HousingWire recently spoke with Verse founder and CEO David Tal about the lead conversion gap and how Verse is helping lenders engage and nurture leads. HousingWire: What’s causing the gap between sales and marketing? David Tal: The massive gap between
How to Calculate Net Operating Income
You can calculate net operating income (NOI) for your real estate investment by using the generally accepted net operating income formula, which is your potential rental income plus any additional property-related income minus vacancy losses minus total operating expenses. Keep
People movers: Opendoor, Incenter, LRES
Kicking off people movers for the week, Opendoor announced it hired a new chief investment officer, naming Daniel Morillo to lead the iBuyer’s pricing and data science efforts. As chief investment officer, Morillo will oversee the strategy and development of
Hours before its IPO fizzled, Guild Mortgage agreed to pay $25M to settle federal lawsuit
Just before its stock debuted at a disappointing $15 a share, Guild Mortgage settled a federal lawsuit that claimed the lender knowingly breached legal requirements when it originated and underwrote FHA loans. Guild agreed to settle the federal lawsuit, brought
Confessions of a #1
Securing the #1 spot as a top performer may not be easy, but it’s possible. Success isn’t necessarily something that just happens to you. It’s actually, quite the contrary. When you get the opportunity to learn the ropes from others
The housing bubble boys blew it in 2020
The NAR existing home sales report released today blew out all estimates with 6,540,000 in existing home sales. This epic headline punctured any 2020 bubbles the housing bubble boys had left in their arsenal. But before we get too excited,
Docutech purchase drives First American information revenue up 38%
Earlier this year, First American made its latest move toward a fully digital mortgage with its purchase of mortgage tech firm Docutech. Now, that purchase is driving up the company’s revenues. The company rebranded to First American Docutech in September
Stewart Title acquires valuation services company Pro Teck
Stewart Appraisal Management, a subsidiary of Stewart Information Services Corp., announced on Thursday it acquired valuation services company Pro Teck Valuation Intelligence. Stewart is looking to strengthen and expand its scale in the appraisal and valuation solutions space. With more
Existing home sales surge 9.4% in September
Sales of existing homes took off in September, jumping 9.4% from August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.54 million, the National Association of Realtors said in a report on Thursday. Compared to a year ago, sales are up 20.9%. “Home
Dallas Real Estate Market Overview & Forecast
The Dallas housing market has recovered from the impact of the pandemic. Before this ongoing crisis, Dallas was a balanced real estate market. It was doing pretty well. But in May, residential sales in Dallas County had fallen 35 percent
The number of seriously delinquent mortgages falls for the first time since the pandemic hit
The number of seriously delinquent mortgages fell by 43,000 in September – the first drop in mortgages 90-days past due since the beginning of the pandemic, Black Knight said in a report on Thursday. According to the report, more than
Mortgage rates hit another record low this week
The average U.S. mortgage rate for a 30-year fixed loan fell to 2.8% this week, another record low, Freddie Mac said in a report on Thursday. The rate fell one basis points from the week prior and is now six basis points
What MBA’s forecast means for mortgage originators
The MBA’s economic research team of Dr. Michael Fratantoni and his staff made national news at the MBA’s annual virtual convention, releasing a projection for 2020 of $3.18 trillion, the second-largest origination year in U.S. history next to 2003. It’s
Uniformity will be critical to RON adoption
As the mortgage industry moves toward increasing adoption of remote online notarization, a panel of experts at the Mortgage Bankers Association Annual conference said uniformity will be key. Speaking at the session titled “Strategy & Technology Track: COVID Hit. Social
In a bid for stability, FHFA and FHA extend forbearance policies
Major forbearance policy changes have been set into motion. The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced on Tuesday an extension allowing single-family homeowners with Federal Housing Administration-insured mortgages to request an initial forbearance through Dec 31, 2020. Homeowners with
The housing market faced uncertainty in March, but now ‘it’s a circus’
The housing market faced a lot of uncertainty when COVID-19 caused the real estate industry to pause under shut-downs, but low interest rates and the desire for more space has turned this year into a boom time for real estate
The CFPB missed a chance to fix the QM rule
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau appears to have lost an opportunity to correct a nagging issue in its definition of a qualified mortgage. The current rule provides safe harbor protection to lenders from potential litigation brought by borrowers for loans
Gathering around the table: How one title company pledges to support local community
Tucked right into the end of the home-buying process is the unique opportunity for title companies to connect with borrowers on how they can give back to the community together. Title companies and agents are often the last people to
Ahead of its IPO, Caliber gives its private equity owner $300M in cash
Lone Star Funds‘ residential mortgage lender Caliber Home Loans hopes to raise up to $538 million at its highly anticipated public debut next week, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchanges Commission on Wednesday. Caliber, based in Coppell,
MBA forecast for 2021: Prepare for rising mortgage rates
At its Annual event Wednesday, Mortgage Bankers Association Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni forecast that mortgage rates could rise in the year to come, but that they will remain near all-time lows. Fratantoni pointed out that the job losses seen in
AmeriHome could be valued at $1.3B following IPO
Lender and servicer AmeriHome on Wednesday laid out the terms of its upcoming initial public offering. The company plans to raise roughly $250 million by offering over 14.7 million Class A shares priced between $16 and $18, according to the
This AVM refreshes data daily to reflect real-time market changes
CoreLogic’s Total Home ValueX, or THVX, is a revolutionary AVM that leverages AI and machine learning. CoreLogic built THVX on cloud technology, and it uses a single-model methodology that’s configured to meet different business needs. While traditional AVM models assume
People everywhere are being priced out of housing – But together, we can make it more affordable
Over the years, the inventory of affordable homes has been in sharp decline, while home prices have risen dramatically. With housing becoming increasingly unaffordable, the shortage of safe and affordable homes is affecting more and more prospective homebuyers every day.
Fannie and Freddie CEOs talk 2021 challenges, controversial 50 bps refi fee
The leaders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sat down with Mortgage Bankers Association Chair-elect Kristy Fercho on Tuesday at the MBA Annual conference to discuss how the GSEs have managed the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis. Freddie Mac’s David Brickman and
