Securosis

Menu

Research

Incite 5/2/2012: Refi Madness

Mike Rothman May 2, 2012 No Comments

It all started with an innocent call from my mortgage broker. He started with, “What if I could shave 75 basis points off your note, with no cost to you?” As you might have noticed, I’m a skeptical type of fellow. I asked, “What’s the catch?” He laughed and said, “No catch, I can get you from 4.25% to 3.5% and I’ll pay the costs.” I responded again, “There must be a catch. What am I missing?” He maked some wise remark about Groundhog Day and then told me there really is no catch. I can save a couple hundred bucks a month I’m currently paying the bank. Done. But you see, there was a catch. There is always a catch. The catch this time was having to once again bear witness to the idiocy that is the mortgage process (in the US anyway). So I gather together all the financial information. My broker asks if he needs to send a courier over to pick up the stuff. Nope, an encrypted zip file he can download from Dropbox suffices. That was a lot easier, so maybe it won’t be a total clusterf*** this time. Yeah, I was being too optimistic. I knew things were off the rails last Tuesday when I got copied on an email to my home insurance broker needing a quick verification of the policy ahead of a Friday closing. Uh, what? What Friday closing? Is there a Friday closing? Shouldn’t they have shared that information with me, since I’m pretty sure I have to be there? So we schedule the closing for Friday. About midway through Thursday I get a call asking about a credit inquiry from the idiots who do our merchant account for Securosis. Why they inquired about my personal credit is beyond me, but I had to take some time to fill out their stupid form, explaining that the world consists mostly of idiots and those idiots’ checklists, run personal credit reports for business accounts. Did I mention how much I like checklists? Then I got a call Friday morning. Yes, the day we were supposed to close the note. They need to verify the Boss’s employment. But the Boss works for my company and I’m the managing member and sole officer of my company. They say that’s no good and they need to verify with someone who is not a party to the loan. I respond that there are no officers who aren’t a party to the loan. I figure they understand that and we’re done. Then Rich calls me wondering why he keeps getting calls from a bank trying to verify the Boss’s employment. Argh. I call the bank and explain that the Boss doesn’t work for Securosis and that she works for a separate company (that happens to own a minority share of Securosis). Idiots. At this point, I still haven’t received the settlement statement from the bank. Then I get a call from the closing attorney wondering if I could meet them at a Starbuck’s for the closing Friday night. Sure, but they’ll have to send a babysitter to my house to watch my kids. They didn’t think that was funny. So the lawyer agrees to come to my house to close the note. We go through all the paperwork. I verify that I’m neither committing mortgage fraud nor a terrorist. And yes, I really had to sign papers attesting to both. The lawyer (who does about 15-20 closings a week) can’t recall anyone actually admitting to committing mortgage fraud or being a terrorist, but we sign the documents anyway. And then we are done. Or so we thought. I figured it’s 2012 so I should just wire the money, rather than writing a check to cover the prepaid items like escrow, etc. So I dutifully wake up early Monday morning (in NYC) and log into my bank website to transfer the money. Of course, the web app craps out, I’m locked out of the wire transfer function, and the Boss needs to drop whatever she is doing and head over the bank to wire the money. Yes, that was a pleasant conversation. If getting kicked in the nuts 10 times is your idea of pleasant. But all’s well that ends well. We closed the note and we’ll save a crapload of money over the next 10 years. But man, the process is a mess. These folks give a new meaning to just in time. For those of you looking for someone to manage incidents or fill another role that require an unflappable perspective, maybe check out some of these loan processors. They’d laugh at having to only coordinate legal, forensics, law enforcement, and the ops folks. That would be a day in the park for those folks. Seriously. -Mike Photo credits: “rEEFER mADNESS” originally uploaded by rexdownham Heavy Research We’re back at work on a variety of our blog series, so here is a list of the research currently underway. Remember you can get our Heavy Feed via RSS, where you can access all our content in its unabridged glory. Vulnerability Management Evolution Enterprise Features and Integration Evolution or Revolution? Watching the Watchers (Privileged User Management) Clouds Rolling In Integration Understanding and Selecting DSP Use Cases Incite 4 U Human context: Great summary by LonerVamp on some of our very own Myrcurial’s thoughts at this year’s Schmoocon. There is a lot of stuff in there and I agree with most of it. But the idea that resonated most was “knowledge of analysts vs. knowledge of tools,” as I had that very conversation with 15 Fortune-class CISOs this week. And there was no contest. These folks have budget for tools, they have budget for people, and they are still losing the battle. They can’t find the right people. The right folks understand how the data applies to their environment. They have context, which tools just can’t provide. No matter what a vendor tells you. – MR State of fear:

Share:
Read Post
dinosaur-sidebar

Research

view all

Sign Up for Our Newsletter

Totally Transparent Research is the embodiment of how we work at Securosis. It’s our core operating philosophy, our research policy, and a specific process. We initially developed it to help maintain objectivity while producing licensed research, but its benefits extend to all aspects of our business.

Going beyond Open Source Research, and a far cry from the traditional syndicated research model, we think it’s the best way to produce independent, objective, quality research.

Here’s how it works:

  • Content is developed ‘live’ on the blog. Primary research is generally released in pieces, as a series of posts, so we can digest and integrate feedback, making the end results much stronger than traditional “ivory tower” research.
  • Comments are enabled for posts. All comments are kept except for spam, personal insults of a clearly inflammatory nature, and completely off-topic content that distracts from the discussion. We welcome comments critical of the work, even if somewhat insulting to the authors. Really.
  • Anyone can comment, and no registration is required. Vendors or consultants with a relevant product or offering must properly identify themselves. While their comments won’t be deleted, the writer/moderator will “call out”, identify, and possibly ridicule vendors who fail to do so.
  • Vendors considering licensing the content are welcome to provide feedback, but it must be posted in the comments - just like everyone else. There is no back channel influence on the research findings or posts.
    Analysts must reply to comments and defend the research position, or agree to modify the content.
  • At the end of the post series, the analyst compiles the posts into a paper, presentation, or other delivery vehicle. Public comments/input factors into the research, where appropriate.
  • If the research is distributed as a paper, significant commenters/contributors are acknowledged in the opening of the report. If they did not post their real names, handles used for comments are listed. Commenters do not retain any rights to the report, but their contributions will be recognized.
  • All primary research will be released under a Creative Commons license. The current license is Non-Commercial, Attribution. The analyst, at their discretion, may add a Derivative Works or Share Alike condition.
  • Securosis primary research does not discuss specific vendors or specific products/offerings, unless used to provide context, contrast or to make a point (which is very very rare).
    Although quotes from published primary research (and published primary research only) may be used in press releases, said quotes may never mention a specific vendor, even if the vendor is mentioned in the source report. Securosis must approve any quote to appear in any vendor marketing collateral.
  • Final primary research will be posted on the blog with open comments.
  • Research will be updated periodically to reflect market realities, based on the discretion of the primary analyst. Updated research will be dated and given a version number.
    For research that cannot be developed using this model, such as complex principles or models that are unsuited for a series of blog posts, the content will be chunked up and posted at or before release of the paper to solicit public feedback, and provide an open venue for comments and criticisms.
  • In rare cases Securosis may write papers outside of the primary research agenda, but only if the end result can be non-biased and valuable to the user community to supplement industry-wide efforts or advances. A “Radically Transparent Research” process will be followed in developing these papers, where absolutely all materials are public at all stages of development, including communications (email, call notes).
    Only the free primary research released on our site can be licensed. We will not accept licensing fees on research we charge users to access.
  • All licensed research will be clearly labeled with the licensees. No licensed research will be released without indicating the sources of licensing fees. Again, there will be no back channel influence. We’re open and transparent about our revenue sources.

In essence, we develop all of our research out in the open, and not only seek public comments, but keep those comments indefinitely as a record of the research creation process. If you believe we are biased or not doing our homework, you can call us out on it and it will be there in the record. Our philosophy involves cracking open the research process, and using our readers to eliminate bias and enhance the quality of the work.

On the back end, here’s how we handle this approach with licensees:

  • Licensees may propose paper topics. The topic may be accepted if it is consistent with the Securosis research agenda and goals, but only if it can be covered without bias and will be valuable to the end user community.
  • Analysts produce research according to their own research agendas, and may offer licensing under the same objectivity requirements.
  • The potential licensee will be provided an outline of our research positions and the potential research product so they can determine if it is likely to meet their objectives.
  • Once the licensee agrees, development of the primary research content begins, following the Totally Transparent Research process as outlined above. At this point, there is no money exchanged.
  • Upon completion of the paper, the licensee will receive a release candidate to determine whether the final result still meets their needs.
  • If the content does not meet their needs, the licensee is not required to pay, and the research will be released without licensing or with alternate licensees.
  • Licensees may host and reuse the content for the length of the license (typically one year). This includes placing the content behind a registration process, posting on white paper networks, or translation into other languages. The research will always be hosted at Securosis for free without registration.

Here is the language we currently place in our research project agreements:

“Content will be created independently of LICENSEE with no obligations for payment. Once content is complete, LICENSEE will have a 3 day review period to determine if the content meets corporate objectives. If the content is unsuitable, LICENSEE will not be obligated for any payment and Securosis is free to distribute the whitepaper without branding or with alternate licensees, and will not complete any associated webcasts for the declining LICENSEE. Content licensing, webcasts and payment are contingent on the content being acceptable to LICENSEE. This maintains objectivity while limiting the risk to LICENSEE. Securosis maintains all rights to the content and to include Securosis branding in addition to any licensee branding.”

Even this process itself is open to criticism. If you have questions or comments, you can email us or comment on the blog.