Sat.Nov 20, 2021 - Fri.Nov 26, 2021

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Will Omicron variant stop first Fed rate hike?

Housing Wire

Life comes at you fast. During this Thanksgiving week, we went from higher yields and the first Fed rate hike storyline to a big drop in bond yields and scary headlines on a new COVID variant, Omicron. How do we make sense of all this? In this type of economic environment is it even possible for mortgage rates to get to 4% and can the Federal Reserve really hike rates in an aggressive fashion?

Retail 536
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How Appraisers are Handling Market Value

Appraisal Buzz

In today’s Buzzcast, we dive into the hot button issue of how appraisers are handling this market. Today we have George Dell, Owner of Valuemetrics, with Joan Trice, Founder of Allterra Group, LLC. We’ll be getting the inside scoop while they discuss what’s being done. How has this new market been different than what is considered “normal?” In what ways are appraisers reacting?

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What Happened to Zillow?

George Dell

Zillow Zestimate has been the go-to source for consumers to check what their house is worth for many years now. Zillow leverages the traffic that this brings to their web site to sell other real estate services (not valuation products!). The Zestimate has been amazing at driving traffic to the Zillow web site, but does […]. The post What Happened to Zillow?

Valuation 363
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Never Sacrifice Quality in the Name of Efficiency

The Appraiser Coach

There are no magic beans or secret sauce that you can use to suddenly make your life better. It’s actually about little tweaks; it’s a bunch of little things that. Read More.

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Mortgage apps rise despite higher interest rates

Housing Wire

Mortgage applications increased 1.8% for the week ending Nov. 19, despite higher rates, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) survey published on Wednesday. The increase was mainly driven by the purchase index growing by 4.7% from the previous week, on a seasonally adjusted basis. Concurrently, the refinance index grew by 0.4% from the week prior.

Mortgage 420
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Fairway Independent Mortgage Names Two to Executive Team

Appraisal Buzz

In a move to strengthen its compliance management, Fairway Independent Mortgage adds new EVP of Fair Lending and EVP of Business Development. The post Fairway Independent Mortgage Names Two to Executive Team appeared first on theMReport.com. The post Fairway Independent Mortgage Names Two to Executive Team appeared first on Appraisal Buzz.

Mortgage 221

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Are Floor Plans in Your Future?

Appraiserblogs

A floor plan is supposed to be included in Desktop & Hybrid reports. How will that be done? Appraisers, I’ve recently been studying a ‘word change’ in various GSE documents. This change happened initially in March 2020 in the COVID era revised ‘flexibility’ Assumption and Limiting Conditions and Scope of Work attached to residential reports, and was further incorporated into TWO new appraisal forms issued in July 2020, which you might not even realize they exist!

Valuation 122
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How to help homeowners make the most of home equity

Housing Wire

As home equity reached another record high this year, mortgage companies have a big opportunity to help homeowners understand how to better manage or leverage their home’s equity to improve their housing and overall financial outlook. Even as rates are slowly beginning to increase, cash-out refinancing options are still a relevant and potentially beneficial option for many as the amount of equity in homes reaches new levels.

Investing 411
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Rates Move Swiftly Lower Due to New Covid Variant; Delinquencies Remain Elevated

Appraisal Buzz

Just when it looked like the current week would fizzle out on a negative note for rates, our least favorite market mover is back in the news. B.1.1.529 (designated now as “Omicron”), a new covid variant hit the market like a ton of bricks on Friday morning. 48 hours earlier, Google had never heard of it. Search interest began to ramp up on Thanksgiving Day.

Design 195
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5 Fields to Add to Your Digital Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS)

GoForrmz

Leverage these powerful fields in your digital safe work method statements Rigid paper documents are a painful, tedious task to complete – especially when coordinating with collaborating teams. Safety documentation is such a critical component to the operational workflow of construction teams – requiring a comprehensive breakdown of understanding of potential work safety hazards.

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Multifamily Condo Production Showing Gains?

Eyes on Housing

According to NAHB analysis of quarterly Census data, the market share of rental units of multifamily construction starts declined to 93.4% during the third quarter of 2021. This is the lowest share since the first quarter of 2020. In contrast, the historical low share of 47% was set during the third quarter of 2005, during the condo building boom. An.

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Mortgage rates remain stuck at 3.10%

Housing Wire

Mortgage rates remained at 3.10% in the week ending Nov. 24, according to the latest Freddie Mac PMMS mortgage report. A year ago at this time, the average 30-year fixed-rate loan averaged just 2.72%. Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said interest rate volatility has been low, despite the noise around the economy, inflation, and monetary policy.

Mortgage 429
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What’s New in Appraisal Membership: November 2021

Appraisal Buzz

McKissock’s Unlimited Learning Members enjoy 24/7 access to a wide variety of online appraisal classes, webinars, videos, podcasts, checklists, job aids, and other resources. Plus, we’re adding to our library each month so that you get the most current and relevant information to grow your real estate appraisal career. Do you already have an Unlimited Learning Membership ?

Appraisal 195
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Customer Story: Strategic Sanitation Services

GoForrmz

“ The ability to get instant access to data to test assumptions and make decisions is the biggest benefit. And that takes for granted all of the other benefits, like much faster operations in the field and the ability to have everything digital. ” — Kenneth Reyes, Director of Marketing & Systems, Strategic Sanitation Services. Challenge Strategic Sanitation Services needed means of efficiently accessing field data for internal and client-facing reporting.

Clients 148
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Zillow quits iBuying, will lay off 25% of staff

Empire Appraisal Group

Zillow CEO Rich Barton (Credit: Barton by Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch; iStock). Source: Zillow Quits iBuying, Will Lay Off 25% of Staff – The Real Deal. Zillow is leaving the home-flipping business for good and preparing to lay off a quarter of its workforce. After halting new purchases last month , citing a backlog as it looks to offload 7,000 homes , many at hefty discounts , the company is packing it in for good, according to its quarterly filings with the U.S.

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Opinion: Pass the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act

Housing Wire

A shortage of affordable starter homes is thwarting aspiring first-time homebuyers and fueling inflation in home prices. At the same time, many urban and rural communities are struggling for stability and vitality. It’s a fact: the homeownership gap between Black and white households is wider now than when the Fair Housing Act was passed in 1968. The Neighborhood Homes Investment Act (Neighborhood Homes) would begin addressing these challenges by developing or renovating 125,000 affordable homes

Investing 438
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Mortgage Applications Increased Last Week Despite Rising Rates

Appraisal Buzz

Mortgage application volume increased 1.8% on an adjusted basis during the week ended November 24, despite a slight increase in mortgage rates, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 0.1% compared with the previous week. Applications for refinances increased 0.4% while applications for purchases decreased 0.4%.

Mortgage 195
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Why Your Business Should Leverage Digital Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS)

GoForrmz

Highlight high-risk construction work activities and capture critical safety information with digital SWMS forms Regardless of the country or location of a project, the construction industry relies heavily on safety measures and procedures. In Australia under their OHS regulations, construction Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS) are used as a required safety form that outlines all high-risk activities and associated hazards on a job site, as well as the safety measures in place to manage and con

Business 147
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Surviving adverse times allows appraisers to give thanks, again

Valuation Review

As is the Thanksgiving holiday tradition at Valuation Review, we reached out to appraisers, and others asking them what they are thankful for this year. There were times of despair, for sure, with the COVID-19 and the delta variant cloud hovering over many businesses. Still, appraisers were resilient and maintained high levels of productivity. Read on for more.

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Gay, disabled ex-employee sues loanDepot for discrimination

Housing Wire

Anthony Hsieh, founder and CEO of loandepot. A former loanDepot employee has filed a lawsuit against the company and its CEO, Anthony Hsieh, for allegedly discriminating against him due to his physical disabilities and his sexual orientation. This is the second lawsuit filed this year that alleges a toxic, masculine culture at the California-based nonbank lender.

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Average Rent and Mortgage Payments Rise

Appraisal Buzz

As the economy continues to see consumer prices for everything rise across the board, rent and mortgage rates have also increased with some cities seeing a 30% increase in rent prices since last year. According to Redfin, the average national rent price has increased 13% over the last year, falling behind monthly mortgages which rose 17% during the same time.

Mortgage 195
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How Mobile Online Form Sharing Can Streamline Applications

GoForrmz

Seamlessly collect better data by taking your applications digital with an online form builder Share digital applications that are simple for your recipients to fill out and return back to you in real-time. Form submissions via paper applications can be a tedious task to process for team members. Now, with drag and drop features, you can build mobile forms that look exactly like your paper form.

Marketing 147
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Real Estate Cloud Software: Running Your Business on the Cloud

McKissock

Five years ago if someone would have told you in the future there would never be a need for you to save another file to your computer again—you probably would have been confused and mystified. However, today more real estate professionals are transitioning over to the cloud either part- or full-time. It might be the case that you can transition the bulk of your work over to the internet—making it accessible anytime and anywhere.

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HW+ Member Spotlight: Bill Lowman

Housing Wire

This week’s HW+ member spotlight features American Pacific Mortgage CEO Bill Lowman. Joining the company in 2002, American Pacific Mortgage named him president in 2004, and in 2016 he became CEO. Leading one of the largest independent mortgage banks in the country, Lowman is active in the industry, serving as immediate past chairman/treasurer at the California Mortgage Bankers Association , along with serving on the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Residential Board of Governors.

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How High Can Rent Go?

Appraisal Buzz

As the economy continues to see consumer prices for everything rise across the board, rent and mortgage rates have also increased with some cities seeing a 30% increase in rent prices since last year. According to Redfin, the average national rent price has increased 13% over the last year, falling behind monthly mortgages which rose 17% during the same time.

Appraisal 195
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BiggerPockets Money Podcast 251: Is College Worth the Cost? This 30,000 Variable Study Says “Sometimes…”

BiggerPockets

Is college worth it? For the first time in history, we may have a definitive answer to whether or not your specific degree and school choice provides a positive ROI. […].

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What’s New in Appraisal Membership: November 2021

McKissock

McKissock’s Unlimited Learning Members enjoy 24/7 access to a wide variety of online appraisal classes, webinars, videos, podcasts, checklists, job aids, and other resources. Plus, we’re adding to our library each month so that you get the most current and relevant information to grow your real estate appraisal career. Do you already have an Unlimited Learning Membership ?

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Interfirst Mortgage to lay off nearly 50 LOs

Housing Wire

Chicago-based Interfirst Mortgage Co. will lay off 77 employees in its Charlotte, North Carolina office come January 2022, a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notice filed by the company reveals. Among those getting a pink slip are 49 loan officers, 10 national account managers, seven retail sales managers and seven transaction coordinators.

Mortgage 381
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Fraud Risk Down Due to More Refinance Volume

Appraisal Buzz

The CoreLogic Quarterly Mortgage Fraud Brief is a quarterly report that analyzes the top metropolitan areas with the highest mortgage fraud risk based on the company’s research of trends found in residential mortgage loan applications processed through its LoanSafe Fraud Manager. According to the report, authored by Bridget Berg, Principal of Industry Solutions and Property Intelligence, a small drop in interest rates was enough to push … The post Fraud Risk Down Due to More Refinance Vol

Mortgage 195
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Dawn Kelley Qualifies for the 2021 President’s Club

Lamacchia Realty

Dawn Kelley has officially qualified for the 2021 President’s Club by surpassing 33 sales this year! This is Dawn’s first time qualifying for this distinction and we couldn’t be more excited for her. Dawn is consistently recognized as a Top Producer in the Worcester office and throughout the company, most recently in October. She was also recognized as a Top Producer company-wide for 2020 and as a 2021 RACM Top Producer.

Realty 74
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FREE Webinar with Fannie Mae: Desktop Appraisals, Measuring and Calculating GLA, and Other Appraisal Topics

McKissock

On Wednesday, December 8, 2021, McKissock Learning is hosting a FREE one-hour, non-credit Pro-Series webinar titled “Fannie Mae Q4 2021 Appraisal Update.” In this special interactive webinar, you’ll hear information on desktop appraisals and measuring and calculating GLA. Fannie Mae representatives will be on hand to answer your questions on these topics and more.

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Second term for Powell, Brainard to be Fed vice chair

Housing Wire

President Joe Biden nominated Jerome Powell for a second term as Federal Reserve chair, and elevated Lael Brainard to vice chair, the No. 2 position at the central bank. Powell’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in the form of aggressive monthly asset purchases beginning in March 2020, set off an extraordinarily profitable year for the mortgage industry.

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FinTech Lenders May be Key to Solving Discrimination

Appraisal Buzz

Case Western Reserve University and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) has released a new report that has found that the digitization of mortgages and the rise FinTech lenders may be just what the industry needs to eliminate discrimination in lending. The new paper, called “The Impact of FinTech on Discrimination in Mortgage Lending” shows that FinTech lenders have little-to-no gap when it comes to lending to minorities even after adjusting … The post FinTech Lenders May be Key to So

Lending 195
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BiggerPockets Podcast 536: How to Get ‘Unstuck’ | Coaching Calls w/ Brandon Turner

BiggerPockets

Real estate investing can feel complicated, even when you’re doing well. There’s usually a time when every investor hits an invisible wall and moving on to the next deal, partnership, […].