Business Building Center
Why Fall Is the Best Time for Loan Officers to Re-Engage Homebuyers
Fall homebuying season doesn’t always make headlines, but it often creates some of the best opportunities for loan officers and homebuyers. As competition cools and sellers grow more flexible, buyers have more time to compare options, evaluate affordability, and...
Breaking Down the Barriers to Increase Hispanic Homeownership
The Hispanic homeownership rate is on the rise. As National Hispanic Heritage Month runs September 15 through October 15, it is an opportune time to take a deeper look at this growing market of homebuyers using data primarily from the 2020 State of Hispanic...
Strategies to Help Homebuyers Close On Their Home With Confidence
Despite the requirement to provide closing disclosures to inform homebuyers of their transaction costs, many homebuyers are so focused on finding a home and closing quickly that they often overlook the details and arrive at the closing table, surprised by the...
Advantages of Using Alternative Credit Data to Improve Access to Homeownership
Our recent celebration of Labor Day traditionally pays tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers. Yet, for the millions of American workers who are credit disadvantaged they are unable to achieve the American dream of homeownership....
Helping Homeowners Experiencing Financial Hardship
As the COVID-19 pandemic wears on, putting jobs at risk if the economy slows, approximately 1.86 million homeowners remain in forbearance, with 65% of active plans set to expire by the end of 2021. With 750,000 of these active forbearance plans due to expire by the...
How Student Loan Debt Impacts Homebuying
With 54% of students requiring financial assistance to pay for their higher education this past year, the burden of student loan debt continues to grow in the trillions and weighs heavily on individuals after graduation. Many graduates are concerned that student...
Is Your Mortgage Business Ready to Pivot to Purchase?
At the start of the year, industry analysts predicted that production would pivot from predominantly refinances to purchase around the middle of the year. Recent MBA Origination Insight Reports have begun to show the scale starting to tip towards purchase loans....
How the FHFA Decision to Consider On-Time Rental Payments Can Help More Renters Qualify for a Fannie Mae Mortgage
The Federal Housing Finance Agency recently made an announced that can help renters aspiring to become homebuyers improve their mortgage eligibility. Effective immediately, on-time rental payments will now factor into Fannie Mae's underwriting calculations, and...
Improve Your Odds Playing Lead Roulette
As refi mortgage applications fluctuate weekly and many homebuyers decide to wait for home prices to become more reasonable, mortgage leads are getting more competitive and expensive. Demand for paid mortgage leads, which are predominantly refinancing leads, has...
How the Housing Crunch Is Hurting FHA and VA Homebuyers
Homebuyers who are making an offer using FHA financing (9.6% of applications for week ending July 16, 20211) or VA financing (10.5% of applications for week ending July 16, 20211) are finding it difficult to compete against buyers who are financing using a...
New FHA Guidelines Can Help Homebuyers With Student Loan Debt Qualify for a Mortgage
Student loan debt is one of the major barriers facing first-time homebuyers to qualify for a mortgage. In 2020, 51% of all buyers said that student loans delayed their ability to save for a down payment or save for their home purchase, according to the 2020 Home...
Helping Consumers Achieve Financial Freedom Through Homeownership
As we celebrated our nation’s independence last weekend, I couldn’t help but think of the financial freedom that homeownership provides. For many low-to-moderate income first-time homebuyers, the current growth of home prices is pushing that dream further out of...
Jumpstart Your Refinance Pipeline
While soaring home prices and low inventory are probably stressing your first-time homebuyers, there’s another segment of your borrowers who are sitting pretty – your homeowners. If you’ve noticed your refi pipeline drying up, you’re not alone. That’s...