Fidelity National Financial (FNF) is appealing a federal judge’s decision to uphold the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)  Anti-Money Laundering Regulations for Residential Real Estate Transfers Rule (AML rule).

The title firm filed its appeal of the summary judgement ruling on Friday in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. 

Filed in May 2025, the lawsuit lists FinCEN and its director Andrea Gacki, as well as the Department of the Treasury and its secretary Scott Bessent, as defendants. In the lawsuit, FNF claims that the rule, which was promulgated under the Biden administration, is “arbitrary and capricious,” and that the rule will cause “irreparable harm.” 

The rule requires title firms to report specific details on all-cash home purchase transactions. These include the names, addresses, dates of birth, citizenship status and ID numbers of all people involved — including minors, payment details and information about trusts and entities that are purchasing the property.

In February, Judge Wendy Berger of U.S. District Court in Jacksonville, Fla., adopted a report and recommendation filed in early December by Magistrate Judge Samuel Horovitz, granting FinCEN’s cross motion for summary judgement, ultimately upholding the rule.

Due to this ruling, the rule went into effect on March 1, as scheduled. However, in mid-March, a federal judge in Texas struck down the rule, finding that FinCEN had exceeded its statutory authority with the AML rule. This decision vacated the rule entirely, restoring the status quo that existed before the regulation took effect nationwide. 

That lawsuit was filed by Flowers Title Companies, LLC., which challenged the rule under the Administrative Procedure Act, arguing that FinCEN lacked authority under the Bank Secrecy Act to impose such sweeping reporting requirements.

“The fact that some bad actors have conducted non-financed real estate transactions does not make such transactions categorically ‘suspicious,’” U.S. District Judge Jeremy Kernodle of the Eastern District of Texas wrote in his ruling. “If it did, then nearly every type of transaction imaginable would be ‘suspicious.’”

The judge noted that by FinCEN’s own estimates, the rule would have covered between 800,000 and 850,000 transfers annually at a compliance cost of up to $690 million.

This ruling directly conflicts with Magistrate Judge Horovitz’s report, in which he concluded that under the Bank Secrecy Act, FinCEN has the clear authority to create rules designed to prevent money laundering at the federal level. Additionally, he found that FinCEN has shown that the rule is needed based on its experience with the prior Geographic Targeting Orders, and that despite FNF’s pushback, “suspicious transactions” is a defined category and not overly broad. Magistrate Judge Horovitz also found that the law-enforcement-related benefits of the rule outweighed the costs of compliance.

Earlier this month, FinCEN proposed a new anti-money laundering rule that would seek to reform how financial institutions build AML and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) programs under the Bank Secrecy Act. FinCEN said proposed changes aim to reduce the compliance burden by “promoting risk-based and reasonably designed programs” — and create greater consistency in how banks are evaluated for effectiveness. Additionally, the rule would revise FinCEN’s regulations to reflect changes from the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 — and fully replace a prior proposed rule published July 3, 2024, which FinCEN is withdrawing.

Public comment on the rule is open through mid-June. 

FNF did not immediately return HousingWire’s request for comment on its decision to appeal the summary judgment ruling.

This post was originally published on here. 

Presidio Investors has taken a strategic stake in Minnesota-based mortgage brokerage platform Edge Home Finance, the firms announced Monday. Financial terms and ownership structure were not disclosed.

The Austin, Texas-based private equity firm said the deal will support Edge’s technology roadmap, operations and potential acquisitions. Edge will continue to operate with the same platform, leadership team and broker-focused model.

Edge originated about $8.6 billion in mortgages over the past 12 months, mainly in Texas, Florida and Minnesota, according to mortgage platform RETR. The company had 1,295 sponsored loan officers as of Monday, per the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System.

“Edge Home Finance’s platform, track record and broker-focused approach aligns perfectly with our vision of fostering excellence and growth,” Victor Masaya, a partner at Presidio Investors, said in a statement.

Brokers have grown market share in recent years, reaching about 20.7% in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to Inside Mortgage Finance. They emphasize pricing transparency and consumer choice but face rising fixed costs for compliance, technology and marketing, like other originators.

Access to private equity capital, like Presidio’s investment in Edge, can give broker platforms more scale to negotiate with wholesale lenders, invest in borrower-facing digital tools and pursue roll-up acquisitions of smaller shops.

Tom Ahles, president of Edge Home Finance, said the partnership is intended to accelerate Edge’s expansion and technology plans. “Presidio brings the technology vision and strategic guidance we need to expand our reach and further elevate our service delivery,” Ahles said in a statement.

Presidio focuses on lower middle-market companies and counts businesses such as Bravas, a provider of home automation solutions, and Hellas Verona FC, an Italian professional football club, in its portfolio. The Edge deal adds a fee-based housing and mortgage services business rather than a balance sheet-intensive mortgage banking operation.

Flávia Furlan Nunes reported and wrote this article with drafting assistance from HousingWire Automation, an editorial tool that helps transform announcements and industry data into HousingWire-style news coverage.

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Dangerous wildfire conditions have spread across the country, reaching deeper into hurricane-prone regions like Florida and the Gulf Coast as the weather grows hotter, drier, and windier.

That expanding threat is reshaping how communities and insurers assess fire risk in places long defined by storm surge rather than flames.

To address the threat, the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety, a nonprofit supported by insurers and reinsurers, is extending its Wildfire Prepared program to Florida and nine other states. The program, first launched in 2022, will now be available in 14 states, up from four.

The program gives homeowners, builders and neighborhoods research-backed steps to build fire resilience and reduce risk. Third-party inspectors verify properties for one of two designations: Wildfire Prepared Home or Wildfire Prepared Home Plus. Standards focus on blocking wind-driven embers, limiting radiant heat and reducing direct flame exposure, and include a neighborhood designation to prevent structure-to-structure spread.

“Wildfire doesn’t stop at a property line,” IBHS CEO Roy Wright said in a statement announcing the expansion. “Once it enters a neighborhood, the built environment can either slow it down or help it spread.”

Wright said the expansion reflects rising demand for proven mitigation in regions where fire was once seasonal or localized.

Rising wildfire risk across expansion states

IBHS started with California, Nevada, New Mexico and Oregon – states that rank among the highest for acreage burned. Last January, wildfires swept through the Los Angeles area, causing billions in damage.

The program now covers Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Montana, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. They are also among the top states for acres burned annually, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

The L.A. fires drew major attention because of the neighborhoods destroyed and the ongoing rebuilding effort. Still, National Centers for Environmental Information data show total acres burned nationwide last year fell below the 7 million annual average.

Forecasters, however, see potential trouble ahead this year. The National Interagency Fire Center predicts above-normal fire potential this spring across much of the West and South. Exceptional warmth, record-low snowpack and expanding drought are rapidly scorching vegetation from California and the Great Basin into the Southwest and Rockies.

The center’s April report noted that “dry and abnormally warm conditions in March brought intensifying drought to large parts of the region, boosting wildfire activity late in the month while hinting at some of the concerns that could stick around until consistent heavy rainfall returns.”

If drought lingers and early tropical storms miss the Gulf Coast, the report concluded, East Texas through Florida could face unusually intense summer wildfire activity.

Florida is already experiencing wildfires

Florida’s inclusion comes as more than 1,600 drought-fueled wildfires have burned statewide through March, according to state officials. That pace would push Florida past 6,400 wildfires by year’s end – more than double last year’s total. In March, a 500-acre Calhoun County blaze destroyed 16 homes when high winds met dry vegetation.

“These fires, with the wind we’ve had and the freezes, are a perfect recipe for a major system,” state Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson said at a press briefing two weeks ago.

April through June is Florida’s peak fire season. Simpson called the current drought the worst in more than a decade. The Florida Forest Service has added firefighters, helicopters, drones and bulldozers to combat more blazes across the state’s forests and wetlands.

A push for verified fire risk mitigation

Expanding development in fire-prone areas has pushed officials and insurers toward building standards and neighborhood-scale mitigation to curb losses. IBHS is betting verified mitigation can keep communities ahead of a growing threat. The designations are voluntary but complement land-use planning, firefighting investments and homeowner education already underway in many states.

For Florida homeowners, the expansion offers a template for hardening homes before peak season. For policymakers from the Gulf Coast to the Rockies, it signals that wildfire resilience is now a year-round concern.

This post was originally published on here. 

About 85% of homeowners with mortgages say there is something they wish they had known before starting the homebuying process, according to a new national survey of New American Funding (NAF) servicing customers, released Tuesday.

The biggest blind spot is down payments. Roughly 20% of respondents said they wish they had known about down payment assistance programs before buying, and another 13% did not realize a 20% down payment was not required to purchase a home.

“The long-held belief that you need a 20% down payment to purchase a home is simply not true. When someone assumes they need that much, it can be discouraging. But the reality is much different,” New American Funding President Christy Bunce said in the company’s announcement. “Homebuyers have a significant number of options when it comes to loan programs that could cut that percentage dramatically.”

The online survey, conducted in November and December 2025, collected responses from 1,056 homeowners whose loans are serviced by NAF.

Most buyers put down 10% or less

Despite persistent misconceptions, the data shows most buyers are purchasing with far less than 20% down. Overall, 72.6% of respondents reported putting down 10% or less on their homes.

Baby boomers were the most likely to make a down payment of more than 20%, at 18.1%. At the other end of the spectrum, low-down-payment financing was common for younger buyers: 59.6% of Gen Z buyers and 44.8% of millennials put down 3.5% or less.

Meanwhile, 18.1% of baby boomers, 15.5% of Gen X, 10.1% of Gen Z and 9.9% of millennials said they put down 0%.

NAF noted that buyers who reported 0% down likely used a zero-down loan, down payment assistance or financial gifts from family and friends.

Regionally, knowledge gaps around down payments varied. Homeowners in the Northeast (17.9%) were roughly twice as likely as those in the West (8.9%) to say they wish they had known they didn’t need a 20% down payment. The share of buyers who reported putting 0% down was highest in the South (17.7%), compared with 13.4% in the West, 9.7% in the Midwest and 7.4% in the Northeast.

Beyond down payments, many respondents said they wished they had understood other aspects of the transaction before entering the market. Over 10% (10.6%) of recent homeowners said they wish they had known they could negotiate more with sellers, and 9.9% said they would have liked to know about minimum credit score requirements to qualify for a mortgage earlier in the process.

These findings point to continued confusion over buyer leverage and qualifying standards, particularly in a higher-rate environment where sellers may be more flexible on concessions and rate buydowns in some markets.

Affordability remains the top challenge

Finding a home they could afford was the hardest part of the process for 44% of respondents, the survey found. The affordability strain persisted even with outside help. About one-third of Gen Z and millennial buyers reported receiving financial assistance from family or friends, yet nearly three-quarters of all recent homeowners (71.7%) said they did not receive any such support.

Regionally, Northeastern homeowners were most likely to receive family or friend assistance, with 32.1% saying they got help up to 20% of the sale price. That compared with 21.3% in the South and 20.7% in both the Midwest and West.

Cost surprises did not end at the closing table. The survey found 17.1% said the actual cost of homeownership was higher than they anticipated, 16.4% bought a home that needed more work than expected and 13% felt they overpaid for their home.

When asked which ongoing expenses were higher than expected, respondents cited maintenance and repair costs (37.2%), property taxes (25.4%) and utility bills (22.3%).

Despite affordability pressures and higher-than-expected expenses, most respondents remain committed to their purchase. Nearly three-quarters (72.9%) said they would buy the same home again if given the chance.

About 24.8% of recent homeowners plan to stay in their homes for the rest of their lives. Baby boomers were the most likely to want to “age in place,” at 38.1%, followed by Gen X at 31.6%, millennials at 18.5% and Gen Z at 11%.

“In today’s housing market, buyers should take advantage of money-saving opportunities. Down payment assistance programs, negotiating with sellers, and loans that allow lower down payments are powerful tools that can make the difference between waiting on the sidelines and securing your home,” Bunce said. “At New American Funding, our loan officers partner with homebuyers to help them navigate the process with confidence.”

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication. The system helps convert company announcements and industry data into HousingWire-style news coverage.

This post was originally published on here. 

GreenPath Financial Wellness — a nonprofit approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the National Foundation for Credit Counseling — reviewed data from its reverse mortgage counseling clients over the past two years. It found that more older homeowners are turning to home equity to close widening monthly budget gaps.

In 2025, 21.1% of GreenPath’s reverse mortgage clients entered counseling with a deficit in their monthly budget, nearly double the 12.2% share in 2024, according to the organization’s internal client data. The average monthly shortfall also grew, from $1,498 in 2024 to $1,793 in 2025.

“These are not small gaps,” said Jennifer Fraser, director of stakeholder engagement and grants at GreenPath. “Budget shortfalls of this size often mean struggling to afford essential living costs like housing, healthcare, utilities and food. Since funds from a reverse mortgage can be used for almost anything, it becomes a lifeline in times of financial hardship.”

Reverse mortgages, primarily Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs) insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), have long been used as a retirement income tool for homeowners 62 and older. The GreenPath data suggests that for many seniors with limited or fixed incomes, the product is increasingly functioning as a last-resort cash-flow strategy rather than a discretionary planning option.

Income profiles for counseling clients underscore how financially fragile many reverse mortgage prospects are. In 2025, half of GreenPath’s reverse mortgage clients lived on less than 50% of their area median income (AMI), the analysis found.

Across 2024 and 2025 combined, roughly 23% of clients fell into the very low-income category, with household income below 30% of AMI. These levels are commonly used by federal housing programs to identify households with the greatest affordability challenges.

For lenders, servicers and housing counselors, these income benchmarks matter because they signal that a growing segment of potential reverse mortgage borrowers may have little margin for error if housing costs, medical bills or other essentials increase. That heightens the importance of counseling and clear communication about ongoing obligations such as property taxes, homeowners insurance and maintenance.

“Reverse mortgages go beyond a retirement planning tool to be a strategy to make ends meet for many households,” GreenPath said in summarizing the data.

Financial strain deepens with age

The nonprofit’s data also points to a strong age-based pattern. Budget deficit rates increased for older age groups, with the share of clients 80 and older who reported a budget deficit more than doubling — from 12.6% in 2024 to 25.8% in 2025.

As seniors age, fixed income streams often fail to keep pace with rising living and health care expenses, leaving fewer levers to address shortfalls. Among GreenPath’s 80-plus cohort, 58.8% live on less than 50% of AMI, compounding the risk that unexpected costs or market changes could quickly erode their financial position.

For the reverse mortgage sector, this trend intersects with broader demographic shifts. The U.S. population is aging, many retirees have limited retirement savings, and housing costs have outpaced income growth in many markets. Reverse mortgages can unlock housing wealth but also introduce long-term obligations and complexity, making suitability analysis more critical as borrowers get older and more income-constrained.

To respond to rising demand and deeper financial strain among clients, GreenPath said it received a supplementary award under HUD’s Comprehensive Housing Counseling grant program.

The $455,000 award will fund HECM reverse mortgage counseling sessions through September 2026 or until funds are exhausted. The organization said the grant will allow it to provide the required counseling at no cost to seniors nationwide who are facing increased financial hardship.

“Many seniors have spent their lives working hard to own a home, so drawing on its equity can seem like an obvious choice. But there are a lot of pros and cons to consider first. This grant helps ensure that older adults living on strained incomes don’t have to navigate complex financial decisions alone,” Fraser said.

Under HUD rules, most HECM borrowers must complete independent counseling before moving forward with a loan. For low-income seniors, counseling fees can be a barrier to accessing that advice. Grant-funded counseling can help ensure that financially vulnerable borrowers receive objective guidance on reverse mortgage terms, alternatives and potential long-term impacts before committing.

GreenPath said its counselors work with seniors to review budgets, explain reverse mortgage structures and discuss other options that may help stabilize housing and household finances.

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication. The system helps convert company announcements and industry data into HousingWire-style news coverage.

This post was originally published on here. 

PennyMac Financial Services Inc. has launched a specialized mortgage program for Team USA athletes, aiming to address the unique income and qualification challenges that Olympians and Paralympians face when buying or refinancing a home.

The “Welcome Home: Athlete Mortgage Program,” announced Tuesday, builds on PennyMac’s role as the official mortgage provider of Team USA and the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles, according to the company announcement.

The initiative offers Team USA athletes access to dedicated home lending experts, exclusive loan benefits and targeted education, the company said. The goal is to create a structured path to homeownership for athletes, who often have nontraditional income streams, short peak-earning windows and frequent relocation — factors that can complicate underwriting under standard agency and investor guidelines.

“At Pennymac, we believe greatness begins at home — Team USA athletes, much like the families we serve, deserve a solid foundation to reach their full potential,” Doug Jones, president and chief mortgage banking officer at PennyMac, said in a statement.

“Through ‘Welcome Home,’ we’re proud to provide these athletes with mortgage expertise, guidance and a tech-forward experience, ensuring the tenacity they bring to the Olympic and Paralympic Games is rewarded with the stability of a permanent place to call their own.”

The program is being launched as the mortgage industry continues to navigate a high-rate, low-inventory environment that has made affordability a central concern for all borrowers. For self-employed or gig economy workers like athletes, documenting income and meeting debt-to-income thresholds can be even more complex, prompting some lenders to develop niche offerings and dedicated support teams.

The PennyMac initiative also highlights how major originators are using affinity and sponsorship channels to reach narrowly defined borrower segments while still operating within existing product and credit frameworks. For real estate agents working with Olympians and Paralympians, a specialized program can provide a clearer path to prequalification and underwriting, potentially reducing fallout and contract delays.

PennyMac’s program is anchored by three primary components:

• Dedicated lending support: Team USA athletes receive access to loan specialists who are trained on athlete-specific financial profiles, including fluctuating earnings and endorsement income.
• Exclusive home loan benefits: The companies are offering a menu of savings opportunities and loan options tailored to this borrower group, although specific pricing and credit parameters were not disclosed.
• The Home Team Training Center: Athletes can access educational content, webinars and tools focused on building credit, understanding mortgage products and planning for long-term housing stability.

“We are incredibly thankful to have a partner like Pennymac that is deeply committed to supporting the Team USA athlete community,” said Sarah Hirshland, CEO of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee. “After witnessing the meaningful impact Pennymac has already made with athlete homeowners this past year, we are thrilled to build on that momentum with the launch of the ‘Welcome Home’ program and support even more athletes in the years to come.”

Pennymac said it has already worked with multiple Team USA athletes on their homeownership journeys. They include U.S. Olympic freeski halfpipe gold medalist Alex Ferreira; Olympic gold medalist speedskater Erin Jackson; Paralympic snowboarder and five-time Paralympic medalist Brenna Huckaby; and track and field athletes Hunter Woodhall, a five-time Paralympic medalist, and Olympic gold medalist Tara Davis-Woodhall.

“Home is my sanctuary; it’s where I reset, and Pennymac understood that,” Ferreira said in the announcement. “They were looking out for me from the start, reaching out directly to make sure I was locked into the best possible rate. Knowing my mortgage is in good hands gave me the peace of mind to focus more on what I care about most — staying 100% dialed in on my goals on and off the mountain.”

The program is being rolled out in partnership with the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee and is intended to support the broader Team USA athlete pool in the run-up to the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles. PennyMac said it plans to evolve the offering as it receives feedback from participating athletes and as market conditions change.

For housing professionals, the “Welcome Home” effort is another example of how large lenders are segmenting outreach and marketing around specific affinity groups, from veterans and first responders to education and health care workers. These partnerships can generate new purchase and refinance volume while also differentiating lenders in a commoditized rate environment.

This post was originally published on here. 

Costs are climbing faster than many operators expected, and teams are actively trying to figure out how to keep up without creating new problems in the process.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis found that more than half of all operating expense (OpEx) inflation since 2020 ties back to property insurance, with premiums roughly doubling between 2021 and 2024. At the same time, rent growth has slowed in many markets, so passing those costs on to residents just isn’t as simple as it used to be.

For years, the playbook was simple: raise rents when possible, cut where needed, and delay anything nonessential. That approach held up when demand stayed strong and residents had fewer alternatives. But that’s not the environment operators are working in today, and leading with cuts usually creates bigger issues than it solves.

The problem with cutting your way to profitability

When budget cuts start to show up in the resident experience, renewals drop. That leads to higher turnover, and the cost of turning a unit quickly erases whatever savings you thought you were creating.

According to the National Apartment Association, over half of property management firms report average turn costs between $1,500 and $3,500 per unit, with 20% coming in even higher. Across a portfolio, that adds up fast.

Operators see it play out in real time. You pull back in one area, something else slips, and now you’re spending more to fix it than you saved in the first place.

That’s why the conversation is shifting from what to cut to what’s actually worth keeping. But you can’t answer that without data.

Understanding what performs

Operators need to know which amenities are used consistently, what’s actually reducing staff workload, and where time and money are going with little return. The good news is that data already exists in resident surveys, usage patterns and service logs.

Regularly reviewing that data helps teams move away from assumptions that may not hold up anymore. Something that worked two lease cycles ago might not make sense today.

It also changes how you think about underused spaces. An empty business center doesn’t necessarily mean residents don’t need it. It might just mean it no longer fits how they live or work.

At the same time, some amenities show steady, repeat usage because they’ve become part of daily life. Pet amenities and package lockers are good examples. Residents rely on them and have built routines around them.

Before making changes, operators need to understand what’s driving both outcomes. Sometimes the right move is to improve or reposition. Sometimes it’s to remove something entirely. But those decisions should come from real behavior, not gut instinct.

Holding amenities and technology to a higher standard

Operators have always applied clear return on investment (ROI) standards to utilities and capital decisions. Now, amenities and technology are getting that same level of scrutiny.

Some investments are easy to justify. Smart locks reduce service calls and eliminate key management. Package lockers solve a daily pain point and save staff time. You see the value almost immediately.

But not everything holds up the same way. Adding technology without a clear purpose is how properties end up with expensive features no one really uses.

Fitness spaces tell that story well. A basic equipment room was enough a decade ago. Now, residents are looking for spaces that support how they actually live. Group fitness, wellness-focused areas and flexible layouts are now the expectation. The need didn’t disappear. It evolved.

Operators who catch those shifts early can adjust before a space stops making sense for the community.

Retention as an operating strategy

When turning a unit costs thousands of dollars, retention becomes a financial lever, not just a leasing metric.

Every renewal has a direct impact on net operating income (NOI). On a 200-unit property, a five-point lift in retention can translate into tens of thousands of dollars in avoided turnover costs. That’s real impact on the bottom line.

Operators are starting to act on that.

Some portfolios are pushing turnover to historic lows, while some are holding steady in a tougher environment. What matters isn’t the exact number. It’s the approach behind it.

The teams getting results are protecting the experiences residents rely on, keeping operations consistent and avoiding cuts that create more problems later.

Market conditions are helping, too, since homeownership is out of reach for many renters, and uncertainty is keeping people in place longer. But that won’t last forever.

Operators who use this window to build stronger systems and retention habits will be in a much better position when conditions shift again.

The operating model that holds up

The pressure on margins isn’t going away. Since 2021, expenses have been rising at a pace the industry hasn’t had to manage in a long time.

But these conditions also create an opportunity to be more intentional about how the business runs.

The strongest teams are looking closely at how every part of the operation performs. They’re using data to understand what drives satisfaction and renewals, treating retention as a core lever, and applying the same discipline to amenities and services as they would to any other investment.

At the end of the day, every operating dollar needs to earn its place. That’s what cost discipline looks like in practice.

Jeff Lail is the CEO of WithMe, Inc.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners. To contact the editor responsible for this piece: zeb@hwmedia.com.

This post was originally published on here. 

Every day, about 10,000 Americans turn 65. That pace is expected to continue for another seven to eight years. Collectively, senior homeowners are sitting on a record $14.6 trillion in housing wealth. That’s not a niche. It’s a wave of new business that most purchase-loan originators are overlooking as a component of their pipeline — largely invisible to the originators who need it most.

Reverse mortgages aren’t rate-and-payment products. They’re liquidity and cash flow tools for the fastest-growing segment of the mortgage market. Unlike purchase lending, they’re far less vulnerable to rate cycles, which means originators who build a reverse vertical aren’t just adding a product; they’re adding business stability.

The biggest barrier to entry isn’t licensing or guidelines. It’s misinformation. Here are the 10 myths most originators believe, and what the reality looks like.

MYTH #1 “Reverse mortgages are only for financially struggling seniors.”

Today’s reverse borrower is often equity-rich but has limited liquid savings. They are motivated by a desire for control and flexibility, rather than desperation. The most common use cases are:

• Cash-flow management in retirement (multiple payout options, like a line of credit or term payments, provide financial flexibility, making mortgage payments optional, turns elimination of a mortgage into an immediate cash flow boost)
• Lifestyle sustainability (maintaining the retirement they worked for rather than quietly downgrading it)
• Portfolio preservation (tapping home equity instead of selling investments in a down market may be a legitimate financial strategy)

MYTH #2 “The lender owns the home.”

Borrowers retain title. Full stop. A reverse mortgage is a lien against the property, with the same structure as a forward mortgage. As Finance of America’s Jonathan Scarpati explains, “If you understand how a traditional mortgage works, you already understand 80% of a reverse. The biggest difference is simply the repayment timing shifts.” The loan is repaid when the borrower sells, moves out or passes away, not before.*

* The reverse mortgage borrower must meet all loan obligations, including living in the property as the principal residence and paying property charges, including property taxes, fees, and hazard insurance. The borrower must maintain the home. If the borrower does not meet these loan obligations, then the loan will need to be repaid.

MYTH #3 “It’s too small a niche to matter.”

With senior homeowners holding more than $14 trillion in home equity, reverse mortgages aren’t a niche, they’re an underpenetrated market. The reason volume is relatively modest is simple: they aren’t offered at the point of sale often enough. Start with your own past clients. Borrowers you helped buy their first home 15 to 20 years ago may be a potential reverse candidate today. And when you close a loan for a 45-year-old, ask about their parents — many adult children are quietly supplementing their parents’ retirement income.

MYTH #4 “It’s too complex to learn.”

Reverse mortgages are not complex; they are just unfamiliar. The terminology sounds intimidating (UPB, principal limit, financial assessment), but these are straightforward concepts in industry jargon. As Scarpati phrases it, “This isn’t apples to oranges – it’s Gala to Fuji.” The real learning curve is the mindset shift: instead of leading with rate and payment, you lead with retirement income planning. Scarpati’s three starting concepts for forward originators: cash-flow durability, retirement income planning and education-first selling.

MYTH #5 “The rates don’t compare well.”

Comparing a reverse mortgage rate to a 30-year fixed is the wrong benchmark. The right question isn’t “what’s the rate?” — it’s “what does access to home equity without a required monthly mortgage payment* do for this borrower’s retirement runway?” For wealthier borrowers, strategically tapping home equity during a market downturn instead of liquidating a portfolio is a compelling wealth-management move.

* The reverse mortgage borrower must meet all loan obligations, including living in the property as the principal residence and paying property charges, including property taxes, fees, and hazard insurance. The borrower must maintain the home. If the borrower does not meet these loan obligations, then the loan will need to be repaid.

MYTH #6 “Heirs inherit a problem.”

HECMs are non-recourse loans. Involving families early in the conversation could resolve this concern and help avoid unnecessary stress or delays later in the process. When the loan comes due, heirs have clear options: sell the property and keep any remaining equity, refinance the balance to retain the home or walk away if the loan exceeds the property’s value — with zero liability beyond the home itself. The loan cannot chase other assets. 

MYTH #7 “Partners won’t be interested.”

They will when you speak their language. For real estate professionals, a 62+ buyer using Reverse for Purchase could bring a stronger down payment with no monthly mortgage obligation, making them more competitive, provided they continue to meet loan requirements such as living in the home as their primary residence, paying property charges including property taxes, fees and hazard insurance and maintaining the home. If the homeowner does not meet these loan obligations, then the loan will need to be repaid. For elder-law attorneys: long-term care funding, silver divorce asset division and housing stability.

MYTH #8 “It’s mostly a refinance product.”

Reverse for Purchase is becoming an increasingly attractive tool for seniors looking to purchase a home without the burden of a monthly mortgage payment in or near retirement. The 55+ demographic is still one of the largest home-purchase markets in the country, whether it be for downsizing after 30 years in the family home, relocating near grandchildren or buying into a 55+ community. Agents who leverage Reverse for Purchase have a meaningful edge in this key market.

MYTH #9 “The regulatory structure makes it risky.”

The guardrails are the point. The modern FHA reverse mortgage, Home Equity Conversion Mortgage, requires independent counseling, comprehensive disclosures and a financial assessment to confirm the loan is a sustainable long-term solution. Today’s regulatory structure creates transparency and borrower protection that should give both originators and clients confidence. Some of the early issues that dogged this product have been systematically addressed and resolved to enhance customer confidence.

MYTH #10 “It’s a one-time transaction.”

LOs who build sustainable reverse businesses treat it as a vertical rather than a product. They develop realtor partnerships built around the 55+ segment, and systematically review their existing client database. Through regular education events and building relationships with financial advisors and estate attorneys, they build a steady pipeline. As Scarpati frames it, offering reverse mortgages simply equips partners with another tool to better serve their clients: “You’re like a sporting goods store that doesn’t sell anything basketball-related — you’re excluding something extremely relevant in the market today.”

Reverse mortgages are best understood as planning tools. When originators can explain them simply and confidently, families engage — and so do the partners who serve those families. The demographic tailwind isn’t slowing down. The originators who build this vertical now won’t be scrambling to catch up later.

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A wave of texts and mailers warning that California politicians are targeting retirement savings for taxation has sparked confusion among voters, but experts say the claims mischaracterize a broader fight over competing ballot initiatives.

At issue is a proposed measure called the Retirement and Personal Savings Protection Act, one of several initiatives tied to an emerging political battle over a potential billionaire’s tax in California.

Some Californians recently received messages framed as urgent warnings. One “URGENT” text message reads: “Even though California has some of the highest taxes in the country, Sacramento politicians and special interests are still pushing to pass new taxes on retirement and savings accounts,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Despite the alarm, state tax policy experts say California has not attempted to broadly tax retirement account balances or savings assets for residents.

Instead, the messaging is reportedly tied to a campaign over proposed constitutional changes that would shape what kinds of taxes the state could impose in the future.

Proposed retirement-related legislation is one of multiple competing initiatives backed in part by the political action committee Building a Better California. The group is also linked to efforts that could affect a separate proposal known as the billionaire’s tax.

The retirement measure would bar the state from imposing new taxes on the “ownership or control” of personal property — including financial assets, business interests, digital assets, intellectual property, and tangible property such as boats or aircraft. But it would not block taxes on real estate or on income generated from assets, such as wages, pensions, dividends or capital gains.

California ranked No. 8 on a list of states with the strongest retirement savings and home equity levels, according to 2022 U.S. Census Bureau data adjusted to December 2024 dollars.

A typical California household has a median net worth of $295,838 and median retirement savings of $96,131, the data shows. Its median deposit account balance stands at $17,046, and 62.1% of households have a net worth of $100,000 or more.

Billionaire’s tax debate

The retirement tax initiative is closely tied to opposition against a separate proposal that would impose a one-time tax on Californians with a net worth exceeding $1 billion.

That proposal — backed by the Service Employees International Union–United Healthcare Workers West — would apply a 5% tax on qualifying high-value assets.

While framed as targeting the ultra-wealthy, critics say the competing measures are designed to neutralize each other politically.

Darien Shanske, a law professor at the University of California at Davis, described the initiatives as “revengements,” or revenge amendments.

“They are all deceptive,” he told the Chronicle. “People who vote for the billionaire tax might not realize they could frustrate that vote by also voting for one or more of the revengements.”

Building a Better California has raised significant funding from prominent tech and finance figures, the Chronicle report — including Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Kleiner Perkins Chairman John Doerr, Stripe CEO Patrick Collison, venture capitalist Michael Moritz, Doordash CEO Tony Xu, Affirm CEO Maksim Levchin, Ripple executive chairman Chris Larsen and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

A spokeswoman told local reporters the organization is working on “long-term policy reforms that will improve government accountability, protect the state’s jobs and economic engine and prioritize affordability and a better quality of life for Californians.”

What comes next?

Two additional initiatives backed by the group could affect how tax revenue is allocated and overseen.

One would require stricter auditing and transparency for special taxes, while another could redirect or constrain how some new taxes are used under existing school funding and state spending rules.

Supporters say these measures increase accountability. Critics argue they could limit voter-approved tax policies.

“A few billionaires are spending tens of millions to deny Californians the opportunity to save their local hospitals and ERs — but so far, those billionaires are failing,” said Suzanne Jimenez, chief of staff for the union backing the billionaire’s tax.

Both sides are currently gathering signatures to qualify competing measures for the November ballot.

If approved by voters, conflicting provisions would be resolved in favor of whichever measure receives more “yes” votes.

This article was written by Jonathan Delozier and generated with the assistance of HousingWire Automation. It was reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication. The system helps convert company announcements and industry data into HousingWire-style news coverage.

This post was originally published on here. 

Selling season 2026 – long on uncertainty and short on Spring mojo – is keeping many private homebuilders up at night and on edge all day long.

The challenge is no longer just about generating traffic to homebuilder websites and new neighborhood sales centers, converting buyers, or managing incentives.

It also concerns whether the business is prepared to react quickly and adapt effectively to conditions that change – frequently and fast. So much rests on whether leaders can see what’s happening in real time, reduce costs without causing chaos, and keep operations moving smoothly without overwhelming teams with workarounds.

In this light, Tennessee-based Parkside Builders’ recent digital transformation stands out as more than a software investment and cutover story.

More importantly, Parkside Builders’ pivot is an operations story in which the team’s imperative is to build resilience in the moment it’s being tested on the ground, as we speak. It is a case about what private builders need to consider and act on, when the market remains full of uncertainty, demand is choppy, and the margin for waste – in time, labor, communication, and decision-making – keeps vanishing.

The operational pivot

Parkside’s shift to Constellation HomeBuilder Systems’ BuildTopia platform followed years of using an à la carte software setup in which construction operations and accounting were not fully integrated. 

In the Parkside case, company business leaders state their goal of unifying construction and accounting, removing manual data entry, decreasing errors, and providing teams with real-time insights into budgets, approvals, and job performance.

The platform linked BuildTopia with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, while also adding field mobility through BuilderGo and trade-focused features via TradeTopia. 

For Amanda Davenport, Parkside’s Director of Finance, the old system had become harder to justify.

“It was still very manual, especially on the accounting side, which wasn’t great,” she said, describing the company’s years working with BuilderMT on operations while finance used separate systems. 

That friction amounted to more than a matter of annoyance, extra work, and tedium; it was costly to operate.

As Davenport explained, accounting often required accessing another system, manually pulling data, and trying to keep everything aligned. The result was not just extra work but missing information, weak visibility, and a growing sense that the company was carrying too much hidden strain. 

“Things would just disappear sometimes,” she said. “I was just following the instructions I was given, and I started missing purchase orders, which was driving us crazy.”

Parkside’s Davenport mentioned that purchase orders, budgets, and sales data did not flow automatically between construction and accounting, requiring manual updates and making it harder to spot problems early. As Parkside grew, she noted, “scaling the business started to feel risky.”

That’s where Parkside Builders’ strategic and operational leaders drew the line.

Operationalizing agility

For a private builder, especially in a market where sales pace is inconsistent and leaders must stay opportunistic on expenses, pricing, starts, and production velocity, disconnected systems create more than inconvenience. They can become a direct threat to nimbleness. If accounting lacks visibility into cash demands, if field scheduling lags reality, if approvals happen in batches rather than in flow, and if teams depend on email and memory to solve problems, then management’s ability to react is dulled at exactly the moment when sharper reactions are needed.

In Parkside’s case, the force factor – and deadline – for change was BuilderMT’s impending sunset.

“In today’s market, disconnected systems slow decision-making at exactly the wrong time,” said Sean Wilhelm, Vice President – Business Solutions at Constellation HomeBuilder Systems. “Builders need real-time operational and financial clarity to stay nimble when conditions change fast.”

Davenport said Parkside had seen the change coming. “Our accounting software kept saying that they would stop supporting BuilderMT,” she recalled. “I kept telling the operations team about this because I felt it was inevitable.”

Change management 101

But like many builders, Parkside also had to navigate the human side of change.

“They weren’t eager to switch because, even though it was clunky on my side, all plans and details were set up in the current purchasing/operating system, making it feel overwhelming to start over with how we do things.”

Eventually, though, the decision practically made itself.

“They announced they’d sunset BuilderMT, and that forced our hand,” Davenport said. “It forced our operations team to say, ‘Okay, here we go.’”

What followed was not a simplistic rip-and-replace exercise.

Parkside had already implemented Microsoft Dynamics NAV for accounting and did not want to change accounting systems again. Davenport said the company weighed three alternatives and eliminated one because it would have required another accounting change, and ultimately chose to upgrade NAV to Dynamics 365 Business Central and pair it with BuildTopia.

“We decided to upgrade NAV to what is now Business Central and go with BuildTopia,” she said. “We knew links had to be created because they weren’t there.”

The transition period was important because it’s when many implementations either gain or lose confidence. Parkside had to keep operating while rebuilding templates, redesigning workflows, and waiting for the integration link to work properly. For a while, data still needed to be exported from BuildTopia and imported manually. But when the connection finally worked as intended, Davenport said, “everything fell into place. It was incredible.” 

Her standard for success was practical, operational, and meaningful in terms of both business and financial KPI.

“I didn’t want to change accounting systems, but I needed the link between the two software systems to be better than the old one,” she said.

The biggest need was visibility. Under the prior arrangement, Parkside processed purchase orders in weekly batches, leaving accounting in the dark about near-term cash requirements.

“I had no idea about cash flow or what’s coming next,” Davenport said. “I didn’t know if the next check run would be 100,000 dollars or a million. I literally had no clue, no visibility, no foresight.”

That is precisely the kind of blind spot private builders cannot afford in a sluggish, iffy, incentive-driven sales environment. If leadership is unaware of what is coming, then the business stays stuck in a reactive mode.

“When leaders can’t see what’s coming next, the business is forced into reactive mode,” Sean Wilhelm said. “Integrated platforms give private builders the visibility they need to plan ahead, protect margins, and respond with confidence.”

End-to-end build-cycle management

Parkside also needed to improve scheduling discipline in the field. Davenport explained that the old system required builders to return to a computer to update schedules, which could cause the gap between field reality and system data to persist for a week or more. With BuildTopia and mobile access, those updates can now happen instantly. The effect, she said, is becoming evident in cycle time. 

“We’re now making huge strides,” Davenport said, adding that Parkside is seeing “cycle times cut by 10, 20, even 30 days.”

She was careful not to credit the software alone, but she emphasized a broader point that matters just as much: the system helps teams spend less time fighting with cumbersome processes and more time communicating, planning, and staying ahead.

That same benefit has appeared in accounting and payables. Parkside’s case study states that BuildTopia decreased manual accounting tasks by shifting the team from constantly monitoring data flow to intervening only when necessary. Davenport noted that one unexpected advantage came from the vendor experience itself.

“One of the benefits we didn’t expect was that vendors now have a portal, which reduced the emails we received about payments and POs,” she said. Instead of acting as intermediaries, payables can now direct vendors to the portal, where they can see purchase orders, invoices, and payment status on their own.

A separate time savings came from the real-time integration between BuildTopia and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. With purchase orders now pushed automatically when created and again upon approval, Davenport no longer has to manage a manual weekly upload process.

“That change saved me about two hours a week,” she said, noting that it eliminated the need to manually push POs late at night after hours.

The greater benefit, however, may be accountability.

Davenport said the new system is guiding Parkside toward a more disciplined, transparent workflow where people can see when a handoff hasn’t occurred and where responsibility lies.

“Now the process flows where everyone has to stay on point, stay on task, and that helps everyone do their job,” she said. She also noted that customer-care staff can now answer their own questions by checking contracts and stage status directly, instead of chasing answers across departments. “They are autonomous, able to handle everything on their own, and they’re not waiting on anyone else.” 

That is the main lesson for other private builders.

The return on nimbleness

In a volatile market, operational excellence isn’t just a nice-to-have – it’s essential. It offers time, visibility, and control. It reduces inefficiencies that accumulate when teams depend on spreadsheets, email chains, and weekly guesswork. It gives leaders a better chance to protect margins and keep their organizations prepared for growth when the sales environment improves.

“Operational excellence isn’t about adding complexity,” added Sean Wilhelm. “It’s about removing friction so teams can move faster, stay accountable, and be ready when the market turns.”

Davenport’s closing advice is worth taking seriously because it comes from someone who has lived through multiple implementations. Builders get comfortable, she said, and comfort can hide possibility.

“It’s hard to see what you’re missing or what’s possible,” she said. But if a company is willing to invest the time to examine a better way of working, “you can make a proper comparison of what it could do for your company.”

Her conclusion is just as straightforward as it is relevant right now:

“You could just rip the band-aid off, overcome the hurdle, and create a whole new world for your business.”

This post was originally published on here. 

Brad Jacobs’ vaunted, capital treasure-trove-fueled sprint to geographic and marketshare clout, enough to disrupt the nation’s building products and materials supply infrastructure, took another big leap this weekend, with a $17 billion deal to acquire TopBuild, a giant among homebuilder-favored distribution players.

During an investor presentation held on Sunday, Jacobs, Chairman and CEO at QXO, framed the deal as a “game changer” for QXO and its shareholders. 

As Jacobs explained, the deal, expected to close by the end of Q3 2026, will significantly expand QXO’s product offerings and value-added opportunities.

It will position the company as a leader in several key building products categories and expand the operator’s geographic footprint, laying the groundwork for bringing transformative new business and logistics efficiencies to the nation’s construction landscape, according to Jacobs. 

Once the deal closes, QXO will have an addressable market share of more than $300 billion and an enterprise value of about $50 billion, according to an announcement. Jacobs praised TopBuild’s strong operational execution, but also laid out a plan to grow the company’s revenue and profitability further through additional efficiencies. 

The announcement came less than three weeks after QXO closed on a $2.25 billion deal to acquire Kodiak Building Partners. Earlier this year, QXO stated its intentions to complete at least one acquisition in 2026 after it announced funding rounds that raised $3 billion in acquisition funds. TopBuild will be QXO’s third and largest acquisition since its founding.

But TopBuild likely won’t be its last. 

Why the TopBuild acquisition makes strategic sense

TopBuild is a publicly-traded installer and distributor of insulation and related products such as gutters, garage doors, fireproofing and commercial roofing systems. QXO specializes in residential and commercial roofing, siding, waterproofing products and other materials like lumber, trusses and gypsum.

Once the two companies join forces, QXO will be a leader in several key building product categories, including insulation, lumber and building materials, waterproofing and roofing. 

“This is the natural next step as we build out our multi-category platform, strengthening our position to compound growth through organic growth and additional consolidation over time,” Jacobs said. 

Jacobs pointed to some other key reasons why QXO was attracted to TopBuild. One of them is diversification. Once the deal closes, QXO’s combined business will be diversified across residential, industrial and commercial markets, with an equal share of new construction and repair/remodeling projects. 

“TopBuild benefits from exposure to fast-growing commercial and industrial end markets, including data centers and other energy-efficient, infrastructure-related projects that require complex, integrated building solutions,” Jacobs explained. 

TopBuild also brings an experienced team that will integrate well with QXO’s business. Once the deal closes, QXO will have about 28,000 employees, a fleet size of more than 10,000 vehicles and 1,150 locations in all 50 U.S. states and seven Canadian provinces. This represents a rapid expansion, as QXO had roughly 8,000 employees at the end of last year and a full-time staff of only about 200 in 2024. 

Jacobs also praised TopBuild’s integrated model that emphasizes job site proximity and a capital-light approach. Additionally, he pointed to TopBuild’s operational execution, as the company has industry-leading EBITDA margins of about 18%. QXO and TopBuild joining forces will create an even higher-margin and more resilient operator with a wide variety of value-added offerings on a national scale, Jacobs said. 

“It makes things much easier for national builders and large regional customers, enabling more consistent service, broader product availability and coordinated execution across multiple geographies and end markets,” Jacobs said. “The combination enhances value for local contractors through improved access to products, services and support, while maintaining the local relationships and execution model that drive day-to-day performance.”

“It also strengthens supplier relationships by increasing volume, visibility and predictability, supporting joint planning, innovation and long-term partnerships with critical vendors. And it positions the combined platform as a preferred channel for complex, multi-product projects, including commercial, industrial and infrastructure applications that require integrated solutions,” Jacobs added. 

How the deal aligns with QXO’s growth strategy

Billionaire entrepreneur Brad Jacobs founded QXO in 2023 with the stated intention of building the company into a $50 billion revenue operator by about 2030 to 2035. QXO plans to grow partially through acquisitions, which include the 2025 $11 billion acquisition of Beacon Roofing Supply and the recent Kodiak Building Partners deal. 

According to Jacobs, the TopBuild acquisition puts QXO “squarely on the path to building a $50 billion revenue market leader within the next decade.”

However, this expansion won’t be paved through acquisitions alone. Organic growth is another key lever. 

Jacobs made his fortune using a tested growth blueprint in his other companies, such as XPO Logistics, United Rentals and United Waste. Replicating a playbook in the fragmented building materials and products sector that worked well for Jacobs in other industries, like logistics and equipment rentals, is foundational to QXO’s vision. 

QXO’s technology-led strategy centers on acquiring traditional distributors and integrating them into a unified AI-powered platform. The company intends to use this platform to improve efficiency and expand margins, aiming to double the revenue of acquired businesses within three to five years.

Jacobs spoke briefly on how QXO plans to make TopBuild even more efficient and profitable. TopBuild reported about $5.41 billion in revenue in 2025, and executives targeted $9 billion to $10 billion of revenue by 2030 during a recent investor day in December. This growth trajectory roughly aligns with QXO’s vision of doubling revenues within five years. 

“Operational improvements will come from procurement, scale, organizational alignment, field-level operational excellence and network optimization. These improvements reliably buy down acquisition multiples over time, reducing execution risk,” Jacobs explained.

Jacobs also previously discussed how he plans to make Beacon Roofing Products more efficient. These efforts involve establishing a national call center for inactive accounts, increasing cross-selling potential, deploying digital tools to curb price overrides, and implementing a unified ERP system companywide.

What the deal signals about M&A activity in building materials

QXO’s aggressive expansion push signals that the highly fragmented $800 billion building products distribution industry could undergo increasing consolidation in the years ahead. This would mirror M&A activity in homebuilding, as large public operators increasingly scoop up regional, private homebuilders. 

The Webb Analytics 2025 Deals Report reports that 2025 was the busiest year for M&A activity in the building materials industry over the past decade, based on the number of facilities acquired.

The total number of deals declined by 30% in 2025, and fewer companies completed acquisitions. However, last year also marked a rise in megadeals, as four of the 120 reported deals represented 85% of all supply facilities acquired in 2025. 

This indicates that the industry’s largest operators, like Lowe’s, The Home Depot, QXO and Builders FirstSource, could increasingly dominate M&A in the industry and wrest more market share from smaller competitors. 

This post was originally published on here. 

If you want to understand the DNA of the modern American homebuilding industry, you don’t start in a boardroom or on Wall Street.

You start in the aftermath of World War II.

The men (and they were almost entirely men at the time) who came home from that war didn’t just return with discipline and grit. They returned with something far more valuable: a working knowledge of logistics at scale, systems thinking, supply chain coordination, and the ability to execute under pressure.

They had seen complexity. More importantly, they had learned to simplify it.

For a developer today, that generation isn’t just historically important; they are the greatest generation of homebuilders because they created the operating system we still run on.

They industrialized housing

Before the war, homebuilding was largely artisanal, fragmented, local and inefficient. A builder constructed a handful of homes at a time, often using inconsistent methods and little standardization.

What William Levitt and Levitt & Sons did in the late 1940s fundamentally rewrote that model.

Levitt, drawing directly on his experience as a Navy Seabee, applied assembly-line thinking to housing. At Levittown, crews didn’t build one house at a time; they performed specialized tasks across many homes in sequence. One team poured slabs. Another framed. Another installed windows.

It was Ford’s Model T, translated into shelter.

The result? Over 17,000 homes built in just a few years. Costs dropped. Speed increased. Quality became more consistent. For the first time, homeownership became accessible at scale.

Every production builder today, whether they admit it or not, is running a version of Levitt’s system.

They matched product to a moment

Timing wasn’t luck; it was strategy. The GI Bill unleashed unprecedented demand. Millions of returning veterans needed homes, and they needed them fast and affordably. Given the beating our boys took to win the war, a 1,250-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bath was a mansion in paradise compared with their time on a place like Iwo Jima.

The demand was both numerical and emotional.

Builders like Ed Ryan of Ryan Homes, a former Army Air Corps navigator and POW, understood this intuitively. So did Donald Kaufman, a decorated infantry veteran who co-founded Kaufman & Broad. They didn’t chase luxury. They didn’t overcomplicate the product. They built what the market demanded: efficient, affordable, repeatable homes in emerging suburban corridors.

Even those who weren’t veterans, such as William Pulte, showed the same instinct. At just 18, Pulte recognized the wave forming and positioned himself to ride it. The lesson is simple but often ignored today: great developers don’t just build well; they build what the moment requires.

They mastered land as a strategic moat

If you study this generation closely, a pattern emerges: they weren’t just builders but land strategists.

Leonard Miller of Lennar began with 42 lots and a $10,000 investment. That wasn’t just a humble start; it was a calculated foothold. Control the land, control the pipeline. Control the pipeline, control your destiny.

Ray Ellison in San Antonio followed a similar trajectory, growing from a two-man operation into one of the largest single-family producers in Texas. The scale didn’t come from construction alone; it came from disciplined land acquisition and a relentless focus on growth corridors.

Even regional players like O.N. Mitchell Sr. of HistoryMaker Homes understood this. Build where demand is headed, not where it’s been. That principle built Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, and every other major Sunbelt market we operate in today.

They innovated relentlessly

Innovation for this generation wasn’t about buzzwords; it was about efficiency.

In Dallas, Ira “Ike” Jacobs and David Fox pioneered slab foundations, central air conditioning, and production-line floor plans. These weren’t flashy ideas; they were pragmatic solutions that reduced costs, increased speed, and improved livability.

Similarly, Alvin Homes in Cleveland scaled to 1,000 homes per year by the mid-1950s by standardizing its product and refining operations. They didn’t reinvent the wheel; they made it roll faster and cheaper.

Compare that to today, when “innovation” can sometimes drift into overdesign or unnecessary complexity. The post-war builders remind us that the best ideas are the ones that work at scale.

They built companies, not just projects

One of the most overlooked aspects of this generation is its focus on building enduring platforms. U.S. Home Corp., founded in 1954, didn’t just dominate New Jersey – it became a national force. Ryan Homes evolved into NVR, now one of the country’s largest builders. Lennar grew from a small Miami operation into a publicly traded giant. These weren’t one-off successes. They were systems designed to replicate, expand, and endure.

For a developer, that distinction matters. Anyone can get a good deal. The question is whether you can turn that deal into a repeatable business. This generation answered that question decisively.

They understood simplicity scales

There’s a temptation in modern development to overcomplicate and chase differentiation for its own sake. The post-war builders took the opposite approach.

They simplified everything:

• Floor plans were repeatable.
• Materials were standardized.
• Processes were systematized.

That simplicity enabled them to scale from dozens of homes to thousands per year. It also made their product accessible. A Levittown home wasn’t custom, but it was attainable. Ultimately, accessibility drives volume.

They balanced vision with execution

It’s easy to romanticize this era, but their success wasn’t inevitable. These builders operated in a volatile, rapidly changing environment. Financing structures were evolving, and infrastructure had to be built. Entire suburbs had to be imagined from scratch.

Donald Borror of Dominion Homes in Columbus, Ohio, began building modest, affordable homes as the city expanded outward. The city wasn’t yet the national powerhouse it would become, but it had all the right ingredients: job growth, available land, and a wave of families, many tied to the broader post-war migration seeking attainable homeownership. He saw the future and bought land.

What set them apart was their ability to execute on vision. They didn’t just see opportunity, they moved on it with speed and precision. They aligned land, capital, labor, and product into a cohesive system. That alignment is still the hardest part of development today.

Why they still matter

For a modern developer, the relevance of this generation isn’t academic, it’s practical.

• 1945 Long Island, New York – William Levitt → Levitt & Sons / Levittown
• 1945 Cleveland, Ohio – Alvin A. Siegal (WWII Army vet) & Carl Milstein → Alvin Homes
• 1946 Fort Worth, Texas – O.N. Mitchell Sr. → HistoryMaker Homes (family roots)
• 1947 Dallas, Texas – Ira Jacobs (Army veteran) & David Fox → Fox & Jacobs
• 1948 – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – Edward Ryan (Army Air Corps, WWII POW) → Ryan Homes
• 1949 – San Antonio, Texas – Ray Ellison Sr. → Rayco / Ray Ellison Homes
• 1950 (formalized 1956) – Detroit, Michigan – William J. Pulte → Pulte Homes
• 1952 – Columbus, Ohio – Donald Borror → Dominion Homes (origins)
• 1954 – New Jersey – Robert H. Winnerman → U.S. Home Corp.
• 1954 – Miami – Gene Fisher & Arnold Rosen → F&R Builders (predecessor to Lennar)
• 1956 – Miami – Leonard M. Miller (joins, later leads) → Lennar (renamed 1971)
• 1957 – Detroit – Don Kaufman (WWII vet) & Eli Broad → Kaufman & Broad (KB Home)

We operate in a different world now. Regulations are tighter, land is scarcer, and costs are higher. But the core challenges haven’t changed:

• How do you deliver housing affordably?
• How do you scale efficiently?
• How do you align product with demand?

The post-war builders answered these questions under arguably more constrained conditions. They lacked advanced software, global supply chains, or institutional capital. What they had was clarity of purpose and operational discipline.

And they executed.

The playbook endures

If you distill their approach, the playbook looks like this:

• Standardize what you can.
• Control your land pipeline.
• Build for the largest addressable market.
• Innovate only where it improves efficiency or affordability.
• Scale through systems, not heroics.

It’s not glamorous. But it works.

A personal perspective

From my perspective as a developer, this generation represents something rare: a convergence of necessity, ingenuity, and execution. They weren’t chasing trends. They were solving a problem at a national scale by housing millions of Americans. And they did it with a level of efficiency and clarity that still hasn’t been matched.

They built more than homes. They built a framework for thinking about development. Every time we underwrite a deal, plan a community, or assess product-market fit, we’re operating within a system they created.

That’s why they are the greatest generation of homebuilders. Not because they were first – but because they were foundational.

What stays with me is the rare gift of proximity to that generation and the DNA that came with it. Growing up in Dallas, I saw it take physical shape as communities like The Colony rose from nothing into something enduring. Early in my career in San Antonio, working as a young land guy at KB Home after the Rayco acquisition, I learned how scale was engineered. How land, product and process come together under disciplined leadership.

Later, serving on the SWAT team with STORM Consulting and as an SME in Columbus during the Dominion Homes restructuring, I saw the inner workings from another angle: how great builders adapt, correct and rebuild to keep the machine running.

Across each chapter, it wasn’t just experience; it was exposure to the same foundational mindset. That’s the real inheritance from the greatest generation of homebuilders: a way of thinking that turns ambition into systems and systems into lasting scale.

This post was originally published on here. 

While national brands dominate real estate headlines, an independent brokerage based in Pennsylvania’s chocolate capital has quietly posted one of the industry’s strongest five-year growth runs.

Iron Valley Real Estate — now rebranding as IVRE — placed No. 10 nationally for five-year volume growth and No. 3 for five-year transaction side growth on RealTrends Verified’s 2026 brokerage rankings.

The firm reported $3.97 billion in 2025 volume and 12,347 sides from its headquarters in Hershey. It added $1.99 billion in volume and 4,315 transaction sides over the past five years.

Rob Cleapor, CEO of Iron Valley, sat down with HousingWire to detail factors in his company’s impressive showing.

“It was never about agent count for us,” he said. “It was about impact and market share in the markets that we are in. It’s impact on the community. It’s having brick and mortar and establishing our roots in those communities and being able to take real market share.”

Cleapor said the brokerage’s low-overhead structure has been critical.

“That’s been probably one of the keys to our success, especially with everything that’s been going on, and the last three years being a very difficult time for real estate.

“We’ve been bringing on a lot of agents that do volume because they started to look at their bottom line and started to look at what we had to offer. We’re giving the same kind of support that they’re getting from some of these other brokerages, but we’re giving them better splits.”

Steve Murray, senior advisor for HousingWire and founder of RealTrends and RTC Consulting, said Iron Valley’s model fits a broader trend.

“Iron Valley has been coming on strong for years out of central Pennsylvania,” he said. “It’s like (Samson Properties and LPT Realty); a low-cost model. Around 75% of Realtors don’t make a full time living. So, these companies appeal to people who want to go to the lowest cost place to do their business, and that’s why many of these companies have been growing faster in the market as a whole.”

Independent brokerages, in general, accounted for 28.79% of market share in this year’s rankings — up from 26.98% last year.

Finding your lane

Cleapor said independence requires flexibility in an industry climate marked by consolidation and technological advancement.

The company recently began rebranding from Iron Valley Real Estate to IVRE as it expands beyond Pennsylvania into markets like Florida and California.

“Iron Valley as a name doesn’t really resonate in all parts of the country,” said Cleapor. “So, we made the decision to be flexible enough to understand that our name might be a hindrance in some areas.”

He specified that existing Iron Valley affiliates will retain the choice to keep current branding or switch to IVRE — but newly added businesses will come on under the IVRE banner.

Cleapor’s advice to other independents navigating sweeping industry consolidation is straightforward.

“Stay consistent and find your lane,” he said. “There’s no such thing as one brokerage for every agent because every agent has different needs, different wants, a different style of business and a different path to success. The beauty of having a bunch of independent brokerages is all these agents can find their home.”

Murray said the challenge for large national brands is structural, when considering current areas of success for independents like Iron Valley.

“The challenge to the big national guys — Anywhere, Berkshire, Compass — because of their full-service approach with a lot of sales offices and all the overhead, is they’ve got to retain a higher percentage,” he said. “They’ve got to hold on to more of the commission dollar than the Iron Valleys or the Samsons or the LPTs.

“It’s kind of like a Nordstrom versus Walmart battle. The big difference between real estate and regular retail is the agents are mobile. They can pack up and take their practice anywhere else they want to. The national average over time has been 20% to 22% of all Realtors either leave the industry or move from one broker to another.

“There’s no brokerage I’m aware of that’s figured out some way to glue your agents to you.”

Local ownership, staying ahead of the curve

Cleapor said the decision to franchise rather than operate a cloud-based centralized model was deliberate.

“It’s local broker-owners,” he said. “We felt like it’s important to have a local broker owner for agents and the consumer. Agents need to feel supported when they need help and that’s not going to come from somebody that lives four hours away.”

The CEO emphasized continuous innovation.

“We’re always trying to stay ahead of the curve,” said Cleapor. “Our industry has changed so much the past five years between COVID, the NAR settlements and now consolidation. People went from having sub-3% interest rates to in the sixes and didn’t want to sell their homes. We as broker-owners or franchisors need to stay ahead of that curve and empower our owners and agents to be ahead of that curve.”

Murray noted that successful independents adapt by reducing fixed costs.

“Instead of having your own tech platform, they go to a variable cost license so their agents can get a good deal but the company’s not saddled with a big monthly check to underwrite the platform,” he said. “It used to be a lot of leading brokers had in-house training people — that’s all contracted out now on a variable basis. Same thing with very large marketing teams. A lot more has been automated.”

Asked whether fast-growing independents sacrifice profit per side to chase volume, Cleapor said Iron Valley’s profitability ranks higher than 75% of brokerages.

“Could we make a lot more profit per deal? Of course we could,” he said. “But does that allow us and everyone else to grow the right way? I don’t know if it does. We could be like everyone else but we’re not. We went with a different path and it’s been really good for us.”

This post was originally published on here. 

Tennessee-based MLS Realtracs has replaced its traditional MLS participation agreement with a new Brokerage Services Agreement that explicitly affirms brokers own their listings and the associated data, according to an April 14, 2026 company blog post by president and CEO Stuart White.

In the post, White said years of evolving rules, licensing structures and layered agreements left the industry in a “gray area” over who owns listing data, with some MLSs effectively treating listing content as an MLS asset or relying on vague language such as “for MLS purposes” to justify broad use of broker-created content.

Under the new agreement, Realtracs states that the listing broker owns the listing content and the data that comes with it, positioning the MLS as a steward and activator of data rather than an owner. The MLS said the agreement is intended to give brokers and agents a clearer foundation to enforce rights around copyright infringement and unauthorized use, according to the announcement.

Realtracs also said it is tightening rules around redistribution. Listing data can only be moved in ways that serve the brokerage’s economic interests or operational efficiency. 

“If it doesn’t serve the broker, it doesn’t happen,” White wrote in the blog post.

White framed the change as a structural shift rather than a cosmetic rewording of contracts. The move follows a broader internal restructuring at Realtracs designed to align the organization around “serving brokers first” and to accelerate decision-making on policy and product issues.

Realtracs said its Brokerage Services Agreement is ultimately about rebuilding trust with brokers, who it describes as being “squeezed on all sides” and in need of greater control over how their listing assets are used in the marketplace.

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication. The system helps convert company announcements and industry data into HousingWire-style news coverage.

This post was originally published on here. 

Toronto-based Repliers has entered into a strategic partnership with HAR.com — the multiple listing service (MLS) platform operated by the Houston Association of Realtors — to provide real-time access to MLS data and expanded analytics tools for subscribers.

Under the agreement, Repliers will serve as the exclusive platform for licensing and distributing HAR.com’s MLS data through application programming interfaces (API), offering brokers agents and technology providers direct access to real-time listing information.

Repliers said its platform is designed to eliminate delays and technical complexity traditionally associated with MLS data feeds. The system allows users to access data on demand without building and maintaining their own data pipelines.

The platform is aimed at a range of users including brokerages developing search tools vendors building agent websites and technology teams launching new applications.

Integration of proprietary datasets

As part of the agreement, HAR.com will integrate additional proprietary datasets into the Repliers platform at no cost to subscribers.

These include HAR Stats, which tracks member pageviews and leads from the HAR.com consumer portal; ShowingSmart Stats, which provides real-time showing activity data; and Customer Experience Ratings, which offer verified agent performance insights.

Data will be accessible through Repliers’ API infrastructure — allowing subscribers to incorporate the information into their own systems and applications.

Repliers CEO Rhett Damon said the partnership reflects broader changes in how real estate data is managed and used.

“Shared infrastructure supports the majority of new use cases, and AI will empower a new generation of brokers, agents and vendors to innovate in ways we’ve never seen before,” he. “For HAR.com to embrace this reality and lean in with their proprietary data sets shows why they remain one of the most innovative MLSs in the country.”

Houston Association of Realtors President and CEO Rene Galvan said the partnership is intended to expand capabilities for subscribers while improving data access and security.

“This partnership reflects our philosophy of giving world-class services to our subscribers with valuable tools to build better and faster, while gaining new data insights and security features made possible by real-time data consumption through Repliers,” he said.

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication. The system helps convert company announcements and industry data into HousingWire-style news coverage.

This post was originally published on here. 

Compass International Holdings (CIH), which owns Compass, Anywhere Real Estate and @properties Christie’s International Real Estate, is taking majority control or 51% of the common equity of a parent company that will indirectly own some Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. franchises.

The Robert Reffkin-helmed firm disclosed this ownership change in a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last Wednesday.

The parent company entity that indirectly owns some of Sotheby’s International Realty includes parts of Peerage, which is an investor in several Sotheby’s International Realty franchises, including Jameson Sotheby’s, Pacific Sotheby’s and Premier Sotheby’s, as well as several funds managed by TPG Angelo Gordon. The companies said the deal is part of an attempt to rework existing debt tied to the predecessor of the parent company CIH is acquiring. However, the total amount of debt involved has not been disclosed. 

“Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. became an equity holder in several affiliated Peerage franchisees, reflecting its long‑term confidence in these businesses and their leadership in key markets across the U.S. and Canada,” a CIH spokesperson told HousingWire in an email. Peerage and these brokerages continue to operate independently under their existing leadership and brand, in most cases as part of the Sotheby’s International Realty network.”

As part of the deal, some of the debt owed to CIH will be repaid over 30 months in installments. Additionally, as part of the PUT agreement included in the filing, TPG retains the right to force CIH to buy its ownership stake at any time, by paying a predetermined price in cash. If TPG chooses to exercise that right, CIH is obligated to complete the purchase with no conditions or excuses—regardless of financing, market conditions, or internal issues.

The Sotheby’s International Realty brand is part of Anywhere Real Estate, which CIH acquired earlier this year. 

This post was originally published on here. 

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser reached a consent judgment with right-to-list agreement firm MV Realty that voids the firm’s long-term “Homeowner Benefit Agreement” contracts in the state, clears related title filings and blocks the company from performing real estate brokerage services in Colorado.

The agreement, which was announced at the end of March and is awaiting court approval, resolves a 2025 lawsuit that accused MV Realty of illegally locking “hundreds” of Colorado homeowners into decades-long listing contracts, according to the attorney general’s office. The contracts were secured by filings in county property records and required homeowners — and in some cases their heirs — to pay what the state called “exorbitant” fees if they sold or refinanced with a different real estate agent.

Under MV Realty’s Homeowner Benefit Agreement, the homeowner signs over the right to list their home for the next 40 years to MV Realty in exchange for a cash payment ranging from $300 to $5,000. This means that if a homeowner decides to sell their house sometime in the next 40 years, the company is entitled to list the home for a 3% commission, which is separate from the commission earned by the buy-side agent.

If the homeowner breaks the agreement or decides to terminate it early, they must pay the firm 6% of the appraised value of the home.

At the height of MV Realty’s success in 2023, the firm said since launching the program in 2020, it had enrolled more than 35,000 homeowners in 33 states and has paid homeowners nearly $40 million.

The firm announced it was pausing its right to list agreement program in late February 2023, after it had been sued by attorneys general in several states beginning with Florida, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania in late 2022. In Sept. 2023, MV Realty filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the 33 states it operates in.

Under the attorney general’s consent judgment, all MV Realty Homeowner Benefit Agreement contracts with Colorado consumers are void and unenforceable, and the company is permanently barred from collecting any related fees or payments. Based on evidence gathered in the case, Weiser’s office estimates the cancellation will prevent MV Realty from collecting about $8.4 million from Colorado homeowners.

Additionally, MV Realty must also terminate all documents recorded against homeowners’ properties, fully release any claim or interest in those homes at no cost to consumers and notify impacted owners that their titles have been cleared. The agreement requires the company to meet “strict timelines” for those steps and to dismiss any pending lawsuits based on the agreements.

As part of the resolution, MV Realty has agreed to pay $600,000 to Colorado for consumer restitution and education over the next year. The consent judgment also includes $450,000 in civil penalties and $50,000 in attorneys’ fees, which are suspended as long as the company complies with the terms and pays the restitution, the attorney general’s office said.

The agreement resolves Colorado’s claims without any admission of wrongdoing by MV Realty and avoids prolonged litigation. Weiser’s office retains authority to enforce the consent judgment and pursue any future violations of state law.

Earlier this year, a North Carolina court barred MV Realty from enforcing its right-to-list agreements, after the firm was banned from operating in North Carolina back in 2024. Additionally, several states have enacted laws banning right-to-list agreements.

This article was written by Brooklee Han and generated with the assistance of HousingWire Automation. It was reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication. The system helps convert company announcements and industry data into HousingWire-style news coverage.

This post was originally published on here. 

For years, real estate marketing was viewed as simply a support function responsible for campaigns, promotional materials and brand visibility.  Now, there is a new model that is poised to help brokerages scale successfully.

Today, marketing sits at the center of how brokerages drive agent recruitment, retention and revenue growth. It is no longer a support function; it is a growth engine. 

Marketing shapes brand perception, drives pipeline, influences recruitment and ultimately determines how and how fast a brokerage or proptech company scales. It empowers brokerages to move faster, attract stronger agents and grow market share and profitability.

The organizations pulling ahead today are not doing so because they market better. They are doing so because they have redefined what marketing is responsible for: growth.

But that kind of growth does not happen by accident. It happens when marketing is structured with intention, when brand, performance and agent marketing and experience are distinct, aligned and accountable for real business outcomes.

The traditional brokerage marketing model was built for a time when visibility alone could drive results, and where marketing operated downstream from strategy. That model no longer holds.

What is emerging in its place is a new archetype: the marketing leader who thinks and operates like a Chief Marketing & Growth Officer with company-wide influence, accountability and ownership of the full growth system.

Own the full growth funnel

Historically, brokerage marketing teams were measured by output: brochures, signage and listing campaigns. These are still important, but they no longer differentiate a brand from a growth or expansion standpoint.

The most effective senior marketing leaders today are measured by outcomes. They go beyond marketers. They are builders and operators: close enough to the business to influence how it looks and how it grows. They own the full growth funnel, while helping shape conversations and decisions around recruitment, expansion and investment.

The data reinforces this shift. Research from McKinsey & Company found that companies with marketing embedded in strategic decision-making see 1.4x higher revenue growth, yet only about half of CMOs are meaningfully involved at that level. At the same time, Boston Consulting Group reports that organizations with strong alignment between marketing and sales achieve up to 20% higher revenue growth.

Marketing and recruitment need to be intertwined. Agents evaluate brokerages the same way consumers evaluate brands: through reputation, visibility, authority and, increasingly, the quality of the technology experience. The marketing leader who understands this doesn’t just generate leads; they shape demand for the right agents at the right time.

The brokerages that will outperform over the next decade will be those that give marketing a true seat at the table. Not as a support function, but as a driver of compounding growth.

Lead the digital transformation or be left behind

The Chief Marketing & Growth Officer, or a marketing leader operating with that mandate, should lead digital transformation with the CPO. Not just IT, or in isolation from Product. It should not be viewed as a secondary initiative owned by operations.

Digital transformation is not just about systems. It’s about adoption, experience and behavior at scale, which are all part of marketing-led outcomes.

This is where most brokerages get it wrong. Industry data shows the majority of digital transformations fail because organizations struggle to translate tools into behavioral change and business impact. In SaaS and tech companies, product and marketing are inseparable; real estate is well overdue for the same shift.

Effective marketing leaders partner closely with product and operations to improve and simplify the agent experience. They strip away unnecessary complexity, prioritize what drives progress, and ensure the tools agents rely on actually help them win business.

The issue facing most brokerages and PropTech companies today isn’t access to technology. It is translation: turning capability into behavior, tools into productivity and investment into measurable growth.

Two companies can invest in the same platform and see completely different outcomes if one treats it as a feature and the other treats it as a system. In real estate, that gap is accelerating.

Brokerages are investing heavily in AI, automation and data, but many agents are still operating with fragmented workflows, underutilized tools and inconsistent experiences. The result is not transformation, it’s complexity.

The firms pulling ahead are doing something fundamentally different. They are not asking, “What should we buy next?”  They are asking, “How should we operate differently?”

They are rethinking:

• How agents generate and convert business
• How client experiences are designed and delivered
• How decisions are informed by data, not instinct
• And how technology supports, not complicates, that process

This is where the CMGO creates a disproportionate advantage. For brokerages, it means driving measurable outcomes such as stronger agent recruitment, higher productivity, improved retention and a more consistent client experience across every touchpoint.

For PropTech companies, it means ensuring that products are not just built, but actually used, adopted and embedded into daily workflows. The gap between product innovation and user adoption is where most value is lost.

The CMGO is uniquely positioned to close that gap because they sit at the intersection of brand (what we promise), product (what we deliver) and experience (how it’s actually used).

They understand how agents build their businesses, how consumers make decisions and how both interact with technology in real-world environments.

More importantly, they own the outcomes tied to it:

• Recruitment and agent attraction
• Conversion and productivity
• Agent sentiment, retention and long-term value
• Product adoption and customer lifetime value

Without adoption, there is no ROI. Without alignment, there is no scale. And without marketing leadership, there is no system connecting the two.

The modern CMGO operationalizes new tools, partnering with product, sales and operations to ensure that every technology investment translates into a better agent experience, stronger market positioning  and measurable business performance. In SaaS companies, this alignment is expected because product and marketing operate as one system.

Real estate is still evolving into that model. The companies that win will not be the ones that invest the most in technology, but those that align leadership, culture and execution around it.

In the end, digital transformation is not about modernization but about momentum. And momentum is what great marketing leaders are built to create.

Credibility is the new competitive advantage

You have the right tools and agent adoption, now what? Today’s consumers are savvy. Generic marketing claims that once attracted attention are now costing brokerages credibility.

Today’s consumers and agents are more informed, more skeptical, and more reliant on digital signals than ever before. According to Zillow’s 2025 Consumer Housing Trends Report, 37% of buyers and 36% of sellers find their agent through online channels, turning digital presence into a direct revenue driver.

That shift elevates something many organizations still underestimate: credibility. Earned media, reputation, thought leadership and consistency across platforms now carry more weight than controlled messaging. The strongest brands don’t just say they are different; they demonstrate it repeatedly in places they don’t own.

This is where many brokerages get it wrong. They try to appeal to everyone, but credibility comes from clarity, not breadth. The most effective brands understand exactly who they are for and who they are not. They build systems, messaging and agent experiences that reinforce that positioning at every touchpoint.

Brand is no longer just a story; it is a filter. And marketing provides that filter. Over time, that filter compounds,  strengthening culture, improving retention and driving performance.

Measure what actually drives growth

The shift to a CMGO mindset ultimately comes down to accountability. Not for activity, but for impact.

Marketing leaders must operate as builders and operators: close to execution, deeply connected to the business, attuned to market shifts and aligned across recruitment, customer experience, product, operations and technology.

This requires a different measurement framework. The metrics that matter are not vanity metrics, but business metrics such as:

• Recruitment quality and conversion
• Agent satisfaction, retention, and productivity
• Technology adoption and utilization
• Customer acquisition cost and lifetime value
• Revenue growth and market share

These are not marketing-adjacent metrics, but marketing-led metrics. When marketing owns them, the entire organization becomes more aligned, more efficient, and more capable of scaling.

The new era of brokerage marketing

We are at an inflection point. Brokerages and PropTech companies can continue to treat marketing as just a support function or they can recognize what it can become. I recommend two sectors: agent marketing and corporate brand and performance marketing.

When a marketing leader operates with a Chief Marketing & Growth Officer mindset — owning how the business attracts, converts and retains agents and clients — the impact is not incremental, it is transformational.

The companies that win in this next era will not be the ones with the biggest budgets or the most tools. They will be the ones with the clearest strategy, the strongest alignment and the leaders capable of connecting brand, product and performance into a single, scalable system.

That is the role of the modern marketing leader. And it is only just beginning.

Lauren Henss is Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Initiatives at FirstTeam.

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. 

The window for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to be returned to the private sector “appears to be narrowing,” with a low probability of it happening before the midterms election in November, according to analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW).

With the Trump administration’s focus having shifted to the Middle East conflict and housing affordability, the topic has become quieter in Washington, D.C., and across the mortgage market in 2026, following early signals of a potential stock offering for the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) last year.

“While there have been multiple posts on X about GSE privatization, we think in order for privatization to succeed, the administration needs to take action to address key issues, such as capital levels, the treatment of the government’s senior preferred (stock), and the nature of the implicit guaranty,” the analysts wrote in a report released Monday.

But resolving these issues while maintaining a stable secondary market for mortgage assets will take time. And “if much of the work isn’t done in 2027, it will probably be challenging in 2028 as the administration’s focus shifts to the 2028 presidential election,” the analysts said.

“Given that, we think the window for GSE privatization appears to be narrowing.”

The comments come as the GSEs prepare to release first-quarter 2026 earnings. KBW said net interest income for Fannie and Freddie is projected to rise amid an expected $200 billion increase in their retained portfolios, as announced by Trump in January.

“The GSEs, unlike the Federal Reserve when it was buying agency MBS while conducting quantitative easing, are behaving like other private market participants and buying agency MBS where they see value,” the analysts said.

Overall, KBW lowered its price target from $10 to $8.50 per share for Fannie Mae, and from $9 to $8.50 for Freddie Mac, reflecting a reduced likelihood of privatization.

This post was originally published on here. 

The MIAMI Association of Realtors (MIAMI) and Broward, Palm Beaches & St. Lucie Realtors (RWorld) and their respective MLSs are merging, creating a single association and MLS that will be the largest local Realtor association in the world and one of the nation’s biggest MLSs, according to an announcement on Monday. 

The merger, effective May 11, 2026, will unify 93,000 members across South Florida and is being positioned by the organizations as the largest and fastest local Realtor and MLS merger in National Association of Realtors (NAR) history, according to the announcement. The combined association is proposed to be called Miami and South Florida Realtors, pending NAR approval.

MIAMI, with 56,000 members, is currently the largest local Realtor association in the U.S., while RWorld, with 37,000 members, is the third largest. The combined 93,000-member body will be larger than 47 state associations, more than double the next largest local association at 43,000 members and about one-third larger than the next largest local association globally, the organizations said.

“Two of the strongest MLS and Realtor organizations in the U.S. are now one, building on South Florida’s momentum as a global real estate powerhouse and shaping the industry’s next frontier,” MIAMI Chairman of the Board Alfredo Pujol said in the announcement. “This is a win for South Florida, our 93,000 collective members and their clients. Our members will have broader, more fluid access to the data, tools and services they need — without the limitations or complexity of multiple memberships.”

Pujol, currently chairman of MIAMI, will serve as the first chairman of the board of the combined association. Katherine Arteta will serve as 2027 chair-elect.

RWorld President Jonathan Dolphus, who will serve as 2026 chair-elect and 2027 chairman of the board for the new organization, said the combination is aimed at streamlining how South Florida real estate professionals access data and services.

“By bringing our organizations together, we are creating a more connected and efficient Association and MLS, one that delivers complete MLS data, expanded access to tools and services and a simpler way for our members to do business,” Dolphus said. He will be the first Black chairman of the board in the history of both MIAMI and RWorld.

The new association will be led by co-CEOs Teresa King Kinney and Dionna Hall, extending more than 60 years of women’s leadership at the organizations. Kinney, who has led MIAMI for 33 years, announced on Feb. 20, 2026, that she will retire at the end of 2026. Hall will remain as CEO of Miami and South Florida Realtors & BeachesMLS in 2027 and beyond.

The associations said that division boards for both legacy organizations will remain in place to preserve existing cultures and local representation. Upon completion of the merger, Evian White De Leon, MIAMI chief operating officer and chief legal counsel, will become COO of the new association and chief of the MIAMI Division. Kim Hansen, RWorld’s COO, will serve as COO of BeachesMLS and chief of the RWorld Division.

According to the announcement, the associations will initially continue to operate their MLSs as separate entities after the merger closes, with plans to fully combine them “in the near future.” Once combined, the Miami and South Florida Realtors Beaches MLS is expected to have about 93,000 subscribers, which would make it the third-largest MLS in the U.S., behind Bright MLS (101,000 subscribers) and California Regional MLS (CRMLS, 99,000 subscribers), based on T3 Sixty’s 2025 MLS rankings.

The resulting Beaches MLS will also be the largest MLS owned by a single Realtor association in the U.S., according to the announcement. The organizations reported that MIAMI and RWorld members closed $69 billion in total real estate volume in 2025.

The merged association will maintain access to both Flexmls and Matrix, giving subscribers two MLS platform options under the same organizational umbrella, according to the announcement.  The combined group says it will offer more than 2,830 educational seminars annually and provide access to more than 300 marketing tools, products and services.

In addition, the new organization will expand on MIAMI’s existing global program, which includes more than 437 signed international agreements with real estate associations worldwide. These partnerships drive referral business and promote South Florida to international buyers, investors, tourists and corporations.

The unified association also has 11 data exchange relationships with some of the largest MLSs in the U.S. and Canada, allowing reciprocal access to each other’s MLS data.

The organization said it will soon launch participation in the Global Data Exchange (GDX), a platform enabling MLSs and real estate organizations across multiple countries to share public listing data. That initiative could further extend South Florida listing exposure to global audiences and deepen inbound referral pipelines.

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication. The system helps convert company announcements and industry data into HousingWire-style news coverage.

This post was originally published on here. 

The MIAMI Association of Realtors (MIAMI) and Broward, Palm Beaches & St. Lucie Realtors (RWorld) and their respective MLSs are merging, creating a single association and MLS that will be the largest local Realtor association in the world and one of the nation’s biggest MLSs, according to an announcement on Monday. 

The merger, effective May 11, 2026, will unify 93,000 members across South Florida and is being positioned by the organizations as the largest and fastest local Realtor and MLS merger in National Association of Realtors (NAR) history, according to the announcement. The combined association is proposed to be called Miami and South Florida Realtors, pending NAR approval.

MIAMI, with 56,000 members, is currently the largest local Realtor association in the U.S., while RWorld, with 37,000 members, is the third largest. The combined 93,000-member body will be larger than 47 state associations, more than double the next largest local association at 43,000 members and about one-third larger than the next largest local association globally, the organizations said.

“Two of the strongest MLS and Realtor organizations in the U.S. are now one, building on South Florida’s momentum as a global real estate powerhouse and shaping the industry’s next frontier,” MIAMI Chairman of the Board Alfredo Pujol said in the announcement. “This is a win for South Florida, our 93,000 collective members and their clients. Our members will have broader, more fluid access to the data, tools and services they need — without the limitations or complexity of multiple memberships.”

Pujol, currently chairman of MIAMI, will serve as the first chairman of the board of the combined association. Katherine Arteta will serve as 2027 chair-elect.

RWorld President Jonathan Dolphus, who will serve as 2026 chair-elect and 2027 chairman of the board for the new organization, said the combination is aimed at streamlining how South Florida real estate professionals access data and services.

“By bringing our organizations together, we are creating a more connected and efficient Association and MLS, one that delivers complete MLS data, expanded access to tools and services and a simpler way for our members to do business,” Dolphus said. He will be the first Black chairman of the board in the history of both MIAMI and RWorld.

The new association will be led by co-CEOs Teresa King Kinney and Dionna Hall, extending more than 60 years of women’s leadership at the organizations. Kinney, who has led MIAMI for 33 years, announced on Feb. 20, 2026, that she will retire at the end of 2026. Hall will remain as CEO of Miami and South Florida Realtors & BeachesMLS in 2027 and beyond.

The associations said that division boards for both legacy organizations will remain in place to preserve existing cultures and local representation. Upon completion of the merger, Evian White De Leon, MIAMI chief operating officer and chief legal counsel, will become COO of the new association and chief of the MIAMI Division. Kim Hansen, RWorld’s COO, will serve as COO of BeachesMLS and chief of the RWorld Division.

According to the announcement, the associations will initially continue to operate their MLSs as separate entities after the merger closes, with plans to fully combine them “in the near future.” Once combined, the Miami and South Florida Realtors Beaches MLS is expected to have about 93,000 subscribers, which would make it the third-largest MLS in the U.S., behind Bright MLS (101,000 subscribers) and California Regional MLS (CRMLS, 99,000 subscribers), based on T3 Sixty’s 2025 MLS rankings.

The resulting Beaches MLS will also be the largest MLS owned by a single Realtor association in the U.S., according to the announcement. The organizations reported that MIAMI and RWorld members closed $69 billion in total real estate volume in 2025.

The merged association will maintain access to both Flexmls and Matrix, giving subscribers two MLS platform options under the same organizational umbrella, according to the announcement.  The combined group says it will offer more than 2,830 educational seminars annually and provide access to more than 300 marketing tools, products and services.

In addition, the new organization will expand on MIAMI’s existing global program, which includes more than 437 signed international agreements with real estate associations worldwide. These partnerships drive referral business and promote South Florida to international buyers, investors, tourists and corporations.

The unified association also has 11 data exchange relationships with some of the largest MLSs in the U.S. and Canada, allowing reciprocal access to each other’s MLS data.

The organization said it will soon launch participation in the Global Data Exchange (GDX), a platform enabling MLSs and real estate organizations across multiple countries to share public listing data. That initiative could further extend South Florida listing exposure to global audiences and deepen inbound referral pipelines.

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication. The system helps convert company announcements and industry data into HousingWire-style news coverage.

This post was originally published on here. 

As the real estate industry grapples with consolidation, margin pressure and shifting consumer expectations, HomeServices of America is rethinking its role — and getting louder about it.

In a recent interview on the RealTrending podcast, CEO Chris Kelly said the company is moving beyond its long-standing identity as a “quiet powerhouse” and evolving into a more active, value-driven parent organization. The shift reflects broader changes across the brokerage landscape, where scale alone is no longer enough and firms are racing to control more of the transaction.

“We are very much evolving … from holding to parent company,” Kelly said, noting that the distinction carries real implications for agents and affiliated businesses. As a parent company, HomeServices is expected to deliver value — not just aggregate it — and to take a more visible role in shaping the industry.

Listen to the podcast

A broader definition of growth

That evolution is influencing how HomeServices thinks about expansion. Rather than focusing solely on acquiring brokerages, Kelly said the company is pursuing a mix of strategies, including M&A, organic growth and investments across the broader real estate ecosystem.

“Our growth strategy could be buying other parts of the ecosystem,” he said, pointing to the company’s investment in a title underwriter as an example of a move that may not grab headlines but plays a critical role in the business model.

The approach reflects a wider industry shift. According to Kelly, real estate is increasingly dividing into two camps: national, full-service ecosystem players and cloud-based, virtual brokerages. Both models can succeed, he said, but companies need to be clear about who they are.

“There’s not any one right path,” Kelly said. “You have to understand who you are and lean into it.”

The race to the consumer

As competition intensifies, firms are also looking to engage consumers earlier in the transaction process — even before they formally enter the housing market.

“The whole concept behind it is how further upstream do I need to go to get to that client?” Kelly said.

That trend is fueling convergence across sectors, with mortgage companies, brokerages and portals all expanding into adjacent businesses. While some firms are built on digital-first strategies, HomeServices is leaning into its existing network of agents and service providers while continuing to invest in digital capabilities.

“We’re all trying to get to the same spot, just coming at it from different angles,” he said.

Local leadership as a competitive edge

Despite the push toward national scale, Kelly emphasized that local leadership remains one of the company’s most important differentiators.

HomeServices maintains a president or CEO-level leader in each of its markets — a structure that may be less efficient but, in Kelly’s view, is essential to culture and agent engagement.

“The one thing that we will not let efficiency interfere with is our local leadership,” he said.

That local focus is especially important as independents and alternative models gain market share. Rather than trying to appeal to every type of agent, Kelly said brokerages should be clear about their value proposition.

“If you pretzel yourself enough, you can appeal to be the brokerage for every kind of agent — and that’s just not reality,” he said.

Profitability through diversification

With margins under pressure across the industry, HomeServices is relying on its multi-line business model to maintain stability.

Kelly compared the approach to a stool: the more legs it has, the sturdier it becomes. Revenue streams from mortgage, title, insurance and other services help balance fluctuations in any one segment.

“Brokerage cannot be a loss leader,” he said. “They all have to be able to stand on their own.”

That diversification also allows the company to continue investing in agent services without cutting value — a key consideration in a competitive recruiting environment.

A shifting role for MLSs and portals

Kelly also weighed in on ongoing debates around private listings, portals and the role of MLSs.

HomeServices’ participation in Zillow’s “coming soon” offering, he said, was less about making a strategic shift and more about expanding distribution channels where public marketing is already allowed.

“It was just another distribution channel,” he said.

Looking ahead, Kelly expects MLSs to increasingly function as technology providers rather than rule-setting bodies. Those that adapt to that role, he said, will be best positioned to succeed.

The industry’s biggest risk

For all the structural changes underway, Kelly said the greatest threat to the industry may be internal.

He warned that fragmentation — particularly around listings and data — could create a more difficult experience for consumers and ultimately weaken the role of the agent.

“If I’ve got to go to 20 different websites to find out what’s for sale, that’s a terrible way to go about it,” he said.

Such a scenario could erode the value of buyer representation and open the door for new forms of disruption.

Simplifying the transaction

Ultimately, Kelly said the next phase of growth for HomeServices — and the industry — will center on simplifying the real estate transaction.

He compared the current process to buying a car by sourcing each component separately, calling it unnecessarily complex for consumers.

The goal, he said, is to bring brokerage, mortgage, title and insurance together into a more seamless experience, both in person and digitally.

“We’ve been a really good strip mall,” Kelly said. “We want to make it more of that singular door.”

For an industry navigating rapid change, that focus on integration — without losing the human connection — may define which models endure.

Listen to the podcast

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication. The system helps convert company announcements and industry data into HousingWire-style news coverage.

This post was originally published on here. 

Florida-based Atlantic Avenue Mortgage became the top reverse brokerage firm in the U.S. in 2025, less than four years after its founding, and it sees more room for growth in 2026. 

“We just had our best month ever. We’ve done over $90 million in loan volume in Q1. We expect to certainly be at the top of the broker space. We’re really excited this year,” founder Eric Manley said in a recent interview with HousingWire’s Reverse Mortgage Daily. 

“If the reverse mortgage product had some of these changes that the market has been discussing, it would not only help us, but help others too,” he added. “The more loan originators, the more businesses that offer reverses, the better it is.”

The company, launched in 2022 and now licensed in 35 states, topped the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) rankings from Reverse Market Insight with 899 endorsements last year. It also built a staff of more than 70 employees, split between its Florida headquarters and an office in Maryland — including 47 salespeople, according to Manley.

Atlantic Avenue’s production is driven almost entirely by data-powered direct mail, a heavy focus on first-time reverse mortgage borrowers, and a growing share of proprietary products aimed at higher-value homes and more affluent clients.

Manley, who has been in the mortgage industry for a decade, said Atlantic Avenue has already closed more proprietary loans in early 2026 than in all of 2025. It’s leaning on a custom-built CRM system and in-house modeling to refine its targeting and improve conversion rates.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Flávia Nunes: Atlantic Avenue Mortgage became the top reverse mortgage brokerage by HECM endorsements in 2025 after less than four years in business. What is driving this performance?

Eric Manley: I’ve been in the mortgage industry for a little over 10 years. I’ve worked at a lot of bigger mortgage companies, and unfortunately, it becomes a numbers game at some point. We have high retention here at Atlantic Avenue, and it has to do with who we are.

We focus on compliance. More importantly, compliance is trying to treat every interaction – you either enhance the interaction or diminish it with the customer — and take it on the education level.

Atlantic Avenue started a little over three and a half years ago. A few of us moved down to Florida, and now we’re over 70 employees. We have a range of products. We also do some forward mortgages as well, but our focus is the reverse product. That is our sole focus.

FN: What borrowers are you focusing on?

EM: We’re seeing growth across both the traditional, typical reverse mortgage borrower, as well as more affluent borrowers. Many financially strong homeowners now are viewing home equity as part of their retirement strategy.

The reverse mortgage is something that should be used a lot more. It’s an amazing product. There are a lot more people in America who need this product than are using it. The biggest thing that’s sad is when we see older borrowers who have been in the house for 40 or 50 years and, instead of taking out a reverse, they would rather downsize and move to an apartment.

FN: How do you see proprietary products evolving?

EM: We’ve already done more proprietary products this year than in all of last year. We did about 60 to 70 proprietary products last year, and we’re already at around 60 right now. They’re becoming more important, especially for high-value homes and more affluent borrowers. But at the same time, there are additional benefits even for borrowers who aren’t in that situation.

They don’t have the upfront mortgage insurance, which is pretty high. We have the ability to pay off debt, which is huge. The proprietary principal limit factors are, at times, even more competitive than the HECM. Years ago, that wasn’t the case.

There are quite a few times where it still depends on the principal limits for the benefit of the borrower, but you’d be surprised how frequently you’ll see the proprietary loans allow borrowers to get more access to cash. And on top of that, the closing costs are less. From our standpoint, it’s just becoming a more competitive product. There’s a broader reach.

The challenge is education, but we make sure that our team knows the difference between the HECM and the proprietary products. It seems like the secondary market has a better appetite for proprietary products. It’s more flexible as well.

FN: What are your expectations regarding the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s request for information on the HECM and HECM Mortgage-Backed Securities (HMBS) programs?

EM: It’s encouraging that there is an RFI. It shows regulators recognize the importance of the reverse program and are looking for ways to improve it. I know there’s a liquidity side, the efficiency and sustainability side, and looking at some of the articles from the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association, probably one of the most important things is the upfront mortgage insurance.

The Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund is doing very well. Maybe we can reduce the 2% upfront premium and find a better system so that you can put more borrowers into reverse products.

FN: What’s your perspective on some recent broker-lender agreements?

EM: We’ve always had those letter broker agreements. I do think that they’re making some positive steps, and it shows the industry is evolving. There’s better alignment between brokers and lenders. It benefits everyone. That’s always been one of our main focuses at Atlantic Avenue — trying to have the best relationships with third parties. 

But the key to it, even with the agreements there or not, is actually that relationship with them. We have great relationships with our lenders, with the companies, with our AMCs, with our title partners. Regardless of what those agreements say, the most important thing is having that human to human interaction with lenders and really working as a team, even though they’re different companies.

The agreements are great, but they alone aren’t the solution. The long-term success still depends on fair economics between both sides, strong support and product availability.

FN: These agreements are also seen as a way to deal with refinance churning. How are Atlantic Avenue’s originations split between purchase and refis?

EM: The HECM endorsement reports show us as more heavily weighted toward HECM-to-HECM. But last year, over 40% of our loans were what we call FTRs – first-time reverse. We had months last year where over 60% of our business was first-time reverses.

It is something we’re expanding. We’re really honing in on our marketing to continue to grow that out. Probably the most important thing we can do is put as many loans as we can into this space and educate as many people as we can for the first time.

FN: How are you attracting more borrowers, and what is the main source of your leads?

EM: We focus on direct-mail marketing. That’s all we do. We’ve tried web marketing as well, and it’s really hard to qualify. We get a lot of referrals in the South Florida area, but it takes a long time to build out that referral network. We think that data-driven marketing is the way to go. That really separates us.

The biggest room to grow is in the FTR proprietary space, because there are already people who have proprietary loans and people are refinancing them. But one thing we’d like to focus on is growing that pool of affluent first-time reverse borrowers, which is a tough code to crack and has a lot to do with behavioral marketing.

We have tried social media. It’s good to show brand awareness. We’ve done Google ads. The juice is not worth the squeeze, at least for our level. If we were a big lender, we’d probably do it just to keep the brand out there. Unfortunately, you get a lot of people who don’t qualify, and you can educate them, but at the same time I still need to make sure we’re providing our sales floor with qualified leads.

FN: How do you deploy technology, AI and data in your marketing strategy?

EM: We do a lot in-house. We have our own custom-built CRM, which is constantly evolving. And then we have numerous models, different mail strategies and something we update weekly. I think that’s what really separates us, how focused we are on data.

We buy the data from various vendors. We try to buy the best data we can, both property and credit data, and we try to make sure that we’re targeting the people we think have the best chance of qualifying as well as responding. The team we have working on our models understands reverses. It’s really hard to find people who like the reverse space and at the same time want to dedicate a lot of time to figure out how we can build it out.

A lot of companies would do auto dialing. I’m really against auto dialers. It’s not good business. Same with trigger leads. I believe those are done. We’ve never done anything like that. We’ve done manual outbounds at times, but we don’t do this often.

FN: How has Atlantic Avenue performed so far in 2026?

EM: We just had our best month ever. We’ve done over $90 million in loan volume in Q1. We expect to certainly be at the top of the broker space. We’re really excited this year. We certainly expect 2026 to be our best year yet, especially with the pace we’re on.

If the reverse mortgage product had some of these changes that the market has been discussing, it would not only help us, but help others too. The more loan originators, the more businesses that offer reverses, the better it is. Unfortunately, some businesses don’t like the idea of competition. The more competition there is, the better. It raises the standards and requires you to be more educated on the products.

This post was originally published on here. 

The home inspection industry is undergoing a quiet shift that directly impacts mortgage origination timelines, closing procedures, and lender risk assessment. As the owner of an inspection company, with over 3,000 inspections completed across Texas’s fastest-growing markets, I’m seeing trends that fundamentally reshape how lenders, agents, and buyers approach the inspection phase of the transaction.

Thermal imaging becomes standard, not premium

Five years ago, thermal imaging was a luxury add-on. Today, it’s becoming baseline. Infrared technology reveals what the naked eye cannot: missing insulation, air leakage patterns, moisture intrusion, and hidden electrical hotspots. For mortgage originators, this matters considerably. A complete thermal imaging report reduces post-closing defect claims by identifying issues before funding, which directly protects lender collateral and reduces early payment defaults caused by expensive surprise repairs.

In the Austin-San Antonio I-35 corridor, where rapid new construction dominates, thermal imaging has become necessary for identifying shortcuts in insulation and HVAC installation. Lenders working with new construction clients in Kyle, New Braunfels, and Round Rock increasingly request thermal imaging reports as a condition of commitment. A trend is unlikely to reverse.

Video walkthrough reports are replacing static PDFs

Static inspection reports are becoming vestigial. Buyers and agents increasingly expect video walkthrough reports. narrated, timestamped documentation of every defect with visual evidence. This serves multiple stakeholder interests: buyers see exactly what the inspector saw; agents have defensible documentation for their MLS disclosures; and lenders have video-backed evidence of collateral condition at inspection.

The operational benefit for originators is subtle but significant. When a repair dispute arises post-underwriting, you have video evidence rather than conflicting interpretations of written reports. This reduces loan file friction during quality control and underwriting review.

Bundled services and In-depth due diligence

Buyers and lenders increasingly demand detailed due diligence. Beyond the standard home inspection, commercial clients now routinely request crawl space evaluations, foundation elevation surveys, septic system inspections, WDI/termite reports, and thermal imaging as bundled packages. The in-depth approach reduces the risk of major undisclosed defects that could trigger renegotiation post-inspection or post-closing.

For mortgage originators, the message is clear: thorough, bundled inspection protocols lower overall credit risk. A buyer who knows the true condition of the foundation, HVAC, roof, and septic system is less likely to experience buyer’s remorse or post-closing disputes that impact loan performance.

11-month warranty inspections on new construction

New construction is booming across the Austin market, and so is a new service: 11-month warranty inspections. These occur just before the builder’s one-year warranty expires, allowing homeowners to formally document defects before their recourse period ends. For lenders, this trend is powerful: it encourages buyers to uncover defects during the warranty period rather than walking away from the property or facing legal disputes years later.

The I-35 corridor is experiencing unprecedented growth, and much of that growth is new construction. New homebuyers increasingly understand that an 11-month inspection is not optional, it’s critical self-defense. This service has become standard request in hot markets like Kyle, San Marcos, and Buda.

Closing timelines and inspection pressure

These trends are compressing closing windows. Broad inspections with video reports, thermal imaging, and specialty inspections (foundation, crawl space, septic) require time. Originators who build 7-10 business days into their inspection timeline, rather than the old 3-5 day standard, experience fewer rushed decisions and reduced post-closing disputes.

The bottom line for lenders

Home inspection trends are not cosmetic. They reflect a market-wide recognition that thorough, documented due diligence protects all stakeholders. Originators who incorporate these evolved standards into their loan origination workflows, such as thermal imaging, video reports, and broad defect documentation, are investing in better credit outcomes and reduced post-closing litigation risk.

The inspection phase is no longer a formality. It’s a critical control point for collateral assessment and borrower confidence.

Shawn Patterson is the owner of CenTex Inspection Services.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners. To contact the editor responsible for this piece: zeb@hwmedia.com.

This post was originally published on here. 

As automation reshapes mortgage operations, the industry’s next challenge is to help borrowers navigate the complex decisions that shape their lives—not just to close the loan faster.  

For the better part of a decade, the mortgage industry has been obsessed with a single metric:  speed. We have poured billions into “Sales Infrastructure”—digital applications and lead generation engines designed to capture consumers in seconds. We built high-performance engines to get borrowers to the starting line, but we often forgot to pave the road to the finish line.  

Every generation inherits a financial system built for someone else. Today, as individuals move toward financial independence, they are immediately confronted with binding commitments — where to live, how to finance transportation, and how much debt is sustainable. These decisions shape the next 20 to 40 years of their lives. Yet the modern financial system treats these as isolated transactions, evaluated independently and explained not at all.  

We don’t have a speed problem; we have a navigation problem. In today’s market, the bottleneck is rarely getting the customer into the funnel; it is navigating the “administrative rot”  that exists between the application and the deed. To move forward, the industry must transition from a sales-distribution model to a Navigation Infrastructure model.  

The administrative rot: Why speed is an illusion  

In a traditional workflow, a “fast” approval is often a hollow victory. A borrower may receive an answer within minutes, but rarely an explanation. Technology has become remarkably good at determining whether a borrower can be approved, but it remains structurally incapable of guiding them through the approval process.  

This is largely because the system rewards execution and throughput rather than restraint or understanding. Efficient file movement is a measure of success. No operational dashboard celebrates the time spent explaining why a decision might be suboptimal — such as qualifying for a 30-year term when a 20-year structure would preserve long-term liquidity — because that time does not monetize cleanly within traditional commission structures.  

As a result, borrowers often mistake access to credit for an endorsement of their decision. They believe they have made an informed choice when, in reality, they have merely complied. This  “administrative rot” is not a failure of ethics, but a failure of system design. The next phase of innovation must focus on a system that works for the person, not just the transaction.  

Navigation infrastructure: The operating system for ownership  

Navigation Infrastructure represents a fundamental shift from reactive data collection to proactive orchestration. It was not conceived as a minor improvement to the application process,  but as a response to a structural absence in finance: the absence of guidance. 

Think of this infrastructure as “Air Traffic Control” for the journey from application to settlement. It does not exist to advise on which products are “best” — an act that would merely recreate old incentive conflicts. Instead, it serves as a guide through the application process itself, ensuring that the borrower navigates on a foundation of verified facts rather than speculation.  

This infrastructure relies on three operational pillars:  

1. Truth as Infrastructure: Establishing financial truth once, directly at the source, and preserving it as a reusable foundation so borrowers don’t have to re-upload the same documents repeatedly.  

2. Middle-Office Orchestration: Automatically identifying what needs to happen next in an application and triggering it instantly to remove human “phone tag”.  

3. Real-Time Connectivity: Using advanced APIs to ensure the lender and the borrower are always looking at the same map, updated in real-time.  

The shift from “search” to “resolution”  

The greatest friction in the current system is that every application resets the process. Every lender rebuilds the same picture from zero, leading to preventable denials and borrower fatigue.  

Navigation Infrastructure solves this by treating financial truth as infrastructure — not paperwork.  By tracking not just “Is this true?” but “When was this verified and how does it age?”, the system introduces an awareness of time into the process. This allows the infrastructure to understand the  reliability of a borrower’s data over time rather than just their point-in-time eligibility.  

The Workflow Impact: 

Consider how these changes the daily reality of a loan file:  

 The Title Hurdle: A rental management judgment typically surfaces days before closing.  In a traditional model, a processor discovers the defect and leaves a voicemail, leaving the file in limbo for 48 hours. In a navigation model, the system identifies the defect and instantly triggers automated outreach for a payoff statement, clearing the hurdle weeks before the scheduled closing.  

 The Verification Loop: Instead of a borrower chasing their employer for a new paystub because a 30-day window expired, the system maintains a “living foundation”. It knows  when employment continuity was last validated and can automatically refresh that truth at  the source, preventing late-stage surprises.  

The transparency dividend  

In the modern financial system, the true status of a transaction is often difficult to observe. A  Navigation Infrastructure addresses this by building “explainability” into the process. 

Every event is source-level, time-stamped, and normalized. This creates an auditable chain of truth that strengthens compliance for lenders and improves transparency for regulators. For the  borrower, this represents a “Transparency Dividend.” Instead of navigating in the dark, they are given a clear view of their verified financial reality and how it aligns with the system’s requirements.  

The human-AI partnership  

This infrastructure does not replace the need for professional judgment. As operational complexity declines through automation, the industry must ask: where should human expertise create the most value?  

The role of the professional is elevated, not diminished. By liberating experts from  administrative tasks such as chasing documents and manual follow-ups, a Navigation  Infrastructure allows them to focus on high-value guidance. The technology handles the logistics of the “last mile” of the transaction, while the human professional remains the ultimate pilot of the ship.  

Conclusion: The new industry standard  

The mortgage industry has spent decades perfecting the process of efficiently producing loans. The next phase of innovation must focus on helping borrowers navigate the complex decisions  that shape decades of their lives.  

Real estate is the largest asset class in the world, yet we have tried to navigate it using fragmented maps and manual labor for too long. A robust Navigation Infrastructure is the missing counterpart to traditional lending—a guide that works for the person, not just the transaction.  

The firms that will dominate the late 2020s are those that stop buying “tools” and start investing  in “infrastructure.” It is time to stop celebrating how fast we can find a problem and start measuring how efficiently we can navigate to a resolution.

Gerald Green is the founder of Veri-Search.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners. To contact the editor responsible for this piece: zeb@hwmedia.com.

This post was originally published on here. 

For nearly two decades, real estate technology followed a predictable playbook: Build an all-in-one platform that does everything, with the CRM, dialer, transaction management and nurture campaigns all under one roof.

But a quiet reversal is underway. A growing number of agents, teams and brokerages are abandoning general-purpose tools in favor of highly specialized solutions designed to do one thing exceptionally well.

To illustrate this shift, HousingWire sat down with Troy Palmquist, founder of HomeCode Advisors — a peer-driven directory and review platform that helps real estate professionals navigate the fast-growing world of proptech.

Palmquist pointed to a new wave of startups redefining specialization.

“I think Rezora was really the first, the one that kind of made me start really realizing what I was seeing,” he said. “Prospecting can be done 1,000 different ways and much of it can now be automated. With voice and outbound dialing, you have more ability to create specific or niche products that serve the purpose of one type of thing.”

Rezora IO — launched in January — is an artificial intelligence (AI) voice prospecting agent that automatically makes calls, qualifies leads, books meetings and syncs calendars. Company co-founder Aidan Richards said seeing real estate move toward specialized tools was a green flag for product development.

“The whole reason that we built this is there are plenty of companies that offer AI voice agents to make phone calls, but not specifically for real estate agents,” he said. “You can pretty easily and quickly create an AI voice agent, but you have to build it from scratch and test it and deploy it.

“Then on top of that, it’s not going to be able to speak specifically like a Realtor would, handle objections the right way and be personalized for this type of conversation.”

Rezora solved this by building its own large language model trained on more than 60 sales books and thousands of real conversations.

During an alpha test in October 2024, agents saw three times the conversion rate versus manual calling, according to the company.

Specialized tools winning on cost, integration

One concern with specialized tools has always been cost — paying for five niche products instead of one bundled platform.

But Palmquist argues that the math favors specialization, especially when integrations are done right.

“Most of these products aren’t that expensive,” he said. “If you get one listing appointment that you didn’t have because of it, did you get a return in your first 30 days? I’d say yes.”

The key enabler, he said, is open integration.

“The companies that are doing really well and seeing growth right now integrate with everything they can,” Palmquist said. “They go about building with the mindset of, ‘I need to plug into X software so I have the most beneficial product and output for my customer.’”

Richards echoed this philosophy.

“Another goal of ours is to integrate on as many platforms as possible, so adding Rezora to people’s CRMs and to lead generation websites and anywhere that Realtors are already spending time,” he said. “We want it so they don’t also have to sign up for this tool and can continue using it. This is supposed to modify your tech stack and not necessarily add to it.”

‘Amazon for AI voice agents’

What makes this moment different, according to Palmquist, is that many of these specialized tools are genuinely novel.

As for whether larger proptech platforms will simply copy the approach of Rezora and similar specialty tools, Richards is unfazed.

“I’d be surprised if any company really tried to get into this, just because the tech investment and the complexity of the agents is really complicated,” he said. “It’s going to get easier, in a sense, but also, at the same time, we’ve got a pretty substantial headstart in terms of tuning in agents, specifically for real estate.”

The road map, he said, is to become “the Amazon of AI voice agents.”

“It would be where there’s one (agent) for every kind of conversation,” Richards said. “So that means you log on, you pay the regular subscription price, and then it tells you, ‘OK, do you want buyer leads, seller leads, expired listings, open houses, wholesale, circle prospecting? All those are already ready to go.’

“Then, hopefully at that point, we would have been deployed to enough brokerages where they wouldn’t even need to create their own agents, because we can just tweak any of ours a little bit for whatever a Compass wants or whatever an eXp wants.”

For agents tired of bloated dashboards and unused features, the shift toward specialized tools that actually replace — rather than multiply — their tech stack could prove welcome.

This post was originally published on here. 

I became a grandma recently, which has been equal parts magical … and also mildly humiliating. Because apparently, everything we did thirty years ago is now wrong. Like, way wrong. I marvel that my daughter survived to age one.

Put the baby on their stomach? Wrong. Kiss that baby on the face? Not yet, Grandma. Add a blanket and a stuffed animal to the crib? Horrors. Let them cry it out for a few minutes? Essentially a felony.

I did manage to bite my tongue before saying “But we did it this way and you turned out ok …” which I’ve learned, is not considered a compelling, data-grounded argument in 2026.

And honestly?  They aren’t wrong.

Today’s parents have more data, more tools, more access to information – and as a result, they are making different, often better decisions. Not because the old ways were foolish or bad … but because we know more now.

So it got me thinking.

If we can see how parenting tactics have evolved with better information and the ability to look back and see what worked well and what didn’t … why do we still make some of the same mistakes in the mortgage industry that we were making back in 1995?

If there’s one thing that becoming a grandma (“Gigi,” for the record) has reinforced for me, it’s that just because something worked in the past, it doesn’t mean it’s still the best way to do it. And yet, we cling to our old habits like comfy security blankets.

Some of that is understandable, as this is a high-stakes business with much on the line, and old habits that have served well over the market cycles are hard to shed. But some of those old ways of thinking may be costing us growth, talent, revenues and relevance. And this market has exposed some of the places where we simply must evolve.

Here are three places where I think we’re still getting it wrong – and one where I think we are finally doing it exactly right.

Over-reliance on top producers instead of building systems

We know the stats: 30% of loan officers are doing 70% of the production, year after year (InGenius). So we chase them, give big signing bonuses, build entire strategies around making sure they are happy and never want to leave us. But this isn’t a growth strategy, it’s a dependency.

Don’t get me wrong. While I might not have originated enough to be listed in the new HousingWire Mortgage Rankings, I was a decent MLO in my own right – and I have a lot of respect and love for the hard work originators do. 

But I will suggest that the best companies out there have shifted to creating repeatable systems and best practices – supported by technology – that create more consistency and raise up better producers across the board. Think playbooks over personalities. I’ve also found that the best of the best top producers are surprisingly generous, and generally willing to help capture their best practices and habits to help lift others around them.

Designing around the company rather than the customer

Every single mortgage company website says they are customer-centric, customer first, customer is numero uno. But then the processes, tech interfaces and communications are built to make sense for the company, internally. But not externally, to that customer to whom each mortgage company has pledged their undying love and affection. 

Today’s consumer has an expectation of an easy-to-understand process that helps build understanding and trust – and when that isn’t delivered, they notice.

Secret shopping results show that the customer experience in mortgage still has a whole lot to be desired. Not to mention the miserable repeat and retention rates that still hover darn close to 18%, according to the MBA. Where is the love, and what to do?

Test out your process, end to end – and not with an internal eye, but purely the view from the prospect or customer seat. Secret shop in earnest. Survey your customers. And most importantly, stare your results in the face, and be relentless about not just removing friction points – but considering the ways you can delight your customer.  

Underestimating the speed of technology adoption … including AI

AI isn’t coming soon – it’s here, and it’s already infiltrating many unexpected nooks and crannies of our personal and professional lives.  

Yet I know a lot of brilliant, experienced mortgage professionals, from the executive suite to the front lines, who are simply overwhelmed trying to keep up.

Last fall, Ruth Porat, president and CIO of Google and Alphabet talked about AI, stating “I think of it as a time where there are two speeds. One is the speed of change, the speed of breakthroughs, the science that we’re seeing, but the other really important part is a slower speed. And that’s the speed of adoption in a truly substantive way so that each one of us can have that economic uplift that AI offers.” 

So well said – the pace of innovation is far faster than the speed at which humans can adopt it, and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon.

So what are smart lenders doing? Starting small, but starting immediately. They are building internal AI task forces that include participants from each major department – both to watch for unintended consequences, help find adoption best practices, and to create internal champions to help buy-in across the company. They are focusing on applications that support and serve their staff, not replacing them. That day will come and not just in mortgage, but that’s a topic for a different day.  

And … have patience. Many employees are wildly stressed by technology change, particularly AI. Take adequate time to help them understand the why, learn and adopt.

So what are we getting right?

This challenging market that seems never-ending has driven us to question everything. And this is a very good thing. Putting everything on the table and questioning if there is a better way. Pushing back on long held assumptions that things need to be done this way … because it’s always been done this way. Developing an openness to new technologies, new partnerships, new ways of working. A willingness to embrace data and take significant action. Making daily learning and listening a must do, not a sometimes do. 

Attending industry events and not just sitting in the sessions scrolling on our phones, but intentionally bringing meaningful strategic learnings and actions back to the team. Learning from the past and what worked well but actively questioning, seeking out and embracing the new.

So 30 years ago, we did our best with what we knew at the time – and we and our children and our industry amazingly survived. But it turns out that “we’ve always done it this way and survived” isn’t really a great strategy, in parenting or in the mortgage industry. 

A new generation can make different choices, building on what we did in the past, with better information, tools, technology, data and insights. It’s not a rejection of the past, but it is wisely and continually building on it. Growth will come from a willingness to question, tweak, learn, measure, adjust and keep trying. And for us old dogs, being willing to admit that in plenty of cases, the new ways are actually much better.

Even if it means that from time to time, this Grandma will have to keep her parenting opinions to herself.

This post was originally published on here. 

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger left in limbo legislation that would let faith-based organizations build affordable housing on their land without rezoning.

Instead of vetoing or signing the Faith in Housing Act, Spanberger recommended changes. The recommendations keep the bill’s core intact but make targeted operational tweaks.

The governor, who has only been in office since January, made improved housing affordability a major campaign theme. Her first legislative push had mixed results. Local governments defeated a proposal to allow multifamily housing by right in many commercially zoned areas.

Since the faith-based bill passed more than a week ago, local governments have pressured the governor to veto it. At the same time, she has heard from pro-housing and faith-based organizations urging her to make it law. The measure would put Virginia among the few states with a “Yes in God’s Backyard” policy that permits faith-based housing development by right.

“The governor’s amendments make some narrow adjustments, and like most legislation, there’s still room for improvement,” Jessica Sarriot, a co-lead organizer for Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement (VOICE), told HousingWire‘s The Builder’s Daily. “But this creates a strong foundation and we’re ready to move forward.”

Virginia legislators will consider the recommendations when they reconvene April 22. Even if they reject them, Spanberger can still sign the original bill.

Tweaks to the Faith in Housing Act

Spanberger proposed easing the bill’s infrastructure test. She would replace the 500-foot water and sewer rule with a broader service-or-planned-service standard. She also reinforced safeguards by clarifying that projects must follow environmental, historic, siting and archaeological laws and regulations that apply to similar developments.

On building form, Spanberger narrowed height flexibility. She excluded buildings with special-exception height from the tallest-building comparison baseline. Her recommendations would also give historic districts more control by letting existing historic-district regulations set maximum building heights in these areas.

She broadened pro-housing tools for local planners by allowing higher minimum housing densities in revitalization, transit, and small-area or sector-plan districts.

To address process concerns, she proposed streamlining approvals. Qualifying projects would be deemed “substantially in accord” with local comprehensive plans, limiting plan-consistency challenges.

She also reinforced the bill’s implementation focus by urging tax-exempt religious and nonprofit landowners to consult state housing resources when planning affordable housing on their properties.

This post was originally published on here. 

While the mortgage industry lobbies to reduce credit report costs, the idea of allowing borrowers to use the same file across multiple lenders has slowly emerged.

In this consumer-controlled portable credit report model, borrowers would authorize the use of a single credit report during their mortgage search across different lenders. The concept mirrors tenant screening reports — a reusable, renter-obtained background check shared with multiple landlords, often within a 30-day period.

Mortgage industry proponents say the change would reduce the need for lenders to pull credit reports that ultimately fail to result in closed loan originations while also empowering customers. Credit reporting industry representatives, however, view the model as an open door for fraud and have showed skepticism from the start. 

The Broker Action Coalition (BAC) noted in a February letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) that consumers have their credit pulled an average of 2.5 times when getting a mortgage. Reducing this to a single pull would effectively lower the aggregate cost of credit reports from roughly $150 to $60 for the consumer, the group said.

“I don’t think it solves all of our problems; it’s more than a Band-Aid solution, though,” Brendan McKay, president of advocacy at the BAC, said in an interview with HousingWire.

“Right now, if a consumer comes to me and says, ‘Hey, I want to get preapproved, but I just had my credit pulled by a lender down the street. Can you just use that credit report I paid for?’ the answer is no, and for no good reason. Either I have to pay $150, or they have to pay $150, to pull a report with the exact same information on it.”

Under the proposal, a borrower would pull and pay for their own credit report, then distribute it with multiple mortgage companies by sharing a credit reference number, McKay said. Lenders would then import the credit report directly into their systems.

“It’s not going to drive down the cost of credit, but it will reduce the number of credit reports that are pulled wastefully,” McKay said. He added that his broker shop spends $30,000 a year on credit reports for mortgages that don’t close.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), lenders can currently share borrower credit reports with third parties like investors only if they have a permissible purpose. Lenders often incur additional “secondary use” fees from credit bureaus for each party that accesses the report. They frequently pass these costs to the borrower as part of the application or origination fees.

“When lenders began to reissue a credit report to various lenders through Fannie Mae and the Federal Housing Administration, the reissue fees were put in place,” an executive in the credit reporting industry said. “The bureaus also must post a hard inquiry to every lender whose report is shared. Clearly, they are not going to do that without a revenue game.”

Current context

The portable credit report concept recently emerged when the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), under former Director Rohit Chopra, debated the Personal Financial Data Rights Rule. The rule established an open banking framework, but the bureau vacated it last year. 

Mortgage professionals view the model as an interesting idea but argue it lacks sufficient research and faces a difficult context, making it hard to support. 

“My overarching concern is that adding a new variable into the mix with credit reports, when we are already beginning to explore other variables, could start to become destabilizing for the housing market,” said Taylor Stork, president of the Community Home Lenders of America. “The industry in general needs to figure out how the impact of VantageScore 4.0 and FICO 10T hits the rate sheets.”

There are also questions about operational challenges — for example, how sharing the information with multiple lender would affect credit scores.

“Portable credit reports are a novel and compelling idea with clear potential benefits for the consumer experience,” Stork said. “At the same time, we need more clarity on key operational and risk considerations. For example, the process today includes verifying inquiries to ensure the borrower hasn’t opened new credit across multiple lenders.

“As we evaluate a portable model, a concern might be how those safeguards would work. With that clarity, the industry can better assess the concept.”

Eric Ellman, president of the National Consumer Reporting Association (NCRA), raised concerns about fraud.

“We are obviously very focused on fraud prevention; artificial intelligence and other technology are making it so much harder to fight fraud — and conversely, making it so much easier to commit and perpetuate fraud — that anything that has the capacity to inject more fraud into the system is going to be a significant problem,” Ellman said.

For McKay, portable credit reports would remove a significant financial barrier for consumers facing a challenging path to homeownership. Borrowers are more likely to persist rather than exit the process prematurely when each additional attempt no longer requires another $150 simply to assess eligibility.

“It is time to give consumers meaningful control over their credit reports,” he said. 

This post was originally published on here. 

Tri Pointe Homes shareholders overwhelmingly voted to approved the previously announced merger with Japanese firm Sumitomo Forestry during a special meeting of stockholders held on Thursday. 

While the deal is not yet finalized, the acquisition is expected to close sometime during the second quarter, according to the initial merger announcement. 

Sumitomo Forestry confirmed the vote in an announcement, and Tri Pointe Homes revealed further details in an 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The two companies announced the $4.5 billion all-cash acquisition in February.

According to the SEC filing, about 78% of the company’s 85,135,564 shares of common stock were represented in person or by proxy at Thursday’s special meeting. Of the shares that were represented at the meeting, 99.99% voted in favor of a proposition supporting the merger. 

The vote came shortly before the waiting period for the merger — which is mandated under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 — expired at 11:59 p.m. ET on April 16. 

The merger’s completion is still contingent on other conditions set out in the agreement, and the SEC filings did not include an expected closing date. After the merger is complete, Tri Pointe Homes will go private, meaning its scheduled April 23 earnings call for the first quarter of 2026 could be its last as a public firm.

Once the Tri Pointe Homes and Sumitomo Forestry merger is finalized, Japanese companies are expected to account for about 6% of home construction in the U.S. Japanese builders, motivated by a declining domestic population, are increasingly looking to international markets for expansion opportunities. 

Tokyo-based Hajime Construction became the latest Japanese firm to scoop up an American homebuilder after acquiring a 51% equity stake in Utah builder Wright Homes in March. 

This post was originally published on here. 

Maine Gov. Janet Mills this week signed LD 1901, making Maine the first state to enact comprehensive consumer protections for home equity investments (HEIs), which the new law defines as “shared appreciation mortgage loans.”

The bill, titled “An Act to Regulate Shared Appreciation Agreements Relating to Residential Property,” establishes guardrails around a growing class of home equity-based products that offer cash upfront in exchange for a share of a home’s future value. The law targets features that advocacy groups like the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) say can lead to large, unpredictable lump-sum payments and forced home sales.

HEI arrangements generally allow homeowners to tap equity with no monthly payments, repaying the provider when the home is sold or refinanced, or when the borrower dies. The payoff amount is tied to the home’s future value, meaning it is unknown when the agreement is signed. According to an NCLC press release, the balloon payments can reach tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars above the initial cash advance, stripping equity needed for retirement, health care or intergenerational wealth transfers.

“With the signing of this groundbreaking bill, Governor Janet Mills brings transparency and fairness to the home equity investment loan process,” Andrea Bopp Stark, senior attorney at NCLC, said in a statement. “This legislation applies comprehensive boundaries to a complex financial product that is often marketed and sold without regard for the long-term impacts on homeowners.”

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Art Bell (D-Yarmouth.) The Maine Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection, led by Superintendent Linda Conti and principal examiner Ed Myslik, supported the legislation and was actively involved in its development, according to NCLC.

Key provisions of Maine’s HEI law

LD 1901 defines “shared appreciation mortgage loans” as transactions in which a homeowner receives cash upfront in exchange for a future interest in the property’s value, secured by the real estate and payable upon a triggering event such as sale, refinance or death.

The statute’s consumer protections include:

• Enhanced disclosures that spell out the actual costs and potential future payments associated with the loan
• Mandatory housing counseling education and legal representation for consumers before they enter into a shared appreciation mortgage
• Limits on contract terms, including prohibitions on unreasonable restrictions related to renting, occupying or maintaining the property
• Assignee liability, extending homeowners’ claims and defenses against the original lender to any purchaser or assignee of the loan

Consumer advocates say HEI products are often marketed nationally to older homeowners with significant equity and to consumers with lower credit scores. The structures are typically positioned as alternatives to home equity lines of credit, cash-out refinances or reverse mortgages — but without the same level of regulatory oversight.

What’s happening in other states?

“HEI loans may be marketed as a lifeline to a homeowner in trouble, but they are a trap that siphons away people’s hard-earned equity,” Tom Cox, a Maine attorney, said in NCLC’s announcement. “Thanks to the Maine Legislature and Governor Mills, Mainers will have one less bad financial actor to contend with.”

For lenders, servicers and real estate agents, Maine’s law is an early signal of how states may move to regulate nontraditional equity products that sit outside conventional forward mortgage and reverse mortgage frameworks but function similarly from the homeowner’s perspective.

A key legal decision involving the HEI space was announced in October when a federal appeals court ruled that Unison‘s flagship product met the definitions of a reverse mortgage under Washington state law.

It’s not the only legal battle being waged against San Francisco-based Unison, which faces a class-action suit in California stemming from a complaint by a senior homeowner. The complaint is based on a $97,000 payout in 2017 that allegedly grew to $375,000 after eight years, implying an effective interest rate of nearly 35%.

The company was also recently sued in Colorado. The plaintiffs in that case say they are “trapped” in an agreement that would force them to pay up to $278,000 to terminate the contract after an upfront payout of about $87,000.

Another major HEI company, Hometap, was targeted by the Massachusetts attorney general beginning in February 2025. Late last year, a Suffolk Court Superior Court judge ruled that Hometap’s defense could not rely on arguments that state regulators previously approved or implicitly sanctioned the company’s business model. The case is still in the discovery phase, with a deadline of Oct. 23, 2026, for the parties to submit evidence.

Changes on the horizon?

HEI providers and investors now face state-level requirements in Maine around disclosures, counseling and assignee liability that more closely resemble traditional mortgage rules. That could affect product design, pricing, secondary market appetite and how these agreements are integrated into broader home financing strategies.

Maine’s law also underscores growing regulatory and advocacy attention on equity-stripping risks for older homeowners and equity-rich, cash-poor households. Housing professionals operating in Maine will need to understand the new definitions and compliance obligations when discussing or encountering shared appreciation structures in transactions, refinances or loss-mitigation scenarios.

Stakeholders in other states are urged to watch Maine’s framework as a potential model for future legislation. NCLC said its attorneys have long pressed for stronger oversight of HEI products. The organization provided technical assistance in drafting LD 1901 and testified in support of the bill.

In November, not long after the ruling against Unison in Washington state, Allen Price of BSI Financial Services told HousingWire that secondary market investors are watching these legal proceedings with interest as they could reshape how HEI products are marketed and securitized.

“It’s kind of early to tell with any kind of specificity what the real impact is going to be to [sales] volumes,” Price said. “The disclosures that homeowners are going to get will probably change. In Washington state, if you’re a shared equity originator, you’re going to have to change your disclosures — which may not necessarily mean a whole lot, but that’s more cost. You’ve got more training, more consumer education you have to do.”

This post was originally published on here. 

On Thursday, Dark Matter Technologies announced the promotion of Vikas Rao from chief technology officer to CEO, with Rao replacing Sean Dugan.

At the same time, the Florida-headquartered company announced layoffs impacting 5% of its workforce. The roles affected were not immediately announced.

Rao, just one day into his new role heading the technology company, sat down with HousingWire and discussed his transition from CTO to CEO. He also clarified the strategy behind the layoffs and shared his focus on market implementation and lowering barriers for new customers. 

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

Sarah Wolak: Vikas, you’re officially one day into being the CEO of Dark Matter. What is changing the most for you beyond the title and the scope of the position?

Vikas Rao: As the CTO of Dark Matter. I was very much driving our AI and technology strategy. I’ve also worked in product roles in the past, so I was also deeply involved in our product direction. What changes as I take over as CEO now is also how we take what we’re doing from a product and technology perspective into the market.

One of my core intentions is to lower the barrier to entry for new customers who want to adopt our platform, and really bring a technology and an automation lens to all aspects of the organization. We have 94% adoption of AI within Dark Matter; we’re not just deploying AI for our customers, but within our own organization, we’re using it to write code, to test software … so it’s pervasive.

It’s just how we operate, how we deliver our product innovations to our customers, as well as lowering the barrier of entry for new customers who want to join our customer base. So that’s kind of the shift in how we operate that will be changing as I take over the CEO role.

Wolak: The company previously mentioned that it plans to turn tech investments into stronger commercial performance. Can you talk more about what you mean by that, and what success looks like over the next year or two?

Rao: As I mentioned, we have incredible products, and we’re doubling down on our strategy. We recently unveiled our direction at our Horizon conference to our customer base, and the reception could not have been more positive.

What we’re really doing is kind of shaping where lending is going, and we’re doing that before sometimes our customers are ready for it. We want to lead our customers and the industry where technology’s going, where lending and its paradigm are going to be. By doing so, that naturally translates into growth and expansion.

Our Aiva platform — which is our AI-based document recognition, data extraction, and all of the income asset analysis that happens — is now being embraced by some of the largest lenders on our platform. We think every single lender out there should have it because the ROI on it is undeniable.

We believe in making sure our customers have the best ROI from our product, and the commercial performance and the growth of our company are going to be byproducts of that. So the focus for us is to innovate and help our customers adopt it. It’s very much customer first in everything we do, and everything else is a byproduct of that.

Wolak: I would be remiss if I didn’t ask about the 5% reduction in force or about Sean Dugan. Is he still with Dark Matter or has he transitioned to a different role?

Rao: He has transitioned out of Dark Matter.

Wolak: Can you share which roles specifically were impacted by the reduction in force and why the decision was made? How many people did this impact?

Rao: The reduction in force, fundamentally, is a reflection of how we see the nature of work shifting. I mentioned we are using AI extensively within our own organization, and so for a lot of our people, the nature of work has shifted from doing to reviewing.

Right now, AI is doing the work. Then our developers, etc, come in and see what AI did, and then review and accept it. The reductions were more from a perspective of now, we can do a lot more through automation and AI to develop, test and deliver our products. So the reductions were to kind of mirror the efficiencies we have gained just from an operational perspective as an organization. We’re a little over 1,000 people, so it affected 5% of that.

Wolak: Can you go deeper into how this organizational shift aligns with the priorities of Dark Matter going forward?

Rao: I think the direction of the company, which we unveiled to our customer base at our Horizon conference, remains unchanged. Fundamentally, Empower and Aiva are market-leading solutions that are being used by some of the largest lenders in the country.

Now what we’re doing is embedding agentic experiences into all of these products. So that is a critical priority for Dark Matter; we will be unveiling a lot more of that throughout this year and next year. So that direction remains unchanged, and again, we strongly feel like we have the right team in place to drive that transformation.

The nature of work for us is shifting. Mortgage lending needs to make that same transition.

Wolak: Which products do you feel that Dark Matter customers are getting the strongest ROI from right now?

Rao: Empower is the foundation; automation has been part of it for a long time. I think where our customers are now seeing the most ROI is as they also use our point-of-sale platform and Aiva in conjunction as just one suite. It’s not three different products, and this is what happens when you bolt on products from different companies versus an integrated suite that drives our ROI.

The point of sale is all about customer experience, the borrower who is working with the lender. But the lenders also need to see that ROI from the loan origination with the loan fulfillment perspective, because the cost of origination remains extremely high.

This is where Aiva comes in by automating a lot of what an underwriter would do, dramatically lowering errors and time to underwrite, etc., so that the customer is getting a much better experience, a faster closing experience. And the lender, with the power of Aiva embedded into Empower, is having faster, cheaper loan originations. It’s a winning formula, and that’s kind of where we’re seeing the most ROI for our customers when they deploy this as a holistic suite.

I’m incredibly energized by the mission that we’re on, the team that we have at Dark Matter, and the sense of urgency we feel at bringing to life all of these great innovations that are in the hopper right now.

This post was originally published on here. 

eXp Realty is the latest defendant to be brought into the Taylor Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) lawsuit filed against Zillow last fall. 

The Glenn Sanford-founded firm was added to the lawsuit through a second amended complaint filed on Wednesday. 

Originally filed in mid-September in U.S. District Court in Seattle, the lawsuit claims that the portal tricks consumers into using agents affiliated with Zillow through its Flex and Premier Agent programs, resulting in inflated home purchase prices.

In December, the lawsuit was consolidated with a second suit known as the Armstrong suit, which was first filed in early November, claiming that Zillow pressures agents in its Premier Agent and Flex lead programs to steer buyers to Zillow Home Loans for their purchase mortgage pre-approval. Allegedly, agents who send more clients to Zillow’s mortgage arm for their pre-approvals received extra or higher-quality leads in exchange.

In a first amended complaint filed in the consolidated lawsuit in early January, the plaintiffs again claimed that Zillow tricks consumers into using agents affiliated with Zillow through its Flex and Premier Agent programs, resulting in inflated home purchase prices. 

In Wednesday’s second amended complaint, eXp is accused of supporting Zillow’s “fraudulent business enterprise” by allegedly steering clients to Zillow Home Loans for their financing needs. 

According to the complaint, eXp posted “at least 10” videos on its official YouTube channel promoting Zillow’s agent referral and lead generation program. Additionally, lead plaintiff Alucard Taylor claims that an eXp agent represented him in the purchase of his home. 

In an emailed statement, an eXp spokesperson told HousingWire that the firm is aware of the filing and that “eXp has been improperly named in this matter.” 

“Should we be drawn into this litigation, we will vigorously defend against these claims which we believe have absolutely no merit,” the spokesperson added.

In addition to eXp and Zillow, the second amended complaint again names The Real Brokerage and two real estate teams, the Nevada-based GK Properties and the Florida-based Frano Team, as defendants and it adds one new named plaintiff, bringing the total number of named plaintiffs to 12. 

Zillow filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in February. The listing portal giant has maintained that the claims in the lawsuit “are false and fundamentally mischaracterize” how the firm’s business operates.

This post was originally published on here. 

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released its April 2026 enforcement actions on Thursday, which included a consent order against a Chicago-based bank.

The consent order against The Federal Savings Bank of Chicago is tied to alleged violations of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, and involve deceptive acts or practices tied to cash-out refinances guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The OCC claims these violations occurred between “at least” 2022 and 2024.

The OCC uses enforcement actions to require banks and institution-affiliated parties to correct deficient practices and address violations. The order states that the bank “neither admits nor denies” the allegations.

The OCC said the conduct involved significant origination fees, higher interest rates and increased monthly payments for borrowers. The office also claims that the bank made misleading statements to customers and sent them deceptive advertisements, which stated the individual had “available funds” and instructed them to contact the bank.

The deceptive statements also allegedly involved employees telling consumers about the terms of VA cash-out refinances and creating the impression that the interest rates or monthly payments would significantly decline within a defined time period.

In reality, the cash-out refinance loans were permanent, fixed-rate mortgages with set monthly payments, and the bank could not guarantee that consumers would be able to refinance into lower rates or payments as represented or implied by employees.

Within 30 days of the order, the bank’s board of directors is required to submit a written progress report to the assistant deputy comptroller. The report is supposed to detail the corrective actions needed to achieve compliance with each article of the order, the specific steps taken to address these requirements, and the results and current status of the corrective actions.

Also within 30 days of completing its review, a restitution consultant must submit a report identifying eligible consumers affected by the misconduct. Within 60 days of receiving the report, the bank must hire the consultant and submit the plan to the assistant deputy comptroller for review and approval.

Within 90 days after the bank pays restitution, the restitution consultant must review whether the bank followed the approved methodology for distributing the payments.

The bank did not respond to HousingWire‘s request for comment at the time of publication.

Aside from the consent order at the Federal Savings Bank of Chicago, the OCC also issued prohibition orders against a former JPMorgan Chase associate banker for embezzling customer funds and a former BMO Bank associate banker for making unauthorized withdrawals from an elderly customer’s account.

The OCC also terminated enforcement actions against CNB Bank & Trust, Generations Bank and a consent order with JPMorgan Chase, according to the release.

This post was originally published on here. 

The New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is again taking aim at eXp World Holdings, the parent company of eXp Realty, the largest brokerage in the country by transaction side count. 

On Wednesday, DiNapoli, who is a trustee of the New York State Common Retirement Fund, an eXp World Holdings shareholder, called on investors to block the firm’s attempt to move its place of incorporation from Delaware to Texas. 

According to Securities and Exchange filings, the New York State Common Retirement Fund holds nearly 27,000 shares of eXp World Holdings. In total, eXp World Holdings has over 300 investors holding nearly 160 million shares in total.

The firm announced its desire to reincorporate in the Lone Star State in late February. Critics of the firm have claimed that eXp is trying to reincorporate to dodge allegations that the company and its executives enabled the drugging and rapes of women attending recruiting events. 

These allegations stem from lawsuits filed against the company in 2023, which accuse two former eXp agents and top recruiters Michael Bjorkman and David Golden of drugging and sexually assaulting women at eXp recruiting events. The plaintiffs have also sought to hold eXp and some of its executives, including CEO and founder Glenn Sanford, liable for the alleged negligent hiring of Bjorkman and Golden. 

eXp has reiterated to HousingWire that the firm “has zero tolerance for abuse, harassment or misconduct of any kind — including by the independent real estate agents who use our services,” and that it believes the claims against Sanford and the firm “are without merit.”

DiNapoli is urging investors to vote against the proposed move at the firm’s annual meeting scheduled for next Friday. 

In an interview with The New York Times, DiNapoli claimed that eXp has shown “an avoidance of corporate responsibility at the highest levels.” 

“They have not taken these allegations seriously, and they’re just packing up their tents and moving somewhere else hoping there will be less scrutiny and less accountability,” he told The Times. 

DiNapoli’s attempt to block the move comes a little over two years after he called for an independent investigation into the culture at eXp, after The Times published an expose on the sexual assault allegations faced by the two former star agents. 

In response to these allegations, two of the firm’s shareholders, the Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System and Building Trades Pension Fund of Western Pennsylvania, filed a lawsuit against eXp in October 2024, claiming that the firm’s leaders had breached their fiduciary duties to shareholders by ignoring red flags of alleged sexual misconduct by agents. 

In an emailed statement, an eXp spokesperson told HousingWire that the decision to reincorporate in Texas “was the result of more than a year of deliberation by our Board, including a special committee of independent directors.” 

“The decision reflects the Board’s considered judgment about the long-term operational and governance interests of the company and its shareholders. We do not anticipate the reincorporation will have any impact on existing litigation, as disclosed in our Proxy Statement filed with the SEC on March 9, 2026, which describes in detail the Special Committee process and the Board’s conclusions,” the spokesperson wrote. “Any characterization of the timing as ‘suspect’ misrepresents a lengthy, good-faith process and a misunderstanding of the reincorporation impacts on existing litigation.”

This post was originally published on here. 

A meaningful shift is underway in residential real estate—and most agents aren’t paying attention yet.

This change isn’t about AI writing listing descriptions or generating social media posts. It isn’t about CRMs or lead generation platforms. Those tools are already widely used and, in many cases, interchangeable.

The next evolution is more tangible: physical, AI-enabled assistants operating inside the home itself—assigned to a single listing from launch to close.

This will not replace skilled real estate agents. It will redefine what full-service actually means.

The hidden stress of selling a home

Real estate professionals tend to focus on negotiations, pricing strategy and marketing exposure as the core challenges of selling a home. Sellers experience something very different.

What they remember most is living in a property that has to remain show-ready at all times.

Laundry can’t stay in the basket. Shoes can’t stay by the door. Pets have to disappear before showings. Meals are reconsidered. Children’s routines are disrupted. And the request always seems to come at the worst possible moment: “Showing in 30 minutes.”

Selling a home isn’t stressful because of the transaction. It’s stressful because sellers lose control of their daily lives while the home is on the market.

That is the problem the next wave of real estate technology will solve.

From static listing to managed environment

Consider what happens when a listing includes a dedicated, on-site assistant responsible for preparing the home before every showing, managing access, monitoring conditions and maintaining a consistent standard of presentation.

Lighting adjusts automatically. Climate is controlled. The property is staged appropriately. Contractor access is coordinated. Marketing materials are maintained. Buyer activity is tracked and feedback is captured in real time.

What used to require constant coordination between agents, sellers and vendors becomes a managed system operating inside the home itself.

The core technology already exists. Smart home systems, identity verification, remote access and automated scheduling are widely trusted and in daily use.

What’s been missing is integration and physical presence.

When that arrives at scale, listings will stop being static assets. They will become actively managed environments.

While the physical assistant layer is still emerging, the underlying behavior is already visible. Buyers are scheduling showings through automated platforms like ShowingTime. Sellers are monitoring their homes remotely through Ring and Nest devices. Access is being controlled digitally and feedback loops are increasingly immediate.

In other words, the industry has already accepted automation at every step—just not yet in a unified, physical form inside the home itself.

A new standard in listing presentations

For years, listing presentations have sounded nearly identical: professional photography, online exposure, email campaigns, and open houses.

These are no longer differentiators. Now consider a different proposition: A listing supported by a system that ensures the home is prepared, monitored, and professionally maintained every day until it sells.

That isn’t marketing. That’s infrastructure.

And infrastructure resets expectations quickly. Professional photography followed this exact path, from premium to standard in a short period of time. The same will happen here.

The first agents and brokerages to adopt this model won’t just improve their service. They will reset what sellers expect from every agent who follows.

The buyer experience improves as well

This shift isn’t just about sellers. Buyer’s agents and buyers prefer homes that are easy to show and ready to purchase.

A consistently prepared property eliminates friction. There are no last-minute surprises, no access issues, and no uncertainty about condition.

Showings become faster, cleaner, and more predictable.

That consistency leads to more showings. More showings lead to more offers. And more offers lead to stronger results.

Solving the scaling problem for listing agents

Most listing agents can manage a limited number of active listings before service begins to slip.

Showings get missed. Feedback is delayed. Contractors fall out of sync. Sellers become anxious. Communication slows.

This is not a skill issue. It’s a capacity issue.

This pressure is already showing up in the numbers. According to the National Association of Realtors, agents are handling more complex transactions with longer days on market and more frequent price adjustments in a normalized market cycle. At the same time, consumers expect faster communication, better presentation, and a more seamless experience.

The gap between what clients expect and what a single agent can operationally deliver continues to widen. Systems—not effort—are what close that gap.

When each listing includes its own operational system, the model changes. The listing no longer depends entirely on the agent’s time and coordination. It begins to manage itself.

The agent shifts from handling logistics to guiding decisions. From coordinating vendors to advising strategy. From reacting to problems to leading outcomes. This is the role sellers believe they are hiring in the first place.

From optional feature to expected standard

Adoption will follow a familiar pattern. At first, this will feel optional. Then it will feel impressive. Then it will become expected.

The industry has seen this before with online listings, digital signatures, and professional media. Once the infrastructure exists, expectations adjust quickly.

Soon, sellers will begin asking a new question during listing interviews: What systems are in place to manage my home while it’s for sale?

As this shift unfolds, brokerages will begin to differentiate based on the systems they deploy.

Some will build proprietary platforms. Others will partner with providers. Luxury brokerages may offer concierge-level systems. Other segments will adopt more streamlined versions.

The distinction will no longer be just about marketing reach or brand. It will be about operational capability.

The next competitive advantage

For decades, agents have competed on marketing. The next competitive advantage will be infrastructure.

Agents who understand this early will position themselves differently—and win accordingly. Because as homes become more intelligent and more responsive, the seller’s question changes: Not just, “How will you market my home?”

But, “How will you manage it while it’s for sale?”

And the agents with a clear, confident answer will win the listing.

Tim and Julie Harris are real estate coaches, bestselling authors and the dynamic voices behind Real Estate Coaching Radio, a daily podcast for real estate professionals. With decades of hands-on experience, they help agents build profitable, sustainable businesses through proven, practical strategies. Listen daily at TimandJulieHarris.com or on your favorite podcast platform.

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

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In the wake of the Sitzer-Burnett lawsuit and the National Association of Realtors (NAR) settlement, consumer advocates claimed a major victory. Their long-standing theory — decoupling commissions so buyers pay their own agents — was supposed to lower housing costs and create a more competitive marketplace.

It hasn’t.

In fact, recent analysis from the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) — the very group that championed decoupling — acknowledges a fundamental reality: While a few more sellers are a bit more inquisitive about how commissions are paid and a very select few decline to pay buyer agent commissions, and in most cases sellers are still paying the buyer agents commission.

In addition to that the home prices haven’t come down at all due to this and the transactions are not cheaper. The promised savings for consumers have simply not materialized.

That should prompt some reflection

Instead, we are seeing a familiar pivot. The blame is once again being placed on real estate agents — accused now of failing to negotiate aggressively enough. But this argument conveniently ignores the most obvious force in any housing transaction: the seller’s price. In a market constrained by supply, with persistent demand and high construction costs, the idea that shifting who pays commissions would meaningfully lower home prices was always more theory than reality.

Let’s be clear: the Burnett-Sitzer lawsuit and the resulting NAR settlement are not transformational reforms. They are, at best, a rearranging of the deck chairs on the Titanic, changing the structure of how fees are presented without addressing the underlying economics of the housing market.

Decoupling does not create more housing. It does not reduce land costs, labor shortages or regulatory barriers. It does not make financing cheaper. What it does do is shift costs around in a way that may ultimately disadvantage buyers — particularly first-time and moderate-income households.

For decades, one of the quiet strengths of the existing system was that buyer representation could be financed through the transaction itself. Decoupling risks turning that into an upfront, out-of-pocket expense. For many buyers already struggling with down payments, closing costs and rising interest rates, that additional burden may discourage them from seeking professional representation altogether.

That is not a win for consumers

It is also worth noting emerging unintended consequences. Reports of increased “pocket listings” — properties marketed privately or within limited networks — should concern anyone who cares about transparency and fair access. A fragmented marketplace benefits insiders, not everyday buyers.

Where does this leave us?

The CFA’s own findings undermine their central claim. If decoupling does not lower prices, and early evidence suggests it does not, then what exactly was achieved? Consumers were promised savings. Instead, they are facing a more complex, less transparent system with no clear financial benefit.

This is a classic case of policy driven by theory rather than practice.

Consumer advocates meant well. The goal of reducing costs and improving fairness is one we all share. But good intentions do not guarantee good outcomes. In this case, the push for decoupling may have disrupted a system without delivering the benefits that were promised.

There’s an old saying in public policy: be careful what you ask for.

We would be wise to heed it now.

Joseph Ventrone is the former Vice President of Federal Policy and Industry Relations at the National Association of Realtors (NAR). He serves as a voluntary consultant to NAR, a member of the Arlington County Housing Commission, and President of the North Rosslyn Civic Association. The views expressed are his own.

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. 

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) on Friday submitted a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to support the bureau’s proposed 2026–2030 strategic plan, backing efforts to reduce regulatory burdens while urging the agency to go further in easing mortgage rules that expand credit access.

The draft strategic plan, which the CFPB published for public comment on March 13, outlines the agency’s three primary goals: addressing pressing threats to consumers; reducing what it describes as unwarranted regulatory burdens; and strengthening the agency’s governance and culture. The public feedback submission period ended on Friday.

Under the first goal, “Address Pressing Threats to Consumers,” the bureau said it will focus enforcement and supervision on “tangible” consumer harm, particularly cases involving measurable financial losses.

The goal involves several objectives to combat fraud; protect servicemembers and veterans in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) loan space; and ensure what it calls “fair banking,” including scrutiny of potential “debanking” practices tied to political or ideological factors.

The agency also signaled a shift in enforcement priorities, stating it intends to return money directly to affected consumers rather than relying on fines that feed into its civil penalty fund.

The second goal, “Reduce Unwarranted Regulatory Burdens,” includes several objectives, including the need to “systemically identify and address outdated, unnecessary, or unduly burdensome regulations,” and to “minimize regulatory burden by eliminating duplicative supervision or supervision outside of the CFPB’s authority.”

“MBA agrees with the aim of the strategic plan to concentrate the CFPB’s resources on identifying and addressing pressing threats to consumers, reversing instances of regulatory overreach, and lowering the compliance and liability costs associated with consumer financial products,” Pete Mills, the MBA’s senior vice president of residential policy and strategic industry engagement, said in the letter.

The trade group praised recent CFPB actions that align with these goals, including the rollback of a proposed rule requiring certain nonbank firms to report enforcement orders to a federal registry that became effective in October 2025.

It also backed the bureau’s move away from “regulation by enforcement,” saying it supports limiting enforcement to cases involving clear, measurable consumer harm.

MBA urged the CFPB “to incorporate the Trump administration’s recent executive order on mortgage credit and to ensure any regulatory relief is applied broadly across the market — not limited to smaller banks — so borrowers across all lender types can benefit from lower costs and improved access to credit.”

MBA pressed for adjustments to TRID tolerance thresholds, as well as expanded error-correction provisions and reforms under the Truth in Lending Act and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), warning that limiting changes to smaller institutions would reduce their impact on costs and access to credit.

The group also called for changes to servicing rules to ease loss mitigation, revisions to loan originator compensation standards, and updates to disclosure and underwriting requirements.

The CFPB has been undergoing major restructuring under the second Trump administration. After former CFPB Director Rohit Chopra was fired from his position and Russell Vought was appointed as acting director, the agency shut down most of its functions and closed its headquarters.

In April 2025, the Trump administration fired 90% of the CFPB’s staff, a move that was challenged in court and temporarily blocked. In August, a federal appeals court panel allowed the firings to proceed, leading to layoffs of about 1,500 employees.

While the agency has not officially been dismantled despite Vought’s announced plans, it has paused most enforcement actions, dropped investigations and started rolling back Biden-era rules.

This post was originally published on here. 

Redfin is asking Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) to revise its rules to allow a formal premarketing phase for listings in the Seattle area, arguing that current policies limit how sellers can test pricing and demand before going fully live on the MLS, according a blog post written by Joe Rath, the head of industry relations at Redfin’s parent company Rocket, on Thursday.

NWMLS’s rules currently do not allow for premarketing, preventing brokers from publicly marketing a home before it appears in the MLS. Redfin says that restriction conflicts with what many of its sellers want: a short “runway” period to gauge interest on a public platform before committing to a full launch.

The request comes ahead of a new Washington state law on private listing networks that takes effect in June. The law will require agents to market homes to the general public and all brokers at the same time. Redfin’s position, according to Rath, is that premarketing is compatible with the statute as long as the listing is publicly available to any buyer or agent, the seller gives informed consent for the premarketing and that brokers have access to the listing information. 

Redfin’s proposal is to create an explicit premarketing status within NWMLS. Under that framework, a listing would be filed with the MLS and visible to all member agents, preserving cooperation, while the seller and listing agent would retain more control over how the property appears publicly and when it transitions to fully active status. 

Across the country, many MLSs have some sort of coming soon status, which may or may not be part of the IDX data feed the MLS sends to sites like Redfin and Zillow, allowing for sellers and their agents to pre-market a property within the MLS prior to the listing going active. 

In the post, Rath noted that large MLSs including Bright MLS, MRED in Chicago, Unlock MLS in Austin, Canopy MLS, Realtracs and MLS PIN have already adopted seller-choice frameworks that incorporate some form of premarketing or coming soon status. Those policies generally aim to balance anti-pocket-listing rules with seller preferences to “test” the market.

“I’ve had sellers who just want a little runway before going fully live. Premarketing gives them that space to test the waters, get feedback, and feel confident in their next move,” Redfin agent Macartney McQuery is quoted as saying in the post.

The post highlighted a Tacoma case in which McQuery used a coming soon listing on Redfin.com for a unique 1800s home with few direct comparables. Redfin argues that the premarketing period allowed the seller to gauge interest and refine timing before listing the property in the MLS.

According to the blog, Redfin leaders have held “productive conversations” with NWMLS leadership, who have signaled a willingness to consider the proposal. Any change would likely require NWMLS to adjust how it defines public marketing and to clarify how its rules align with the new state law.

“Policies that give sellers more flexibility can encourage more homeowners to list, which can help increase inventory and give buyers more options,” Rath wrote in the post.

This post comes after Compass International Holdings (CIH), the parent company of Compass, the Anywhere Brands and @properties Christie’s International Real Estate, along with Rocket-Redfin, penned an open letter urging MLSs to adopt policies that support pre-marketing and phased marketing distribution and to cease penalizing or punishing agents for carrying out “seller-directed marketing plans.” 

The letter came just a few weeks after the companies entered into a mutually exclusive deal to publish Compass coming soon listings on Redfin.

Compass and NWMLS are currently embroiled in a legal battle over NWMLS’s listing policy, which requires listings to be entered into the MLS within 24 hours of the listing being publicly advertised and does not have an exemption for office exclusive properties. Earlier this month, NWMLS filed a counter claim against Compass alleging that the brokerage’s “three-phase marketing program” is a deceptive scheme that hides listing data from the public and violates Washington’s Consumer Protection Act.

This article was written by Brooklee Han and generated with the assistance of HousingWire Automation. It was reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication. The system helps convert company announcements and industry data into HousingWire-style news coverage.

This post was originally published on here. 

Title and escrow has long operated under the weight of manual processes and fragmented systems. Now, a new class of technology, agentic AI, is beginning to fundamentally transform how work gets done across the industry, driving greater speed, precision, scale and service.

The next evolution of artificial intelligence, agentic AI, does more than generate content in response to prompts. It understands context, reasons across sources and executes tasks, serving as a proactive teammate to human experts.

Title and escrow is well poised to benefit from agentic AI. The industry depends on document-heavy, strict-timeline workflows that demand accuracy across hundreds of steps. That’s an ideal environment for AI agents to reliably execute repetitive, time-consuming tasks while delivering business-building intelligence.

In fact, it’s already happening. Early adopters in title and escrow are seeing meaningful gains in velocity, efficiency, accuracy and overall operational excellence. An analysis found that Qualia Clear, an agentic AI system built specifically for the title and escrow industry, can reduce the time to process a file by 35% to50%, while enhancing work quality. For firms handling 1,200 transactions annually, that translates to approximately $325,000 in time savings value per year.¹

“The firms that embrace agentic AI purpose-built for the title and escrow industry are going to operate faster, cleaner and with better margins,” says Mike Rubin, President of Shaddock National Holdings, the largest collective of independent title insurance agencies in the United States. “The ones that don’t will wake up one day and realize they can’t compete.”

So, how are firms applying the technology today? We answer that here.

Get out of the inbox much faster

With more than 100 emails tied to each transaction, managing the inbox is an operational bottleneck for title and escrow. Agentic AI is reducing that friction, slashing the time industry professionals spend on email.

Agentic systems like Qualia Clear can respond to emails and draft proactive messages. They can also organize inboxes by topics, urgency and new business. Of critical importance, the systems can take action, like opening new orders, as well as extracting key details from messages and attaching that information to the appropriate file.

The upshot is that title and escrow professionals can respond to emails up to three times faster, research shows, while also spending less time managing email and raising the standard of their work. 

“The ability to streamline communication and reduce manual follow-up allows us to focus on the more complex aspects of our files,” says Lindsey Mendoza, Director of Operations at the Law Offices of Elizabeth A. Byrne LLC, a Saratoga Springs, NY-based real estate law firm. “It not only saves us a significant amount of time but also ensures our clients and partners receive timely and consistent updates, which elevates the entire closing experience.”

But email is only one piece of the operational puzzle.

A powerful new operational engine

Another positive impact of agentic AI is the emergence of a new way of managing work that can execute tasks, monitor quality in real time and dynamically orchestrate workflows.

Within platforms like Qualia Clear, specialized AI agents will be able to handle processes such as retrieving property tax data, verifying business entities and helping coordinate with vendors to handle mortgage payoff or HOA information. At the same time, real-time quality assurance flags missing requirements, data mismatches and calculation discrepancies as they occur, which allows teams to resolve issues earlier and avoid downstream problems. 

Workflows themselves are accelerated and enhanced. Agentic AI can trigger tasks automatically based on file conditions or timelines, while firms can embed their own business rules into how work is completed. Intelligent queues help teams prioritize what matters most.

On the analytics side, the right agentic system for title and escrow will surface insights into referral performance, market share and growth opportunities, turning operational data into a launchpad for strategic action.

Importantly, the AI doesn’t remove human expertise. It empowers it. Teams remain in control, serving as expert reviewers with full visibility into every action.

The proof is in real-world results

For some title and escrow firms, these capabilities are already redefining performance benchmarks.

At Washington-based AEGIS Land Title Group, examiner capacity doubled from 10 commitments per day to 20 after instituting an agentic AI platform. At the same time, the firm achieved full file audit coverage, reducing the risk of missed errors.

Then there’s North Carolina-headquartered Thomas & Webber. Client communications had tripled, increasing operational risk and reducing closer capacity. After deploying agentic AI to automate email drafting, file actions and help with accuracy checks, the firm restored capacity to 40 files per month—a 33% increase—and avoided an estimated $117,000 in annual hiring costs.

“AI is changing so rapidly,” says Tiffany Webber, Managing Attorney at Thomas & Webber. “The longer you wait, the firms that have adopted AI will be that much further ahead.”

Meanwhile, The Title Group was looking to reduce risk associated with manual reviews/audits, while improving efficiency and scaling quality control. The Tennessee-based firm implemented an agentic AI system for real-time quality assurance. Files are now audited in seconds rather than hours, and each receives a comprehensive review.

Why a unified platform is pivotal

Realizing the full potential of agentic AI requires more than standalone technology tools. It depends on deep access to industry knowledge and each transaction itself—documents, data fields, workflow status and more—combined with the ability to take action within that environment.

This level of visibility and execution is difficult to achieve across fragmented systems that operate through complex external integrations. It becomes a reality within unified, cloud-based platforms made for title and escrow.

By embedding agentic AI directly into the title production environment, platforms like Qualia Clear can analyze files, initiate actions and maintain context across the full lifecycle of a transaction.

“This combination of industry knowledge, full data access and ability to take action is what enables agentic AI to dramatically elevate how title & escrow work gets done,”

— Charlotte Brown, Vice President of Product & Design at Qualia

Firms that embrace agentic AI now will lead the next era of title and escrow

For decades, title and escrow has relied on human expertise to manage extraordinary complexity under intense pressure. That hasn’t changed. What is changing is the operating layer around that expertise. 
Agentic AI can now take on much of the repetitive, time-intensive work—tracking, analyzing and executing across workflows. The result is more capacity for human judgment, stronger decision-making and a higher standard of execution. The technology is already delivering measurable results. And as underlying AI models like Claude and ChatGPT continue to advance, the capabilities of industry-specific agentic platforms built on them will accelerate in step.

“In 2026, agentic AI will advance faster than any technology the title & escrow industry has ever seen,” says Nate Baker, CEO & Co-Founder, Qualia. “The next year will usher in the most consequential transformation the industry has ever experienced.”

To stay at the forefront of AI in title & escrow, register now to attend Qualia’s 2026 Future of Real Estate Summit, April 27-29, in Austin, TX.

Footnote: 1. Time savings estimates are based on analysis of the 2024 ALTA report, “More than pushing a button: Estimating the time and complexity of clearing title,” which found an average of 22 hours to complete a file. Qualia applied a conservative 30% adjustment, then evaluated time savings based on customer feedback, product data, and internal analysis. Every company’s results will vary based on the current state of their operations and the extent to which they adopt Qualia Clear.

Register Now

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The mortgage industry is no longer debating whether AI has a role to play. That part is over. The real conversation now is about what kind of AI can work inside a business where decisions must be documented, policies must be followed, and every workflow may eventually be reviewed by risk, audit, or compliance. That is where AI agents are starting to get attention. 

Unlike basic AI assistants that summarize content or answer questions, AI agents are designed to handle tasks within a workflow. In mortgage, that could mean reviewing incoming documents, identifying missing conditions, checking for data inconsistencies, drafting borrower follow-ups, surfacing exceptions, or recommending next steps to processors and underwriters. The appeal is obvious. These tools can reduce manual effort, improve speed, and help teams focus on the cases that need the most judgment. But in mortgage, speed alone is never enough. If lenders want AI to move from experiment to production, they need to build systems that compliance teams can trust.

AI in mortgage needs structure, not just intelligence

One of the biggest mistakes companies make is treating an AI agent like a smarter version of a bot. That mindset is risky in any regulated industry, but especially in mortgages. A mortgage AI agent should not be a vague digital helper that can do a little bit of everything. It should have a clearly defined job, a narrow operating boundary, and a visible record of what it did and why it did it. AI agents in regulated financial institutions need distinct identities, explicit authority, and full auditability rather than being treated like generic automation running under the hood. 

That same thinking applies directly to lending. If an agent is being used to review asset documents, then its role should be limited to that purpose. If it helps with condition management, then it should stay within that lane. The more specific the task, the easier it becomes to validate performance, define controls, and explain outcomes to stakeholders who are rightly cautious.

Read first, act later

A practical way to build trust is to separate what an agent can read from what it can change. It translates well to mortgage operations. Most agents should be read-focused. They should gather information, compare documents, identify gaps, summarize findings, and recommend actions. A much smaller set of agents should be allowed to write back into systems, update statuses, or trigger workflow changes. Even then, those actions should often remain behind human approval gates. That distinction matters in real lending scenarios.

For example, a read-oriented agent could review an uploaded pay stub, compare it against checklist requirements, and flag that the coverage period appears incomplete. That is helpful and low risk. But changing a milestone, clearing a condition, or sending a customer-facing notice is very different. Once AI starts acting rather than making recommendations, the standard of governance gets much higher.

Lenders that get this right will not try to automate everything at once. They will start by using AI to improve visibility, reduce repetitive review work, and support human decision-making before they expand into controlled action.

Compliance teams need more than an answer

In mortgage, “the model said so” is not a real answer. If an AI agent flags a file, recommends an escalation, or suggests that a loan is ready to move forward, the business needs to understand how it reached that conclusion. Regulated institutions need causal traceability, meaning they must be able to reconstruct what data the agent used, what logic it applied, and how a decision was formed. 

That idea is especially relevant for mortgage lenders. Compliance, QC, capital markets, and servicing teams all care about different things, but they share one expectation: important actions should be explainable. If a loan document was marked insufficient, there should be a reason. If a borrower communication was recommended, there should be a basis. If an exception was surfaced, there should be a trail showing which policy rule, document fact, or workflow signal drove that output.

The best mortgage AI systems will not be the ones that sound smartest. They will be the ones who produce structured, understandable explanations in business language.

Trust is what turns AI into an advantage

The mortgage companies that get the most value from AI will not be the ones that deploy the flashiest demos. They will be the ones who take the time to build useful, bounded, well-governed agents into real workflows. That means starting with specific tasks. It means favoring read and recommend before write and execute. It means giving compliance and risk teams visibility into how outputs are produced. And it means proving performance in stages before expanding autonomy. Mortgage does not need AI agents that look impressive in a product presentation. It needs AI agents that can hold up in operations, in audit, and under compliance review. That is a higher bar. But it is also the bar that matters.

Sandeep Shivam is Head of Touchless Experience Product Suite of Tavant.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners. To contact the editor responsible for this piece: zeb@hwmedia.com.

This post was originally published on here. 

Republican lawmakers in Kentucky sought to put the state on the housing reform map with sweeping legislation to boost construction and curb rising costs. But the package collapsed in the final hours of the state’s legislative session this week, and housing advocates warn the state’s housing shortage will deepen without swift action.

Kentucky’s failure shows how difficult housing politics remain even as other states manage to pass modest reforms.

“The Kentucky Senate has chosen politics over the people and passivity over good policy,” Heather LeMire, director of conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity-Kentucky, said in a statement. “The people of Kentucky deserve a better shot at the American Dream through homeownership.”

The omnibus measure, built around Senate Bill 9, bundled more than eight proposals to expand housing supply, streamline permitting and create new tools for local governments to support development. A conference committee could not bridge divisions between the House and Senate before adjournment, dooming the proposal for the year.

Sen. Robby Mills, who sponsored SB 9, told local reporters that negotiators ran out of time as they struggled over a controversial short-term rental provision that would have blocked cities and counties from heavily restricting short-term rental properties listed on platforms such as Airbnb.

“The Senate and House simply could not agree at the end of the day,” Mills said, calling the short-term rental language “one of the stickier points.”

Some Republicans joined Democrats in opposing that section, reflecting unease over state preemption of local rules.

Fixing a housing crisis falls short

Advocates and lawmakers spent months pushing for a major housing package to address the state’s housing shortage, which a 2024 legislative task force put at 206,000 units, split evenly between rental and owner-occupied homes.

Last year, state lawmakers made a less aggressive attempt with two bills. One would have allowed faith-based organizations to build housing by right on the property they own.

That change has gained favor elsewhere in the country. But the bill did not pass in Kentucky last year because lawmakers worried about preempting local zoning control.

The other bill passed and became law. It allows cities and counties to issue industrial revenue bonds for multifamily projects with at least 48 units by redefining a “building” to include large condominiums, townhouses and apartments. The law also restricts zoning and planning appeals to owners of property that directly borders a site affected by a final decision.

Added language became too much

This year, Kentucky lawmakers chose an omnibus approach. The original SB 9 would have allowed local governments to designate special building zones, lower regulatory barriers and tap new financing tools to kickstart construction in targeted areas.

In the final days of the session, lawmakers added provisions. These included language requiring automatic expungement of dismissed eviction filings, along with protections to keep children from being named in eviction cases that can follow tenants for years. Those measures drew support from tenant advocates, who argued they would prevent minor court actions from becoming long-term barriers to stable housing.

But other parts of the bill raised alarms among some Democratic lawmakers and local officials, who said the package moved too far and too fast in rolling back safeguards and local discretion.

Under one section, local regulators would have had to inspect properties within five days and review building plans within 10 days. If they missed these deadlines, they would have had to issue temporary permits allowing work to begin immediately and refund all application fees.

Critics said that approach could allow projects to move ahead without adequate review and further strain already thin inspection staffs.

This post was originally published on here. 

Growing up in poverty in Chicago, Realty of America founder and CEO Eddie Garcia, remembers going to the Archdiocese of Chicago on Tuesdays each week as a child to pick up a small box of food for his family. 

“I came from extreme poverty,” Garcia said. “Both of my parents were homeless, living under highway overpasses in Mexico City. We came to America when I was three, and we arrived to a one-bedroom apartment that we shared with 11 people.” 

Gracia said this experience growing up defined who he is now and why he wanted to chase his version of the American dream.

“When I was 16 or 17, I decided that there was no way I was going to repeat the cycle of poverty,” he said. “I wanted to change my life. I believe we are in the greatest country in the world and if you want to chase your version of your American dream, you can do it here because there is fairness. America doesn’t care where you come from.” 

Initially, Garcia believed a law degree was his path to a brighter future, but after meeting a successful real estate agent in his neighborhood, he decided to drop out and pursue a career in the housing industry. 

“Once I got my license, I didn’t sell anything for the first six months. Once I sold something, my broker didn’t pay me,[but] I still realized that I had found a way to make money. I thought that if I could scale it and replicate it, I could become very successful very fast,” Garcia said. “So, I went from 20 homes to 40 homes to 50 homes in a year. In my best year as a single agent, I sold 104 houses.” 

Founding Realty of Chicago

Garcia said he spent the next nearly two decades “married to his business,” founding his first firm Realty of Chicago in 2012.

“A lot of the same people I grew up with saw my success and wanted to become agents, so I told them to get their license and find a brokerage to work at and we could do masterminds. But they all wanted to work with me, so I opened Realty of Chicago,” Garcia said. “We started from zero and grew to about 400 agents doing 12,000 transactions a year.” 

In 2023, Garcia had an idea for his next venture: a national brokerage firm. This led him to approach Houston-based real estate team leader, Mark Dimas. In 2023, Dimas’s team was the No. 1 large team in the country by transaction side count in the RealTrends Verified Rankings. 

“As I grew Realty of Chicago, I started making friends throughout the country who were building their own businesses and we would mastermind, but I knew that the model I had in Chicago would not scale in some of these other cities,” he said. “Mark Dimas was the first person I spoke with about Realty of America because who better to talk to about my crazy idea than one of the top agents in the U.S.?” 

Launching Realty of America

To Garcia’s surprise, Dimas decided to join him in building Realty of America, a virtual, cloud-based firm which officially launched in September 2024. 

“We made lists of the top-50 agents that we admire, not because they are just great [real estate agents], but because they are great humans and business people. We started reaching out to them and meeting with them,” Garcia said. “We went to a conference in Miami and met with several one-on-one. Then, within two days, we had solidified the starting seven agents we wanted to build the company with.” 

These agents quickly went to work, and in 2025, Realty of America closed 9,374 transaction sides, totaling $3.82 billion in sales volume, according to RealTrends Verified data. This earned the firm the No. 42 rank in the nation for sides and the No. 61 rank for volume in the 2026 RealTrends Verified Rankings in just its first full year of operation. Garcia said the firm currently has over 3,100 agents and is open in 22 markets, with launches in Nashville, Michigan and Puerto Rico expected in the coming weeks. 

Central to Realty of America, according to Garcia, is the firm’s revenue share model, a model which he feels is the future for real estate brokerages. Ultimately, Garcia would like to take the firm public. “We are still a little small, so I’d love to wait until we have 12,000 to 15,000 agents and are debt-free and profitable,” Garcia said. “We have not taken any investor money, and we are not going to until we IPO. We’ve watched some of these other companies before us, and we don’t want to make the same mistakes.”

“I’d love to wait until we have 12,000 to 15,000 agents and are debt-free and profitable,” Garcia said. “We have not taken any investor money and we are not going to until we IPO. We’ve watched some of these other companies before us, and we don’t want to make the same mistakes.”

In addition to the firm’s expansion, Garcia is also proud of the technology Realty of America is developing, having already built its own application, as well as consumer and agent platforms. He said he would like Realty of America to own at least 60% of the technology it uses before he takes the company public, hopefully in the next few years. Garcia said Realty of America was already approached by a sponsor to do an IPO, but he feels the company is still too new to make the jump.

“I think in the next five years, we will see the majority of agents become part of a revenue share model, which means that roughly 160,000 agents will move to revenue share a year, which is a massive opportunity for us,” Garcia said. 

Finding leaders to scale the firm

While attracting agents is certainly a goal, Garcia said he is “uber focused” on finding the right leaders to help him scale the company and reach their goals. 

“We have a great executive team with a lot of people from eXp and Real Brokerage, who helped scale those operations,” Garcia said. “With my business, I don’t want to be the smartest person in the room. I want to get people that are way smarter than me.” 

Garcia’s story is less about a single breakout moment and more about a steady refusal to accept limits — whether in his own life or in the way brokerages operate. As Realty of America scales, its success will hinge on whether that same scrappy, people-first approach can translate across markets without losing its edge.

For now, Garcia is betting that alignment — through leadership, technology and revenue share — will prove more durable than traditional models. And if his track record is any indication, he’s not building for the next quarter, he’s playing the long game.

This post was originally published on here. 

Real estate commissions for first-time homebuyers have barely budged since the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) commission lawsuit settlement, while the rising popularity of pocket listings and worsening affordability are creating new access hurdles, according to survey of housing counselors from the Consumer Federation of America and the National Urban League, released Thursday. 

Authored by Sharon Cornelissen, Katie McCann and Ethan Weiland, the study, titled “Escalating Housing Costs, Hidden Listings,” draws on survey responses from 223 housing counselors across 37 states collected in July and August 2025, roughly a year after the business practice changes outlined in NAR’s settlement took effect. Researchers also conducted nine in-depth interviews with housing counselors, who provide individual guidance to first-time homebuyers and educate consumers in homebuyer classes.

The authors claim that their findings offer an early look at how the landmark settlement and shifting brokerage practices are affecting first-time buyers in an already constrained market.

Commissions largely unchanged despite decoupling

Only 7% of counselors surveyed said their first-time homebuying clients are paying lower real estate commissions than a year earlier. A larger share, 36%, disagreed with the belief that commissions have fallen and 28% were neutral, suggesting commission levels have remained stable or edged higher.

The report notes that this aligns with internal data from Redfin, which shows buyer’s agent commissions largely unchanged since NAR’s new rules rolled out in August 2024.

Counselors identified a lack of fee negotiation as a primary reason. Two-thirds of respondents said their clients “never,” “rarely” or only “sometimes” negotiate agent fees. Just 16% said clients negotiate “often” or “always.” In November 2025, a mystery shopped study published by the Consumer Policy Center found that buyer’s agents “make it very difficult for homebuyers to negotiate lower rates,” which may also contribute to the lack of fee negotiations. 

In interviews conducted by the authors, some respondents reported that buyers who try to negotiate commissions risk being labeled “difficult” by agents, which can limit their ability to find representation in tight local markets. That dynamic, the authors argue, points to persistent cultural and structural resistance to price competition in brokerage services even after the settlement.

Buyers more exposed to fees, but deals rarely die over commissions

The survey results suggest responsibility for paying buyer’s agent fees has shifted, at least partially, toward buyers. Just 26% of counselors said sellers “often” or “always” cover the buyer’s agent commission; 53% reported sellers “never,” “rarely” or only “sometimes” pay it.

Still, 47% of counselors said they “never” or “rarely” see a home purchase fail because buyers cannot afford the buyer’s agent commission and receive no seller help. Only 9% said this happens “often” or “always.”

Counselors also reported stepping in to help clients budget for the additional cost, treat buyer-broker fees as part of savings targets and understand the new rules. The data suggest that, to date, the feared widespread exclusion of first-time or low-wealth buyers purely due to buyer-broker commissions has not materialized at scale.

For lenders and real estate brokerages, this implies that while buyer cash-to-close is under more pressure, commission structure changes are not yet a primary driver of fallout. However, the report notes this is an emerging trend that may warrant continued monitoring as consumer awareness and enforcement evolve.

Affordability and inventory dwarf commission concerns

When asked to rank the top challenges facing first-time buyers in 2025, counselors overwhelmingly cited core affordability and supply issues rather than brokerage access, with 88% responding that “saving up for a down payment” is “difficult” or “very difficult” for clients, 73% citing “finding a house that meets their needs” as a major challenge, 70% pointing to paying out-of-pocket costs, 64% highlighting building up credit scores and 50% saying buyers are being outcompeted by other buyers. 

Counselors told researchers that rising home prices, limited stock that can pass inspection in some markets and shrinking down payment assistance were squeezing clients even when they had strong credit or obtained aid. Debt loads from auto and student loans also frequently kept buyers from qualifying for mortgages.

Pocket listings emerge as a fair housing and access risk

The report highlights the growth of pocket or private listings as an emerging concern for first-time buyers and homebuyers of color.

In the survey, 46% of housing counselors said first-time buyers “sometimes,” “often” or “always” struggle with pocket listings. About 31% said their clients “never” or “rarely” experience issues, and 23% answered “don’t know,” which the authors attribute to the relative newness and opacity of the practice.

Pocket listings can keep a portion of inventory within a single firm or network, allowing brokerages to capture both sides of a transaction and reducing visibility for buyers represented by competing firms or searching independently. A recent analysis by Bright MLS cited in the report found that nearly 8% of new listings in February 2025 in its mid-Atlantic footprint started as office exclusives, up from a historical range of 2% to 4%, with some ZIP codes in the Washington, D.C., metro area exceeding 20%.

The brief flags equity concerns, noting prior research that private listings can reinforce segregation and enable discriminatory steering. The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) has warned the industry could be on the “cusp of the worst fair housing crisis since the 1960s” if pocket listings expand unchecked.

Housing counselors’ role grows as rules shift

The report also emphasizes the role of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-certified housing counselors as independent advisors. Counselors, who do not earn commissions or origination revenue, work with dozens or hundreds of clients annually, often from early credit-building stages through closing and, in some cases, post-purchase.

The authors argue that as commission structures and listing practices evolve, counselors are serving as key interpreters of new rules for first-time and low-income buyers, developing curriculum on how to select an agent, negotiate compensation and understand contract terms.

According to the report, the continued and stable funding of housing counselors is a consumer protection and market-functioning issue rather than only a social service.

Policy recommendations for data, oversight and counseling

Looking ahead, the study calls for several policy responses targeted at improving transparency and mitigating emerging risks, including things like Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) mandated collection and public reporting of real estate commission data, the monitoring of pocket listings for disparate impact on buyers of color and the funding, training and recognition of housing counselors by HUD. 

NAR did not immediately return HousingWire’s request for comment on the study.

This article was written by Brooklee Han and generated with the assistance of HousingWire Automation. It was reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication. The system helps convert company announcements and industry data into HousingWire-style news coverage.

This post was originally published on here. 

The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions held a hearing on Thursday morning examining ways to expand access to credit, with lawmakers also considering several bills aimed at reshaping credit reporting rules and consumer protections.

The hearing, “Promoting Access to Credit for Everyday Americans,” comes as policymakers continue to weigh changes to the credit reporting system amid ongoing debates over consumer access to credit and regulatory oversight of financial institutions.

The conversation focused on a slate of Republican-backed bills to amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), expand the use of alternative data in credit files and tighten controls on complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

In addition to the hearing, the subcommittee will consider several pieces of legislation related to credit reporting and consumer protections.

Witnesses included Dan Smith, president and CEO of the Consumer Data Industry Association; Rebecca Kuehn, a partner at Hudson Cook; Celia Winslow, president and CEO of the American Financial Services Association; Veneshia Ferdinand, director of compliance policy at Simmons Bank, testifying on behalf of the American Bankers Association; and Chi Chi Wu, director of consumer reporting and data advocacy at the National Consumer Law Center.

Absent from the hearing was French Hill (R-Ark.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, who spoke earlier in the week at the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)’s National Advocacy Event. Hill did not get into specifics about legislation but instead pushed for advancing smaller, targeted bills with bipartisan support rather than sweeping packages — an approach he argues can help move financial services legislation more effectively through Congress.

Congressman Andy Barr (R-Ky.) opened the hearing by defending the current framework as essential to economic mobility, warning that proposals to exclude certain debts or adopt “positive-only” reporting would erode accuracy.

“A credit reporting system that ignores real obligations is not more fair, it’s simply less accurate,” Barr said. “When accuracy suffers, access to credit suffers with it.”

‘Credit washing’ claims

Barr also pointed to what he described as a surge in duplicative or fraudulent complaints in the CPFB’s database, which are often tied to credit repair firms. He promoted his bill, the Eliminating Fraud in the CFPB Consumer Complaint Database Act (H.R. 7588), which would require consumers to attest to complaints under penalty of perjury and allow institutions to dismiss those deemed illegitimate.

The witnesses echoed concerns about so-called “credit washing,” where mass disputes or false identity theft claims are used to remove accurate negative information. Winslow said bad actors “flood lenders, bureaus and the CFPB complaint database” with form disputes, forcing removals.

“Corrupt that data and the whole system is compromised,” Winslow said, adding that the result is tighter lending standards and higher costs for borrowers.

Ferdinand said lenders rely on complete reports to meet legal obligations. “Removing accurate information … does not eliminate the risk — it just hides it,” she said.

A central point of debate was the FCRA Liability Harmonization Act (H.R. 5775), which would cap damages and limit attorneys fees in credit reporting lawsuits. Supporters, including Smith and Kuehn, said uncapped liability has fueled costly litigation, discouraged data reporting such as rent and utilities, and limited competition.

“The liability risk … is enormous. It’s uncapped and it will put a company out of business overnight,” Smith said.

“The FCRA framework works because it balances consumer protection and access to credit,” Ferdinand said. Kuehn added that large settlements ultimately raise costs for consumers while reducing innovation and credit access.

Democrats and consumer advocates sharply disagreed. Wu said the bills under consideration would “drastically reduce accountability” for errors and make it harder for consumers to seek relief.

“We oppose each of the bills posted today, which all benefit the big three credit bureaus, the most complained-about financial services companies with 5 million complaints to CFPB,” Wu said at the start of her testimony. “Instead of these four giveaway bills, we urge Congress to pass meaningful reform of the credit reporting industry.”

Democrats also criticized changes at the CFPB under Director Russell Vought, arguing the agency has made it harder for consumers to file complaints.

Lawmakers in both parties showed interest in expanding the use of alternative data — such as rent, utility and telecom payments — to help consumers with limited credit histories. Rep. Young Kim (R-Calif.) promoted legislation to incorporate such data, while industry witnesses supported broader reporting but opposed the exclusion of negative information.

Wu warned that including negative rental data could harm vulnerable tenants, arguing any such reporting should be voluntary and limited to positive information.

Members also raised concerns about artificial intelligence, with witnesses noting it could both reduce errors and enable more sophisticated fraud. Smith called AI a “significant risk,” while Winslow said a large share of disputes are already driven by questionable claims.

MBA voices concerns

MBA, in a letter submitted for the record, raised separate concerns about the structure of the credit reporting market. The trade group argued that a lack of competition among the three major credit bureaus — Experian, TransUnion and Equifax — has driven steep cost increases for lenders and borrowers.

MBA said its members have faced credit reporting cost increases of as much as 350% in recent years, along with projected hikes of 40% to 50% in 2026. These costs are passed on to borrowers through higher closing costs. The group attributed the increases in part to the long-standing tri-merge requirement that forces lenders to obtain reports from all three bureaus for mortgages backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and federal agencies.

“MBA and its members are strong supporters of the welcome focus on pursuing all avenues to improve housing affordability by the Trump administration — and within the individual party caucuses in both the House and Senate,” according to the letter signed by Bill Killmer, the MBA’s senior vice president of legislative and political affairs.

“Given the recent exorbitant price increases cited above, we believe removing the current mortgage tri-merge framework should be a key element on any checklist of affordability initiatives put forth by federal policymakers.”

The group ended its letter by stating that single-file credit reports are already used safely in other consumer lending markets, and that eliminating the tri-merge requirement for most Fannie- and Freddie-backed loans would increase competition, lower closing costs and improve access to homeownership without adding risk.

MBA also pointed to data showing most borrowers have high credit scores, proposing a single-report option for those above 700, while noting that federal housing regulators have previously determined a tri-merge report is not necessary.

This post was originally published on here. 

A new survey indicates that residential contractors and remodelers began the second quarter on an optimistic note, but economic uncertainty driven by the war in Iran could complicate the picture. 

The Houzz Q2 2026 U.S. Houzz Pro Industry Barometer, a survey conducted between March 17 and April 6, found that construction and design pros expect a mixed spring after a Q1 slowdown. Respondents reported softer activity to start 2026 but entered the second quarter with cautious optimism and leaner backlogs, according to the report. 

The quarterly survey of 989 residential construction and design firms on the Houzz platform found that sentiment is diverging by business type. Design-build firms are signaling a sharp pickup in work, while build-only remodelers expect more modest gains. In the design sector, interior designers are more upbeat than architects.

“After recent activity slowed in the first quarter compared with the end of 2025, construction and design pros are entering Q2 with cautious optimism, particularly in construction, where expectations for new projects are showing early signs of a rebound,” Marine Sargsyan, head of economic research at Houzz, said in a statement.

“At the same time, persistent cost pressures and client hesitation are reshaping how firms compete. We’re seeing pros adapt in real time with construction firms investing in workforce development and more flexible pricing, while design professionals are doubling down on client experience and branding.”

How firms are competing for projects and talent

According to the Houzz survey, most firms are focusing on communication, pricing and workforce development to stay competitive in this environment.

In response to heightened competition over the past three months, 60% of construction pros and 45% of design pros said they have improved client communication. Construction firms are relying more on financial tools to win work, with 42% adjusting pricing or offering promotions, versus 19% of design firms.

Recruiting and retention strategies are also shifting. More than half of construction firms (57%) said they are offering on-the-job training to appeal to younger workers. Design firms are leaning more on academic partnerships, cited by 26% of respondents.

Both sectors reported increased use of social media in recruiting — 35% of construction firms and 36% of design firms — and are highlighting their use of advanced technology, including AI and project management platforms, to attract tech-focused candidates (10% of construction firms and 16% of design firms).

For remodelers and design practices, the barometer suggests that investments in communication, digital tools and training are becoming table stakes in a market where homeowners are more selective and projects are taking longer to convert.

Costs, macro risk and labor weigh on outlook

Rising input costs and a choppy macro backdrop remain the primary headwinds as firms plan for the second quarter. Nearly half of construction businesses (49%) and design firms (45%) cited higher prices for products and materials as a top concern, according to the company’s announcement.

Client hesitation is another drag. More than one-quarter of firms in both sectors reported that homeowners are delaying projects, including 27% of construction companies and 30% of design firms. In construction, 67% of respondents reported facing skilled labor shortages.

Bigger-picture risks are especially acute for design professionals. Roughly 30% of design firms pointed to geopolitical uncertainty (30%) and tariffs (30%) as concerns, compared with 23% and 17% of construction firms, respectively.

Shaky consumer confidence is another issue. According to a survey from the University of Michigan, consumer sentiment fell 11% in March to its lowest level on record, driven primarily by economic shocks resulting from the war in Iran. And Redfin says that 36% of American workers are delaying or canceling big purchases as consumers worry about job security, inflation and high borrowing costs.               

Construction sentiment improves as backlogs ease

The Expected Business Activity Indicator for construction firms, which tracks expectations for project inquiries and new committed projects, rose 3 points to reading of 58 for Q2 2026. Scores above 50 indicate more firms reporting quarter-over-quarter increases than decreases.

The improvement was driven by stronger expectations for new committed projects, which climbed to 59, up 6 points from Q1. Expected project inquiries held steady at 57.

Outlooks diverge sharply by business model:

• Design-build firms reported a Q2 expected business activity reading of 66, up 10 points from 56 in Q1
• Build-only remodelers posted an expected activity score of 50, down 5 points from 55, signaling a flatter pipeline

Backlogs in construction continued to normalize from last year’s elevated levels. The Project Backlog Indicator fell to 5.6 weeks at the start of Q2 2026, down from 6.4 weeks a year earlier.

• Build-only remodelers reported a 4.6-week backlog, down slightly from 4.8 weeks in Q2 2025
• Design-build remodelers saw a larger decline, to 6.7 weeks from 8.0 weeks a year earlier

Recent activity weakened during the first quarter. The Recent Business Activity Indicator for construction — covering actual project inquiries and new committed projects — declined to 48 in Q1 2026 from 51 in Q4 2025.

• Project inquiries improved modestly, rising 2 points to 51
• New committed projects fell 7 points to 45

Among firm types, the recent activity index fell to 50 for build-only remodelers, down from 59, but rose to 46 for design-build firms, up from 43.

For lenders and suppliers focused on the remodeling channel, shrinking backlogs and lower recent activity suggest some easing of capacity constraints alongside softer near-term demand, particularly for smaller, build-only operators.

Design firms see softer Q2 expectations, shorter backlogs

In the architectural and design services sector, expectations for the spring softened slightly and backlogs fell more sharply than in construction.

The Expected Business Activity Indicator for design firms slipped to 60 for Q2 2026, down from 61 in Q1. Expectations for project inquiries eased to 60 from 62, while expectations for new committed projects edged up to 61 from 60.

Sentiment diverged within the sector:

• Architects’ expected business activity fell to 58, down from 61 in Q1
• Interior designers’ reading rose to 65, up from 61, signaling stronger demand for interior work.

Design backlogs compressed significantly. The Project Backlog Indicator dropped to 4.0 weeks at the start of Q2 2026, 1.7 weeks shorter than the 5.7 weeks reported a year earlier.

• Architects’ backlogs fell to 4.0 weeks, down from 6.3 weeks in Q2 2025
• Interior designers also reported a 4-week backlog, down from 4.8 weeks in Q2 2025

Recent business activity pulled back in Q1. The design sector’s recent activity indicator fell to 48, down from 54 in Q4 2025.

• Project inquiries dropped to 45, down 9 points
• New committed projects dipped to 52, down 1 point

Architects reported a sharper slowdown, with recent activity falling from 55 to 45. Interior designers, by contrast, saw recent activity rise from 5o to 53.

Tyler Williams reported and wrote this article with drafting assistance from HousingWire Automation, an editorial tool that helps transform announcements and industry data into HousingWire-style news coverage.

This post was originally published on here. 

Foreclosure activity accelerated in the first quarter of 2026, with signs of mounting operational pressure for mortgage servicers and downstream vendors, according to ATTOM’s latest U.S. Foreclosure Market Report and insights from industry executives.

While overall foreclosure volumes remain below pre-Great Recession peaks, starts, completions and real estate-owned (REO) inventories are climbing, timelines are shrinking and geographic hot spots — especially in parts of the Sun Belt — are emerging.

The rise is less of a surprise and more a delayed reckoning after several years of aggressive loss mitigation and forbearance programs, executives said.

ATTOM reported that 118,727 properties had a foreclosure filing in Q1 2026, up 6% from the prior quarter and 26% year over year. March alone saw 45,921 properties with filings, 18% higher than February and 28% above March 2025.

Foreclosure starts — an early warning indicator — rose to 82,631 properties in the first quarter, up 7% from Q4 2025 and 20% from a year earlier. Bank repossessions (REOs) climbed even faster, with lenders taking back 14,020 properties in Q1, a 45% annual increase.

“While volumes remain below historical peaks, the continued rise, especially in starts and bank repossessions, suggests financial pressure may be building for some homeowners and could signal shifting housing market dynamics,” Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM, said in a statement.

According to Donna Schmidt, president and CEO of DLS Servicing, the industry saw five years of very low foreclosure rates due to loss-mitigation policies that allowed borrowers to “kick the can down the road.” 

“The restructuring of loss mitigation that has reduced the number of options offered has revealed this weakness,” Schmidt said. “I expected to see five years of normal foreclosure activity get condensed and forced through the system in the next two years. This is just the start.”   

For servicers, the compressed window of elevated foreclosure activity raises questions about staffing, vendor capacity and compliance controls that were built in a different interest rate and delinquency environment. The operational impact extends well beyond the teams managing legal actions and REO disposition.

“When foreclosures start to rise year over year, servicers feel it first as pipeline pressure,” Mirza Hodzic, managing director and founder of BlackWolf Advisory Group, said in a statement. “The work is not limited to the foreclosure department. It stretches loss mitigation transitions, borrower communications, document processing, and oversight of attorneys and vendors. If capacity and controls do not scale with volume, timelines and borrower experience suffer.”

According to Hodzic, the jump in bank repossessions is a signal that the back end of the process is getting busier too, putting real demand on REO and property related functions like inspections, preservation, title and curative services, and vendor management.

ATTOM found that properties foreclosed in Q1 2026 spent an average of 577 days in the process, down 3% from the prior quarter and 14% year over year. It marked the sixth straight quarter of declining timelines.

Hodzic said that faster resolution is a double-edged sword for servicers operating under higher volume because “when volume rises and timelines tighten at the same time, small gaps become costly fast,” he said. 

Nationally, one in every 1,211 housing units had a foreclosure filing in Q1 2026, according to ATTOM. But activity is far from uniform. States with the highest foreclosure rates were Indiana (one in every 739 housing units), South Carolina (one in every 743 housing units) and Florida (one in every 750 housing units).

“While it is hard to say what is behind the data — it is widely believed that the surge in homeowners’ insurance rates have pushed many people to move out of the Sun Belt,” Schmidt said. “Florida saw a huge surge in home prices during COVID and those gains are being reversed. This just means that borrowers who find that their homes are now unaffordable cannot sell their properties and completely satisfy their liens.” 

This post was originally published on here. 

The National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) has launched an eight-city Affordable Homeownership Bus Tour aimed at closing the Black homeownership gap by bringing housing education, lending resources and policy conversations directly into local communities.

The tour, led by NAREB President Ashley Thomas III, will visit Philadelphia; Baltimore; Detroit; Gary, Indiana; Kansas City, Missouri; Memphis; Little Rock and Tulsa over eight days beginning April 25. NAREB said the initiative is part of its national strategy to “Close the Gap” in Black homeownership and respond to widening affordability challenges for first-time buyers.

Black homeownership in the U.S. stands at 44.2%, far below the 75.1% rate for white families, according to NAREB’s 2025 State of Housing in Black America report. Only 33% of Black millennials are homeowners, compared with a 65% homeownership rate for white millennials. The report also cites unprecedented obstacles for Black women seeking to buy homes.

The tour is jointly presented by NAREB and the African American Mayors Association (AAMA) and backed by a coalition of local real estate boards, lenders, housing agencies, elected officials and faith-based organizations. NAREB affiliates including the NAREB Investment Division – Housing Counseling Agency and the Women’s Council of NAREB are also central partners.

NAREB said the eight tour cities were chosen based on localized housing data showing significant gaps between the share of Black residents and the share of mortgage originations to Black borrowers. In each of the eight markets, Black households make up a far higher share of the population than their share of new mortgages.

For example, in Philadelphia, Black residents are 39% of the population but received 28% of 2024 mortgage originations, while in Detroit, 81% of the population is Black, but only 63% of originations were for Black residents. 

According to NAREB, each stop will include programming designed to move renters toward sustainable ownership and protect existing homeownership in Black families. Sessions include a breakdown of renting versus owning, education on Section 8 housing choice vouchers, guidance on clearing title, preventing forced sales and preserving family-owned properties and sessions for NAREB-aligned developers on partnering with cities to deliver affordable, community-focused housing projects.

NAREB said the goal is for attendees to leave each event with actionable information, direct connections to housing professionals and lenders, and clearer next steps toward buying a home or preserving existing ownership.

Thomas framed the tour as a response to the urgency of today’s affordability environment for historically underserved buyers.

“We are committed to transforming the wealth landscape for historically underserved communities, one home at a time,” Thomas said in a statement. “By providing education, practical tools, and access to strategic partnerships, we are equipping families to create and sustain generational wealth through real estate.”

Additional partners in the tour include Alpha Phi Alpha, Delta Theta Sigma, Sigma Zetta, the NAACP, the National Council of Negro Women and the Urban League, according to NAREB.

The tour has also attracted support from national lenders and corporate sponsors that are active in mortgage origination and community investment, including Airbnb, Bank of America, KeyBank, Rate, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo.

NAREB said more information and sign-up links for the city sessions are available online. The organization frames the initiative as “action and access” — using a short, intensive tour to connect households directly with resources, rather than relying solely on digital or centralized outreach.

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication. The system helps convert company announcements and industry data into HousingWire-style news coverage.

This post was originally published on here.