Ryan Alexander was on a cruise with his family when he received news he already felt in his bones was coming: the Department of Government Efficiency cut the project he was working on via his consultancy firm. He was officially out of a job. Though the news was jarring, Alexander’s family rallied around him—and encouraged […]
How a DOGE-cut employee became a full-time mortgage broker Read More »
On this week’s episode of the RealTrending podcast, host Tracey Velt sits down with Jay Papasan — an executive at Keller Williams and co-author of “The Millionaire Real Estate Agent” — to discuss what it takes for new agents to succeed in today’s competitive market. Papasan shares insights from his upcoming book, “The Rookie Real
KW’s Jay Papasan sheds light on rookie agent mistakes Read More »
Mortgage industry professionals had more questions than answers following last week’s bombshell announcement that the government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have approved the use of VantageScore 4.0, a new credit scoring model. A week after the initial announcement, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte answered several key questions. In an FAQ
FHFA clarifies key VantageScore 4.0 implementation questions Read More »
Housing inventory growth has been a blessing for the existing home sales market, cooling price growth and giving homebuyers a bit more advantage in 2025. However, as we all know, the inventory growth has been detrimental to the homebuilders this year. On Monday, Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, posted on X about the
Housing inventory growth: Good for buyers, bad for builders Read More »
New American Funding (NAF), a top-25 U.S. mortgage lender, notified the California attorney general last week of a data breach involving one of its vendors, which potentially compromises customers’ personal information. NAF on June 6 discovered “suspicious activity associated with information provided to one of our vendors that provided notary systems, Mobile Notary Zone,” according to
NAF reports data breach in California Read More »
Building a successful real estate business depends on cultivating strong relationships. Real estate agents will often rely on their network or sphere of influence (SOI) to land their next deal. It’s one of the most valuable tools in an agent’s toolkit, and for good reason. Your sphere is made up of people you already know
8 ways to expand your sphere of influence in real estate in 2025 Read More »
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) on Tuesday released a new interactive tool that aims to give members monthly insights into housing affordability, home-price trends and economic indicators at the metro level. The tool, known as the Market Statistics Dashboard, is available exclusively to NAR members. According to the trade group, the dashboard includes localized
NAR unveils dashboard that tracks key housing trends Read More »
A recent report from the Urban Institute analyzed potential reasons behind the increasing number of delinquencies on Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans. While the increase is sizable, it’s not a cause for concern, the authors of the report suggest. Laurie Goodman, Jun Zhu, Ted Tozer and Jung Hyun Choi — the authors of the July
Urban Institute says rise in FHA mortgage delinquencies isn’t a cause for concern Read More »
Almost 11 months have passed since the business practice changes mandated by the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) commission lawsuit settlement agreement went into effect. Now, the co-lead counsel for the settlement class is looking to find out if the parties are complying. In a letter sent in April but filed in court last week, the
Plaintiffs’ attorneys are checking on NAR settlement compliance Read More »
Mortgage rates are based on bonds and bonds don’t like inflation. When inflation reports are higher than the market expected, rates tend to rise, all other things being equal. But today’s inflation numbers were a bit lower than the median forecast. This scenario is typically more likely to push rates lower. Indeed, in the first
Mortgage Rates Move Higher Despite Decent Inflation Reading Read More »