Thoughts about the "meltdown"

The mortgage business has been all over the news lately --- and all everyone hears is bad news. Well, the business is going through a transition, that's for sure, and things have gotten a little messy. Who ever thought it wouild ever be possible for people to find out at the the closing table that their previously cleared to close loan was not going to fund? Who ever thought mortgage insurance would start to become popular (and necessary) again? Who ever thought American Home Mortgage would go out of business?!? Man, oh, man. Not me, that's for sure. It's been incredible to witness all the changes going on over the past couple of months and to realize how *FAST* things can change. It's really been unbelievable.

But, you know what? Of course I'm sorry that there are some people who have been hurt in all this (mortgage employees losing their mortgage jobs; customers not qualifying for mortgages they thought they had), but in many ways I find myself saying "it's about time". The mortgage business had really gotten way too loose in terms of loan eligibility guidelines and there were way too many people in the business promoting loans that weren't right for the borrowers. This is a great opportunity to re-set and get our focus back.

Wall street investors are definitely overreacting and things are bound to settle down there. But, at the same time, our lenders ought to take this opportunity to think about whether they've been leaving themselves too vulnerable to Wall Street fickleness by overselling products that Wall Street may lose their appetite for overnight. And maybe those same lenders need to think about having a little more of their own money to keep things afloat in tough times.

Did you know that people are leaving the mortgage business in droves? That is fantastic news as far as I'm concerned. The industry was way too glutted with everyone and his brother opening up their own companies. This is a chance for those of us who are committed to the business and committed to doing right by our customers to shine. If there are fewer companies and fewer loan officers, that means more business for those of us who are planning to stick around.

Even though business is incredibly slow right now and I'm worried about keeping food on the table, I am still strangely excited about the coming year. It just seems like with all the troubles that have emerged lately it is a great opportunity to really take a hard look at how this business functions and to try to make it better. Speaking as an individual mortgage consultant, it's also a great time for me to dig down and work hard for my customers and look for ways to do it better.

Lenders have been dropping like flies, but there are still plenty out there. And there are plenty of customers. We just have to work hard to find them and to get them what they need, just like always.