Colin Robertson

Not a terrible idea.

Yikes.

I feel like those are the only places addressing the weak consumer.

Places like Chilis, BJs, Roadhouse, etc. They're advertising deals to make lunch and dinner pencil.

Everywhere else, even fast food, is getting is wrong.

Be careful listening to RE agents, LOs, mortgage brokers, housing directors, and even Presidents tell you that the new-look Fed will lower mortgage rates soon.

It only works if the underlying economic data supports lower interest rates.

You can't just decide one day to lower mortgage rates.

Hung out with a friend yesterday who is looking to buy a home right now.

Said once Powell is out and Fed lowers rates to zero, mortgage rates will be ~3% again and home prices will go up 20% or more.

Wants to buy not one but multiple properties to ride this expected wave.

That's the million-dollar question. It could be a long road relatively sideways, though give our collective patience level these days, perhaps sooner than later.

VA Home Loan Program Reform Act Brings Back Partial Claim to Help Veterans Avoid Foreclosure - The Truth About Mortgage After the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase (VASP) program was abruptly wound down earlier this year, scores of veteran homeowners were left at risk of

Per the National Consumer Law Center, there were 75,000 veteran borrowers who had missed 3 or more payments on their VA-guaranteed mortgage as of April 1st.

More details here:

www.thetruthaboutmortgage.com/va-home-loan...

While it's a positive first step for VA loan holders, it's still a weaker solution than what's available for even FHA loan holders.

The FHA has a Payment Supplement option that brings loans current AND lowers future payments.

Perhaps more should be done to keep vets in their homes.

The VA Home Loan Program Reform Act restores the partial claim option for veterans facing foreclosure.

It allows delinquent borrowers to put past due payments at back of loan w/ zero interest.

But crucially, veteran homeowners still don't have an option to make future payments affordable.

Why Beyoncé and Jay-Z Took Out a Second Mortgage - The Truth About Mortgage When you hear the phrase “second mortgage,” a negative connotation likely comes to mind. Back in the day, the presence of an additional loan meant you had

Here’s why: www.thetruthaboutmortgage.com/why-beyonce-...

Despite having a ~$3B net worth, Jay-Z and Beyoncé took out a second mortgage on their Bel Air mansion, per DailyMail.

They now have a $57.75M mortgage (10-year ARM set at 5%), along with a $52.8M first mortgage set at 3.15%.

Rich people love mortgages. Yet the less rich love paying them off.

Over on X, Chamath Palihapitiya arguing "Bill Pulte would be an exceptional pick to run the Federal Reserve."

Says next Fed chair needs to be "someone who understands rates because of expertise in housing and mortgages."

Can't tell if this is serious or not.

Pretty impressive given some very rough years in the housing/mortgage market.

The CEO of home builder Dream Finders Homes and the CEO of Union Home Mortgage are reportedly buying the Tampa Bay Rays, per ESPN.

Would join Freedom Mortgage CEO who owns stake in Phillies, UWM CEO who owns Suns/Mercury, and his brother who is in line to be next owner of the Chicago White Sox.

In other words, we need more for-sale inventory to improve home buyer affordability, but as we get more inventory, prices naturally fall, and as such sellers become more reluctant to sell.

It's tricky right now.

There's an interesting catch-22 in today's housing market...

“Increasing inventory levels are helping to make homes more affordable, but prices are falling in an increasing number of markets and homes are taking longer to sell, which could make homeowners reluctant to list.” - ICE's Andy Walden.

Will Paying Rent on Time Really Make It Easier to Get a Mortgage? - The Truth About Mortgage You’ve heard the news. FHFA Director Bill Pulte has ordered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to begin accepting VantageScore credit scores immediately. The

More thoughts on the matter here:

www.thetruthaboutmortgage.com/will-paying-...

VantageScore claims it could enable up to $1T in high-quality mortgage loans being originated.

But that remains to be seen, and is a fairly lofty claim.

However, I am all for competition in the credit scoring space, which has long been dominated by just one company.

My guess is not very often.

And how much of a credit score boost do you think you actually get from on-time rent payments?

Is it enough to push an applicant into a higher credit score bucket? Or above 620 to get approved by Fannie and Freddie?

I keep seeing articles claim that paying rent will help you get a mortgage now.

This is b/c VantageScore has been pushed as an alternative to FICO.

But rent only factors into scores if reported by landlords or self-reported by tenants.

How often is that actually happening???

Robinhood Partners with Sage Home Loans to Offer Mortgage Rate Discounts to Gold Members - The Truth About Mortgage The popular trading platform Robinhood has teamed up with Sage Home Loans to offer big mortgage rate discounts to its Gold members. While Robinhood hasn't

More details about the new program here: www.thetruthaboutmortgage.com/robinhood-pa...

Robinhood has teamed up w/ Sage Home Loans to offer mortgage rate discounts to its Gold members.

We're talking a 0.75% rate discount (relative to the daily MND rate) & a $500 closing cost credit.

However, Robinhood Gold costs $5 per month (or $50 per year). And you still need to shop around.

Will Mortgage Rates Be Higher or Lower by the End of 2025? I Asked AI. - The Truth About Mortgage I was thinking about mortgage rates, as I often do, when I decided to pose a question to Grok, the LLM chatbot owned by xAI. So many folks debate which

Read more about this thought exercise here: www.thetruthaboutmortgage.com/will-mortgag...

I decided to pose a question to AI regarding mortgage rates.

Specifically, I asked the following: “Is there a higher likelihood of U.S. mortgage rates being higher or lower than current levels by December 31st, 2025?”

The answer: “A modest decline.”

How modest? Roughly 6.3% by year end.

Feel the same. Seems to be the threshold to get things going again.

Rocket Mortgage Completes Redfin Takeover, Offers $6,000 Home Buyer Credit - The Truth About Mortgage The Rocket Mortgage acquisition of Redfin is now complete. You might notice changes if you visit the Redfin website, or if you update the app on your

More details here: www.thetruthaboutmortgage.com/rocket-mortg...

Rocket has completed its takeover of Redfin and is now integrated into all mortgage-related aspects of the app/website.

Here's a first look at the new Rocket Preferred Pricing.

Customers who use Redfin & Rocket Mortgage get either a 1% rate buydown in year one or up to a $6k lender credit.

Mortgage rates have quietly inched down near their lowest levels of 2025.

Now even the most aggressive 2025 mortgage rate forecasts (think sub-6% by year-end) are on the table again.

And there are still six months left in the year to get there.

Top Mortgage Lenders in Georgia - The Truth About Mortgage It’s time to check out the top mortgage lenders in Georgia based on their 2024 home lending volume. These mortgage companies outranked about 960 other

More stats here: www.thetruthaboutmortgage.com/top-mortgage...

The nation's largest mortgage lender, UWM, was also #1 in the state of Georgia last year.

Total production of nearly $5 billion, followed by Rocket Mortgage with $4.4B and Ameris Bank with $2B.

Top home builder D.R. Horton's in-house lender DHI Mortgage also made the list.