Broker Packages Are Fun! Right? You won’t hear this from Ethos, “All we need is a hair follicle along with a blood and urine sample, okay?”
Nothing is more pleasurable than getting a call from an AE and hearing, “Hey, want to fill out my broker package?!” After all, completing a broker package is fun, right? According to every single broker I have ever worked for my entire career, the answer to that question is a resounding”NOOOOOOOO!”
Maybe that’s because it takes forever or maybe it’s because the paperwork is such a pain in the you know what. And then, after you finally complete it and send what you think is everything to the lender, they almost always come back to you needing more. In fact, it’s such a pain that one company emerged (get it?) whose sole purpose is to streamline the process. But from what I hear that’s not a well-accepted nor entirely desirable process either.
I actually pitched to a couple of lenders that we should streamline the process ourselves. I told them that as long as the broker has recently been approved or re-certified at a few other large and well established institutions, whom we know perform all kinds of checks and balances during their approval process, that we should be able to simply get a Broker Agreement, run a background check and forego all the other minutia. But that argument has never been accepted or even given more than a fleeting thought, presumably because the warehouse lenders and other investors would never agree to it.
So what if I told you that completing Ethos’ broker package was fun? Would you believe me? No, I didn’t think so. But what if I told you it would take just 20 minutes or so online including electronic signatures. No, really? What would you say?
Price, Technology & Unique Products
Why I Chose Ethos Lending
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My consolation prize? The Minnesota Vikings crushed the San Diego Chargers. Now you’d think that living in San Diego for 15 years would turn me into a Chargers fan, and you’d be right. Unless they’re playing the Vikings. In that case I hope for the Vikings to humiliate them on the field and turn those 300+ football players into crying babies. Mission accomplished. That’s all I have to say about that.
The big news will be next week’s Jobs Report. After a fantastic week for bonds with rates dipping to lows not seen in 5 months, next week’s report will likely have a significant impact on pricing. A strong Jobs Report, which will tell traders the economy is stronger than expected, would spur investments into stocks. The result would likely be a sell-off of bonds and forcing rates/pricing worse. However, a weak Jobs Report, which will tell traders the economy is weaker than expected, would spur investments into safer bonds instead of stocks. The result would be improved rates/pricing. I’m really throwing some positive energy towards the latter scenario…if it happens bonds could really push much higher greatly improving pricing. More on this next week…
Blood Moon Up – Inflation Down – Bonds Up. For the first time in 33-years, a blood moon appeared the other night. What I imagined was how our ancestors thought about it. Even today it gives a sectarian feeling, theological, supernatural, or at a minimum, a general spiritual feeling. At the fear of sounding completely sappy, I found it inspiring.A “Blood Moon” happens when the Earth eclipses a full Moon, that is the direct sunlight is blocked. But the sun’s rays still light up the moon. Because this light has traveled through the Earth’s atmosphere, it causes reddish or brownish image. Depending on what time at night you witnessed it, the alluring image changed…each incredible…each inspiring. Here are some photos from the other night: 
You see, bonds hate inflation so when there is none, bonds appear attractive. Traders got that message and started investing in bonds and when that happens our rates/pricing improve – that is the direct correlation between bonds and our rates.
Yogi Berra Yogisms. My father-in-law is a baseball freak…you know, the kind of freak that knows who played third base for the Yankees in 1967. Me, I can’t even remember Fannie Mae waiting period for a high-balance foreclosure (that’s why I write stuff down). Yogi was one of his favorites, and for good reason. Yogi had unconventional wisdom – something I admire greatly. Here are some of my favorite quotes:
My Chest Exploded! He went 3 for 4, had 2 RBIs, scored 3 runs, made some good stops in the field and was awarded the game ball by his coach. I could work out every day doing bench presses and push-ups and my chest would never get larger than it was at my son’s baseball game Friday night.
Scorpions! I became aware there was a scorpion in my son’s room when my wife SCREAMED at the top of her lungs. The blood-curdling scream was so intense I almost bypassed using the door to break through the wall. It was crawling on her leg…thank goodness she didn’t swat at it or she would have been stung for sure. Yep, I live near the mountains in scorpion land and yep, we’ve had our fair share of scorpions in and around our house. They’re nasty little creatures that hurt worse than a bee sting and can actually mess you up if the right one gets you.
TRID can also mess you up if you don’t know what to do. And from what I understand many lenders are taking many different approaches to handling the change…surprising eh? But in my opinion, Ethos’ process for TRID is the easiest and best method for you, the Broker.
Price, Technology and Unique Products. Ethos has a simple strategy…Price, Technology and Unique Products. Not included in this strategy is every loan program under the stars or just loan programs that offer the highest margins. Instead, we focus on offering the essential mainstream products at an extremely aggressive price, coupled with uncommon products, like Interest Only. In order to offer such a competitive price, the technology has to be proprietary and superior in order to drive efficiency.
Phil Grossfield's Blog 