UWM Holdings Corp. is pairing the announcement of a record $2.05 billion strategic capital partnership with its second-quarter 2026 results, which show the nation’s largest mortgage lender is still leaning into growth despite higher leverage and moving into the red.

In an internal memo to employees reviewed by HousingWire, chairman, president and CEO Mat Ishbia told staff that UWM has “just finalized the largest capital raise in mortgage industry history, totaling more than $2 billion.” 

Ishbia said he is personally investing through the Ishbia family’s new vehicle, SFS Group Capital, alongside Oaktree Capital Management, and calls the transaction “a powerful endorsement from both me and one of the world’s premier investment firms.” 

The move comes as UWM lost its bid to acquire Two Harbors Investment Corp. to CrossCountry Mortgage (CCM), when its leverage was pointed out as an issue by analysts. Ishbia framed the investment as giving UWM “even more strength to keep investing in our people, technology, innovation and the opportunities ahead.”

The public announcement of the capital raise was released on Wednesday in conjunction with UWM’s second-quarter 2026 earnings. The company is also announcing a suspension of its common dividend “to prioritize debt reduction and balance-sheet strength.”

Second quarter earnings 

UWM reported loan origination volume of $39.7 billion in Q2, flat year over year and down from $44.9 billion in the first quarter. Total gain-on-sale margin was at 133 basis points, up from 123 bps in the first quarter and 113 bps in the second quarter of 2025

Despite stable volume and a higher gain-on-sale margin, UWM reported a net loss of $451.9 million for the quarter, compared with a profit of $170.4 million in the first quarter and $314.5 million in the second quarter of 2025. 

“We saw a net loss of $451.9 million primarily driven by a unique hedge-related event tied to the anticipated Two Harbors MSR transaction. It was a quarter-specific mark-to-market impact and does not reflect the underlying strength of UWM’s core business,” a UWM spokesperson said.

On the servicing side, UWM’s MSR portfolio unpaid principal balance grew to $247.6 billion with a weighted average coupon of 5.93%, up from $229.5 billion and 5.90% as of March 31. UWM ended the second quarter with roughly $1.3 billion in available liquidity, including $498.4 million in cash and available borrowing capacity under secured and unsecured credit lines.

The earnings release shows equity nearly halved to $985.3 million over the past year and non-funding leverage more than tripling to 6.13 times, explaining why UWM moved to raise permanent capital, suspend the dividend and prioritize deleveraging.

Strategic moves 

UWM is bringing in $1.65 billion of preferred equity at closing from the Ishbia family and Oaktree, with an additional $400 million targeted through a rights offering for Class A shareholders, if needed. Investors will receive warrants in connection with the transaction, further linking returns to future performance.

The company will suspend its quarterly common dividend and focus on debt reduction and balance-sheet strength, with a stated goal of using earnings and manageable leverage to pay down the preferred equity over time.

Proceeds will be used on “balance sheet fortification, including repayment of existing debt, repayment of MSR financing facilities and support for general corporate purposes.”

UWM’s board has also agreed to add an Oaktree representative and has given the firm the right to nominate one additional independent director, adding a large institutional credit investor to its governance mix.

“We are thrilled to partner with Mat and the UWM team at a pivotal time for the mortgage industry,” Nick Basso, co-Head of North America for Oaktree’s Global Opportunities Group, said a statement.

“Mat has built an exceptional business, and Oaktree’s commitment reflects our conviction in UWM’s differentiated platform, market leadership and long-term growth potential. We look forward to leveraging our experience in the mortgage sector and serving as a strategic partner to the Company and its stakeholders.”

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is serving as financial adviser to UWMC in connection with the transaction and Wells Fargo Securities is serving as financial adviser to Oaktree.

This article was written by Flávia Furlan Nunes and generated with the assistance of HousingWire Automation, then reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

This post was originally published on here. 

A new Shelterforce report highlights a growing concern for older homeowners in rural America: Housing stability often depends less on affordability than on the ability to maintain aging homes.

The report follows Kentucky homeowner Karen Moore, whose leaking roof eventually caused extensive structural damage before help arrived through the Christian Appalachian Project (CAP).

“Her roof [had been] leaking, but she couldn’t afford to get the roof repaired,” said Tina Bryson, CAP’s director of communications. “Water dripping through the roof over time rotted out her floor in her kitchen. She told me how she was afraid to go to the bathroom at night because … in the dark, [she] might go through the floor.”

Moore’s situation illustrates a broader challenge facing many rural seniors.

Older housing stock, fixed incomes, severe weather and rising repair costs can combine to make even basic maintenance financially out of reach. Left unaddressed, relatively minor repairs can escalate into major safety hazards that threaten a homeowner’s ability to age in place.

Shelterforce also emphasized the relationship between housing stability and overall health.

Financial strain may cause seniors to postpone preventive medical care, while cognitive decline can interfere with paying bills and managing household finances.

“I’ve seen cases [where people’s] memory and … thinking start to decline,” said Kelley Kinder, president and founder of the Appalachian Memory and Aging Initiative. “And one of the first things [to go] is their ability to manage their finances. So if they can’t pay their bills, they can’t maintain their housing.

“We see that often. There have been multiple occasions [when] people have had to leave their homes, where they’ve lived most of their lives, and then the home just sits there empty and goes downhill.”

The report also points to persistent shortages of health care professionals in rural communities, particularly specialists, making it more difficult for older adults to receive the care they need while remaining at home.

Repair costs create long-term risks

The report notes that federal assistance exists through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Section 504 Home Repair Program, which provides loans and grants for qualifying low-income rural homeowners.

But funding limitations, application complexity and proposed budget cuts can leave many seniors waiting months or years for assistance.

As repairs are delayed, housing conditions continue to deteriorate. Accessibility issues, weather damage, insurance costs and utility expenses add further pressure for homeowners living on fixed incomes.

For housing professionals serving older homeowners, the report reinforces the importance of exploring financial options before deferred maintenance becomes a crisis. And while it wasn’t presented as a primary solution in the Shelterforce report, home equity can play a role for some homeowners.

Reverse mortgages may help eligible borrowers access funds for critical repairs, accessibility modifications or other housing-related expenses that support aging in place.

Community-based approach

Transportation presents another significant challenge. With limited or nonexistent public transit, many nonprofit organizations provide rides to medical appointments, grocery stores and other essential destinations.

Shelterforce concluded that helping rural seniors remain in their homes requires coordinated efforts among housing providers, health care organizations, nonprofits and community partners.

For mortgage professionals, the report serves as a reminder that housing finance is only one piece of a larger aging-in-place strategy.

When appropriate, reverse mortgages can complement public programs and nonprofit resources by helping eligible homeowners preserve safe, stable housing while maintaining their independence.

This article was written by Jonathan Delozier and generated with the assistance of HousingWire Automation. It was reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

This post was originally published on here. 

Zillow Group has restructured its executive ranks, expanding chief financial officer Jeremy Hofmann’s role to include chief operating officer, while appointing Cassandra “Sandi” Knight as its first chief legal and policy officer and promoting two senior vice presidents, according to an announcement on Wednesday.

These executive leadership changes come one day after Zillow laid off over 500 employees, or roughly 7% of its staff, as part of what the company called “a restructuring effort.” Zillow has not disclosed any details regarding which departments were impacted, however posts from impacted former employees on LinkedIn show that many of those impacted were part of Zillow Rentals, product design and management and other marketing and sales teams across the company. 

Hofmann takes on dual COO and CFO role

Hofmann, a nine-year Zillow veteran and one of the key architects of the company’s current business strategy, will now oversee both financial strategy and day-to-day operations, the company said in its announcement.

Consolidating the COO and CFO functions under a single leader is intended to tighten the link between capital allocation, planning and operational execution as Zillow scales its integrated platform. The board cited Hofmann’s “deep command of Zillow’s strategy” and his understanding of operational dependencies across the business for the expanded remit. He has built and led the company’s finance leadership team during his tenure.

Jun Choo, who has served as chief operating officer since November 2024, is stepping down from that role to focus on his health and will serve in an advisory capacity through the end of 2026, according to the release. 

“Jeremy is an exceptional financial and operational leader and a critical strategic partner to the entire executive team and me,” Zillow Group CEO Jeremy Wacksman said in the release. “His deep understanding of our business, combined with the strength of the finance leadership team he has cultivated, gives us great confidence that this expanded role will accelerate our ability to execute and scale.”

Google litigator Knight joins as first chief legal and policy officer

Zillow also created a new C-suite position, naming Knight its first chief legal and policy officer. The role elevates legal, compliance and government relations to the top of the organization as real estate and technology companies face heightened regulatory and litigation risk.

Knight brings more than 20 years of experience in complex litigation and operational leadership across technology and financial services. She will report to Wacksman and oversee Zillow’s legal, compliance and government relations functions.

She joins from Google, where she served as vice president of litigation and discovery and led legal strategy on high-profile and novel technology cases. Before Google, she was vice president and chief litigation counsel at PayPal and spent 11 years at Morgan Stanley in senior litigation and compliance roles.

“Empowering movers with a seamless, integrated experience requires us to operate in ways that build and enhance consumer trust,” Wacksman said. “Sandi’s exceptional legal career, her deep compliance expertise, and her experience leading through transformational moments make her the right person for Zillow. We’re thrilled to welcome her to the team in this newly created role.”

Berroth, Wilson elevated to senior vice president roles

Zillow also promoted two internal leaders who will report directly to Hofmann.

Katie Berroth was promoted to senior vice president of strategy and operations. She will lead business strategy, cross-functional operations and partnerships. The role will be central to aligning product roadmaps, partner programs and back-end operations as Zillow pushes to deepen engagement across the consumer journey.

Eric Wilson was promoted to senior vice president and general manager of mortgages. He will oversee Zillow’s mortgage operations, including Zillow Home Loans.

The company described both Berroth and Wilson as seasoned Zillow executives who have helped shape its growth and operational foundation.

This article was written by Brooklee Han and generated with the assistance of HousingWire Automation, then reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

This post was originally published on here. 

Zillow may be facing legal and Realtor Code of Ethics challenges from a variety of sources in and out of the housing industry, but executives feel strongly that the company’s “Housing Super App” strategy is paying off. 

“Our strong results and consistent execution demonstrate the durability of our strategy. Zillow is the operating system for modern real estate: AI-native, at the core of the transaction, empowering both consumers and professionals from end to end,” Zillow CEO Jeremy Wacksman and CFO and newly appointed COO Jeremy Hofmann wrote in a letter to shareholders regarding their firm’s second quarter 2026 financial results, published on Wednesday.

During Q2 2026, Zillow generated $772 million in revenue, up 18% year-over-year. The company’s for-sale segment generated $549 million in revenue, up 14% annually, while its residential segment was up 7% to $465 million, its mortgage revenue rose 75% to $84 million and its rentals segment recorded a 31% yearly increase in revenue to $209 million.

Despite these increases, the company reported a net loss of $4 million for the quarter, down from a net income of $2 million a year ago. However, for the six months ending June 30, 2026, Zillow has recorded $42 million in net income, compared to $10 million a year ago. 

Revenue growth across the board

Zillow attributed much of the growth of its rentals revenue to a 23% annual increase in the number of multifamily properties on its site, which came in at 79,000 properties at the end of the quarter. 

As for Zillow Home Loans, the firm reported $2.2 billion in loan origination volume for the quarter, up 95% compared to a year ago. The company said the double digit adoption growth of its mortgage product was due to its integration of pre-approval directly into users’ home search. Zillow noted that its mortgage arm is now a top-25 purchase lender in the country and that its average loan officer originates roughly twice the industry average of purchase loans per month.

Additionally, Zillow executives noted that Zillow Home Loans’ per mortgage unit economics were positive as of early August. In the future, Zillow said it expects Zillow Home Loans economics to generate profits similar to profits the company earns from Preferred agent partner referral fees.

Residential revenue growth

In looking at its for-sale and residential segments, executives said their firm has “built a platform where our interests align with the interests of buyers, sellers and agents.” According to Zillow’s data, the average buyer who ends up transacting with a Zillow Preferred agent spends roughly 15 hours using Zillow before they reach out to connect with an agent. This high level of buyer engagement and use, Zillow said, has enabled it to become more useful to homebuyers.

Additionally, Zillow noted that its AI search mode option has enabled it to learn even more about consumer wants and needs, noting that consumers “share more about their needs in AI mode than they ever entered into a typical residential search query — not just what they’re looking for in a home, but their timeline, financial picture, the need to sell their current home, whether they need a fenced backyard for their pets and other special circumstances that go into their decision.”

“Consumers who use AI mode spend more than three times as long on Zillow, view more than twice as many homes, run nearly three times as many searches — and contact an agent at nearly three times the rate of consumers who don’t use AI mode,” Hofmann and Wacksman wrote in their letter to shareholders.

The company said AI search mode is currently live for roughly 20% of signed-in users.

“We are actively expanding what AI mode can do — adding skills and evaluations that serve buyers, sellers, renters and homeowners,” Hofmann and Wacksman wrote. “The opportunity in front of us is to deepen our engagement with our already broad audience, across every stage, in ways that weren’t possible before.”

Zillow also noted that the Zillow Preferred agent referral fee model it had swapped to from its previous Preferred Agent program, which saw agents pay for leads up front, has led to a 23% annual increase in revenue from its lead generation business. 

The leaders also discussed the Zillow Pro program, highlighting how the platform can help listing agents through features such as “Likely to List, which uses predictive AI signals from the unique context across [the Zillow] platform — including from AI mode — to flag contacts in an agent’s Follow Up Boss database whose homes show pre-listing activity, giving agents a reason to reconnect with past contacts who may be ready to sell before they’ve raised their hand elsewhere.” 

Zillow executives also touched on the company’s Preview product which it launched this spring. The firm said it now has over 100 brokerages signed on to Zillow Preview, noting that later this summer all Preview listings will be syndicated to Realtor.com. 

“As MLSs give sellers, agents and brokers more options and more flexibility in how long they can pre-market a listing, we welcome those changes because they boost the value proposition of Zillow Preview,” the executives wrote. 

The future of Zillow

The executives also addressed the round of layoffs Zillow conducted on Tuesday, which saw the firm eliminate over 500 roles. 

“We made this decision to ensure we can move faster and operate more efficiently with a more sustainable cost structure. We’re grateful to every person who is leaving for their contributions through the years,” Hofmann and Wacksman wrote. 

Looking ahead, Wacksman and Hofmann wrote that despite all of the “noise” this year, they continue to see plenty of positives in their business. 

“Zillow consistently performs well because we support the needs of both sides of the marketplace: We’ve rapidly built the modern real estate operating system professionals rely on every day to run their businesses,” they wrote. “And consumers trust and return to Zillow throughout a months-long journey, no matter where that journey began. Our direct brand and audience engagement put us in a position of strength as we drive forward and expand our business.”

This post was originally published on here. 

For decades, California Regional MLS (CRMLS) has stood at the center of one of the nation’s most complex and influential real estate markets.

As CRMLS CEO, Art Carter navigates the organization through unprecedented market conditions, industry consolidation and the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI), he’s keeping a steady eye on what matters most; helping brokers and agents adapt.

Carter will be a speaker this coming Tuesday at HousingWire’s AI Summit. He and Tim Dain, president and CEO of NorthstarMLS, will discuss how MLS infrastructure is evolving for the AI era.

Before making the trip, Carter shared insight on the regulatory landscape in California, trends flying under the radar in micro markets, the AI transformation he believes the industry is ignoring at its own peril and why he thinks more litigation is on the horizon.

Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Jonathan Delozier: California is often at the forefront of policy changes. How do you see CRMLS helping agents adapt to evolving regulations — whether it’s buyer representation requirements, disclosure expectations or other issues on the radar?

Art Carter: Obviously, there’s been a lot of change in the industry. Unfortunately, we’re going through an unprecedented market and that is [causing] a lot of pressure on the brokerage community. You’re seeing consolidation. The main thing is to delineate and separate between what’s noise and what’s real.

More specifically, with the multiple listing service as a platform, there are risks that as these brokerage communities get larger — and there is a concentration of resources — they could take their ball and go home. I don’t think that’s in anybody’s benefit. You’ve got to go 50 brokers deep to get to 50% of my marketplace. We’re firm believers that brokers are better working together to serve buyers and sellers, and that a transparent marketplace is a key thing — where we continue to try to keep everybody moving in the same direction.

Delozier: With CRMLS serving such a diverse mix of markets in California — luxury along the coast, Inland Empire, Central Valley, etc. — what trends are you seeing in individual markets that might be flying under the radar, and what trends are universal?

Carter: The universal trend is that interest rates are having a significant effect on sales. It is ostensibly moving more towards a buyer’s market, but we’re just not seeing the price depreciation that you typically see. That’s the part that’s unprecedented.

That being said, you get some of these micro markets that are not facing the same pressures. They’re still getting multiple offers. The interest rates are not driving down interest and the movement of properties. That’s really the disparate way that things are happening across the board. You would think that a rising tide would float all boats, and a sinking tide would do the same thing, but it’s really dependent upon the marketplaces in which you’re participating.

Delozier: With CRMLS expanding access to tech and new tools and reports, what’s proving most useful for agents on a day-to-day basis and what kind of results are you seeing?

Carter: We’ve got a couple of new products out to the membership. We’re in the process of building some AI integration tools for our membership. That’s one of my biggest disappointments in this industry — that all of the noise is really distracting everyone from paying attention to the one thing it should be paying attention to, which is AI.

There are transformational things going on right now that most people in the industry are not paying close enough attention to. Most of them are dabbling on one side and playing around with the LLMs, but there’s just not enough attention to the way that Wall Street is falling in love. SaaS companies are being devalued, and AI companies are the new darlings, and nobody in the MLS industry is paying close enough attention to that.

Delozier: Could real estate SaaS companies become almost a thing of the past in five to 10 years, replaced by more general-use AI tools?

Carter: I’m not a believer in doomsday predictions for the MLS industry, agents or brokerages. This industry is so resilient — it will adapt and it will find those niches. Homeownership and buying and selling your house is still the most significant transaction any American will enter into in their lifetime. Paying attention to some of the surveys I’m seeing, even the younger generations are not all that comfortable with allowing AI to handle that whole entire transaction.

I was on a bus with a venture capitalist, and he was talking about how he felt that agentic AI models would take the agents out of the equation. I just don’t believe that. Obviously, AI is going to change the way that brokers and agents work, but there is still that human element that is going to have to be a necessity as we move forward.

I think there’s some ways that AI can enhance human interaction, but I think that’s where we’ll end up defaulting to. AI will be a human interaction enhancer, not a replacer.

Delozier: A popular refrain is that regulation and government red tape are the only things really holding back housing affordability. What do you think when you hear that, and what do you think is the real cause of lack of affordability in California?

Carter: It’s true. You look at the Inland Empire here — we do have land, but knowing that regulations can put upwards of $100,000 of cost on every door built — I haven’t looked at the latest figures out of the building association, but those numbers are crazy. California needs to do a better job. The act that was just allowed to pass into law, I think will have a significant impact. The fact that you can now not have to pay taxes on more of your capital that you’ve earned over a period of time — hopefully more and more people will take advantage of that, and it will loosen up the chains that are holding inventory now.

Delozier: Looking ahead three to five years, what’s going to be the continued value proposition for not just CRMLS but any MLS, with the increased sophistication of portals and models that seem to be trying to unseat the MLS?

Carter: It’s probably a controversial statement, but I’m going to say it anyways. I think this industry is headed for more litigation. I would have hoped that it would have learned a very painful lesson out of the Sitzer case, but I think that as time moves on, we’re starting to hear more individuals talking out against private listing networks and some of the movement to hide pieces of data from the consumer. I think, unfortunately, litigation will occur out of that. Is it going to be next year? I don’t know, but I think in the next three to five years we will see those cases pop up.

Delozier: Even through that, what’s going to be the way to tell people the MLS is still important five years from now?

Carter: I go back to my marketplace, where you’ve got to go 50 brokers deep to get to 50% of the market. That clearinghouse — that transparent clearinghouse where brokers can cooperate with each other to bring buyers and sellers together — is still just as important today as it was 100 years ago when the first MLSs started popping up.

I don’t ascribe to this thought process that we’re all dead. Obviously, there needs to be [fewer] of us. There needs to be change, and we need to start weighing both sides of the equation — buyers and sellers and those brokers and agents who represent them. I feel confident that we will thread that needle, and we’ll figure out a way to continue to service people.

This post was originally published on here. 

Last month’s structural near-disaster at the former Pfizer headquarters being converted to apartments set off a sweeping inspection of construction sites across New York City.

Inspectors checked at 180 sites in all, according to the Department of Buildings.

Inspectors found violations, but “we did not find any hazardous structural issues posing an imminent danger to public safety,” DOB Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said in a social media post.

The findings could help dull the glare of national concern over office-to-residential conversions after last month’s column-buckling mishap at MetroLoft‘s 1,600-unit Manhattan project. The incident, which added floors to the 1970s Pfizer building, renewed debate over the complex challenges of converting offices into housing.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani has staked part of his housing strategy on office-to-residential conversions, betting they can add units faster than ground-up construction. More than 40 additional conversion projects are underway or planned citywide, according to Department of City Planning data cited by the building agency. Together, they would add more than 14,000 apartments and condos.

Inspectors reported finding no systemic red flags. The sweep gives Mamdani’s administration a clean bill of health, taking pressure off the broader conversion pipeline.

Absent a citywide pattern of danger, the political and regulatory spotlight on conversions may likely fade, not intensify.

Finding violations

In the sweep, city inspectors targeted firms tied to the project. That list included steel fabricator Barone Steel Fabricators, inspection firm Domani Inspection Services and demolition subcontractor Northeast Specialist Group.

Inspectors logged 65 violations across 38 sites, resulting in 18 partial stop-work orders and one full halt at a Williamsburg apartment building.

What caused the columns to buckle remains unknown. DOB spokesman Andrew Rudansky told Gothamist that the investigation remains open. He said the agency plans another round of sweeps targeting additional firms.

The findings arrive as two other high-profile Manhattan conversions remain under active stop-work orders from an earlier enforcement push. GFP Real Estate‘s 222 Broadway, a 1962 tower being converted into roughly 300 apartments, is on its third stop-work order. Cracked concrete beams on the 32nd floor went unreported for weeks.

Its engineering firm submitted repair documentation last week, but DOB’s review is ongoing.

SL Green‘s 750 Third Avenue drew a partial stop-work order after inspectors found steel welding inconsistent with filed plans. The developer says it self-identified the issue.

This post was originally published on here. 

Realtors Property Resource (RPR), a subsidiary of the National Association of Realtors, has promoted Emily Line to chief strategy officer and Janine Sieja to chief product officer.

The appointments expand responsibilities both executives have held within the organization as the real estate data platform continues developing products and services for Realtors, brokerages, associations and multiple listing services (MLS).

“Emily and Janine are exceptional leaders whose leadership has helped make RPR the trusted resource it is today,” CEO Jeff Young said. “Emily’s strategic vision and deep industry relationships, combined with Janine’s relentless focus on product innovation and execution, will help ensure RPR continues delivering technology that empowers Realtors and strengthens the real estate industry.”

As chief strategy officer, Line will oversee member experience, broker services, industry relations with associations and MLSs and commercial services. She joined Realtors Property Resource in 2012 after working in commercial outreach within the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and helped develop the company’s commercial platform.

Line also serves as a mentor for emerging real estate technology companies through TechStars and NAR REACH and previously served on the advisory board for CommissionTrac.

A product development leader since 2018, Sieja will continue overseeing that area as chief product officer.

During her tenure, Realtors Property Resource said it modernized its website and mobile applications, expanded data capabilities and upgraded platform infrastructure. The company also reported that average 90-day user activity increased from 255,000 in 2018 to 344,000 in 2026, a 35% increase.

Sieja also serves on the board of the Real Estate Standards Organization and the City of Minneapolis Advisory Committee on Housing.

RPR’s exclusive online real estate database spans more than 160 million residential and commercial U.S. properties.

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

This post was originally published on here. 

A leadership shakeup at Better this week underscores the company’s ongoing struggle to balance its mortgage origination business with its technology ambitions as it pursues profitability, a goal that now appears more distant than leadership previously projected.

Daniel Lewis, whose hedge fund Orange Capital shut down in 2016 after 10 years in operation and a portfolio worth more than $1 billion, is taking the helm at Better as interim CEO. Viewed as an activist investor, he gained the top job after building a 5.8% stake in Better. In February, Orange Capital Ventures disclosed 587,490 shares of Class A stock in the company.

“I have been a significant shareholder of Better for more than a year. Over the past year, I have become deeply engaged with the company as an independent adviser, resulting in my recent appointment to the board,” Lewis told HousingWire.

“During that time, I have worked closely with management on cost reductions, enterprise partnerships, strategic planning and operational initiatives, allowing me to develop a detailed understanding of Better’s technology, strategy, and operations. I undertook my independent advisory work as a concerned shareholder, not as a candidate for future leadership.”

Lewis is been closely watched by Vishal Garg, the Better founder who served as CEO for more than a decade and still retains significant influence over the company’s future. Garg controls Class B common stock that entitled him to about 19% of the voting power as of March. Under Better’s structure, his voting power can increase as holders of Class B stock (which carries three votes per share) sell and convert those shares into Class A stock (only one vote per share).  

“I remain Better’s founder, a board director, its single largest voting shareholder by a large margin, and am invested in its long-term success,” Garg said in an exclusive response to HousingWire.

Lewis added that Garg, as a board member, “will work closely with me to ensure an orderly and effective leadership transition, but does not have any day-to-day operational role.”

Mounting losses

Garg’s step back from the CEO position follows the unraveling of profitability promises.

In prior earnings reports, Better said it aimed to reach profitability by the end of the third quarter of 2026, after 11 consecutive quarters of losses. The company went public in 2023, after merging with special purpose acquisition company Aurora Acquisition Corp., and its stock has fallen more than 90% since then.

Better released preliminary Q2 206 earnings results this week, including funded loan volume ($1.67 billion, up 45% year over year), revenue ($54.7 million, up 28% year over year), net loss (-$30.6 million) and adjusted EBITDA (-$14.0 million, including a $6.5 million benefit from a TRID reserve release tied to loans originated before June 2022).

The company’s official release and earnings call are scheduled for Thursday.

BTIG analysts called the preliminary results “disappointing,” despite volumes and revenues coming in line with expectations. “With the combination of the weaker second-quarter results and higher rates, we expect a delay in the shift to EBITDA breakeven,” the analysts added in a report released Tuesday.

Lewis said that Better is working to meet the “objective of durable profitability that generates the resources to continue investing in Tinman, enterprise distribution, and the areas where Better is competitively differentiated.” But leadership is not “going to anchor the company to a specific month for becoming cash flow positive.”

SoftBank’s ongoing role

Better has made several announcements affecting its financials. The latest, now under Lewis, is an expanded cost-reduction plan targeting $45 million in annualized savings by the end of 2026, up from a previous goal of $25 million.

Lewis said cost reduction will be done across the organization, reflecting efficiency initiatives, including greater automation through Tinman and Betsy, streamlined operations and disciplined expense management.

In April 2025, SB Northstar, the asset management wing of SoftBank, agreed to restructure debt in a transaction involving a haircut and cash. The lender retired $530 million of debt due in 2028 that accrued interest at 1% annually. It also issued $155 million in new senior secured notes at a 6% annual rate due in December 2028. Better also made a one-time payment of $110 million.

Better granted the investor a nonvoting board observer seat, contingent on the investor continuing to hold at least 25% of the total note amount, or 12% of the outstanding shares of the company’s Class A, B or C stock, according to the agreement.

Regarding the role of Softbank in the current leadership transition, Lewis said Better does not comment on “specifics of arrangements with Softbank or other individual investors.” The company’s strategic direction is set by the management team and board, he added.

Better is not the first SoftBank-backed firm to undergo a leadership shakeup. Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick stepped down as CEO in 2017 following workplace culture and sexual harassment scandals, although SoftBank did not acquire its 15% stake until 2018. Kalanick left the board at the end of 2019.

At WeWork, where SoftBank was a primary financial backer, co-founder and CEO Adam Neumann resigned in 2019 amid a delayed initial public offering and governance concerns. Its valuation later collapsed and it filed for bankruptcy in 2023.

In another initiative, Better put U.K.-based Birmingham Bank — acquired in 2023 — up for sale. As of the first quarter of 2026, the bank is presented as discontinued operations, posting a $21 million loss from January through May, compared with a $49.3 million profit for the remainder of the business.

Overall, the lender’s liquidity declined from $229 million in cash, restricted cash, short-term investments and assets held for sale in Q4 2025 to $136 million in Q1 2026.

Simultaneously, Better announced plans to raise about $69 million in gross proceeds (before underwriting discounts, commissions and offering expenses) through a public offering of Class A common stock. Better said it intended to use the net proceeds for growth capital and general corporate purposes, and to terminate its at-the-market equity program.

Recharted business model

A mortgage industry expert who spoke with HousingWire on background said the leadership shakeup appears aimed at refocusing the company to reach profitability.  

“The P&L, from a revenue standpoint, is actually driven by the fact that they’re a mortgage originator — that’s what generates all their revenue and earnings,” the expert said. “But their costs are a mix of being an originator and employing engineers and people focused on building tech platforms and products.”

On the mortgage side, Better brought in the NEO Home Loans division after Minneapolis-based mortgage lender Luminate Home Loans chose to shut it down only two years after acquiring it from Celebrity Home Loans. Since January 2025, NEO has grown from a $1.5 billion run rate to $2.97 billion as of March 2026. 

Regarding the future of NEO, Lewis said the division “plays an important role in our core business,” and the company sees “meaningful opportunity ahead as we continue to scale efficiently and lower acquisition costs across our platform.”

Better also said it is sharpening its strategy around a platform model in which partners handle customer acquisition while Better focuses on efficient mortgage manufacturing and technology.

“Our partner-led platform strategy pushes us to lean further into partnerships with enterprise customers and independent mortgage brokers,” Lewis said. “With that said, DTC (direct to consumer) remains a core part of Better’s operations. Winning in DTC is no different than any other channel; if we have the lowest unit economics in the industry, we have a right to win, and Tinman is what gives us that advantage — in DTC and every other channel we serve.”

On the tech side, mortgage industry sources said the main challenge is that companies need scale to be successful in that business, meaning a large portfolio of clients is necessary.

Better has built a technology ecosystem centered on artificial intelligence and a digital lending infrastructure, partnering with companies like OpenAI and ElevenLabs to support its Tinman AI platform and AI loan agent, Betsy.

The company has also worked with Credit Karma, Finance of America and Coinbase on digital mortgage, home equity and crypto-backed lending initiatives.

“Don’t scream to me that they want to be a big mortgage originator. To me, Lewis as interim CEO screams like they want to build technology. And my question is, how many fintech mortgage companies or mortgage tech companies have really broken out and been successful. Not a lot,” a mortgage industry adviser said. 

“At the end of the day, this is a bottom-line business,” he added. “You can say all you want about building new technologies and creating cool stuff, but if it’s not driving toward profitability, investors aren’t going to be patient with that.” 

This post was originally published on here. 

M/I Homes is trading some margin for sales growth, speed, and market share. Pair that spec-heavy operating model with an asset-light finished-lot supply, and the returns could become considerably stronger.

M/I Homes is making a contrarian bet at a time when much of the homebuilding industry is becoming more cautious. While competitors are reducing speculative starts to protect margins and limit inventory exposure, M/I continues to put homes in the ground before buyers sign contracts. In the second quarter of 2026, 78% of its sales came from spec homes, and total sales increased 15% year over year. Gross margin declined from 24.7% to 22.0%.

The straightforward interpretation is that M/I is buying volume through mortgage-rate buydowns, closing-cost assistance, and price incentives. There is some truth to that. Incentives are supporting demand, and the resulting pressure on margins is real.

But that interpretation misses the broader strategic intelligence at play. M/I is not merely building more specs. Many builders do that. What M/I is doing is shortening the distance between a buyer’s decision and the delivery of a home. 

In today’s uncertain housing market, that may be one of the most valuable competitive advantages a builder can possess.

Builders deposit dollars, not percentages

The first question is whether the trade-off between growth and margin is economically rational. Using M/I Homes’ $4.4 billion in 2025 revenue as the base, a 15% growth rate would increase revenue to $5.06B. At a 22.0% gross margin, that revenue would generate $1.113B in gross profit.

At the prior 24.7% gross margin, $4.4 billion in revenue would produce $1.087 billion in gross profit. Under that scenario, M/I would generate an additional $26.4 million in gross profit despite surrendering 2.7 percentage points of margin. Gross profit dollars would increase by approximately 2.4%.

That calculation does not include the potential benefits of faster inventory turns, stronger community absorption, greater purchasing leverage, steadier work for trades, or the ability to recover and redeploy capital more quickly. Wall Street tends to focus on the margin percentage, but builders deposit dollars, not percentages.

If M/I can maintain a 22.0% gross margin while materially growing sales and keeping inventory moving, it is not simply buying volume. It is expanding the gross profit pool, taking market share, and keeping its production platform operating while competitors pull back. The challenge is whether M/I can preserve that velocity while reducing the incentives required to sustain it.

Speed to home is the real strategy

A traditional build-to-suit model, historically associated with builders such as KB Home, begins with the customer. The buyer selects a homesite, chooses a floor plan, visits a design center, makes structural and cosmetic selections, signs a contract and then waits for construction. In a stable market, that model has meaningful advantages. It limits the builder’s exposure to unsold inventory, creates upgrade revenue and gives the customer a stronger sense of personalization.

But in an unstable market, time becomes risk. Mortgage rates can move. Employment can change. A competing builder can introduce a more aggressive financing package. The customer can become uncomfortable with design-center upgrades or the final monthly payment. A home that appeared affordable when the contract was signed may feel very different six or nine months later.

The longer the distance between signing and closing, the more opportunities there are for the transaction to break. A completed or nearly completed spec home compresses that exposure. The buyer can see the actual product, understand the final price, lock the financing package and move within weeks rather than months.

M/I is not simply selling a house. It is selling certainty.

A buyer who will not commit to a home scheduled for delivery nine months from now may still purchase one that can close in 30 or 60 days. That speed-to-home advantage may be a key to stabilizing sales in a market where demand has become hesitant and payment-sensitive.

Build-to-suit still has a role in premium homesites, luxury homes and highly personalized products. But for entry-level and first move-up buyers, the spec model reduces friction by trading some customization for immediacy, certainty and a shorter period of transaction risk.

The best long-term answer is a controlled hybrid: high-volume plans built as specs, with premium and highly customized products remaining build-to-suit. The intelligence lies in matching the production method to what the customer actually values.

Incentives are a bridge, not a destination

M/I’s strategy is smart, but it is not complete. The company still needs to wean itself from incentive-based sales. Mortgage-rate buydowns, closing-cost assistance and price concessions can protect sales velocity, but they are expensive. They also train buyers to shop promotions rather than the product. When every major builder offers a subsidized mortgage rate, the incentive is no longer a differentiator. It becomes the cost of admission.

M/I’s margin pressure demonstrates the risk. The company is generating sales, but some of that velocity is being purchased. That can work for a period. It cannot be the permanent foundation of a top-tier national growth strategy. The next phase must make the incentive incremental rather than essential. That requires a disciplined land basis, efficient architecture, controlled option packages, faster cycle times, and homes that produce an understandable monthly payment before a temporary financing subsidy is applied. A rate buydown should help close the final gap. It should not be doing all the work.

Asset-light land could supercharge the model

The next major opportunity may not be in the house at all. It may lie in how M/I controls the land beneath it. Pairing M/I’s spec-heavy production model with an asset-light finished-lot strategy could materially supercharge returns. The traditional model ties up cash in land, entitlements, development and infrastructure years before a home closes. An asset-light structure shifts much of that burden to the landowner or developer through options, phased takedowns and even-flow lot purchases.

In the best version, M/I remains cash-light and nearly cash-free at the land level until finished lots are delivered and homes are ready to move through production. That matters because the real opportunity is not simply earning a 22.0% gross margin. It is earning that margin with a smaller equity commitment, turning capital faster and redeploying it more often.

Under a traditional land-heavy model, a builder may purchase land, fund entitlement work, install infrastructure, carry the finished lots, and then invest additional capital in vertical construction. Cash can remain trapped for years until the ultimate buyer closes.

An asset-light structure changes the sequence. The developer holds the horizontal capital. M/I controls the finished lots through a contract, option, or phased purchase commitment and takes them down in line with production and absorption. The capital moves through a shorter cycle: finished-lot takedown, vertical construction, buyer closing, and redeployment.

That can transform the economics of a spec strategy. The principal criticism of speculative homebuilding is that it requires the builder to carry both land and vertical inventory before the customer appears. An asset-light finished-lot platform removes much of the first burden while preserving the speed advantage of the second. M/I would still build ahead of the buyer, but it would not necessarily pay years in advance for the dirt. That is controlled speculation rather than balance-sheet sprawl. It also gives the builder flexibility. Takedowns can be paced with actual sales, accelerated when demand strengthens, and moderated when demand weakens. 

The company can preserve access to future inventory without funding every lot on day one. A 22.0% margin on a land-heavy project may be acceptable. A 22.0% margin on a cash-light finished-lot structure with faster turns can be exceptional. Margin matters. But the real return is created when margin is multiplied by velocity and divided by the cash required to produce it.

The market already sees the difference

The contrast with Beazer Homes helps explain why M/I’s strategy matters beyond quarterly home sales. Based on the figures in this comparison, M/I trades near $153 per share against a book value of approximately $128 per share, or roughly 1.2 times book. Beazer trades near $33 per share against a book value of approximately $41 per share, placing it below book value at roughly 0.6 to 0.8 times. That valuation gap is not cosmetic.

M/I’s premium-to-book ratio suggests the market believes the company can earn an acceptable return on its assets and create value beyond the accounting cost of its land, homes, and equity. Beazer’s discount suggests investors do not fully trust the company to convert stated book value into durable earnings and attractive returns. A price-to-book ratio below 1.0 is sometimes called a bargain. In homebuilding, it can be just as easily a warning.

The trailing figures cited for Beazer help explain that skepticism: negative earnings per share, slightly negative return on equity, a negative net margin, and a debt-to-equity ratio above 1.0. Thin or negative returns are difficult enough. Producing them with substantial leverage makes the balance sheet more vulnerable when incentives rise, lot costs remain elevated, or demand softens.

M/I presents a different profile. It remains solidly profitable and carries very little debt relative to its equity base. It can absorb margin pressure, continue building specs, and pursue market share without creating the same balance-sheet anxiety.

Beazer also faces uncertainty stemming from Dream Finders Homes’ unsolicited acquisition proposals. The reported all-cash proposal of approximately $704 million, or $25.75 per share, was rejected, leaving investors betting on either a higher bid or a successful standalone turnaround.

M/I does not need a transaction to validate its strategy. It can create value through operations. The market is effectively saying that M/I’s assets are worth more in its hands than their stated accounting value, while Beazer’s are worth less until management proves it can earn an adequate return from them. M/I is being valued as a durable operating platform. Beazer is being valued as a collection of assets carrying profitability, leverage and strategic uncertainty.

The contrarian may be the golden goose

As is often the case, the contrarian strategy that leaves everyone else scratching their heads may ultimately prove to be the golden goose. M/I is not acting recklessly. It is combining balance-sheet strength with operating intelligence. It has the capital to build through uncertainty, the local leadership to understand where demand is moving and the production discipline to deliver homes faster than a build-to-suit model can respond.

Competitors may see excess specs, lower margins and a builder swimming against the tide. I see a company deliberately converting capital, simplicity and speed into market share. The math supports the argument. On the $4.4B 2025 revenue base, 15% growth at a 22.0% margin produces $26.4M more gross profit than the prior business at a 24.7% margin. Now add an asset-light land strategy.

If M/I can control finished lots without funding years of land development, take them down in line with production, and move a spec home from lot purchase to buyer closing in a compressed cycle, it can generate more gross profit with a smaller equity commitment.

That is how returns are supercharged: not by maximizing the margin on every individual house, but by increasing dollars earned, reducing cash tied up, and turning capital more often. Pair that capital model with less dependence on incentives, and today’s contrarian could become tomorrow’s top-three national builder.

The industry may still be scratching its head. It may also be watching the golden goose take flight.

This post was originally published on here. 

United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) launched its latest pricing incentive for broker partners on Wednesday, saying it will grant a 90-basis-point discount on a large swath of loans through Sept. 8.

The “Bullseye 90” incentive allows brokers to apply the 90-bps to a single loan submission of their choice through Sept. 8. Eligible product options include all conventional and government loans, including those through the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Agriculture (USDA).

“Bullseye 90 gives mortgage brokers a meaningful pricing advantage on agency purchase and refinance loans, helping them deliver greater value to borrowers while remaining competitive in today’s market,” the announcement stated. “Loan officers can apply the 90bps to one eligible agency purchase or refinance loan of their choosing, giving them the flexibility to use it when it can make the greatest impact.”

UWM clarified that Bullseye 90 cannot be combined with any other existing incentives, such as Control Your Price or a 25-bps temporary rate buydown. To apply the new incentive, the broker must submit a credit report to UWM’s lock desk within one day of locking the loan.

It’s the latest in a series of pricing incentives launched in 2026 by the Michigan-based lender.

In May, UWM announced Refi ’86 at its UWM Live! event. That incentive, which ended June 30, applied to conventional and government refinances using PA+ or TRAC+/TRAC Lite with a FICO score of 680 or higher.

A month before that, the lender opened a week-long incentive called Purchase Boost 50, which offered a 50-bps discount to boost purchase lending during the spring homebuying season. The incentive required a 700 FICO score and could be paired with a $600 appraisal credit in some circumstances.

At the start of the year, UWM celebrated its 40th anniversary with a 40-bps incentive through Feb. 27. All loan officers were eligible for the discount through January, with LOs maintaining PRO Elite status with the lender retaining the discount through February. It covered all conventional and government purchase and refi loans.

The discounts come at a time when mortgage application demand and home sales remain subdued. But Mat Ishbia, the company’s president and CEO, said recently that he believes the market is well positioned despite the higher-for-longer rate environment.

“People think it’s slower out there. It’s actually not slower; it’s actually pretty busy across the board,” Ishbia said. “Housing is going strong, and homes are selling right now in this environment. Now, when rates drop even further, we see it kicking up even higher.”

This post was originally published on here. 

Envoy Mortgage closed a deal to acquire the distributed retail assets of Mason-McDuffie Mortgage Corp. (MasonMac), bringing on about 100 loan officers who produced $1 billion over the past 12 months, the companies confirmed to HousingWire. 

The transaction, announced internally on Monday, is expected to close toward the end of August. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The move is part of a strategic realignment of MasonMac’s business, with its distributed retail production teams joining Envoy. The deal will increase Envoy’s loan officer headcount to about 240, and the combined business is expected to operate at an annual run rate north of $3 billion in funded volume, Envoy President Jesse Passafiume said in an interview.

Cultural and reputational alignment

Envoy, the sister company of real estate platform PLACE, has been leaning into a referral- and affiliate-based business model in recent years.

“We have made very intentional investments in people, processes and technologies at Envoy in order to unlock referral sources and affiliate relationships with some of the top-producing real estate teams and brokerages in the country over the last few years,” Passafiume said.

“MasonMac gives us an opportunity to both add a phenomenal distributed retail production network to help us expand our affiliate partnerships, and some great operational resources to help us continue scaling.” 

Passafiume said he does not expect layoffs as part of the transaction, which he framed as driven by cultural alignment and MasonMac’s reputation, particularly in Western markets. Envoy plans to maintain several of MasonMac’s DBAs and team names.

MasonMac will retain a smaller footprint following the deal. Under its strategic realignment, the company will keep a team focused on portfolio retention and will hold on to roughly $250 million in mortgage servicing rights (MSRs) 

“Because of the growth at Envoy, there’s going to be opportunities for many of the MasonMac team members on the leadership team, while some will remain with me at MasonMac,” said Chuck Iverson, president and CEO at MasonMac.

Iverson said the operating environment made it difficult for MasonMac to fund the level of technology, process and partnership investment it believed was necessary to compete at scale.

“The environment is challenging, and at the same time, there’s clearly a need for investment in process, technology and strategic partnerships that we didn’t feel that we would have the opportunity to make,” Iverson said. “Envoy’s story is quite exceptional in terms of the productivity they’re building with their loan officers, and we just felt like that was the best opportunity we could provide to our people.” 

Passafiume said that Envoy’s funded loans per full-time LO is up 40% year over year, even in a challenging mortgage rate environment.

This post was originally published on here. 

Zillow and Realtracs have finalized an updated data licensing agreement that keeps Nashville-area listings flowing to Zillow while adding new guardrails around how multiple listing service data can be used, including in AI applications, the companies announced Tuesday.

The agreement covers Realtracs, the MLS that serves the Nashville region and markets across Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, according to the announcement. Realtracs listings will continue to appear on Zillow, preserving exposure to what Zillow calls the largest online audience in residential real estate.

Zillow said its Listing Access Standards were not modified as part of the deal and remain in effect in the Nashville region.

The updated license is framed as a “modern” standard for how broker-created listing data may be licensed and used by Zillow, with explicit protections for how that data is used in emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence. 

Zillow said that at the core of the agreement is a shared position that every publicly marketed home should be visible to every potential buyer. While both organizations acknowledge that some sellers prioritize privacy, the revised deal signals a joint push toward maximum market exposure as the default,

Zillow tools remain available for Nashville agents

The announcement emphasizes that agents and brokers in the region will not lose access to Zillow-owned tools they already rely on including Follow Up Boss, dotloop and ShowingTime. 

Zillow said the Realtracs agreement is part of its ongoing work with MLSs and industry leaders to “modernize how broker-created listing data is licensed and protected” while keeping consumer listing access intact.

In an emailed statement Realtracs president and CEO Stuart White wrote that the MLS “is committed to the brokers and agents who create the listing content that powers our industry, and at its core our property listing platform must do two things well: provide complete and accurate information so buyers can make informed decisions and give sellers the ability to choose how broadly a listing is marketed.”

“We’re pleased that Zillow has signed our modernized license agreement, which furthers those guiding principles by establishing clearly defined use rights, responsible use standards, and stronger protections for broker-created data while preserving sellers’ ability to reach the broad audience they expect when marketing their homes,” he added.

A summer of negotiations

This new agreement comes after Realtracs told brokers in late May that it would suspend Zillow’s listing data feed on June 1 if the listing portal did not comply with the MLS’s updated IDX display policy by May 31. However, just before the June 1 deadline, Realtracs announced that it would continue sending the listing feed to Zillow until June 8, when Zillow’s licensing agreement was set to expire. On June 8, Realtracs told subscribers that listing distribution to Zillow would continue uninterrupted as contract negotiations between the two parties moved forward. 

In late April, Realtracs updated its IDX display rules adding a requirement that “if a seller wants their listing publicly marketed, it must appear in search results that match a buyer’s criteria.” 

This means all listings entered into Realtracs that match a consumer’s search criteria must be returned in a vendor’s or portal’s consumer search results unless the seller has specifically elected to not include their property listing or address in public displays. 

As of May 31, Realtracs said Zillow was the only listing portal or vendor that was not in compliance with the updated policy. 

Part of a larger battle

In mid-May, Chicagoland-based MLS Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) suspended Zillow’s listing feed for two days over a “material breach of its license agreements.”  The feed was restored after a Chicago federal court partially granted Zillow’s temporary restraining order, forcing MRED to restore the listing feed. The two parties extended the temporary restraining order, which also prevents Zillow from banning any MRED listings, last week. This dispute was part of a larger legal battle between Zillow, MRED and Compass International Holdings, in which Zillow has accused MRED and Compass of colluding. 

Earlier this spring, both MRED and Realtracs announced plans to expand nationwide, with both securing national listing feed agreements with Compass, as well as with United Real Estate for Realtracs.

This article was written by Brooklee Han and generated with the assistance of HousingWire Automation, then reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

This post was originally published on here. 

HouseMe.ai, an AI-powered real estate search and intelligence platform that launched in Canada earlier this summer, has entered the U.S. market with direct MLS connections across seven mid-Atlantic jurisdictions, the company announced Wednesday.

The platform is now live in soft-launch mode across Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and West Virginia. A nationwide rollout is planned, according to the announcement.

HouseMe.ai connects directly to MLS data in all seven markets, offering what the company describes as a level of real-time integration not currently available in other consumer-facing real estate apps. The U.S. move follows a three-week debut in the Greater Toronto Area that drew more than 40,000 unique visitors and generated over 300,000 platform interactions and 15,000 listing views, the firm said. 

The U.S. launch is being led by co-founder Nurit Coombe, managing partner of The Agency DC Metro. Coombe’s team, known as Team Nurit & Alex ranks No. 20 among all agents nationwide and No. 1 in Maryland in  the 2026 RealTrends Verified rankings. She is joined by co-founders Peter Torkan, a Toronto-based luxury broker and cast member on Amazon’s “Luxe Listings Toronto,” and Paige Torkan, broker of record at The Agency Toronto.

“No one has ever been able to search for real estate this way,” Coombe said. “This is a fundamentally new category, using AI and real data to let buyers, sellers and agents customize their search around exactly what they need.”

An AI lifestyle search engine

HouseMe.ai positions itself as an “AI lifestyle search engine” for real estate, moving beyond standard filters such as beds, baths and price. Consumers can enter natural-language prompts describing their desired lifestyle — for example, proximity to a park, a walkable, highly rated school, a large yard or a renovated kitchen — and the system returns listings aligned with those preferences rather than a simple filtered list.

Under the hood, the platform layers its conversational interface on top of live MLS feeds in its launch markets, attempting to reduce latency and listing discrepancies that have long frustrated both consumers and agents. For housing professionals, tighter integration with MLS data could help minimize confusion around status changes, price updates and days-on-market calculations that often differ across portals.

In addition to search, HouseMe.ai has built out tools typically found in separate valuation, visualization and analytics products. A visual renovation engine allows users to upload photos of any room and generate before-and-after renderings, including changes to flooring, kitchens and yard conditions. The tool is designed to support open-ended, granular edits, rather than a small set of style presets.

Sellers can use that capability to model potential capital improvements and explore comparable sales before committing to renovation spend. Buyers can test different layouts or finishes to better understand a property’s potential instead of relying solely on existing listing photos. For agents, this type of visualization can streamline conversations about renovation trade-offs and post-close costs.

Free intelligence reporter

Every search on the platform generates a free “Intelligence Report” that bundles several analytics features, including a “True Cost Calculator” that estimates cost-to-close and ongoing carrying costs. The goal is to surface transfer taxes, closing costs and monthly payments earlier in the journey, rather than at the pre-approval or underwriting stage.

HouseMe.ai said its infrastructure is built on proprietary data architecture and direct MLS connections — an approach many consumer portals have struggled to scale, especially when layering in AI. The platform’s Canadian launch suggests that agents are likely to encounter clients referencing HouseMe scores or intelligence reports, particularly in competitive, higher-price markets.

Co-founders emphasized that the company originated from inside the brokerage business rather than from external technology firms, positioning HouseMe.ai as a tool designed around workflow and questions that surface in day-to-day transactions.

“That momentum is the foundation for the U.S. expansion,” co-founder Peter Torkan said of the Canadian launch. “It’s the reason we’re moving to a nationwide footprint, starting with the mid-Atlantic corridor.”

HouseMe.ai is live and free to use in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and West Virginia, with expansion to additional states planned. 

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

This post was originally published on here. 

Much of the drama and excitement around Dream Finders’ hostile pursuit of Beazer has centered on governance issues and the lack of engagement between the two companies.

However, it’s also worth looking at Dream Finders’ stated position for why it would be the ideal owner for Beazer and comparing that with Dream Finders’ recent operating performance.

Dream Finders pitched its superior profitability and returns, citing its ability to generate profitable growth through its asset-light model. However, those claims are less convincing given Dream Finders’ modest sales absorption, rising spec position, declining margins, and slim ROE. 

Dream Finders’ second-quarter results reflect the challenges of a difficult sales climate, along with added tension from a land-banking model that includes obligations for specified lot take-downs. 

When Dream Finders first went public with its desire to acquire Beazer, its pitch to improve Beazer’s operations was largely directed at Beazer’s shareholders and board. However, in light of declining results and the fall in Dream Finders’ share price, its own shareholders may be the ones seeking reassurance about operating performance. 

This analysis delves further into some of the issues raised in John McManus’ article “Dream Finders adds Rick Beckwitt as Beazer bid heats up.”

Slowing sales absorption coupled with fixed lot takedowns leading to rising specs and further margin pressure

Dream Finders’ absorption slipped to just 2.17 homes per community per month in the second quarter, well below what one might expect for a builder focused on the entry-level and first-time move-up market during the spring season. For context, Lennar – serving an entry-level buyer – generated absorption of nearly twice that, at approximately 4.3 homes per month, in the second quarter.  

The low absorption was especially pronounced in Dream Finders’ Midwest region (primarily Texas via its 2021 acquisition of Coventry, as well as Denver, Northern Colorado, and Phoenix), its largest region by number of communities, which generated absorption of just 1.7 homes per month. Its Southeast region (Florida, Georgia, and Hilton Head, South Carolina) fared better, with absorption of 2.6 homes per month, and its Mid-Atlantic region (DC south to the Carolinas) came in at 2.4 homes per month. 

While low absorption isn’t ideal for any builder, it creates additional challenges for builders holding land off balance sheet, whether through lot options or land banking. Dream Finders’ asset-light lot strategy means that it controls the vast majority of its lots through options and land banking. The additional challenge for a builder employing this strategy is that most lot option and land banking agreements require consistent take-downs of these lots, regardless of sales activity. 

For most builders using land banking, this typically leads to a “find the market” sales approach to balance sales with starts. However, whether in hopes of preserving its slim margins or based on the belief that market conditions would improve later in 2026, Dream Finders did not take this approach.

In spring 2026, Dream Finders chose to build significant spec inventory, bucking the trend among most other builders. To be clear, while most other builders are selling mostly spec inventory, they are reducing it by slowing their starts.

Dream Finders is both selling spec inventory and increasing its spec inventory. Dream Finders started 3,294 homes while generating just 2,232 sales. This spec-heavy approach was particularly evident in its absorption-challenged Midwest region, where it started 1,271 homes and sold 733. Dream Finders built specs in its other regions as well, though not to the same extent: in its Southeast region, it started 1,082 homes and sold 868, and in its Mid-Atlantic region it started 941 homes and sold 631. 

It’s worth noting that Dream Finders pursued a similar strategy of spec construction in 2025, but was able to reduce inventory in late 2025 as it curtailed its starts and benefited from a declining mortgage rate environment that improved affordability and sales activity. The heavy reliance on specs may prove more problematic in 2026, given the continued upward pressure on mortgage rates and an even tougher sales climate.

While spec inventory typically leads builders to cut prices to reduce inventory, Dream Finders entered the second half of 2026 already facing significant margin pressure. Its pretax margins ranged from 3.0% in the Southeast, 1.5% in the Mid-Atlantic, and just 0.9% in the Midwest. Notably, the Midwest is Dream Finders’ largest region by communities and revenue, yet it has the lowest absorption and the highest spec inventory. 

The need to reduce the high-spec inventory may result in Dream Finders’ pretax margins – in the Midwest and potentially across its overall homebuilding operations – turning negative in upcoming quarters.  

The company has noted that it is focused on “executing our planned absorption targets and margin underwriting to drive improved profitability.” It will be interesting to see whether it emphasizes those absorption targets, as doing so would likely further pressure margins. 

The lower margins led Dream Finders’ ROE to slip to just 9.6% over the trailing year, and the ROE will likely slip further in the coming quarters, given the downward trajectory of margins, especially when looking at income from homebuilding operations (excluding income from appreciation of equity securities).

Second half of 2026 presents challenge and opportunity to lift operations

Aside from what happens with its quest to acquire Beazer, the second half of 2026 will be crucial for Dream Finders.

Can it generate stronger sales momentum and reduce its spec inventory? Can it attract buyers without sacrificing excess margin? Can it find ways to reduce costs in an environment where many construction costs remain inflationary?

This presents a great opportunity for Clint Szubinski, Dream Finders’ recently appointed COO, to drive improved performance. If he and the overall Dream Finders team can succeed in lifting results, it will help Dream Finders in the years ahead and make a persuasive case that Dream Finders is ready and able to scale to a much larger scale. 

This post was originally published on here. 

Nonprofit FirstHome IQ has relaunched its homeownership education ecosystem, offering free tools for consumers and teaching resources for housing professionals aimed at converting overwhelmed renters into first-time homebuyers.

Los Angeles-based FirstHomeIQ this week announced a rebuilt platform anchored by four components — a free consumer education hub at learn.firsthomeiq.com; a professional resource center at teach.firsthomeiq.com; personalized education pages for a national network of “ambassadors”; and a redesigned main site at firsthomeiq.com, according to the company announcement.

The relaunch is based on research with more than 9,000 millennial and Gen Z consumers and thousands of housing professionals captured in the NextGen Homebuyer Report, produced by FirstHome IQ and sponsored by National MI. The research highlights two core barriers for younger buyers: affordability and what the nonprofit calls “overwhelm.”

According to the report, 63% of millenials and Gen Z feel overwhelmed by homebuying information and 42% have delayed talking to a housing professional because of it. Many turn to AI tools and social media for guidance, but then disengage because they cannot process the volume and complexity of content.

The findings also suggest that a significant share of these would-be buyers are closer to being mortgage-ready than they think. Two-thirds report saving regularly and three-quarters keep a budget, but misperceptions about qualification standards, down payment needs and the process itself keep them on the sidelines.

FirstHome IQ’s pitch to the industry is that this information overload is a solvable problem that directly affects demand. “Overwhelmed buyers don’t buy,” the organization said in the announcement. “They disengage, sometimes for years, and the market shrinks with them.”

What the platform offers

The rebuilt consumer platform is designed to give first-time buyers “somewhere to start with someone to trust.” It opens by asking what the buyer wants and what they worry about, then guides them through core decisions in plain language and ends with a personalized plan. If a consumer is paired with an ambassador, they can request a review of their plan or ask questions throughout the process.

The platform is aimed at first-time buyers of all ages, as well as students and parents. All consumer-facing elements are free, including courses, the FirstHome IQ Quiz and classroom games.

On the professional side, teach.firsthomeiq.com houses a presentation library, playbooks and classroom-ready resources that lenders, real estate agents and other housing professionals can use to lead with education in their local markets. A dashboard allows professionals to see buyer activity and engagement generated through their outreach.

“I have wanted to build a platform like this since I started working in this industry 15 years ago. It empowers the consumer with information they can work with while pairing them with someone (and an organization) they can trust,” Kristin Messerli, executive director of FirstHome IQ, said in the announcement.

Dave Savage, chairman of FirstHome IQ, framed the effort as a response to a widening generational wealth gap.

“The dream of homeownership is slipping further out of reach for younger generations, not because they lack motivation, but because they lack trusted guidance. We have the chance to meet people much earlier in their journey and bridge the growing wealth gap with education that empowers action,” Savage said.

Compliant, scalable education

For lenders and real estate agents navigating a market constrained by high rates, low inventory and tight affordability, the initiative targets a different choke point: demand lost to confusion rather than capacity. If even a fraction of renters who are financially close to qualifying can be converted to active, informed buyers, it could expand the first-time homebuyer pool and lengthen future customer relationships.

The ecosystem also gives originators and agents a structured way to deliver compliant, scalable education — a growing focus for regulators and trade groups — while capturing engagement data through the professional dashboard. That could support more targeted follow-ups while helping housing professionals demonstrate community impact and financial literacy efforts to partners and regulators.

Access to the nonprofit’s free resources is available at firsthomeiq.com, and information about joining the ambassador community and accessing teaching tools is at teach.firsthomeiq.com, according to the announcement.

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

This post was originally published on here. 

Even as the House Judiciary Committee has asked that Compass International Holdings to explain its partnership with Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) over concerns it could reduce consumer transparency and competition, and the New York attorney general’s office is allegedly probing the firm’s acquisition of Anywhere over antitrust concerns, CEO Robert Reffkin argues that Compass is one of the few companies in housing actively increasing competition.

“We are infusing competition in real estate. I believe in competition. Not only does the law require companies to compete, but competition is the bedrock of our economy,” Reffkin said on Compass International Holding’s second quarter earnings call with investors and analysts Tuesday night. “Competition is the engine that produces the most value and options for consumers.”

The MLS is ‘anti-consumer’

According to Reffkin, one of the largest things preventing competition in the industry is the multiple listing service, which he argues does not compete and instead “abuse their power by creating mandatory rules and they enforce with MLS fines up to $5,000 that every real estate professional and their sellers are expected to follow.”

“Real estate professionals have no ability to push back because they need access to MLS to do their job,” Reffkin said. “That is because, over the past 100 years, all real estate professionals have been conditioned to use the MLS to market a listing to other real estate professionals. Without access to [the] MLS, you can’t access the listing data for your buyers. In almost all markets, agents have only one choice for multiple listing services, making that single MLS in that market a monopoly that agents need to use to do their jobs.”

Reffkin argues that it is this market power that has “empowered” MLSs to levy these fines and “punish” agents and private businesses despite being private entities themselves. In his view, the MLS has been “weaponized” against agents, as it fines them and punishes them if they “compete too hard.” 

“The untold secret in real estate is that the MLS is controlled by a collection of our competitors that tell us how we can and cannot compete,” he said. “They are telling us how we can and cannot compete. What other private business is told how to compete by a collection of their competitors? This is anti-competitive. This is anti-consumer. It’s illegal.” 

According to Reffkin, MLSs should have to compete for an agent or broker’s business in the same way agents have to compete for clients. It is this competition, Reffkin argues, that prevents real estate agents or brokerages from fining or punishing each other for competing in ways others may not like. 

Compass the bringer of competition

Reffkin told those on the call that he and his firm are working to change this by bringing competition to the MLSs and the real estate portals, stating that the MLS that choose not to compete will “fail.” 

“Everything Compass has done in the past and everything it is doing today is designed to infuse competition into MLS and portals in real estate. Why? Because if multiple listing services and the dominant portal have to compete like real estate professionals and brokerages have to compete every day, consumers and the agents that represent them win,” Reffkin said. “This is why I am supporting multiple listing services and portals that compete for our real estate professionals. I am working to inject competition in the MLS and portal ecosystem.” 

During the call, Reffkin cited Compass’s partnership with Rocket-Redfin on its coming soon listings, as well its agreements to send all of its listings to MLSs like MRED, Realtracs, Bright MLS and The MLS/CLAW. Reffkin argued that Compass’s partnership with Redfin is what caused Zillow to “discontinue” its ban on coming soon listings marketed off of its platform. Zillow has since clarified that its Listing Access Standards Policy is still in place and being enforced. 

Additionally, Reffkin claimed that Compass’s partnerships with those MLSs have inspired the MLSs to “compete” by “offering more flexible rules that let home sellers and their agents determine where and how to market their own properties.” 

“MLSs that are expanding recognize that if they want to get agents in new markets to sign up to their MLS, they can’t expand with more restrictive rules and fines. Instead, they need to compete with more marketing options and more marketing flexibility that helps listing agents and their sellers, as opposed to helping the dominant portal,” he said. “Every month, we are seeing more and more MLSs competing in ways that help our clients, our agents and our company.” 

Compass’s competitive edge

For Reffkin, an increase in competition will only help Compass by further empowering its three-phased marketing strategy, allowing Compass to “unlock the full potential” of its business model. In the most recent week, Reffkin said that across the Compass brand, 57% of all new listings are employing the three-phased marketing plan. 

“By the end of the third quarter, I would expect 80% of Compass brokerage listings to launch as a coming soon on Compass.com and Redfin, and the total number of coming soons to build from there as we expand the offering to all of our brands,” he said. 

Reffkin highlighted the Chicago market as an example of how “flexible” MLS rules and its three-phased marketing strategy can work together to give Compass a competitive boost. According to Compass, visitor sessions on Compass.com, specifically in Chicago where the firm said it has the most coming soon listings, were up 111% annually in Q2 2026.  

“It shows what happens in a free market without restrictions, without fines, without bans. What it shows you is, why wouldn’t an agent put it on their sites first? What’s the downside? What seller doesn’t want the agent to get their own buyer, the buyer inquiries and to deal with them directly?” he said. 

When asked about goals for site traffic to Compass.com, Reffkin said he did not believe it was unreasonable to “expect that the company that has the most listings in the United States is the number one place people search [for listings] in the United States.” 

“I think the only reason that is not the case is because there are mandatory rules that are forcing listing agents to give up their data and their clients’ data and give up their content to third-party platforms,” Reffkin said. “As these rules go away, because we believe they are beyond anti-competitive and they’re illegal [since] the MLSs are a collection of our competitors who are telling us how we can and cannot compete — as those go down, agents will just put them on our sites, then people will search where the inventory is.” 

This post was originally published on here. 

HomeServices of America appointed Gretchen Rosenberg vice president of industry affairs and engagement. According to an announcement on Wednesday, this is a newly expanded, full-time role. 

She previously served as president and CEO of Kentwood Real Estate. 

The firm said Rosenberg will represent the HomeServices enterprise nationally, manage relationships with trade groups and peers and track regulatory, competitive and association developments that affect the brokerage, mortgage, title and franchising businesses under the HomeServices umbrella.

Her remit includes leading initiatives to boost agent and consumer engagement, surfacing innovative practices that can be scaled across operating companies, and promoting collaboration across the HomeServices network.

“Gretchen is a thoughtful, strategic leader whose ability to connect what’s happening in local markets with the broader direction of our industry makes her uniquely suited for this role,” Chris Kelly, president and CEO of HomeServices of America, said in the announcement. “Her leadership, collaborative approach and deep understanding of our business will strengthen our industry relationships while bringing even greater alignment across our network. We’re excited to welcome Gretchen to the HomeServices executive leadership team in this expanded capacity.”

Rosenberg has nearly 30 years of real estate industry experience, all with Denver-based Kentwood Real Estate, a HomeServices company. She began her career as an agent at Kentwood, later managed the firm’s Cherry Creek office and was named president and CEO in 2018.

“I’m honored to step into this role and continue serving the incredible professionals who make up the HomeServices network,” Rosenberg said. “Throughout my career, I’ve been passionate about supporting agents, strengthening our industry and helping organizations adapt to change. I look forward to working alongside our operating companies to foster collaboration, elevate innovative ideas and ensure HomeServices continues to lead through times of transformation.”

Rosenberg’s appointment also triggers a leadership shift at Kentwood. Chief Operating Officer Dierk Herbermann, who has held that role for the past seven years, has been named president. He brings brokerage management, sales and legal experience across California and Colorado, according to the announcement.

In addition, Amy Herrington has been promoted from director of agent services to director of operations. Herbermann and Herrington will oversee day-to-day brokerage operations and growth, building on the structure Rosenberg put in place.

Rosenberg will remain licensed with Kentwood Real Estate and serve as executive chairman, providing strategic guidance during the transition. August will serve as the formal transition period as Rosenberg, Herbermann and Herrington assume their new responsibilities.

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

This post was originally published on here. 

AnnieMac Home Mortgage has recruited a roughly 12-person retail lending team in Wichita, Kansas, that had joined Union Home Mortgage (UHM) following its acquisition of Sierra Pacific Mortgage in September 2025, the company confirmed to HousingWire.

The move gives AnnieMac a new geographic foothold and adds a group that originated about $220 million in mortgages over the past 12 months, according to chief operating officer Craig Ungaro. Overall, AnnieMac produced $2.2 billion in mortgages year to date with 622 loan officers, a net gain of 55 LOs compared to August 2025, per data from mortgage analytics firm RETR.

The Wichita team is led by branch manager Brian McGinley and is primarily composed of loan officers with a small operations staff. For larger branches like the new Wichita office, AnnieMac uses a profit-and-loss model that leadership said favors strong local operators.

UHM CEO Bill Cosgrove said the asset acquisition of Sierra “went well,” and that the people at Sierra who are now settled at UHM “are doing fantastic.”

“Whatever decisions people made prior to coming to Union Home, we really can’t control that. But a vast majority of Sierra Pacific [employees] who are now partners at Union Home are doing tremendous, they’re very happy, and we’re very happy with the transaction as well,” Cosgrove added. “The vast majority of Sierra Pacific endorsed it, and they’ve been committed to it.”

UHM has produced about $4.4 billion in mortgages year to date, with about 860 loan officers, per RETR. It gained 182 LOs and lost 223 since August 2025.

Unique product sets, growth strategies

According to Ungaro, AnnieMac has “very unique products that are proprietary,” which is “very appealing for producers like the group that’s coming over because it helps them grow their book of business.”

Ungaro pointed to AnnieMac’s cash-offer program and buy-now-sell-later products, which have been in place for several years but have accelerated more recently. He also mentioned an appraisal assurance option added in early 2025. The company hit $1 billion worth of transactions on these programs about four months ago.

For AnnieMac, which prioritizes long-term potential in hiring, the addition also opens a new market.

“AnnieMac is very big on character hiring,” Ungaro said. “It’s not always just a number that comes with production. We bring on producers that have no production, but we believe in their ability to grow it, and that’s what really is most appealing to this.”

AnnieMac has leaned on both mergers and acquisitions and organic recruiting. Ungaro said the company grew “a little less than 40%” from 2024 to 2025 and is targeting similar expansion this year. It’s bringing in teams the size of the one in Wichita “probably once a quarter,” he added, with “half a dozen to a dozen new loan officers every month.”

On the competition side, Ungaro said signing bonuses and financial packages have cooled from their COVID-era peak but have started to firm up again.

“I felt like it cooled off a little bit over the last six to 12 months, but I do feel it’s picked back up a little bit,” he said. “I’m speculating on this part, but the rate environment — sometimes when it tightens up, people have to pay a little bit more to grow.

“There are a lot of companies that are in growth mode, and when they’re not able to do anything to acquire more, they step up those offers. It’s getting a little bit more aggressive over the last 60 to 90 days.”

This post was originally published on here. 

For 20 years, “getting found” as a real estate agent meant one thing: Showing up on Google. Rank locally, get reviews, run some ads and the phone rings.

That playbook still matters. But a growing share of the people who used to type “best Realtor in [city]” into Google are now typing — or speaking — that same question into ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google’s AI Overviews or the assistant built into their phone. Instead of getting 10 blue links to sort through, they get a direct answer: a short list of recommended agents, sometimes just one, with a paragraph explaining why.

If your business isn’t the one that answer engine recommends, you don’t just rank lower. You often don’t appear at all.

This shift has a name: Answer Engine Optimization, or AEO. And for real estate agents, it’s becoming just as important as traditional SEO — arguably more urgent, because almost nobody is doing it yet.

What AEO actually is in plain terms

Traditional SEO is built around a simple mechanism: a search engine crawls the web, ranks pages by relevance and authority, and shows you a list. You, the searcher, do the work of clicking through and deciding.

Answer engines work differently. Tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and AI-powered search overviews don’t just rank pages — they read them, synthesize them, and generate a direct answer in natural language. When someone asks “who’s a good listing agent in [city] who specializes in first-time sellers,” the AI isn’t returning a list of websites. It’s returning a recommendation, built from whatever sources it judged most trustworthy, specific, and clearly written.

That means the AI is doing something closer to what a knowledgeable neighbor would do — except the neighbor read hundreds of web pages, reviews and directories in half a second before answering.

The practical implication: your website, your reviews, and your online presence aren’t just competing for a click anymore. They’re competing to be cited as the source of an answer.

Why this matters more for real estate than for a lot of industries

A few things about how people search for an agent make this shift especially consequential.

Real estate searches are often conversational and specific. Nobody asks an answer engine “best restaurant.” But “should I sell my house before I buy a new one” or “is it a good time to sell in [city] right now” are exactly the kind of detailed, natural-language questions answer engines are built to handle well. Every one of those questions is a chance for your business to be the source that gets cited — or completely absent from the conversation.

Trust matters even more when there’s less browsing. With traditional search, a homeowner might click into three or four agent websites before deciding. With an AI-generated answer, they often see one confident recommendation and stop there. Being the agent who gets named, instead of one of several links to compare, is a much bigger prize — and a much bigger loss if you’re left out.

Local agents are underrepresented in AI training and retrieval. Answer engines lean heavily on sources that are well-structured, specific, and easy to parse — think Wikipedia, established review platforms, and websites with clear, factual content. Most agent websites are built around headshots, listings, and lead-capture forms, not the kind of clear, structured information an AI can easily extract and trust. That’s a gap. It’s also an opportunity for the agents who close it first.

What answer engines are actually looking for

You can’t “buy” a spot in an AI-generated answer the way you can buy a Google ad. Answer engines are trying to synthesize the most accurate, trustworthy, specific information available — which means the agents who get cited tend to share a few traits:

Clear, specific, factual content — not marketing copy. A page that says “I’m the top-producing agent in town, call now!” gives an AI nothing to extract. A page that says “In [city], sellers typically pay 1–3% of the sale price in closing costs, and staging a vacant home usually costs $1,500–$3,000 for a month” gives it something concrete to cite. Answer engines reward content that reads like it’s answering a question, not selling a service.

Structured information the AI can parse cleanly. FAQ sections, clearly labeled service pages, and content organized around specific questions (“How much are closing costs when selling a home in [city]?”) are much easier for an AI to lift and summarize accurately than a single unstructured page of prose.

Consistency across the web, not just your own site. Answer engines cross-reference. If your service area, brokerage affiliation, specialties, and contact information are stated consistently across your website, Google Business Profile, Zillow, Realtor.com, and other directories, that consistency builds machine-readable trust. Contradictions — different phone numbers, different service areas listed in different places — actively hurt you here.

Recent, specific reviews with real detail. A review that says “Great agent!” carries almost no informational weight. A review that says “Sold our house in 12 days, guided us through three competing offers, and negotiated $15,000 above asking” is exactly the kind of specific, verifiable detail an answer engine can use to justify recommending you for a similar situation.

Genuine expertise content. Answer engines are increasingly good at distinguishing a page that demonstrates real knowledge from a page that’s thin, templated, or clearly written to game search rankings. An agent who publishes genuinely useful, specific answers to common questions — what to fix before listing versus what to leave alone, how to compete in a multiple-offer market, what contingencies actually protect a buyer — builds exactly the kind of content answer engines are designed to surface.

What this looks like in practice

A few concrete starting points for a real estate agent who wants to show up in AI-generated answers, not just search rankings:

Build a real FAQ page, written like actual answers. Not a list of vague marketing questions, but the specific things your clients actually ask before they call: “How much are closing costs when selling?” “Should I sell before I buy?” “Do you charge a different commission for a home under $300k?” Answer each one plainly, in a few sentences, the way you’d explain it to a client sitting across the table.

Audit your business information for consistency. Your name, brokerage, service area, phone number, and license information should match exactly across your website, Google Business Profile, and every listing platform. This sounds basic. It’s also frequently wrong, and it quietly undermines every other effort.

Ask for reviews that include specifics. Instead of a generic “please leave us a review” request, prompt clients with a specific question: “What was the hardest part of the process, and how did I help?” The difference between a vague five-star review and a detailed one is significant, both for human readers and for what an answer engine can extract.

Write content around real client questions, not keywords. Old-school SEO often meant stuffing pages with phrases like “realtor near [city name].” Answer engines respond better to content that actually resolves a specific question a homeowner or buyer is asking, written in plain language.

Check what the answer engines are already saying about you. Ask ChatGPT or Perplexity directly: “Who are good real estate agents in [your city]?” or “What should I know before selling my house in [your city]?” and see whether your business appears, what gets said about competitors, and where the gaps are. This single exercise often reveals more than a full traditional SEO audit.

Start today

Open ChatGPT or Perplexity right now and ask the question a stressed, deadline-driven home seller or buyer would ask: “Who’s a good real estate agent near [your city]?” or “What should I know before listing my house?”

If your business isn’t part of the answer — or worse, a competitor clearly is — that gap is the size of the opportunity in front of you. The good news is that closing it doesn’t require ripping up your marketing strategy. It requires making your existing knowledge and reputation legible to a new kind of reader.

Seth Schumann is the Owner of Visionary Path AI, helping service businesses like real estate agencies capture more leads and grow revenue using AI-powered solutions.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners.

To contact the editor responsible for this piece: tracey@hwmedia.com

This post was originally published on here. 

Brands by Integra has entered the North Carolina market through the acquisition of Century 21 Connected, marking the company’s first brokerage in the state.

As part of the transition, the brokerage will rebrand as Century 21 Integra, giving its agents access to Brands by Integra’s technology, marketing, coaching, education and recruiting resources while continuing to operate under the Century 21 brand.

Led by Chris Smith, the brokerage serves clients across North Carolina.

“Expanding into North Carolina has been a strategic goal for our organization, and we’re excited to accomplish that by welcoming Chris Smith and his team,” said Jim D’Amico, chairman of Brands by Integra. “From our very first conversations, it was clear that Chris and his agents share our commitment to integrity, collaboration and putting people first. We are thrilled to welcome them to the Brands by Integra family and look forward to supporting their continued growth.”

Smith said the move will provide agents with additional resources while maintaining the client-focused approach the brokerage has built its business on.

“Our team is excited for this next chapter,” Smith said. “Joining Century 21 Integra and the Brands by Integra organization provides our agents with incredible opportunities to grow their businesses while continuing to deliver the personalized service our clients have come to expect. The culture, leadership, and vision of this organization made this a natural fit, and we’re excited about what’s ahead.”

With the acquisition, Brands by Integra’s network now includes more than 2,000 real estate professionals across more than 70 offices in 19 states, supported by services including marketing, technology, training, mortgage, title, insurance, relocation and business development.

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

This post was originally published on here. 

Jason Vinar has joined Rocktop Technologies as chief investment officer, where he will lead Rocktop Capital Advisors, the firm’s capital markets and mortgage servicing rights (MSR) business, the company announced Wednesday.

Vinar moves to Rocktop from Two Harbors Investment Corp., a publicly traded mortgage real estate investment trust (REIT), where he most recently served as chief operating officer. He previously was managing director and head of MSR investments and operations at Two Harbors, and he previously helped build the firm’s MSR business while at its external manager, Pine River Capital Management.

At Rocktop Capital Advisors, Vinar will be responsible for MSR valuation, hedge advisory and trading, and for setting the strategic direction as the platform scales.

Rocktop Capital Advisors, a subsidiary of Rocktop Technologies, has traded more than $2 trillion in mortgage servicing rights since 2016 and delivers more than 750 portfolio valuations annually, according to the company. Its clients include institutional mortgage banks, nonbank servicers, issuers and state housing finance agencies.

Vinar’s hire brings buy-side and operating experience to a business that has historically been advisory and execution driven. For mortgage investors and servicers, the move signals a push by Rocktop to deepen its role across the MSR life cycle — from portfolio analytics and risk management to execution in the secondary market — at a time when MSR values remain sensitive to interest rate volatility and evolving capital and liquidity requirements.

At Two Harbors, Vinar led a $25 million-plus earnings-accretive acquisition and integration of RoundPoint Mortgage Servicing. That deal brought in a 500-plus-person platform that services roughly 1 million loans. He also actively managed the servicing portfolio through purchases, targeted sales and swaps to shape portfolio composition.

Earlier in his career at Pine River Capital Management, Vinar built and scaled the firm’s MSR investment business into a top-10 servicer of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans. Under his leadership, the portfolio grew to more than $230 billion in unpaid principal balance and $3 billion-plus in market value, supported by a 35-person oversight team.

“Jason has lived on every side of the MSR trade — investor, operator, and executive,” Jason Pinson, founder, president and CEO of Rocktop Technologies, said in a statement. “He has run investment strategy for a conventional MSR book, run the sub-servicing strategy and oversight underneath it, and then acquired an operator to bring operations in-house while expanding the firm’s opportunity set.

“That combination is rare, and it is exactly the seat Rocktop Capital Advisors sits in. Bringing someone of Jason’s caliber into this role is a statement about where we intend to take this business.”

“What drew me to Rocktop is that the analytics and the operating platform sit under one roof,” Vinar said. “Most firms can price an MSR or service the loans behind it. Very few can do both, and fewer still can connect what the data says to what actually happens inside of an operator. My focus is on growing Rocktop Capital Advisors into a business that institutional counterparties rely on across the full life of the asset, not just at the point of trade.”

Vinar’s background is grounded in quantitative finance, including roles developing cross-asset valuation and risk platforms at Ameriprise Financial, as well as mortgage valuation and loss models at Castle Peak Capital Advisors and GMAC ResCap.

He has also served for nearly a decade as a lecturer in the University of Minnesota’s Master of Financial Mathematics program, teaching graduate courses in mortgage-backed securities, derivatives and volatility modeling.

He holds a master’s degree in financial mathematics from the University of Minnesota and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and economics from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

This post was originally published on here. 

eXp Realty has added former Major League Baseball player and longtime real estate executive Mike Mendoza to eXp Realty Luxury, ending his 29-year tenure with Keller Williams.

Mendoza brings more than 40 years of real estate experience and approximately 6,500 career transactions.

He previously founded and served as operating principal of Keller Williams’ Northwest region, where he helped grow the company to 30 market centers and more than 3,500 agents across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska.

“Mike’s career is what happens when talent, discipline and an entrepreneurial mindset come together,” said Leo Pareja, CEO of eXp Realty. “His decision to choose eXp after 29 years speaks volumes about where experienced leaders see the strongest opportunities for their teams and families. We are proud to welcome Mike, Jude, Josh and the entire Mendoza Team to eXp.”

Mendoza said conversations with longtime real estate colleagues Lou Ronayne and Gene Frederick introduced him to eXp’s model and convinced him the brokerage offered the right platform for his team’s future.

“There is more opportunity for me, my son Josh, and the rest of our team with eXp,” Mendoza said. “It’s a cutting-edge company with technology that is also focused on agent support. I like the forward-looking mentality to help agents grow and succeed in a constantly shifting industry.”

Joining Mendoza at eXp are his wife and business partner, Jude Mendoza; his son, Josh Mendoza; and agents Rob Castellini, Cheryl Kvasnicka, Megan Bradley, Brad Turk and Taylor Turk.

The Mendoza Team serves residential and luxury clients throughout the Phoenix metropolitan area.

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

This post was originally published on here. 

Flyhomes announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with Figure Technology Solutions to expand financing for its wholesale lending platform and support up to $2.4 billion in annual Buy Before You Sell volume as adoption grows.

The partnership will bring Flyhomes’ short-term bridge loans to Figure’s decentralized warehouse marketplace, Democratized Prime. Eligible loans originated by Flyhomes will flow through the marketplace, connecting the company with institutional and retail capital providers and creating an additional funding channel for its nationwide expansion.

Flyhomes’ Buy Before You Sell platform helps homeowners purchase their next home before selling their existing property. Through its wholesale model, the company works with mortgage lenders, brokers and real estate agents, allowing lending partners to remain the originator of record.

The Figure partnership provides Flyhomes with a third strategy for financing its loans, said Ryan Dibble, Flyhomes’ CFO and co-founder. The company currently sells some loans to whole-loan investors and finances others on its balance sheet.

“It’s a meaningful increase in total volume for us and really means that we’re unconstrained to continue to grow our business and expand our partners’ ability to deliver the product to consumers,” Dibble said.

The additional capacity will allow Flyhomes to increase loan volume and build a longer performance history for its bridge loans, potentially helping the company secure more favorable financing over time, Dibble said.

“You need to show performance that then unlocks lower-cost capital, and then you need to do more volume and improve more performance that then unlocks better and cheaper capital,” he said.

Strong fit for Democratized Prime

Figure Chief Capital Officer Todd Stevens said Flyhomes’ bridge loans are a strong fit for Democratized Prime because they address the challenge of equity lock-in.

“Millions of homeowners have the financial wherewithal to move, but their equity is trapped in their current home until it sells,” Stevens said. “Flyhomes delivers short-term bridge financing so buyers can buy their next home without having to worry about selling their current home first.”

The loans are secured by residential property equity and are expected to mature after the sale of the borrower’s existing home. Their short duration and self-liquidating structure offer investors a high-quality credit profile, Stevens said.

Figure’s marketplace differs from traditional warehouse lending by connecting originators with a broader pool of capital providers rather than relying on bilateral agreements with banks, according to Stevens.

Traditional warehouse agreements can take weeks or months to negotiate and require significant legal and administrative work. Figure uses a direct matching network funded by institutional investors and retail credit participants, with financing settling programmatically.

“It’s not bilateral — it’s open to a decentralized pool of participants and funding settles programmatically,” Stevens said.

The partnership will also use Digital Asset Registry Technology (DART)

DART is Figure’s blockchain-based e-note and lien registry. Figure describes DART as an alternative to the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS).

Stevens said the registry creates a ledger-based record of asset ownership intended to reduce fraud and collateral risks, including the possibility that the same collateral could be pledged to multiple lenders.

The partnership, which does not have an end date, will not materially change the experience for Flyhomes’ lending partners or their customers, Dibble said, because the new financing arrangement operates primarily behind the scenes. Rather, the additional capacity could give loan officers and real estate agents greater confidence that Flyhomes can consistently fund loans as its volume grows, he said.

Stevens said that the partnership is expandable and he expects it to grow over time.

Flyhomes’ potential customer base is broad. Dibble said an estimated 65% to 70% of homebuyers have an existing residence they need to sell, either to access equity or remove the debt before taking on a new mortgage.

The company’s products can serve homeowners looking to downsize as well as growing families seeking larger homes. Flyhomes said it has helped more than 12,000 families complete more than $8 billion in transaction volume and has worked with more than 300 lending partners. Its products are available in 43 states.

“Figure has built one of the most advanced capital markets platforms in lending, and that is exactly the kind of partner we need as Buy Before You Sell continues to gain nationwide adoption,” Tushar Garg, Flyhomes’ CEO and co-founder, said in a statement.

For Figure, Stevens said success will mean allowing Flyhomes to scale without the balance-sheet constraints associated with traditional warehouse financing while demonstrating how blockchain-based capital markets can support loan production.

This post was originally published on here. 

Lower announced on Wednesday the launch of a mortgage program that allows eligible homebuyers to contribute as little as 1% toward a down payment while receiving a lender grant of 2%, up to $4,500.

The program, dubbed ONE by Lower, is designed to reduce the upfront costs of buying a home as elevated home prices, mortgage rates and inflation continue to challenge affordability.

The grant does not have to be repaid and carries no recapture provision or resale restrictions, according to the company.

“I got into this business to help more people achieve the American dream of owning a home, which remains one of the most powerful ways to build wealth in this country,” Lower CEO Dan Snyder said in a statement. “With ONE by Lower, we’re launching an innovative new mortgage product and investing millions of dollars to help our members achieve homeownership and build a strong financial future.”

Under the program, Lower provides a grant equal to 2% of the home’s purchase price, capped at $4,500. The grant does not have to be repaid, carries no recapture provision and does not create a second lien on the property.

Craig Montgomery, president of Lower’s retail division, told HousingWire in an interview that the company developed the program after recognizing that many prospective buyers have sufficient income and credit to qualify for a mortgage but struggle to accrue enough money for a down payment.

“When gas prices are rising, when inflation is increasing, when the cost of groceries is increasing, it becomes very difficult to start saving money,” Montgomery said. “You’re trying to survive. And when you’re in survival mode, you know the last thing you’re thinking about is saving for a down payment of a home.”

He said that Lower views the grant as a financial investment in expanding access to homeownership rather than a cost passed on to borrowers.

“This is a significant financial investment on behalf of Lower, but we also think that it’s something that we want to do [and] should do,” he said.

Borrower requirements

The grant will not affect borrowers’ interest rates or the pricing offered by Lower’s loan originators. Lower has budgeted for the program and modeled its financial impact, although the company may modify the program based on its performance, Montgomery clarified.

Eligible borrowers must have household income at or below 80% of the area median income and a credit score of at least 620. The program is available to first-time and repeat buyers, and is limited to purchase loans for single-unit primary residences.

The maximum loan amount is $375,000. The loans do not carry prepayment penalties, and seller concessions are permitted.

The 2% grant is fully available on homes priced up to $225,000. For more expensive homes, the grant remains capped at $4,500, meaning borrowers may need to contribute more than 1% toward the down payment.

Montgomery said the structure can still reduce the amount of money borrowers need compared with other low down payment options.

For example, on a $300,000 home, Lower would provide the maximum $4,500 grant, while the borrower would contribute the remaining amount needed to meet the program’s down payment requirement. That could still require less borrower-funded money than conventional programs that generally require a 3% down payment, or Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans that require a 3.5% down payment for borrowers with qualifying credit scores.

“There are other lenders out there that have a 1% down [program], but some of the credit criteria or credit qualification is tighter,” Montgomery said. “We’ve elected to go with the 620-plus, which opens up a much larger pool of potential borrowers.”

Lower plans to promote the program through its loan originators, real estate agents and other referral partners. Montgomery said education will be important because the company expects a sizable pool of prospective buyers to meet the income and credit requirements.

The program is not intended to serve every homebuyer, Montgomery said, but Lower believes reducing the upfront cash requirement could create a more realistic path to ownership for qualified renters.

“If down payment barriers were eliminated, they would become homeowners,” Montgomery said. “With ONE by Lower, we feel like a 1% down payment option really can open the doors to homeownership.”

This article was written by Sarah Wolak and generated with the assistance of HousingWire Automation, then reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

This post was originally published on here.