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More homebuyers seek government-backed loans as an affordability lifeline

Housing Wire

Chris Porter, a senior vice president at the firm and the author of the latest outlook, said this correlates with buyers dedicating more of their income to housing and seeking accessible financing options. It also ties into architects and builders creating smaller, denser homes to help close the affordable housing supply gap.

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Mortgage quality control report reveals sharp rise in insurance defects

Housing Wire

ACES releases a quarterly report that uses post-closing quality control data that’s derived from the company’s benchmarking system. Loan applicants also struggled as rising premiums made it difficult for them to qualify for mortgages due to higher debt-to-income ratios.

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How will first-time buyers fare if sellers can’t offer buyer agent compensation?

Housing Wire

But for first-time and other cash-strapped buyers—those who are not relying on the proceeds of a home sale, who may be using a 100% financed VA loan, whose agents may be layering forms of assistance to put together enough cash for closing—knowing in advance about the seller’s contribution to their agent costs may be essential.

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A simple guideline change could boost home sales and help homebuyers

Housing Wire

The homeowner wants to sell the house, and the homebuyer wants to buy it, but the homebuyer cannot qualify because their debt-to-income ratio is too high, or they are overwhelmed by their total monthly payments. One concern some may have with this change is, “What if they take out more debt after closing?”

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Deephaven Mortgage goes all in with expansion of home equity offerings

Housing Wire

The Deephaven HELOC has a maximum loan size of $400,000 and a max loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of 85%. Its closed-end second-lien product goes up to $500,000 with an 80% LTV cap. On average, its borrowers’ FICO scores are 740 and debt-to-income ratios are 30%. The minimum FICO score to qualify is 680.

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The long anticipated transformation of the L.O.’s role is here

Housing Wire

The modern LO routinely analyzes debt-to-income ratios in the context of retirement savings goals. Their job is to provide comprehensive guidance on long-term financial planning, rather than simply matching borrowers to available products. And the best LOs genuinely welcome this.

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Home insurance rates are cooling — but they’ve jumped 45% since 2022

Housing Wire

Matic found that 64% of lenders reported frequent delays or issues due to insurance, which are often tied to debt-to-income ratios or difficulties securing timely coverage. We’re hearing from lenders who are seeing closings fall through or get delayed because of insurance hurdles,” Madick said. “In