March 31, 2006
Today’s Correspondent Rates
March 30, 2006
Dialing for Dollars - German Style
It looks as if I have finally found the solution to my telemarketing problems. Our local girls should be able to give those Indian call centers a run for their money and help clean up the industry’s image. Those Germans are so progressive, it blows my mind (no pon intended).
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
BERLIN (Reuters) - German prostitutes are signing up for a career change, training to become nurses to tend to the country’s aging population or working phones as tele-marketers.
Thirty prostitutes have enlisted in a church-funded project in the state of North-Rhine Westphalia and more are on a waiting list, project coordinator Gisela Zohren said.
“Competition in prostitution is fierce and the days when one could make a decent living out of it are long gone, especially once you hit the thirties,” Zohren said.
She said prostitutes’ fees had hit rock bottom and they were well suited to jobs on offer in the retraining program.
“After years of prostitution, they know how to listen, look after people and are savvy in selling over the phone,” she said.
Experts in the care industry for the aged also welcomed the initiative.
“We have more and more old and fewer and fewer young people, so there is a strong demand for people working in care professions,” said Franz Wagner, head of the German association of care professions.
March 29, 2006
Broker Mentality
Lately I have been wondering about the term “broker mentality”. Mainly because people give it a negative connotation and make it sound like a disease or mental illness. What exactly is this mentality? Compared to a “direct lender” what does a mortgage broker do that deserves a derogatory label? This is a puzzle I must solve.
As a broker I wake up in the morning, make my Espresso and drink it while watching Bloomberg News. I admit a lender may not drink Espresso or may watch Fox News instead. The rest of our days should be pretty similar though, except that unlike a direct lender, I don’t borrow money to fund my loans. That is the only difference between a broker and a lender. We both shop for the best rates to maximize our profits. We both have to adhere to our investors’ guidelines - wholesale lenders in my case and correspondent buyers in the lender’s case - and we both have to sell the top ten originators’ products (Wells Fargo, Countrywide, WAMU, etc.). How many true direct lenders are out there? Most of the loans are sold to the big originators who then securitize and sell the MBS on Wall Street. So how many direct lenders actually fund all the loans and keep them in their own portfolios? What am I missing here? Why brokers are considered an inferior species is a mystery for me.
I guess it is for the same reason that homeowners enjoy a higher social status than renters do and on the surface appear more stable or financially secure. We tend to respect those who purchase and own things and look down on people who rent or broker things; except when it comes to cars! For some strange reason people look up to those who lease expensive cars while looking down on people who own modest cars. Why is paying $800 per month to lease a $50,000 car cooler than owning a $15,000 car, free and clear? I drive an old Volvo that runs perfect and doesn’t miss a beat. Perhaps that is why some Realtors don’t return my calls. Or is it because I am a broker? Hell if I know.
I am beginning to regret trying to solve this puzzle. The more I think about it the more confused I get. Can anyone point me in the right direction?
