Summer has officially arrived. That means warmer weather, backyard BBQs, time for gardening, and longer days spent relaxing outside. That’s why now is also the perfect time to remodel your backyard into a place you’ll never want to leave. There
How to Make the Most Money When Selling Your Home
What’s the number one thing buying and selling a house has in common? Getting the best price possible. Buying a home is one of the most significant financial investments you’ll make, so there’s no surprise why so much time is
Kensington Vanguard acquires Virginia title company
New York-based Kensington Vanguard National Land Services recently acquired Hometown Title and Escrow, a title company based in Virginia. Hometown Title and Escrow is led by industry veteran Sharon Keegan and serves both residential and commercial transactions in the Northern
Virtual Real Estate: The Next Big Boom
When the digital artwork “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” by American artist Beeple sold at Christie’s for $69 million earlier this year, it was clear that a major revolution was afoot. That revolution is the rise of virtual assets, or
Doug Duncan and the housing market’s supply conundrum
The housing market is no stranger to supply constraints. A toxic combination of wildly inflated lumber prices, a lack of new and existing homes, and the sheer number of borrowers willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars over ask
Accurate property condition data is more important than ever – Here’s why
The waning pandemic in the U.S. is opening substantial opportunities across many housing sub-markets. All of these markets benefit from an accurate understanding of valuation and property characteristics, but the data sources that power them leave out a crucial component:
Juneteenth holiday sparks chaos for lenders, LOs
This article first appeared in the June 18th newsletter Lending Life. Sign up here to receive each weekday. On Thursday, President Joe Biden signed a bill into law, declaring June 19th, or Juneteenth, a federal holiday. Biden’s order commemorates the
House flipping hits lowest level since 2000
Only 2.7% of all home sales in the first quarter of 2021 were flips — or one in 37 transactions, the lowest level since 2000. Per a report from ATTOM, a national property database, 32,526 single-family homes and condominiums in the
With a reinvigorated CFPB, what’s next for the NYDFS?
Through a stroke of lucky timing, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) had gained traction with a reorganized and strengthened consumer advocacy mission just before the COVID-19 pandemic erupted in early 2020. Homeowners, renters, borrowers, lenders and mortgage
The housing market outsmarted the foreclosure crisis
For Jason Vanslette, a lawyer who specializes in foreclosure litigation, everything came to a screeching halt on March 27, 2020. President Donald Trump had just signed the CARES Act into law, and with it, a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions
Lennar execs confident building boom will not end soon
“These are the best of times,” declared Stuart Miller, chairman of the board for Lennar Thursday. And the homebuilder’s quarterly financial performance backs up what Miller is talking about. Lennar, best known for producing homes for the middle class, reported
Stewart Title merges Nevada offices
Stewart Title continues to tinker with its national footprint. The title giant recently combined its two Northern Nevada divisions – Legacy Division and Western Division. Legacy was previously Capital Title, and Western was formerly Western Title Company — the latter Nevada’s
How Can We Innovate to Put Customers First?
Would you be willing to walk away from your current role, on the heels of a bet? That’s exactly what serial entrepreneur Chieh Huang, Co-Founder of Boxed.com, did and it’s landed him in not one but two successful business ventures.
New home sales fall due to low inventory and high prices
Mortgage applications for new home purchases fell 9% month-over-month in May at a seasonally unadjusted pace ― the second consecutive month sales of new homes have dropped, according to data released Thursday by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Compared to May
Converting Hotels to Housing
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has released new research on the conversion of hotels and motels into housing. While the study was spurred by a 37% drop in hotel occupancy rates driven by the pandemic, the findings have broader
5 Ways to Find Real Estate Comps in Your Area
Whether you’re selling your first home or you’re a first-time homebuyer, finding comparable sales of homes in your area is much easier than it was even ten years ago. Back then, it wasn’t easy to find publicly available data online
Home prices still rising in Phoenix, Austin, Sacramento
Phoenix, Austin, Sacramento, Las Vegas and Miami reported the biggest increase in home prices in May, according to a recent report from Redfin. Home prices in Austin were up 42.4% year over year in May to $470,000, the biggest increase
Princeton’s Courtney Graham to speak at engage June 17
Courtney Graham, Princeton Mortgage CMO, will speak at HousingWire’s annual engage.marketing on June 17. Graham will join Bill Dallas, president of Finance of America Mortgage, on a panel entitled Winning in a Red-Hot Purchase Market. Graham, a 2020 HousingWire Woman of Influence, led
Mortgage forbearance drops as expiration date nears
Mortgages in forbearance fell for the 15th consecutive week last week to 4.04% of servicers portfolio volume ― a 12 basis point decline, according to a survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association. As of June 6, the MBA now estimates
ICE, DocMagic team up to offer closing technology
ICE Mortgage Technology will now deploy an “eVault” solution as part of its mortgage closing platform to ensure the secure storage of digital mortgages and notes, it announced late last week. Digital mortgage platform DocMagic Inc. is providing the eVault
Watersone Mortgage’s COO on finding a way to “yes” for each loan file
Mortgage operations were a make or break component of every lender’s 2020 strategy, putting operational professionals in the housing economy to test in a turbulent market. As Chief Operating Officer at Waterstone Mortgage, Rich Tucker is no stranger to the
Home appraisal’s ugly history and uncertain future
This is Part I of a deep dive into the home appraisal industry, which has faced a growing number of claims of racial bias. Today we explore the origins of the appraisal industry and its current lack of diversity. In
Bond yields foretold housing market and economic recovery
The recent action in the 10-year bond yield has puzzled many people, but it looks wonderful to me as it shows that the U.S. economy and housing market are leading the world out of the recession. When I wrote the
Lanco Title joins Northwest Title family of companies
Ohio-based Lanco Title Agency has joined forces with the Northwest Title group, bringing the two Buckeye State firms together. “The new affiliation will help provide Lanco Title with a greater depth of resources and support available to their customers,” the