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Massachusetts set to bar home sellers from requiring inspection waivers

Housing Wire

Massachusetts homebuyers will soon be protected from being pressured into waiving home inspections under new regulation. It also prevents sellers from accepting offers if they are informed in advance that the buyer intends to forgo an inspection. A home inspection is an important step in buying a property.

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Reshaping appraisals: Jaro’s high-tech solutions innovate the appraisal process in an evolving real estate market

Housing Wire

With higher rates, lower transaction volumes usually plague the industry, translating to fewer appraisals as homeowners hunker down with their lower rates. Industry professionals expect an increase in transactions following the Fed’s recent rate cuts , leading to an increase in appraisal demands.

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ClearValue teams with Restb.ai to bring computer vision to appraisal process

Housing Wire

The real estate industry is racing to find ways that artificial intelligence (AI) can improve business practices. Restb.ai’s technology will be compatible with broker price opinions, appraisals, inspections and forms. “By ClearValue Consulting thinks it’s found a way. The firm has partnered with Restb.ai

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Home inspector sees interaction from baby boomers, aging in place and reverse mortgages

Housing Wire

home equity based on different estimates its easy to see the potential impact that such a large cohort has on a variety of different businesses, including home inspections. Cook also feels like reverse mortgage professionals are potentially great partners for home inspection businesses.

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MBA: Home equity debt rose 10% in 2024 — signaling it as a ‘product of choice’

Housing Wire

“With close to $35 trillion of homeowner equity in residential real estate and many homeowners locked into low-rate first mortgages, HELOCs and home equity loans have become the product of choice for many homeowners,” said Marina Walsh , MBA’s vice president of industry analysis. The reasons for tapping home equity are shifting.

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Disaster recovery for mortgage servicers: Navigating crisis with compliance & resilience

Housing Wire

Lessons from California wildfires and other natural disasters Californias wildfires highlighted the chaos that natural disasters continue to unleash not just on homeowners, but also on the mortgage servicers tasked with supporting them and the insurance industry that covers the cost of rebuilding.

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A homebuyer’s personal story from the post-Sitzer, post-settlement world

Housing Wire

As a real estate reporter, it was not lost on me that the formal start of my house hunt would coincide almost perfectly with the real estate industry working through the nationwide implementation of the business practice changes outlined in the National Association of Realtors ‘ (NAR) commission lawsuit settlement agreement.