Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

Rocket Companies will soon shut down Rocket Pro Originate , a mortgage origination platform for real estate agents, insurance agents, tax professionals and other financial professionals who are also licensed to originate mortgages. According to a copy of an email sent to affected originators this week and reviewed by HousingWire, the Rocket Pro Originate platform — part of the company’s third-party origination channel — is to be sunset by the end of June.

Agents 508

Agents Loans Mortgages Closing 508

Real Estate News

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

A new Realtor.com report found that the housing supply gap has grown considerably over the past decade as household formation has outpaced home construction.

Marketing 304

Marketing Construction 304

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

As brokerages across the country have begun implementing buyer agency contracts into their business practices in the wake of the Sitzer/Burnett commission lawsuit verdict, the Consumer Federation of America is warning consumers that they may be filled with “unfair provisions” that primarily protect agents and brokers. The watchdog group reached this conclusion in a report released Tuesday, in which the group examined 43 different contracts from 37 states, with most of the sample contracts comi

Purchase and sale agreement 402

Purchase and sale agreement Agents Brokerage Industrial 402

Real Estate News

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

The Consumer Federation of America analyzed 43 agreements and concluded that they generally served to protect agents but offered few benefits to buyers.

Agents 271

Agents 271

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Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

Higher interest rates in recent weeks have made a dent in housing activity, bringing down mortgage demand. Mortgage applications decreased by 5.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ending Feb. 23, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association ’s (MBA) weekly mortgage applications survey. “Higher rates in recent weeks have stalled activity, and last week it dropped more for those seeking FHA and VA refinances,” Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s senior vice president and chief economist, said in

Mortgages 390

Mortgages Fixed-rate mortgage Loans Residential 390

Real Estate News

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

Mark Willis challenged KW Family Reunion attendees to own their full potential and get back on a growth trajectory after a tough year.

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Real Estate News

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

Zillow’s Listing Showcase product will be available only to Hanna agents in the Cleveland and Pittsburgh metros.

Agents 283

Agents 283

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

The Marin County Board of Supervisors in Northern California on Tuesday approved reduced fees to build accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in unincorporated parts of the county, according to an announcement by county officials. Marin County is situated across the Golden Gate Bridge, north of San Francisco. It is a notoriously expensive housing market and maintains an estimated population of more than 260,000 people, according to data from the 2020 U.S.

Construction 411

Construction Equity Mortgages Finance 411

Inman

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

The Consumer Federation of America, a watchdog group, examined 43 contracts from 37 states, most from state or local Realtor associations, and found practices it believes worthy of scrutiny.

Brokerage 191

Brokerage Agents 191

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

The National Association of Realtors is facing yet another copycat commission lawsuit. The trade group’s legal woes have brought it back to California, where is already facing other commission lawsuits. Filed on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, the Freedlund suit, named after its lead — and currently only — plaintiff, Andrea Freedlund, the suit alleges that NAR, along with the California Association of Realtors and Redfin , conspired to artificially inflate agent commissions.

MLS 411

MLS Residential Brokerage Agents 411

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Loans

Keeping Current Matters

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

No matter how you slice it, buying or selling a home is a big decision.

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259

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

Tom Davis, chief sales officer, Deephaven Mortgage Today’s market means that more borrowers have higher debt-to-income ratios, limited access to credit and are looking for alternative ways to get qualified for a mortgage. Tom Davis, chief sales officer at Deephaven Mortgage , offers information about products that can get borrowers qualified and goes into some of the trends he’s seeing in the market today in this executive conversation.

Debt-to-income ratio 396

Debt-to-income ratio Mortgages Banks Investor 396

Inman

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

Despite slowing sales, the value of the U.S. housing market experienced record-breaking growth in 2023, according to Redfin's latest housing report. The total value of 90 million U.S. homes rose from $45.1 trillion in December 2022 to $47.5 trillion in December 2023 — a 5.3 percent annual difference.

Marketing 175

Marketing Sales 175

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) ended 2023 as the top U.S. mortgage company, with more than $108 billion in home loans produced in the period, a record purchase volume and increased margins. It was not enough to make its parent company UWM Holdings Corp. financially profitable, which the company attributed to mortgage servicing rights (MSR) markdowns.

Loans 418

Loans Principal Mortgages Closing 418

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Sales

Inman

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

With mortgage rates hovering above 7 percent, requests for purchase loans were down by a seasonally adjusted 5 percent week over week and 2 percent lower than a year ago.

Mortgages 167

Mortgages Loans Sales Marketing 167

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

Top 10 mortgage lender and servicer Newrez is partnering with Newzip , a tech-enabled real estate platform, to roll out a program aimed to save buyers and sellers on credit costs. Dubbed Newrez Home Rewards, buyers will be matched with a real estate agent who works with Newzip and provided booking services. They will also be offered closing cost credits of up to 0.5% of the sales price when buying a home and up to 1% when selling.

Closing costs 414

Closing costs Loan Officer Closing Loans 414

Inman

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

The property, sold by developer Adnan Sen, first hit the market for $39.9 million in 2020. It includes a nine-bedroom main house, one-bedroom guesthouse, a pool and a 10-car gallery garage.

Sales 163

Sales Development Marketing 163

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

Ellington Financial , parent company of top 10 reverse mortgage lender Longbridge Financial , reported a lower economic return for the fourth quarter of 2023, which was partially driven by net losses from Longbridge “and other positions,” according to CEO Laurence Penn. Penn added, however, that Longbridge is in the process of regaining profitability, and some of the lagging performance attributed to the reverse division is tied to seasonal realities and the ongoing interest rate environment.

Mortgages 398

Mortgages Investor Equity Branding 398

Speaker: Sarah Santa Ana, Real Estate Coach, Move4Free Realty

Networking is one of the crucial elements in every real estate organization's success. Both agents and real estate companies need to maintain robust networking links. This is why social media is essential for any real estate professional! Social media enables you to stay in touch with your present clients, maintain connections with your past clients, and engage potential customers and investors.

Agents

Inman

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

Cloze, a provider of artificial intelligence driven solutions for business development and growth, has formed an agreement with marketing technology company MAXA Designs.

Design 162

Design Marketing Technology Development 162

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

Independent brokerage Howard Hanna Real Estate Services has partnered with Zillow ’s ShowingTime+ to allow agents in the Cleveland and Pittsburgh areas to leverage the Listing Showcase tool. Launched in June 2023, Listing Showcase is an AI-powered listing tool available exclusively on Zillow. It enables agents to differentiate themselves through original presentations of their brand and properties using features such as high-resolution hero images and interactive floor plans.

Agents 391

Agents Branding Brokerage As-is 391

Inman

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

Defendant MLS PIN and plaintiffs Jennifer Nosalek, Randy Hirschorn and Tracey Hirschorn asked a district court judge for permission to respond to a statement of interest the DOJ filed in the case.

MLS 148

MLS Brokerage Agents 148

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced this week that they have filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit , supporting plaintiffs that allege unlawful fees imposed by Ocwen Loan Servicing , a division of Ocwen Financial Corp. The case involves plaintiffs Sheryl Glover and Cathy Booze, who allege in their complaint that Ocwen charged them certain “convenience fees” on multiple occasions for transactions co

Loans 386

Loans Mortgages 386

Speaker: Trey Willard, Realtor/Team Leader at Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

In order to create continued success in today’s real estate market, realtors need to utilize an arsenal of technology that will increase their efficiency and presence on social media. Using technology to manage your prospects and tap into their needs through websites, social media, and other channels is critical for real estate success in 2022 and beyond.

Agents

Inman

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

The nation's biggest mortgage lender posts its first annual loss since going public in 2020, largely driven by $854.1 million in write-downs of mortgage servicing rights.

Loans 147

Loans Mortgages 147

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

Top 10 U.S. mortgage lender Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. sustained a cyber attack in early December due to vulnerabilities in a vendor system, the company told the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation. On Dec. 4, the company’s information security team “received notification that an unauthorized user had successfully accessed a third-party system utilized by Fairway,” Bryan Ramsey, vice president of information security incident response at Fairway, wrote in a l

Mortgages 383

Mortgages Banks Development Industrial 383

Inman

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

Nearly 70 percent of brokerage leaders who responded to the latest Inman Intel Index earlier this month expect to invest in technology in 2024, with many now saying artificial intelligence is top of mind.

Brokerage 142

Brokerage Technology Marketing 142

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

Blackstone ’s Jonathan Pollack is joining private investment firm Starwood Capital Group , the company announced on Monday. Starting in January 2025, Pollack will serve as the company’s new president. Jeffrey Dishner will remain in his role as Starwood’s president until Pollack takes over. Dishner will then assume the role of vice chairman and head of strategy and business development, the company explained.

Commercial 354

Commercial Banks Development Industrial 354

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Agents

Inman

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

These nine pivotal phrases, when articulated daily, can significantly enhance your leadership impact, consultant Chris Pollinger writes.

Development 159

Development Brokerage Agents 159

Calculated Risk Real Estate

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

This is no surprise, but still a very large monthly increase in the delinquency rate. The multifamily rate increased recently as rent growth has slowed (and rents are falling in some areas), vacancy rates have increased, and borrowing rates have increased sharply. Freddie Mac reports that the multi-family serious delinquency rate increased sharply in January to 0.44% from 0.28% in December, and up from 0.12% in January 2023.

As-is 142

As-is Marketing 142

Inman

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

From the outdated to the silly to the poorly implemented, what marketing schemes have flopped in your business?

Marketing 165

Marketing Agents 165

RIS Media

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

Above, RE/MAX’s Carly Carey Imagine you could start a team in 2024 with every possible advantage: access to the best real estate coaches and business leaders across the entire globe; a database of 10,000-plus recently captured leads with hundreds more added every month; the best website, marketing and CRM technology available; a full-time staff of… The post Building a Luxury Brand From Scratch appeared first on RISMedia.

Branding 126

Branding Technology Marketing Development 126

Speaker: Mary Maloney, Founder & Team Leader at Hometown Realty

The sales cycle in real estate is frequently measured at 3+ months. During this time, real estate agents frequently lose contact with clients and miss out on opportunities because they fail to follow up and provide value to the client. Top real estate agents are distinguished from developing agents by their ability to convert organic connections into sales opportunities.

Sales