Oftentimes, inspectors and contractors will receive phone calls from homeowners who describe a mold problem that has recently developed on the walls and ceilings of their homes. Usually, they describe the mold patterns as black stains or spots on the
Expanding Access to Credit Could Shrink the Homeownership Race Gap
About 15% of Black and Latinx Americans are “credit invisible” and largely cut off from homeownership Go to Source Author:
RE/MAX makes big Florida investment
RE/MAX has greatly expanded its foothold in northeast Florida, buying Jacksonville brokerage mainstay Magnolia Properties. Magnolia Properties’ 125 agents are now part of RE/MAX Leading Edge, a franchisee based in St. Augustine, Florida, according to a RE/MAX company announcement Monday.
U.S. Bank’s Fred Bolstad to speak at Spring Summit
Fred Bolstad, executive vice president of retail lending at U.S. Bank Home Mortgage, will speak on a panel titled What Mortgage Tech is Solving Now at HousingWire’s Spring Summit on March 4. Bolstad will be joined on the panel by Dave Vermillion, founder
Compass losing money, gaining market share
The numbers are in: Compass lost $270 million in 2020, and the residential real estate brokerage generated $3.7 billion in revenue. Those figures are from a statement Compass filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday afternoon, in which
Why You Still Need Staging in a Seller’s Market
Selling your home is a big deal, and can sometimes be stressful. Between deciding when to list your home for sale, for how much, and what home renovations you should do beforehand, there is a lot of planning involved. One
A slowdown in exits pushes forbearance volume up
After one month of steady declines, servicers’ forbearance portfolio volume rose one basis point last week to 5.23%, according to data released Monday by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The trade group pointed to a slowdown in exits coupled with an uptick
Don’t sleep on non-QM products
With low interest rates and a booming refinance market, it is natural that loan officers and brokers are focused on agency loans and also a thriving purchase market. However, with a futures rate curve that has recently been increasing, only
18 Best Real Estate Investing Books to Read in 2021
Real estate investments can yield some great returns if the proper steps are taken, but many new investors simply do not have the skills or education to make it happen. I wanted to write about the importance of real estate
Expect purchase application data to be negative in 2H 2021
Logan Mohtashami HousingWire Lead Analyst When economic data that is typically sticky has a waterfall dive followed by a quick parabolic recovery, forecasting a trend can be tricky. The MBA purchase application data changed during our year of COVID-19. In
US Housing Market Sales & Price Forecast 2021: Will It Crash?
Here are the latest housing market predictions for 2021 & 2022. The global pandemic shattered the world order and the US economy suffered its biggest blow since the Great Depression in the second quarter. It has been roughly one year
3 underrated mortgage products to consider
The 30-year mortgage is easily the most popular and talked-about mortgage product out there. After all, in January 2021, 30-year loans accounted for a whopping three-quarters of all mortgage originations in the country. But make no mistake: They’re not your
10 Awesome Real Estate Tips for Home Sellers
When you bought your first house, you likely felt excitement with a hint of nervousness and maybe you even had a “What have I gotten myself into?” kind of moment. However, those emotions passed and you settled in and made
The great fintech acceleration
We all have our own prominent COVID-19 memory from 2020. Mine was on Sunday, March 15. I sat at home that morning typing out an employee memo that effective immediately all team members would be expected to work from home
14 Upgrades and Routines to Be Happier in Your Home
The pandemic has impacted our lives in countless ways, and many of our routines were flipped upside down as we struggled to wrap our heads around a new normal. From working and exercising, to online shopping and countless home-cooked meals
What the forbearance extension means for homeowners
In this HousingWire Daily episode, HW+ Managing Editor Brena Nath covers the recent COVID-19 forbearance extensions. In February, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that it had extended COVID-19 foreclosure and forbearance moratoriums for FHA and USDA loans to June 30,
How borrower education can make housing more attainable
Today’s U.S. housing market is leaving many prospective homebuyers priced out. Homes, on average, have become less affordable, and the ones that are affordable are in short supply. As a result, 55% of future homebuyers believe that homeownership is out
8 Ways to use Synthetic Turf to Beautify your Yard
Choosing between installing artificial grass, also known as synthetic turf, and natural grass can be a difficult decision for some homeowners. While you may be drawn to natural grass for its feel and organic look, there are a number of
Zestimate to double as Zillow’s iBuying offer
Zillow is putting their money where their Zestimate is, at least to a point. The “Zestimate,” Zillow’s catchy (and soapy) name for estimated home values, will sometimes be used as the initial offer Zillow plans to pay to purchase a
Finicity launches verification service approved by GSEs
Finicity, an open-banking solutions provider that was acquired by Mastercard in October, announced that it is dipping further into the mortgage space. Finicity’s latest product, dubbed its “mortgage verification service,” will allow prospective borrowers to provide certain permissions that allow
Blend’s Nikolaos Pavlou to speak at Spring Summit
Nikolaos Pavlou, product marketing manager at Blend, will sit down with other housing luminaries to discuss what mortgage tech is solving now at HousingWire’s Spring Summit on March 4. Pavlou will be joined by Finicity’s Senior Vice President of Product
FHFA extends forbearance period to 18 months
Borrowers with mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may be eligible for an additional forbearance extension of up to six months, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced Thursday. On Feb. 9, the FHFA extended forbearance plans an additional three months past beyond their initial
Pending home sales drop, but there’s a silver lining
It’s like the Yogi Berra quote – nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded. For the fifth consecutive month, U.S. pending home sales dipped – this time, down 2.8% in January from December, according to a report from the National Association
66 Questions to Ask When Buying a House
As a first-time homebuyer, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed even before you begin your homebuying journey. After all, this is a new process for you and, simply put, you don’t know what you don’t know. First off, there are no