Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 20, 2024

In an exclusive executive conversation, HousingWire sat down with Jonathan Scarpati, senior vice president of Wholesale Production at Finance of America , to explore home equity products, opportunities for mortgage professionals to leverage them, and more. HousingWire: How did you get into Finance of America and the industry?

Equity 369

Equity Finance Marketing Lending 369

Housing Wire

MARCH 15, 2024

Loan officers and mortgage executives expect home sellers and homebuyers to negotiate more aggressively on commission paid to buyer agents, potentially bringing costs down. NEXA has always been focused on purchase loans , which means some of its LOs do significant business with buyers’ agents. LOs on average get about 1%.)

Industrial 514

Industrial Seller concession Purchase and sale agreement Agents 514

Housing Wire

JUNE 5, 2024

Leading reverse mortgage lender Finance of America (FOA) has undergone a round of layoffs that are impacting multiple levels of the organization, including retail and corporate leadership positions. The news was first reported by National Mortgage News. Sieffert added that Fiore’s successor has been selected. “At

Finance 480

Finance Sales Equity Mortgages 480

Housing Wire

JULY 19, 2024

Headquartered in Southern California , AscentDS will focus on providing customized financing solutions to single-family and multifamily housing developers and investors across the nation. Founder and CEO Robert Wasmund has a deep background in the residential construction and bridge lending industry. “We now known as Rithm Capital.

Construction 459

Construction Development Loans Lending 459

Housing Wire

APRIL 2, 2024

New American Funding (NAF) has snagged top Chicago loan officer Larry Steinway as it looks to grow its presence in the Chicagoland area. billion of loan volume in his nearly 30-year career, started at NAF on April 1 as its vice president producing area sales manager tasked with expanding the lender’s footprint in the Chicagoland area.

Loan Officer 447

Loan Officer Loans Finance Mortgages 447

Housing Wire

MARCH 18, 2024

will move its servicing operations to the industry-leading MSP loan servicing system from ICE Mortgage Technology , ICE announced on Monday. With Lennar already leveraging ICE’s loan origination system, Encompass , the company will benefit from a seamless, digital mortgage ecosystem, the news release stated.

Loans 459

Loans Mortgages Technology Finance 459

Housing Wire

JULY 30, 2024

San Diego-based Smartfi Home Loans , which primarily is active as a wholesale lender in the reverse mortgage space, will launch a retail division that offers reverse mortgage products and has hired industry veteran Paul Fiore as its president of retail sales. “I You’re doing a disservice to everyone in that scenario.

Industrial 448

Industrial Loan Officer Loans Lending 448

Housing Wire

JANUARY 10, 2025

Industry responses to the disaster In its weekly email update to members, the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) advised its members to urge borrowers to immediately contact their servicers. “Assistance options may include postponement of monthly payments, repayment plans, or loan modifications.

Industrial 394

Industrial Mortgages Loans Finance 394

Housing Wire

JUNE 5, 2024

Loan repurchases continue to trend downward at both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , but there appears to be a separation developing in loan-repurchase patterns — with Freddie reducing its loan buybacks at a faster clip than Fannie, according to recently released data and public filings. Breaking it down There was a total of $335.6

Loans 445

Loans Mortgages Industrial Principal 445

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 17, 2024

Better Home & Finance, the parent company of digital lender Better.com , launched its voice-based artificial intelligence loan assistant on Thursday. Vishal Garg , founder and CEO of Better, said in a statement that “fulfilling a mortgage loan is labor-intensive and rules-driven, but Betsy automates the process.”

Loans 435

Loans Loan Officer Lending Mortgages 435

Housing Wire

MAY 15, 2024

New York Community Bancorp , the parent of Flagstar Bank , said it’s still committed to the home loan business despite selling approximately $5 billion in warehouse mortgages to JPMorgan Chase Bank to improve its capital and liquidity position. market share, according to Inside Mortgage Finance (IMF) estimates. billion; 5.7%).

Loans 466

Loans Mortgages Due diligence Banks 466

Housing Wire

AUGUST 15, 2024

There are many government program offerings designed to support low-income borrowers and underserved communities available through banks and credit unions, including: Federal Housing Administration (FHA): FHA provides mortgage insurance on loans made by FHA-approved lenders. Nearly 90% of VA-backed loans are made with no down payment.

Industrial 475

Industrial Fixed-rate mortgage Banks Loans 475

Housing Wire

APRIL 1, 2024

When Hometap launched in 2017, the Boston-based fintech offered an unorthodox answer to this question for homeowners looking for an alternative to a loan. Affordability has always been a challenge,” said Ashkán Zandieh, managing partner and industry chair at the Center for Real Estate Technology and Innovation. “In

Equity 467

Equity Finance Purchase and sale agreement Investor 467

Housing Wire

JULY 19, 2024

Late last month, Ginnie Mae released a term sheet for one of the most anticipated new developments for the reverse mortgage industry — a new Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM)-backed Securities (HMBS) product referred to as “ HMBS 2.0.” I think, as a whole, the industry is reacting pretty favorably to this. I do think [HMBS 2.0]

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Development Industrial Mortgages Fixed-rate mortgage 457

Housing Wire

MAY 14, 2024

Better Home & Finance Holding Co. , Funded loan volumes came in at $661 million, up 25% quarter over quarter. Purchase loans comprised 80% of the funded volume, followed by refinances (12%) and HELOCs (8%). Regarding expenses, Better has shifted its compensation structure to loan officers.

Loans 447

Loans Loan Officer Equity Mortgages 447

Housing Wire

MARCH 8, 2024

Despite the protests of the title insurance industry, Fitch Ratings does not believe the lender title insurance waiver pilot program for certain refinance transactions announced by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) on Thursday will have an impact on title insurer ratings.

Title 457

Title Industrial Land Closing costs 457

Housing Wire

MAY 7, 2024

Recent data from Inside Mortgage Finance shows a significant leap in broker market share, jumping to 24.3% Government data from HMDA shows borrowers are saving, on average, over $9,400 over the life of a loan. Second, nearly 20,000 loan officers moved into the wholesale channel in 2023.

Industrial 476

Industrial Loan Officer Marketing Loans 476

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 9, 2024

In a recent episode of “The Loan Officer Podcast,“ hosts Dustin Owen and John Coleman sit down to expose common mortgage industry myths that can impact everyone from the media to recruiters and branch managers. The second myth addressed involves what they call the unnecessary adoption of 30-year mortgages in the housing industry.

Industrial 432

Industrial Mortgages Loan Officer Loans 432

Housing Wire

JULY 1, 2024

Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Sandra Thompson recently announced its conditional approval of Freddie Mac pilot to purchase second mortgages. Second mortgage loans are specifically authorized in Freddie Mac ’s charter [Section 305(a)(4) – 12 USC 1454(a)(4)]. billion in loans. Let’s be clear.

Loans 446

Loans Mortgages Banks Lending 446

Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 25, 2024

However, the industry is approaching this cycle with caution. loanDepot’s focus is on the sales side, attracting experienced loan officers (LOs) and people who want to join the industry via its accelerated career in effective sales (ACES) program. The number of loans closed per production employee rose to 2.2 in Q2 2023.

Industrial 459

Industrial Mortgages Loan Officer Loans 459

Housing Wire

AUGUST 14, 2024

Industry-leading reverse mortgage lender Finance of America (FOA) detailed some of its ambitions in appealing to senior borrowers, which includes new TV commercials that feature former American Advisors Group (AAG) turned FOA spokesman Tom Selleck.

Finance 435

Finance Mortgages Marketing Branding 435

Housing Wire

JULY 15, 2024

Rocket Pro TPO , the wholesale arm of Rocket Mortgage , announced Monday that it has decided to waive the $795 origination fee charged to broker partners on home equity loans. Rocket claims that its home equity loans are clear to close in an average of 15 days. “There’s a ton of demand when it comes to looking for cash out.

Equity 448

Equity Loans Mortgages Finance 448

Housing Wire

JULY 5, 2024

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) this week detailed its reasons for opposing a bill in the state of Florida designed “to expand projects eligible for residential Property Assessed Clean Energy ( PACE ) financing,” which was recently signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Loans 433

Loans Finance Residential Renovation 433

Housing Wire

AUGUST 23, 2024

In the second part of the interview, Cohen touches on the potential for greater collaboration with the reverse mortgage industry and gives an overview of how “success” is defined for the program. Cheryl Cohen “We have a minimum loan amount of $15,000 and a maximum of $150,000,” Cohen said. “So, With roughly $5.5

Industrial 418

Industrial Mortgages Loans Title 418

Housing Wire

MARCH 15, 2024

Independent mortgage banks (IMBs) and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks reported an average net loss of $2,109 on each loan they originated in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). Loan production expenses averaged around $7,389 per loan.

Loans 468

Loans Banks Mortgages Sales 468

Housing Wire

MARCH 11, 2024

I have been in the mortgage industry for more than two decades and have been working with reverse mortgages for about 12 of those years. What happened There are so many reasons that homeowners may seek out a reverse mortgage: funding retirement , sending kids to college, financing large purchases during retirement and the list goes on.

Industrial 482

Industrial Mortgages Loans Lending 482

Housing Wire

JULY 18, 2024

We are proud to support this exceptional multinational team in its vision and look forward to watching Waltz emerge as a category leader in the financial services industry.” ” Foreign investors can purchase or refinance property through Waltz for a loan-to-value ratio of up to 70%.

Finance 446

Finance Investor Banks Residential 446

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 2, 2024

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), addressed industry attendees at the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) Annual Meeting and Expo in San Diego last week. But that has also illuminated some of the need for additional flexibilities on an issue like counseling modalities.

Industrial 444

Industrial Mortgages Finance Development 444

Housing Wire

MARCH 3, 2024

A record 47% of government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) purchase loans in 2023 came from first-time homebuyers, a number that’s been trending gradually higher throughout the past decade. Looking back, last year’s market was dominated by purchase lending, with loans to buy homes making up 82% of a historically low number of originations.

Loans 514

Loans Debt-to-income ratio Lending Banks 514

Housing Wire

APRIL 15, 2024

Last week’s above-consensus inflation figures brought the mortgage market back to a sour reality: The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate, an index closely watched by industry experts, may be close to or even above the 7% level for longer than previously expected. And more increases are yet to come.

As-is 482

As-is Industrial Mortgages Loans 482

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 12, 2023

Because the Fed’s holdings are constantly reduced by runoff from loans paying off and paying down, the Fed should at a minimum, be buying MBS to offset the runoff, the trade associations urged.

Fixed-rate mortgage 542

Fixed-rate mortgage Mortgages Industrial Lending 542

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 31, 2024

A tri-merge report that a couple years ago was $20 is around $60 right now, one industry pro told HousingWire. Though mortgage lenders don’t want to charge borrowers upfront, many have had to because the pull-through rate on loans makes it economically infeasible otherwise, especially for refis. What will it cost?

Industrial 467

Industrial Mortgages Closing costs Lending 467

Housing Wire

APRIL 17, 2024

Nearly half (48%) of a $65 billion portfolio of loans processed during the first quarter of 2024 contained vulnerabilities to wire and title fraud , according to a report released Wednesday by FundingShield. The portfolio of loans examined included residential, commercial investor and business purpose loans. billion in 2023.

Loans 476

Loans Title Commercial Residential 476

Housing Wire

AUGUST 28, 2024

Tim Bowler, President of ICE Mortgage Technology, has a clear, specific vision for the future of ICE Mortgage Technology and the mortgage industry. Can you tell us more about these investments and what they mean for the mortgage industry? HW: How do you ensure your products remain ahead of the curve in such a rapidly evolving industry?

Technology 425

Technology Industrial Mortgages Development 425

Housing Wire

MAY 23, 2024

Independent mortgage banks (IMBs) and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks reported a pretax net loss of $645 on each loan they originated in the first quarter of 2024 — a decrease from the average loss of $2,109 per loan in Q4 2023, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association ’s (MBA) newest quarterly performance report.

Loans 474

Loans Mortgages Banks Industrial 474

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 6, 2025

In addition to all of these challenges, economic factors outside of housing are making it harder for potential buyers to acquire qualifying mortgage loans. Most lenders focus on offering traditional mortgage loans to clients, choosing to shy away from unconventional options in the market. Finance a loan, and you may lose money.

Loans 295

Loans Mortgages Equity Construction 295

Housing Wire

JUNE 14, 2024

Consumer and industry advocacy organizations — including the American Land Title Association (ALTA), National Consumer Law Center (NCLC), National Association of Realtors (NAR) and AARP — are sounding the alarm over a rising trend of elder real estate fraud and financial exploitation in a new jointly created issue brief released on Friday.

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Industrial Title Land Equity 458