Irv from New York asks: I have been studying the mortgage business for some time now, as I intend to make a career change in the near future. I am excited by the idea of helping people to purchase or refinance their homes while making a decent living for myself. I would be more interested in running my own loan business than I would be in working for someone else. One of my major concerns is how to become qualified with lenders so that I can sell their products. Do you have any advice in this regard? Thank you very much.

We remain in an environment where even slight changes in interest rates–in either direction–can have an outsized impact on the number of refinance candidates.

Kathy Kraninger, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, recently sent a letter to Congress outlining the Bureau’s plan for a revised Qualified Mortgage (QM) Standard.