The Retirement Trifecta
The number one rule of the marketplace is to understand your customer. Knowing what they need, what they want and what they fear is fundamental for success. The housing market has shifted. Today it’s dominated by baby boomers who make up 39% of all homebuyers and 52% of all home sellers. Known as “Peak 65”, in 2024 more than 12,000 people per day will turn 65. The massiv...
Ocwen improves overall reverse mortgage performance despite volume contraction
Ocwen Financial Corp., parent company of PHH Mortgage Corp. and Liberty Reverse Mortgage, reported an overall improvement in its business performance for the first quarter of 2024 — including better reverse mortgage performance attributed to servicing and higher gains on loans held for sale. Under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), Ocwen reported GAAP net income of $30 mill...
Top LO Tim Potempa joins E Mortgage Capital
Top U.S. loan officer Timothy Potempa has departed Dallas-based multichannel lender OneTrust Home Loans to join E Mortgage Capital, bringing his team of about 40 people and more than $300 million in annual production to the company headquartered in California. “I’ve been in the industry since I was 18, so this year will be 22 years, and I’ve only been in five companies,...
Mountain West Financial sells retail assets to ML Mortgage Corp.
Redlands, California-based mortgage lender Mountain West Financial has struck a deal to sell its retail assets to competitor ML Mortgage Corp., one of the latest M&A transactions amid a challenging landscape for home loan originators. “We did transfer our branches and loan officers to ML Mortgage. We felt that ML was a good culture fit and would provide the least...
New appraisal bias protections apply to reverse mortgage program: FHA
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) this week announced a new policy enabling mortgage borrowers to “request a re-assessment of the appraised value of their property if they believe that the appraisal was inaccurate or biased.” An announcement on Thursday from HUD and a new Mortgagee Letter (ML) published Wednesday...
Engel & Volkers continues its expansion in Atlanta
Luxury brokerage Engel & Volkers Atlanta is expanding its footprint in the Georgia capital through the acquisition of AtHome & Co., the company announced on Wednesday. Led by real estate veterans Noelle Larson and Susi O’Connor, the AtHome team serves the Georgia counties of Cobb, Cherokee, Dawson, Forsyth and North Fulton with its nine agents. “Since our launch i...
HUD adds $90M in funding to protect homes from health hazards
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Thursday announced nearly $90 million in new funding opportunities to protect the homes of low-income people from a series of health hazards. The money will go toward prevention and removal of lead paint, carbon monoxide, mold, radon and asbestos in housing units. A portion of the funding will also go to bolstering fire safety. ...
HUD issues Fair Housing Act guidance on AI use
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Thursday announced new guidelines that aim to apply the provisions of the Fair Housing Act to the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in the realm of housing. HUD released separate pieces of guidance aimed at applying Fair Housing Act provisions to two key areas of concern in which AI use could impact the fair application...
Agents might be more tempted to switch brokerages in 2024
Real estate agents appear to be more open to changing brokerages in 2024 compared to last year, according to a recent Coldwell Banker survey. The report found that 61% of agents plan to stick with their current company this year, down from 75% of agents in 2023. Meanwhile, Coldwell Banker-affiliated agents showed no significant change in their likelihood to switch companies, with 69% prepared ...