Everybody needs milk, honey - Jim Porter, Solano Mortgage

Everybody needs milk, honey

By Jim Porter 08.04.23

Historically and traditionally, homeowners grow out of their starter home and move up to their forever home after five to 10 years.

Thousands of local homeowners were planning to move up from 2019 to 2023 but their plans changed with the pandemic and then the most remarkable refinance mania in American history allowed most of them to refinance below 3%, and now none of these folks seem to be moving up.

Today, 50% of all licensed loan officers in the country have not renewed their NMLS license this year and over 100,000 employees in the mortgage and related businesses have been laid off since April 2022. Many loan officers have left the business, and many of those that have stayed are taking on second jobs to hold them over till things return to normal.

When the going gets tough the tough get going and the weak quit, but in all fairness to the “weak” there are way too many loan officers. In 2021, more than 10,000 unique licensed loan officers funded at least one loan in Solano County where on average over the years, there are only 500 purchase money home loans per month.

This year, we have seen a couple of months where there were less than 300 home sales. I have decided to just blame the government for screwing up the mortgage and real estate business and do what top salespeople always do, work twice as hard and twice as smart as we did in 2021 for 75% less in income and just survive.

I always tell people that selling loans is a great profession because like good old-fashioned whole organic delicious milk, everybody needs money. While we wait for families to move up to larger homes, loan officers need to search and hustle for people that need money.

So, who needs money?

No. 1: The 300 buyers per month in the county.

No. 2: Divorce cases and marital settlement agreements.

No. 3: People that have a lot of home equity but also have a ton of credit cards and loans that need to be paid off.

No. 4: Homeowners that need new roofs and have other deferred maintenance problems

No. 5: People that want to keep their current residence and their 2.5% interest rate and buy a vacation home, or add an ADU in their back yard, or convert their home into a rental and move up to their dream home.

No. 6: Seniors that have a ton of home equity or even a home free and clear but are running out of IRAs and are living on a tight budget.

No. 7: Seniors that need to sell and move down to a one-story, low-maintenance retirement-type home.

No. 8: Beneficiaries of the dead. Sadly, people die. Some folks die and leave their real estate to people that need money to buy out fellow heirs or fix up the houses to sell or rent.

No. 9: People with huge amounts of real estate equity that have horrible credit scores and have been rejected for loans in the past.

Jim Porter, NMLS No. 276412, is the branch manager and senior loan adviser of Solano Mortgage, NMLS No. 1515497, a division of American Pacific Mortgage Corporation, NMLS No. 1850, licensed in California by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the CRMLA / Equal Housing Opportunity. Jim can be reached at 707-449-4777.