Phil Grossfield's Blog

My Schedule…and A Little Extra:  Rats in my grill!  WTH?!  I was about to fire up the grill when I heard a noise…I opened the cover and saw a large bundle of leaves inside under the grates. WTH?!  With all the rain and wind and cold weather in San Diego it’s been a couple of months since we used it last…but how did all those leaves get in there?  I tapped the grate and saw a rat run out of the bundle and down into the bottom of the grill and disappear.  WTH?!  Then I saw two baby mice rolling around…they must have been knocked out of the bundle when the mama cowardly took off…baby mice in my grill!  WTH?!  “Colleen! There be mice in our grill!” I yelled to my wife.  My kids ran over screaming, “let me see…let me see!”  Oh the excitement of it all.  My wife said, “Nooooo!  You need to get rid of them right away!”  My daughter screamed, “don’t hurt them Daddy! They’re just babies!”  I said “settle down…everybody calm down.” Never a dull moment at the Grossfield house.  I am calling an exterminator post-haste…I’ll ask them to not hurt the babies.  |||  I am going to see Alicia Keyes tonight in San Diego with my wife…wooohoooooo!

My Market Watch:  Rates/pricing is the same as yesterday.  I was hopeful pricing would improve since the stock market was moving south and bonds were trading high…those gains were erased this morning with the retail sales report…bummer.  Today there is an auction on 10-year notes that might move the markets.  Other than that, look for geopolitical events to influence traders.  I am still hopeful that pricing will improve over the short-term.  My Disclaimer

My Schedule:  Today I am available all day until 4p and then done to get ready for the Alicia Keyes concert in San Diego…woooohoooooo!

My Fun Stuff: I watch this almost every single day  |||  All My Fun Stuff

My Schedule…and A Little Extra:  I took my responsibility very seriously (emphasis on very) to be in charge of 14 girls at my daughter’s 8th birthday party Saturday.  We hosted Build-A-Bear and told the parents it was a drop-off…that means you drop your kid off and then you take off leaving me in charge.  And so I was responsible for all these crazy creatures.   I made sure there were no alternative exits and stood by the front door to ensure none of them could escape.  I performed countless head-counts.  I scanned the perimeter like the Terminator with my head going side to side…like Arnold was watching a tennis match.  And now for the analogies:  you would have thought I was a guard at a maximum security prison; I was like Buzz Lightyear standing guard over the gang in Toy Story 3; I was like a prairie dog making sure the herd stayed within the designated area; I was like a republican on Congress monitoring the democrats to stay within spending limits; I was like paddles of a pinball machine trying to keep the pinball from getting through.  Okay, that’s enough analogies.  It was a success and every child was returned to their rightful owner, I mean parent.  Whew!

My Market Watch:  Rates/pricing is slightly better than yesterday.  Stocks cannot possibly continue to climb, can they?  I hope not…I think not.  At some point traders will realize their gains are capped and start to sell and that is what started the day today.  If it continues expect bond prices to improve.  I am betting this will be the trend over the next month…and let us pray…. My Disclaimer

My Schedule:  Today I have an appointment at 10:30a in San Diego and free the remainder of the day.

My Fun Stuff: I watch this almost every single day  |||  All My Fun Stuff

My Schedule…and A Little Extra:  Steam room horror at the health club…don’t get the wrong idea…let me explain….  I like to take a steam after my workout.  In fact, I workout so I can take the steam.  Anyway, there’s this one guy that is always in the steam room…our schedules must be synched, like roommates at an all-girls college.  This guy is the life of the locker room…everyone knows him and he is always engaged in a classic locker room conversation.  I’m pretty sure this guy comes to the club for an executive workout, you know, no exercise…just a sh**, shower, and shave. What irks me is I have some kind of internal pressure to get in on the conversation, like a junior high school nerd trying to be part of the cool guys discussion.  And so I’ve been waiting for the opportune moment to get in on the conversation…my need for social acceptance is palpable.  And then my chance presents itself!  The conversation turned to an issue involving interest rates and the market…my expertise…perfect!  I quickly blurt out a comment so relevant and witty surely they will see that any future conversation without me would be disappointingly humdrum.  There is a pause, a short remark, and then the conversation reverts and once again I’m excluded…I’m out.  Oh the horror!  From now on, I’ll just keep quiet in the steam room like usual…unsurprisingly that seems like the right course of action anyway….

My Market Watch:  Rates/pricing are worse due to a strong economic report…jobless claims.  The report indicated that there were less claims…if you’re a trader on Wall Street and you’re looking for information on whether the economy is strong or weak, then seeing less jobless claims is an indication of a strong economy, right?  So, as a trader you decide to put your money into the strong economic market, i.e., the stock market.  And where do you get money to put into the stock market?  You pull money out of bonds.  And viola, bond prices get worse and lender rates/prices accordingly get worse too.  So, tomorrow is the Jobs Report which measures how many new jobs are reported.  Again, if the report shows strength in the economy, traders will invest in stocks and rates/pricing should worsen again.  However, if the report comes in lower than expected, which is supposed to be 165,000 new jobs in February, then traders will pull money out of stocks and put that money into bonds instead, and if that happens pricing will improve. The key for that to happen is the number of new jobs has to come in much shorter than expected, around 125,000 new jobs…this would make the swing we need for lower rates/pricing.  What’s going to happen?  Let me know if you have a clue…. My Disclaimer

My Schedule:  Today I am driving my parents around and hitting the local Starbucks wherever I am.

My Fun Stuff: I watch this almost every single day  |||  All My Fun Stuff

My Important Reminders:

• PURCHASE PRIORITY SENIOR UW TEAM.  Effective immediately, all purchases will be assigned to a Senior Underwriter team who will exclusively underwrite, condition, and clear conditions.  This is contrary to our normal queue-strategy for refinances using junior underwriters.  Interbank is doing this at the suggestion of the Account Executives who voiced their opinion that we need a more timely, consistent and predictable process for purchase transactions to give our clientele continued confidence to send them in.
• APPOINTMENTS.  I am setting up appointments for the next several weeks…please let me know if you’re interested in an office visit.  I will be sharing my insight on how to get new business in 2013 and what to prepare for as the year progresses….
• STILL WANTED.  We are looking for Senior Underwriters, Loan Coordinators, Junior UWs, Doc Specialists and Funders. Referrals are greatly appreciated.  Remote positions are available.

My Schedule…and A Little Extra:  My lawn is dying.  The reason…my sprinkler system is broken.  The water is not spraying and when I manually override it the damn side of the house floods…ugh!  Anyone know a reputable company that does sprinkler systems?  |||  This morning my newly turned 5-year-old son threw his shoe at me while I was making breakfast in the kitchen.  He was upset because he really (emphasis on really) wanted me to put his 10,000-piece Lego project together for him in the 10 minutes we had before his Mom took him to school.  I was not pleased but I calmly explained that throwing a shoe in the kitchen could have shattered the coffee maker which was full of hot steaming coffee or it could have started a fire as I was making my wife some eggs on the stove.  SERENITY NOW!

My Market Watch:  Rates/pricing are slightly worse today than Friday…by about 0.125.  DISTINGUISH YOURSELF.  Why do I tell you about market updates?  Why do I explain economic reports and send market updates?  I do it because you need to distinguish yourself from all the other LOs out there that have no blanking idea what is going on in the marketplace.  I’m not suggesting you need to be an expert on market fluctuations, but if you have some basic understanding of the market, it gives you a distinct advantage when you are talking to potential and existing clients.  if you watch the market and you are aware of the direction of stocks and bonds, it gives you (1) something relevant to discuss with your client when they ask you if they should lock their rate in, (2) makes you sound like you are on top of what is going on in the marketplace, (3) helps you look good when you recommend locking or floating and it works out in your favor, and (4) distinguishes you from other LOs.  |||  This week we have two big reports…Jobless Claims on Thursday and the Jobs Report on Friday.  These reports can cause a swing in mortgage rates/pricing because they indicate the strength or weakness in the current economy.  Traders buy and sell stocks and bonds based on their perception of the economy’s strength (amongst other things).  If the reports come in indicating a strong economy, then traders will pull money out of bonds and invest in stocks instead.  When that happens rates/pricing worsens since bonds are being sold off.  On the other hand, if the reports indicate a weak economy, then traders will pull money out of the stock market and invest in less-risky bonds…since money is going into the bond market rates/pricing will improve.  Although this inverse relationship between stocks and bonds is not always true, it holds up most of the time and can usually be relied upon in trying to determine if lender’s prices will get better or worse.

Report = Strong Economy = Traders Buy Stocks = Sell Bonds = Rates Pricing Worsen
Report = Weak Economy   = Traders Sell Stocks  = Buy Bonds = Rates Pricing Improve

So, the next couple days should be relatively light in trading since everyone is keyed up for Thursday and Friday….     My Disclaimer

My Schedule:  Today I am driving my parents around and hitting the local Starbucks wherever I am.  I will be in Del Mar most of the day.

My Fun Stuff:   All My Fun Stuff

My Important Reminders:

• PURCHASE PRIORITY SENIOR UW TEAM.  Effective immediately, all purchases will be assigned to a Senior Underwriter team who will exclusively underwrite, condition, and clear conditions.  This is contrary to our normal queue-strategy for refinances using junior underwriters.  Interbank is doing this at the suggestion of the Account Executives who voiced their opinion that we need a more timely, consistent and predictable process for purchase transactions to give our clientele continued confidence to send them in.
• APPOINTMENTS.  I am setting up appointments for the next several weeks…please let me know if you’re interested in an office visit.  I will be sharing my insight on how to get new business in 2013 and what to prepare for as the year progresses….
• STILL WANTED.  We are looking for Senior Underwriters, Loan Coordinators, Junior UWs, Doc Specialists and Funders. Referrals are greatly appreciated.  Remote positions are available.

My Schedule…and A Little Extra: How many presents does a 5-year old need? He has received gifts from his grandparents on his Mom’s side, my parents, and last night my wife gave him a bunch of things from us. My two sisters and brother are sending presents and my brother-in-law and sister-in-law are sending a present. Moreover, tomorrow he has a birthday party at a putt-putt golf course and 15 kids will be bringing presents. For the love of all things holy in this land, this is nutballs. There’s that word again, nutballs, what is it about this word that I like so much? Oh well, out with the old and in with the new…charity is going to get a nice donation of old toys very soon. ||| I watched American Idol for the girls last night and I was blown away at 4 of their performances. There are 4 girls that are ridiculously good, and one of them is drop-dead gorgeous…the whole package. I don’t know any of their names yet, but it’s going to be a fun competition to watch….

My Market Watch: Being out yesterday I missed what was going on in the market…I wasn’t really paying attention. I did see some volatility as I went through emails. The market is flat at the moment, even with President Obama’s tirade. The sequester drama continues and it will be interesting to see how it affects the markets…. My Disclaimer

My Schedule: Today I am driving my parents around and hitting the local Starbucks wherever I am. I will be in Pacific Beach for sure as my father looks forward to going to his favorite breakfast place every year, Armando’s.

My Fun Stuff: All My Fun Stuff

My Important Reminders:

• PURCHASE PRIORITY SENIOR UW TEAM. Effective immediately, all purchases will be assigned to a Senior Underwriter team who will exclusively underwrite, condition, and clear conditions. This is contrary to our normal queue-strategy for refinances using junior underwriters. Interbank is doing this at the suggestion of the Account Executives who voiced their opinion that we need a more timely, consistent and predictable process for purchase transactions to give our clientele continued confidence to send them in.
• NEW FANNIE DEFINITION FOR RATE & TERM/CASHOUT:
  • The definition of a limited cash out loan has been amended. If you include the payment of real estate taxes in the loan amount, and you are not escrowing/impounding (meaning you are waiving impounds), then Fannie will consider the transaction cashout. HOWEVER, California does not allow a lender to require an escrow account, so, the rule does not apply in CA…how do you like them apples?! Beautiful, eh?! But if the real estate taxes are more than 60 days delinquent, then even in CA Fannie considers it a cashout transaction….kind of the exception to the exception.
  • None of this is applicable to a HARP/DU Refi Plus transaction.
  • So, to clarify the beautiful rule in California, we are not affected by this rule change, not even a tiny little bit, as long the payment of real estate taxes is not more than 60 days delinquent, got it?
• APPOINTMENTS. I am setting up appointments for the next several weeks…please let me know if you’re interested in an office visit. I will be sharing my insight on how to get new business in 2013 and what to prepare for as the year progresses….
• STILL WANTED. We are looking for Senior Underwriters, Loan Coordinators, Junior UWs, Doc Specialists and Funders. Referrals are greatly appreciated. Remote positions are available.
• GUIDELINE ENHANCEMENTS (from 2/8)
  • Condos to 90% LTV, OO (instead of only 80%) but if >80% then require 720 Fico
  • All NOO to 75% LTV (instead of only 70%) but if >70% then require 720 Fico