Housing Wire

APRIL 17, 2024

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) this week announced a new product proposal for government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) Freddie Mac that would allow the agency to purchase certain single-family, closed-end second mortgages. This would offer borrowers an alternative way to access their home equity without surrendering a first mortgage with a more favorable interest rate than is currently available.

Mortgage 529

Mortgage Government Design Finance 529

Appraisal Buzz

APRIL 17, 2024

This week on the Appraisal Buzzcast, host Hal Humphreys interviews Kelly Davids, President of The Appraisal Foundation. Davids discusses her background in the industry and how it led to her new role as president. What is her vision for the future of the industry? How can we all get involved with The Appraisal Foundation? What are some of the initiatives they are launching in the near future?

Appraisal 370

Appraisal Modernization Valuation Technology 370

Housing Wire

APRIL 17, 2024

Expect 2024 to be mildly better than 2023 with mortgage rates falling in the second half of the year, housing experts opined in their forecasts at the end of the year. Cuts to the Federal funds rate (and subsequently to mortgage rates) are imminent, traders enthused after December’s meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee in which committee members predicted three rate cuts in 2024.

Mortgage 493

Mortgage Brokerage Real Estate Tenants 493

Appraisal Buzz

APRIL 17, 2024

Single-family home prices increased 1.7% in the first quarter compared with the second quarter and were up 7.4% compared with the first quarter of 2023, according to Fannie Mae’s home price index report. The national, repeat-transaction home price index measures the average quarterly price change for all single-family properties in the U.S., excluding condos.

Housing Market 368

Housing Market Mortgage Appraisal Marketing 368

Housing Wire

APRIL 17, 2024

Nearly half (48%) of a $65 billion portfolio of loans processed during the first quarter of 2024 contained vulnerabilities to wire and title fraud , according to a report released Wednesday by FundingShield. The portfolio of loans examined included residential, commercial investor and business purpose loans. On loans that exhibited problems, the analysis found an average of 2.22 issues, which FundingShield says indicates a lack of appropriate controls by closing agents and lenders to identify an

Insurance 476

Insurance Agents Tools Legal 476

Appraisal Buzz

APRIL 17, 2024

Mortgage application volume increased 3.3% during the week ended April 12, driven mainly by a 5% increase is purchase applications, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey. Compared with the same week one year ago, applications for purchases were up 6%. Applications for refinances increased 0.5% compared with the previous week and were up 11% compared with the same week one year ago.

Mortgage 361

Mortgage Appraisal 361

Real Estate News

APRIL 17, 2024

Get answers to the big questions on everyone's mind: What will happen with inventory and mortgage rates — and will the NAR settlement impact the market?

Housing Market 290

Housing Market Marketing Inventory Mortgage 290

Housing Wire

APRIL 17, 2024

The spring home-buying season got off to a slow start in California , where sales of single-family homes declined from February to March, according to a report released Wednesday by the California Association of Realtors (CAR). The organization reported that the state’s seasonally adjusted annualized rate of sales fell by 7.8% during the month and by 4.4% year over year.

Insurance 459

Insurance Housing Market Realtors Inventory 459

Eyes on Housing

APRIL 17, 2024

According to the latest What Home Buyers Really Want Study*, the vast majority of home buyers are looking for a home with at least one home office (or space dedicated to work/study). More specifically, 66% would prefer to buy a home with exactly one home office, 13% want at least two offices, and 20% want.

Buyers 217

Buyers 217

Housing Wire

APRIL 17, 2024

JaroInspect JaroInspect is the mobile inspection tool in the Jaro suite of appraisal tools. JaroInspect is revolutionizing the industry as the first platform to enable direct field transmission of the 1004D. It is now introducing LIDAR floor plan technology to expedite the submission process. Product Fast Facts #1 JaroInspect enables direct field transmission of the 1004d, streamlining the submission process and facilitating automatic retrieval of vital report data from previous files. #2 The Ja

Inspection 459

Inspection Tools Technology Appraisal 459

Inman

APRIL 17, 2024

Fannie, Freddie and FHA say sellers can continue to pay the buyer's agent's commission. But it remains to be seen if buyers will be allowed to finance their agent's commission into their mortgage.

Mortgage 198

Mortgage Sellers Finance Agents 198

Housing Wire

APRIL 17, 2024

Real Estate Lead Generation 6 best places to buy real estate leads in 2024 Mar 18, 2024 By Megan DeMatteo, Meghan Thibault and Megan DeMatteo, Meghan Thibault We recommend the best places to buy real estate leads to give you a shortcut to the closing table. The 9 top real estate lead generation companies for 2024 Mar 18, 2024 By Megan DeMatteo, Meghan Thibault and Megan DeMatteo, Meghan Thibault SmartZip Review: Can data improve your prospecting game?

Real Estate 459

Real Estate Marketing Real Estate Agent Tools 459

George Dell

APRIL 17, 2024

Inferential statistics, at its core, is concerned with making inferences about a population based on a sample drawn from that population. It involves analyzing sample data to draw conclusions about the broader population because the broader population is either too large to analyze, unknown, or hypothetical. While invaluable in many scientific disciplines and research contexts, […] The post Is Inferential Statistics Relevant?

Valuation 195

Valuation 195

Housing Wire

APRIL 17, 2024

U.S. home prices grew by 0.9% from February to March, according to First American Data & Analytics ’ national house price index released Tuesday. This growth trajectory follows a revised upward figure of 1% price growth from January to February, and prices are now 52% higher than pre-pandemic levels of February 2020. “Persistent inflation has diminished any optimism that the Federal Reserve may start to cut rates in June, meaning mortgage rates seem more and more likely to remain ‘higher for

Sellers 459

Sellers Marketing Mortgage Housing Market 459

Inman

APRIL 17, 2024

The six-time No. 1 RE/MAX agent worldwide may deal with some of the loftiest stars, but he stays grounded in his work ethic and rarely deviates from a uniform of jeans and tennis shoes.

Agents 192

Agents 192

Housing Wire

APRIL 17, 2024

Tennessee-based multichannel mortgage lender First Community Mortgage announced on Wednesday that it has selected the Blue Sage Solutions digital lending platform and its LION Consumer POS to help scale its growth efforts across the 48 states it operates in. The move allows the lender to have “modernized its mortgage operational processes, boosted productivity and delivered an enhanced borrower experience for its customers,” the company said in a news release.

Business 448

Business Loan Officers Mortgage Lending 448

Inman

APRIL 17, 2024

Co-founder of The Agency's BZP Group and regular cast member on "Buying Beverly Hills" Joey Ben-Zvi writes that professionalism and respect are essential to leaving the right way.

Brokerage 188

Brokerage Agents 188

Housing Wire

APRIL 17, 2024

The latest findings from Relitix’s Agent Movement Index (AMI) for March 2024 reveal a nuanced landscape in the real estate sector, with shifts in agent activities suggesting stabilizing and evolving market conditions. Key highlights from this month’s AMI show that the decline in the number of active agents, those with a closing in the past year, has plateaued.

Real Estate Agent 448

Real Estate Agent Real Estate Agents Brokerage 448

Inman

APRIL 17, 2024

Rates for conforming loans pushed through 7 percent last week and continue to rise, as latest inflation data dims prospects that Fed will ease in June.

Mortgage 179

Mortgage Marketing 179

Housing Wire

APRIL 17, 2024

Capital Fundings , a Florida -based private mortgage lender, has partnered with real estate investment platform Privy , the companies announced on Tuesday. The collaboration will allow Capital Fundings’ borrowers to receive personalized investor insights. “Capital Fundings is thrilled to embark on this exciting journey with Privy,” Alex Bogumil, CEO of Capital Fundings, said in a statement.

Real Estate 448

Real Estate Renovations Investing Investors 448

Inman

APRIL 17, 2024

No matter what's going on in the industry at large, everyone has the opportunity to get better, faster and stronger at what they do every day, broker Joseph Santini writes. Here are 10 easy things to focus on now.

Real Estate Agent 177

Real Estate Agent Real Estate Agents 177

Housing Wire

APRIL 17, 2024

The U.S. Supreme Court has denied HomeServices of America’s request to hear its argument that the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals wrongly rejected arbitration agreements with unnamed class members in the Sitzer/Burnett commission lawsuit , according to a court docket entry on Monday. In a writ of certiorari filed in early February, HomeServices told the Supreme Court that each of its client contracts state that the “signatories can arbitrate any claim or dispute arising out of the contrac

Contracts 448

Contracts Brokerage Law Real Estate Agent 448

Inman

APRIL 17, 2024

Don't let your office, your team or your website be a barrier to someone with disabilities, Rachael Hite writes. Accessible design benefits everyone.

Business 173

Business Design Clients Agents 173

Housing Wire

APRIL 17, 2024

Market Intelligence Market Intelligence is a robust data visualization tool that combines the power of CoreLogic’s data assets with clear and actionable insights that give you a better understanding of the mortgage industry, allowing you to adapt to industry trends, improve LO recruitment and foster deeper relationships within the industry.

Marketing 448

Marketing Tools Mortgage 448

Inman

APRIL 17, 2024

Charles "Todd" Hill, 58, starred on "Flip It to Win It" in 2013. He has been ordered to pay $9.4 million in restitution for committing real estate fraud.

Real Estate 172

Real Estate Agents 172

Housing Wire

APRIL 17, 2024

Navigator Borrowers can view and compare the loan details of available loan options, combining all loan offers into one seamless experience.

Marketing 448

Marketing 448

Inman

APRIL 17, 2024

As commission lawsuits and subsequent settlements have unfolded, they've set the stage for misunderstanding, misinformation and many, many mistakes.

Brokerage 172

Brokerage Agents 172

Housing Wire

APRIL 17, 2024

Following the submission of a letter by Indiana Sen. Mike Braun (R) to Ginnie Mae President Alanna McCargo about concerns related to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM)-backed Securities (HMBS) program, McCargo’s predecessor, Ted Tozer, hopes the senator will dive deeper into the program’s mechanics and what led to the collapse of Reverse Mortgage Funding (RMF).

Mortgage 447

Mortgage Finance Buyers Business 447

Inman

APRIL 17, 2024

Rental price growth for single-family apartments surged 3.4 percent in February, with Boston, Seattle and New York City rising fastest among U.S. cities, according to CoreLogic data released Tuesday.

Marketing 168

Marketing 168

Housing Wire

APRIL 17, 2024

Boost Boost by Lone Wolf is the simple way to market your real estate business online. Whether you’re looking to build brand awareness, draw in more engagement for listings, or take your client experience to the next level through digital advertising, Boost is here to help agents and brokers alike. Product Fast Facts #1 Boost simplifies online advertising for real estate professionals with high-performing campaigns across various ad channels, comprehensive performance tracking, and advertising

Real Estate 443

Real Estate Advertising Technology Clients 443

Inman

APRIL 17, 2024

Seventy percent of Florida homeowners — or the area in which they live — have been impacted by changes to cost or coverage of home insurance in the last year, according to a report issued Wednesday by Redfin.

Insurance 160

Insurance Marketing 160

Eyes on Housing

APRIL 17, 2024

As economist Milton Friedman once quipped, monetary policy has a history of operating with “long and variable lags.”[1] What Friedman was expressing is that it takes some time for the true effects of monetary policy, like the changing of the federal funds rate, to permeate completely through the larger economy.

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148

Inman

APRIL 17, 2024

Clients think their agents bring a ton of value, and they're willing to pay for it, according to a survey of 3,000 employed U.S. residents conducted by Intel and Dig Insights. But many consumers embrace the idea of negotiating a lower commission — and perhaps exploring new models.

Clients 158

Clients Agents Brokerage Marketing 158

Advanced Appraisal

APRIL 17, 2024

We are located in the Mokena area but some of our prime service areas is the Lincoln-Way areas as a whole, from Frankfort to Manhattan, we are very active in Residential, Land and some Small Commercial to Industrial.

Real Estate 118

Real Estate 118