Perrysburg Blog

I love reading. (Off on a rabbit trail here, but I LOVE the free book catalog www.Librarything.com.  AMAZING.  Get yourself an account and put your own books in there . . . )

Books about history.  Books about business.  Books about science.  Even about birds.

The Dodo bird was friendly with humans – even fearless.  Dodo’s were known to man – one was even captured and brought alive to Europe.  Then they were dead.  Extinct.  In the 1600′s.   A testimony to man’s thoughtlessness for the wonderful creation we have been given.

But I digress.   Because just as quickly, just as suddenly, and with just as little fanfare – the local mortgage broker has become endangered and now almost extinct.

Where there was once 20+ mortgage brokerages in Toledo, there is now only 1 or 2 that I can find.

90% extinct.

In 2 years.

(N.B. A mortgage BROKERAGE is different from a mortgage BANKER and both are different from a full service BANK that makes mortgages.   I am only writing about mortgage brokers)

Where did they go?  Why are they gone?  What does this mean?

First of all I don’t know.  Some went into other businesses.  Some joined banks to sell mortgage products.  Some vanished -  POOF -  no forwarding address.

Why?  The great loan fiasco / mortgage crisis has caused their extermination.   Making Liar Loans, No-Doc Loans, Alt-A loans, and what I call “Pre Foreclosure” Loans and then selling them to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was great sport.  Until the music stopped and the light got turned on and the party was over.

What does this mean?  No one knows yet.   Most likely a little less competition for consumers.  Hopefully higher quality loans that will not be in danger of failure/foreclosure in the future.

The closing of mortgage broker is not a Toledo phenomenon.  All over America the lights have been turned off at hundreds of these firms.   The pipelines they filled are empty and now torn up.  The giant industry they built has crashed.

And hardly anyone noticed.  Just like the Dodo Bird.