Meet the AI platform giving every agent a personal coach

For some real estate brokers and team leaders, coaching can be difficult to scale. Individual coaching offers more personalized guidance but can be costly, while group training reaches more agents but may not address each agent’s specific needs. Phillip Gagnon, founder and CEO of broker management p

Atlas VMS’s Erik Morin on HECM second appraisals, AIM-Port acquisition

Like other segments of the broader housing industry, the appraisal space is rapidly evolving through consolidation, technology adoption and federal policy shifts. Reverse mortgage professionals should be mindful of these factors as they work with appraisers to close deals. Erik Morin, CEO of Miami-b

Your LOS has 300 integrations. That’s the problem.

For years, the mortgage industry wore integrations like a badge of honor. Legacy loan origination systems have hundreds of them, connecting to every vendor, service provider and data source imaginable. The more, the merrier. Sounds impressive? Look closer. Think about the incentives. For a service p

Housing demand stays firm, pushing inventory close to negative YOY

It’s been a day full of news about a possible peace deal with Iran, which would be great news for housing. However, even though mortgage rates have risen due to the conflict lasting longer than anyone initially thought, housing demand has held up, and housing inventory is now on the verge of going n

As HEI regulations expand, states debate loan classification

As states take varying approaches to regulating home equity investment (HEI) products, the industry faces an increasingly fragmented legal landscape shaped by consumer protection concerns and uncertainty over whether the products should be treated as mortgage loans. Under an HEI, homeowners receive

HouseAmerica Financial joins All Western Mortgage 

National mortgage banking company All Western Mortgage (AWM) announced on Thursday that HouseAmerica Financial has joined the company as it continues its national expansion. HouseAmerica Financial, based in La Cañada, California, produces about $500 million annually in mortgage volume, according to

House passes bill hiking VA mortgage refi fees to fund expanded veterans’ benefits

The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill that increases benefits for veterans and their surviving families, offsetting the cost by raising fees on Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) refinance transactions. The legislation — H.R. 6047, also known as the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmu

Judge orders MRED to restore Zillow listing feeds in Chicago

Chicagoland area listings are back on Zillow and Trulia as of Friday afternoon, after Chicago-based federal Judge John Tharp, Jr. granted in part Zillow’s preliminary injunction motion seeking to prevent Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) from suspending its listing feeds.  On Monday, Zillow filed the

California MBA backs $100M fund in governor’s budget proposal for wildfire rebuilding

The California Mortgage Bankers Association (CMBA) voiced strong support for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed $100 million allocation for the Southern California Rebuild Fund included in this month’s revised state budget proposal, the trade group said this week. The proposed funding is designed to expan

Everything you need to know about Zillow’s listing war with MRED and Compass

The battle between Zillow, Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) and Compass International Holdings, reached a zenith this week when MRED suspended its IDX and VOW listing feeds to Zillow and Trulia. This came after the portal allegedly refused to cure what the MLS called a “material breach” of its licens

Epcon Communities, 40 years in, charts new pathways to growth

Ohio-based Epcon Communities, a leader in the active adult segment, celebrated its 40th anniversary this year, while positioning itself for continued expansion amid strong demand from lifestyle-driven 55+ homebuyers. Phil Fankhauser and Ed Bacome founded the company in 1986, focusing on low-maintena

Is a new portal model coming for our listing inventory?

I’d like to share a New York expression because it’s very appropriate for this situation. “Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, I should slap myself in the head.” I am watching colleagues I respect, smart people in this industry, telling agents to get on board with the new Google listing pilot.

New Fed Chair Warsh loses dove as Waller turns hawkish

Today the Fed hawks killed the doves. On the day Kevin Warsh is sworn in as Fed Chairman, he has lost one of the few doves left on the Fed board: Governor Christopher Waller, whom I would have wanted as Fed chairman. Today, Waller gave a speech about how policy risk has changed and to me this seals

We have met one enemy of housing affordability … it is us

America’s housing affordability debate has become one of those national arguments that sounds complete until you look at the product itself. The prevailing story holds that homes became unaffordable because prices outpaced incomes. That is true, but incomplete. The uncomfortable truth is that Americ

Homeowners need more than a mortgage — they need the tools to stay

Homeowners are facing a crisis. A crisis in property insurance. A crisis in affordability. And with hurricane season fast approaching, a growing sense of anxiety across the Southeast about what comes next. We have seen this before. Hurricanes Helene and Milton caused more than $100 billion in damage

As retirement costs surge, more homeowners turn to their equity

Americans may need roughly $2.57 million to retire comfortably by 2043, up sharply from the $1.75 million projected for 2033, according to a 2025 Goldman Sachs retirement survey. The increase reflects years of inflation that have driven up the costs of housing, health care and daily expenses. Househ

The MRED Zillow legal fight just hit agents and sellers directly

Real estate professionals across the Greater Chicagoland area awoke Wednesday to find their listings removed from Zillow, as the fight between the listing portal giant and the local MLS, Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED), which already includes an antitrust lawsuit, escalated.  On Wednesday morning, M

Rocket Mortgage, Rocket Pro adopt VantageScore 4.0

Rocket Mortgage and Rocket Pro announced Thursday that they have begun using VantageScore 4.0 alongside Classic FICO scores in the mortgage qualification process, a move the company said is aimed at expanding access to home financing. Rocket’s crosstown rival, United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) began a

New brokerage Showings bets on buyer leads over listing commissions

A new real estate brokerage aims to eliminate traditional listing agents and listing fees altogether — a model its founder says could challenge decades-old assumptions about agent compensation. Showings announced it will officially launch May 22 in New York City, Atlanta, Chicago and Orlando. The co

Single-family housing starts fell in April, but multifamily gained momentum

Housing starts increased in April compared with a year ago, but a deeper dive into the data reveals that this uptick was driven by a noisier boost in multifamily development activity, while single-family starts declined.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s new residential construction data releas