Housing Wire

MARCH 20, 2025

Lessons from California wildfires and other natural disasters Californias wildfires highlighted the chaos that natural disasters continue to unleash not just on homeowners, but also on the mortgage servicers tasked with supporting them and the insurance industry that covers the cost of rebuilding.

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Housing Wire

JUNE 11, 2021

What’s the difference between a home inspection and an appraisal? Before you get overwhelmed, take comfort that critical milestones of home inspection, appraisal and closing processes are all great ways to get more acquainted with your prospective new home. Home Inspection. Have you budgeted for closing costs?

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Appraisal Buzz

APRIL 7, 2025

Insurance costs are significantly lower compared to coastal areas, leading to more manageable HOA fees and monthly payments for condo owners. Insurance is much cheaper inland than on the coast, which leads to lower HOA fees and more affordable monthly payments for condo owners, said Christopher Maggart, a Redfin Sales Manager in Orlando.

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Housing Wire

APRIL 15, 2025

To combat the trend, the FBI is partnering with real estate agents, title companies, county registries and insurance providers. Physically inspect vacant properties or have someone do so periodically. Some counties offer title alert systems. Set up Google alerts for your name and property address to catch unauthorized listings.

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Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 28, 2025

With less competition, some buyers are backing out during the inspection period, hoping for a better deal. Florida is experiencing a slowdown as the state faces rising home insurance costs, HOA fees, and increasing risks from natural disasters. Many are opting to wait out market instability before committing to a purchase. Houston 17.8%

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Housing Wire

MAY 2, 2021

To help mitigate these pain points, Incenter Appraisal Management is offering remote BPO and remote inspection capabilities paired with AVMs. Incenter’s Remote BPO and remote Inspections don’t require homeowners to download mobile applications and take pictures on their own. Mark Walser, President of Appraisal Management.

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Appraisal Buzz

JANUARY 9, 2025

HUDs rule will reduce administrative burden by aligning utility allowances with other HUD programs, reducing duplicative inspections by accepting NSPIRE performed for other funding sources, reducing administrative burden of performing income determinations by accepting determinations performed for other funding sources.

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 4, 2024

In writing both offers, Angela and I made sure to fully disclose how I was expecting her to get paid , as well as all of my requests, including a home inspection contingency clause. I grew up in an 1850s farmhouse and was not going to skip an inspection or an appraisal contingency.

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Housing Wire

JANUARY 10, 2022

HousingWire recently spoke with Tom Kriby, Vice President of Client Development and Partnerships at Westwood Insurance, about how insurance issues can hold up a home closing and how lenders can integrate insurance into their process to help their homebuyers avoid delays. HW: How can lenders help homebuyers avoid closing delays?

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Appraisal Buzz

APRIL 9, 2025

This solution became essential for post-disaster inspections during hurricane season. Using mobile video streaming, Valligents virtual inspection team guides property contacts through the process, completing 1004D orders in hours. Virtual inspections cost less than half of the onsite alternatives and accelerate loan closings.

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Appraisal Buzz

MARCH 25, 2025

Many homeowners kept their homes off the market because they were worried values would diminish, and some house hunters canceled contracts because they were nervous about insurance costs and potential future fires. Most people want to stay away from the hillsides post-wildfires; theyre looking in flat residential communities.

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Housing Wire

JANUARY 15, 2021

Porch, led by CEO Matt Ehrlichman, acquired home insurance company Homeowners of America , mover marketing and data firm V12 , home inspection company Palm-Tech and roofing contractor software company iRoofing. The big acquisition is for Homeowners of America, an insurance company that operates in six states and is licensed in 31 more.

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Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 3, 2025

Cooper Group mrcoopergroup.com/ Servicing Coppell, TX Mortgage Machine Services, Inc. Cooper Group mrcoopergroup.com/ Servicing Coppell, TX Mortgage Machine Services, Inc. Cooper Group mrcoopergroup.com/ Servicing Coppell, TX Mortgage Machine Services, Inc. Cooper Group mrcoopergroup.com/ Servicing Coppell, TX Mortgage Machine Services, Inc.

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Housing Wire

MAY 20, 2024

Property eligibility, HECM for Purchase In a section about property eligibility, HUD has added new language stating that if a “property has a water source that includes a mechanical chlorinator or is served by springs, lakes, rivers, or sand-point or artesian wells, the property is not eligible for FHA mortgage insurance.”

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Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 26, 2024

The cost of homeowners insurance has surged in Florida as insurance companies have grappled with significant losses due to an increase in natural disasters. And homeowners insurance costs are three times higher in Florida than the national average.

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Appraisal Buzz

APRIL 8, 2025

The platform supports mortgage lenders, servicers, and investors with solutions such as PCR+AVM for home equity and portfolio lending, Uniform Property Data (UPD) for first mortgage valuations, and disaster inspections to assess property conditions in FEMA-declared disaster areas.

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Appraisal Buzz

OCTOBER 1, 2024

Last year, National General Lender Services published an article highlighting that secondary perils, such as severe convective storms, wildfires, and river floods, are significantly impacting the insurance industry. Coupled with reforms in the state’s insurance code, the Florida insurance market is moving toward a more stable foundation.

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Appraisal Hub

DECEMBER 11, 2024

Thats why understanding home inspections and home appraisals is your first step to making a smart investment. Home Inspections: The Detective Work Think of a home inspection as your personal property detective. A home inspection helps you avoid that nightmare. These two processes are often misunderstood.

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Housing Wire

APRIL 24, 2024

Examinations conducted by the bureau found mortgage servicers levied charges it deems “illegal,” including prohibited property inspection fees, the issuance of “deceptive” notices to borrowers, and violations of loss-mitigation rules. The agency also asserted that deadlines to pay property taxes and homeowners insurance were impacted.

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Housing Wire

JUNE 26, 2024

Not surprisingly, the state also has the highest average cost for homeowners insurance , and that cost is rising. That’s a lot of opportunity for property damage, and one reason homeowners insurance in Florida has gotten out of control. And insurance has more to cover than ever in some Florida counties.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 24, 2020

Porch, a home services marketplace with partners in insurance, utilities, home inspection and moving, plans to use the cash to pursue acquisitions to seize the opportunity in real estate. They’ll also focus on the home insurance industry. “As a company, we were able to find our way, which is certainly hard to do.

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 27, 2023

Veev’s business model is innovative: it provides pre-inspected, fully cladded walls directly to homebuilders , ready for installation. Investors featured leading Israeli institutional investors, such as Migdal Insurance , Psagot Investment House , More Investment House , and Shavit Capital.

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Housing Wire

JULY 23, 2024

“Buyers often back out during the inspection period because they find something they don’t like, but affordability is really the underlying issue.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 11, 2024

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) on Wednesday published a final rule in the Federal Register, establishing a permanent program to sell seriously delinquent, FHA-insured single-family mortgages following the release of a proposal over the summer. The rule goes into effect on Jan. 10, 2025.

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Housing Wire

MAY 16, 2024

The new feature harnesses the capabilities of multimodal artificial intelligence to instantly analyze and summarize complex property documents, including inspection reports, appraisals and seller disclosures. Proptech firm RealReports unveiled a new feature for its AI-powered assistant, Aiden, the company announced on Thursday.

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Housing Wire

JULY 18, 2024

Closing tasks such as appraisal , inspection, title insurance and homeowners insurance are done remotely. .” Foreign investors can purchase or refinance property through Waltz for a loan-to-value ratio of up to 70%. Buyers can also use Waltz to connect with a property manager or tax adviser.

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Housing Wire

MARCH 8, 2023

These include excessive late fees and fees for unnecessary property inspections. The CFPB also described its findings related to unnecessary property inspection fees, stating that mortgage servicers charged consumers between $10 and $50 “for every property inspection visit to addresses that were known to be incorrect.

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Housing Wire

OCTOBER 28, 2021

With the most recent acquisition of Floify, Porch will expand “its early access to high-intent homebuyers who need key services including insurance, warranty and moving services,” the company said in a statement.

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Appraisal Buzz

MAY 6, 2024

Does the cost of homeowners insurance affect the price of a home? In recent years, insurance companies have pulled out of some markets altogether after sustaining massive losses due to wildfires, flooding, and other climate-related disasters. In some markets, the answer is increasingly yes.

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Appraisal Buzz

AUGUST 23, 2024

As a result, Florida on May 26, 2022 signed into law Senate Bill 4-D, which requires structural inspections for condos and additional money to be set aside for repairs. Skyrocketing insurance costs: Florida is the epicenter of the housing insurance crisis. Condo fees are skyrocketing due to increased insurance costs.

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Housing Wire

MAY 9, 2022

HousingWire recently spoke with Westwood Insurance Agency’s Tom Kriby about how insurance issues can hold up a home closing and how lenders can integrate insurance into their process to help their homebuyers avoid delays. Presented by: Westwood Insurance Agency. How to avoid home closing delays in 2022.

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Housing Wire

MAY 6, 2024

In particular, HUD Form 92900–C is designed to “collect loan-level data that is needed for insuring purposes and not found on Fannie Mae form 1003,” according to the original announcement. HUD also plans to replace its use of some internal forms, including one used in conjunction with U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) loans.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 1, 2021

eMerge, a company that offers alternative valuation solutions, including broker price opinions (BPOs), will allow Accurate Group to increase its broker network and leverage property inspection technology, the company said. This is the second acquisition for Accurate this year.

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Housing Wire

JULY 12, 2022

Luke Tomaszewski, an appraiser doing home inspections in the aftermath of the housing bust, was traveling as much as an hour across Chicago just to snap exterior photos of bank-owned properties. At $50 to $100 per inspection, according to ProxyPics, it’s certainly less expensive than sending an appraiser.

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Housing Wire

MARCH 1, 2023

And yes, this certainly has had an impact on insurance companies from coast to coast, as we’ve seen insurers retreat en masse from states such as California , Florida , and Texas , which have all seen record losses in recent years from wildfires, earthquakes, hurricanes, severe winter storms, sinkholes, and more.

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Miller Samuel

NOVEMBER 30, 2018

Those are "PiW" loans or have a "Property Inspection Waiver." Liability insurers are already talking about a new target when things go south. of the actual value 50% of the time) and "hybrid appraisers" (which removes the appraiser from the actual inspection of properties) to develop a value opinion.

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 30, 2023

The 203(k) Rehabilitation Mortgage Insurance Program helps borrowers purchase a home or refinance an existing mortgage and includes the cost of repairs or rehabilitation into one new mortgage. Changes also include increases to the maximum amount for other allowable fees, including for draw inspection, which is $375.

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