Housing Wire

JULY 25, 2023

In late June, Susan Gregory received an estimate for a new homeowner’s insurance policy on her 120-year-old St. Augustine, Florida property, after her previous insurer, United Property and Casualty, went insolvent earlier in the year. This is one of the easiest parts of Florida to insure and costs have gone up over 40%.”

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 16, 2022

For most real estate industry professionals, title insurance needs no introduction. A trusted product , title insurance has been used to protect real estate transactions and property rights for over a century. Title insurance is different than most other insurance products. Diane Tomb, ALTA CEO Contributor.

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

New York-based digital lender Better Home & Finance Holding Company launched Better Insurance to allow customers to shop for homeowners insurance through a fully digital platform. Better Insurance is fully autonomous. The goal for Better Insurance is to offer the service to all 50 states by 2024.

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Housing Wire

MARCH 25, 2021

Private mortgage insurance helped over 2 million low downpayment borrowers secure mortgage financing in 2020, a 53% increase from 2019, according to data from the government sponsored entities. The private mortgage insurance industry also supported $600 billion in mortgage originations. Mortgage Insurers.

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Housing Wire

MARCH 20, 2024

Those too young to remember the wild west of real estate believe that real estate commissions have always been evenly split between seller’s and buyer’s agents, with each receiving a portion of the sale price. This misconception obscures the reality that, historically, buyers lacked formal representation.

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Housing Wire

MAY 24, 2023

methodology in October 2021, thousands of homeowners in low-elevation coastal areas of the United States braced for federal flood insurance hikes. Recently released data from the agency shows that annual flood insurance premiums will eventually double or even triple for homeowners in some U.S. When FEMA released its Risk Rating 2.0

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Housing Wire

OCTOBER 13, 2022

Prior to the advent and widespread use of title insurance, before taking title to a property, the buyer required that the title be free of any rights, interests, liens or encumbrances of others for which the buyer would be responsible for. We haven’t seen any real data based on the conversation that it is going to save money.

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Housing Wire

JULY 29, 2022

vertical manager of strategic partnerships at Liberty Mutual, to discuss how partnering with a nationally recognized insurance company improve borrower engagement for lenders. HW: How can partnering with a nationally recognized insurance company improve borrower engagement for lenders?

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Housing Wire

APRIL 14, 2023

The benefits of homeownership only accrue if first-time buyers can both successfully purchase a home at a reasonable price and remain in it for the long-term, weathering various economic cycles. However, buyers are contending with rising interest rates , high home prices and constrained inventory. Today, roughly $1.5

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 7, 2023

It’s a fact: Buyer-side commissions are no longer a guarantee and no longer an entitlement. Builders don’t all pay the same buyer-side commissions; some don’t pay any buyer-side commissions. So how do you provide overwhelming value to your buyer clients? For Sale By Owners are the same. Be a matchmaker.

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Real Estate News

FEBRUARY 22, 2023

The government announced a plan to cut mortgage insurance rates by 0.3 percentage points, which could save eligible homeowners an average of $800 a year.

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Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 29, 2023

Even with demand buoyed by a sparse housing inventory, growing financial challenges for buyers are forcing home sellers to cut prices to close deals, a new Redfin research report found. Buyers are picky and they don’t want to pay a dollar more than they need to,” the report said. According to the brokerage, 6.5% the month prior.

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Housing Wire

APRIL 14, 2022

Fannie Mae generated some buzz last week when it announced it would be accepting written attorney opinion letters in lieu of a title insurance policy “in limited circumstances.”. Title insurance came to be because attorney title opinions were not adequate for the marketplace.

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Housing Wire

AUGUST 22, 2023

The housing market continues to cool amid high mortgage rates , low inventory and rising property insurance rates. Average mortgage rates rose by about a half percentage point in May and June, pricing some buyers out and limiting closed sales in July. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) suggested a 2.2%

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Appraisal Buzz

MAY 6, 2024

Does the cost of homeowners insurance affect the price of a home? In recent years, insurance companies have pulled out of some markets altogether after sustaining massive losses due to wildfires, flooding, and other climate-related disasters. In some markets, the answer is increasingly yes.

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Housing Wire

MARCH 8, 2024

According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada , roughly 1.5 million homes, representing about 10% of the nation’s housing market, are already unable to obtain flood insurance as many insurers across Canada avoid flood zones. In addition, Canada doesn’t have a national flood insurance program. In the U.S., In the U.S.,

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Housing Wire

OCTOBER 27, 2023

One of the most important roles we play at ALTA is strongly encouraging buyers to shop around for their title insurance company. Often the buyer asks the real estate agent or lender for a recommendation, but we always encourage buyers to explore their options. On the East Coast, the buyer typically pays.

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Inman

AUGUST 24, 2023

Insurance as a hot-button issue is likely not going away anytime soon. Unfortunately, as long as Mother Nature is in control, agents, buyers and sellers need to be more proactive than ever, broker Cara Ameer writes.

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Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 26, 2024

The cost of homeowners insurance has surged in Florida as insurance companies have grappled with significant losses due to an increase in natural disasters. And homeowners insurance costs are three times higher in Florida than the national average. It’s causing buyers to rethink their plans.”

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Housing Wire

JANUARY 25, 2023

The program includes provisions for “improved” pricing for nontraditional credit loans, a title insurance credit applicable to certain properties and will remove the requirement for area median incomes, according to a statement from Guaranteed Rate.

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Housing Wire

APRIL 26, 2024

Even though sellers are getting top dollar at the moment, they should price competitively to attract buyers from the start and avoid having to drop their price as stubbornly high mortgage rates eat into buying budgets. Rising costs for homeowners insurance are also playing a part in sagging affordability. from 2018 to 2023.

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Housing Wire

APRIL 5, 2021

Successful agents, brokerages and loan officers of the future are going to rely significantly on technology to find, nurture and engage with buyers and sellers while also playing an expanding role as personal advisors. Helena [California] whose home burned down in the last fire and only half of it was covered by the insurance company.

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Housing Wire

MARCH 13, 2024

As recently as five years ago, homeowners insurance was certainly not top of mind for most homebuyers and their real estate agents , but the rapidly rising cost of insurance premiums is changing that. Before, insurance was kind of an afterthought. nationwide in 2023, with Farmers Insurance Group of Cos. and Utah at 20.3%.

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Real Estate News

JUNE 9, 2023

Two of the state's top providers will no longer accept new applications, setting a grim precedent and adding another challenge for buyers.

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Housing Wire

JUNE 23, 2023

CCM offers a range of over 120 mortgage, refinance, and home equity solutions, including conventional and jumbo mortgages, as well as government-insured programs for veterans and rural homebuyers. The company’s growth and culture have been acknowledged nine times on the Inc.

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Real Estate News

APRIL 19, 2024

Active listings are back to pre-pandemic levels, but home prices — and home insurance costs — keep going up, creating a tough market for buyers and sellers.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 14, 2023

Asian borrowers pay $13 less than non-Hispanic white borrowers (the control group); low-income borrowers pay $14 more; and first-time home buyers pay $11 less than repeat buyers. Homeowner’s insurance, the servicer, and even the GSE (the actual holder of the default risk on the mortgage), represent small overall costs by comparison.

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Insurance Property Taxes Buyers Investors 432

Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023

Laws should also be clear on the role title insurance professionals play in facilitating transactions with foreign owners. First, any law restricting ownership must clearly state that the obligation to follow the law rests with the buyer. By imposing this obligation on the buyer, it protects sellers from false enrichment claims.

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Housing Wire

MAY 2, 2024

Leaders at Carson said in the release that they are excited to have access to William Raveis’ in-house mortgage bankers to help prequalify buyers and sellers, as well as the brokerage’s insurance experts to help their agents and clients navigate the home insurance market. “We

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Housing Wire

MAY 31, 2023

California markets like the ones listed above already face a number of challenges, but news over the weekend could make it even more challenging for buyers. Well, State Farm last week announced that it would halt home insurance sales in California. State Farm is the nation’s largest car and home insurer by premium volume.

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Housing Wire

JANUARY 10, 2022

HousingWire recently spoke with Tom Kriby, Vice President of Client Development and Partnerships at Westwood Insurance, about how insurance issues can hold up a home closing and how lenders can integrate insurance into their process to help their homebuyers avoid delays. HW: How can lenders help homebuyers avoid closing delays?

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Insurance Inspection Clients Technology 500

Housing Wire

APRIL 3, 2024

The Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA) this week submitted a letter to the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) that urges the agency to “provide comparable down payment treatment for FHA borrowers, regardless of whether or not the seller is willing to pay the home buyer broker commission,” according to an announcement by the organization.

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Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 8, 2023

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) on Wednesday unveiled its state flood disclosure tracker tool , aiming to offer clarity and access to survey existing state disclosure requirements for flood insurance.

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Housing Wire

APRIL 12, 2024

We have an insurance problem,” said Charlotte Johnson , a Keller Williams agent based in Mandeville. Our insurance is pricing people out of their homes.” Between 2018 and 2023, homeowners insurance rates in Louisiana jumped 24.9%, according to an analysis by S&P Global. From 2022 to 2023 alone, rates jumped 21.2%.

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Housing Wire

JANUARY 17, 2024

1 With over 12,000 Americans turning 65 every day in 2024, this burgeoning market will undoubtedly continue to bring more buyers and sellers to the table over the next decade. This is a huge boon for the program as seller concessions have not been allowed within the FHA-insured program since its inception.

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Housing Wire

JANUARY 19, 2023

Title insurance is one such proven product with a long history of protecting homeowners’ right to property. Before title insurance, property rights were not guaranteed. But in 1868, a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision led to the codification of the incorporation and regulation of title insurance companies into law.

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Housing Wire

MAY 3, 2024

Earlier this week, Zillow launched a new “touring agreement,” a nonexclusive contract for buyers and agents to use for home tours. This agreement must be signed prior to an agent taking a buyer to tour a home. This agreement must be signed prior to an agent taking a buyer to tour a home. According to Laura M.

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