very reasonable and level-headed real estate agents out there and you may be one of them so don’t get offended with this post.  But there are too many agents out there that are unreasonable and need to take a chill pill with expectations.  Moreover, they need to stop putting so much blanking pressure on everyone…pressure that is already distinctly present without their nonsensical Notice to Perform threats.  Ugh!  That’s all I have to say about that.  My fingers hurt….  Is it Happy Hour yet?

My Market Watch:  Pricing is about 0.125 better than yesterday which is a good thing…I was worried we’d see no gains after the market movement yesterday.  I mean, we should have gotten the 0.125 but it concerned me that it didn’t happen yesterday.  Anyway, there are no economic reports today so all eyes will be on geopolitical news and events.  Also, everyone is expecting news on the political opinions around the Fiscal Cliff…look for news today and the coming week….  My Disclaimer

My Schedule: I have a sick kid I have to take the doctor this morning…my wife takes over before noon and then I’ll be more reachable….