What in blazes?! The Choco Taco has met its demise?! Food is something we all have in common. Last week’s, “Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad,” prompted Henry Salomon to send, “And philosophy is wondering whether ketchup is a smoothie.” Excellent philosophical question. Even though The Western Secondary here in Orange County is about capital markets, the philosophy of signing bonuses in our industry is a topic, which reminded me of the piece by STRATMOR’s Jim Cameron about paying, or not paying, them. “The key is for lenders to focus on expected volumes, do the math and stay disciplined. Importantly, the focus should always be on recruiting salespeople who fit your culture.” Some of the talk here in Orange County is about the sale of mortgage servicing rights, or MSRs. Seems like the market, while not going down in value, has grown a little tired. Multiples reached some levels above 5:1 (for “vanilla” 25 basis point servicing) are now firmly in the 4.5-5:1 multiple range. Not terrible, but one can sense either a) an eye on the possibility of rates dropping some, or b) the usual buyers from the last few years becoming satiated. (Today’s podcast is available here and this week’s is sponsored by Candor. With Candor’s Machine as an Underwriter, lenders modernize their manufacturing infrastructure making them immune to margin, capacity, and staffing challenges forever.) Lender and Broker Software and Services
Source: Mortgage News Daily
