Serving VA buyers: Practical guidance for real estate agents

Military families and veterans don’t buy homes the way most civilians do. They move on short notice and often finalize purchases from hundreds or thousands of miles away. When you add a VA home loan into the mix, some lenders and agents assume the transaction is headed for trouble before it even sta

States sue HUD over guidance they say weakens fair housing protections

A coalition of 16 attorneys general has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), alleging the agency is attempting to force states to weaken their housing discrimination protections. The dispute centers on written guidance issued by HUD in September to stat

The Real Brokerage adds RealTrends Verified ranked Atlanta group

The Real Brokerage has added Legends Real Estate Group, expanding its presence in the Atlanta metropolitan area and northeast Georgia. The group includes 55 agents and several established teams that previously operated under a REMAX-affiliated brokerage. They will now operate within Real’s platform

Reducing risk: Why logging, protection, and review matter

In real estate, title insurance, and mortgage lending, transactions depend on technology operating accurately and securely behind the scenes. Every login, file access, system change, and integration generates activity that can either support business continuity or signal potential risk. One of the m

Homebuilder confidence nudges up but remains below par

Homebuilding business executives maintain a guarded outlook on the homebuilding market, amid tepid demand, shrinking profit margins and weak consumer sentiment. The ongoing conflict with Iran could further complicate the outlook for builders.  The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells F

Wyoming refund exposes legal risk for local housing fee ordinances

Small wins on impact fees occasionally occur in costly U.S. housing markets. Teton County, Wyoming, officials agreed last week to refund a $24,325 “affordable workforce housing” fee that a homeowner had to pay to obtain a permit to build a single-family home. The payment settles a lawsuit the homeow

eXp defendants move to toss Roberts sexual assault lawsuit ahead of April hearing

The remaining defendants in the Roberts sexual assault lawsuit have all independently filed motions seeking dismissal of the case. Last week, Michael Bjorkman and David Golden, two former top recruiting agents at eXp Realty, as well as eXp World Holdings and its CEO, Glenn Sanford, all filed motions

Housing muni market swells amid affordability policy debate

Financing affordable housing development – typically for lower-income households – is one of the most challenging matters in real estate. Making the economics work on a deal requires layered “hard and soft” funding sources as developers navigate rising costs, policy instability, and structural gaps

Judge rejects bid to cut CFPB funding

A federal judge has ruled that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) must continue getting its funding from the Federal Reserve, dealing a setback to Trump administration efforts to effectively shut down the agency. The ruling Friday by U.S. District Judge Edward Davila in San Jose blocks

Two Harbors postpones vote on UWM merger after quorum miss

A special Two Harbors Investment Corp. (TWO) shareholder meeting to vote on its proposed acquisition by United Holding Corp., the parent of United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), lacked a quorum Monday morning, forcing the company to reschedule the vote for March 24. “The TWO board of directors determined

AI won’t replace real estate agents, but it will widen the gap between average and elite

We’ve all experienced take-it-or-leave-it tech: Systems and platforms that some real estate agents swear by and other agents ignore. Maybe it makes you more productive (if you use it consistently), but it’s no real loss if you don’t. That’s not the case with artificial intelligence. As the consumers

CoStar names tech executive Nana Banerjee to board as independent director

CoStar Group has added a new independent director to its board of directors. On Monday, the Andy Florance-helmed firm announced the appointment of Nana Banerjee to the firm’s board of directors. Banerjee’s appointment expands the board to nine members, including eight independent directors.  “On beh

The hidden tax of being always available in real estate

When every deal feels personal, even winning gets expensive. There is a particular look you start to recognize once you have been around the real estate industry long enough. You know the one. That steely, thousand-yard stare that comes from decades of real estate. It shows up at open houses around

Why most brokerages scale for revenue but fail to profit

In real estate, growth is often measured by one number. Volume. More agents.More transactions.More gross commission income (GCI). On paper, it looks impressive. The brokerage is “scaling.” But behind the scenes? Profit margins are shrinking. This is one of the most common and costly mistakes for Bro

Win the war before you pour the foundation: The strategic power of public financing

In the homebuilding business, the war is often won or lost before a single foundation is poured. The real battle takes place in conference rooms and municipal offices, where the language of annexation agreements, development agreements and special district financing documents gets hammered out. Smar

From loan pools to consumer wallets: The ripple effects of credit score lender choice

On January 15, 2026, the FHFA provided documentation to the Housing Policy Council (HPC) in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request made in July of 2023.  Those documents, though redacted, clearly indicated that the GSEs did not recommend approving two scores as was directed by the F

Housing demand still positive, but for how long with rising rates?

Lower mortgage rates and less volatility have been one of the key positive stories in 2026 for the housing market. Until last week, rates were under 6.25% all year and we didn’t see much volatility, which is a key variable for a healthy housing market. However, a lot of that changed last week as the

Local investors outpace builders in delivering starter homes

New Western released a new report examining the role of real estate investors in supplying entry-level housing. It found that small investors added far more homes in the starter-home price range than homebuilders in 2025. The company’s 2026 Flip Side Report on residential real estate investing trend

Trump executive orders target housing supply and mortgage credit

President Donald Trump on Friday announced two executive orders that aim to increase the U.S. housing supply and consumer access to mortgage credit. One of the orders directs various federal agencies — including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Federal Housing Finan

Trump executive order targets regulatory barriers to homebuilding

The White House announced on Friday afternoon its effort to challenge what it calls “unnecessary regulatory barriers” to homebuilding by issuing a broad executive order to reduce environmental, permitting and programmatic restrictions that federal officials say are contributing to the nation’s housi