By KIMBERLEY HAAS The vice president of research at the National Multifamily Housing Council says 4.3 million new apartments will be needed by 2035 to meet demand. Caitlin Walter spoke at the National Association of Real Estate Editors conference on October 13. She is primarily responsible for conducting NMHC’s research on apartment industry trends, according to the council’s website. Walter said there were 737,000 apartments under construction in 2021. “The issue is that it takes a long time to build an apartment community, and we’re not actually seeing those under-construction numbers turn into completions. And that is largely due to the delays that started during the pandemic that have continued to persist,” Walter said. Walter referred to a study the…
Rocket Pro TPO’s executive vice president recently turned heads with an opinion piece claiming United Wholesale Mortgage represents a massive threat to America’s mortgage brokers and their future independence. In the piece called “America’s Mortgage Brokers Face an Unprecedented Threat to their Independence,” Austin Niemiec said leaders at UWM have reduced broker optionality by contractually forcing their brokers to choose between Rocket Mortgage and UWM, enforcing that same “ultimatum” contract to eliminate a UWM broker from brokering to Fairway Independent Mortgage, and engaging in a price war to eliminate the competition. “If Mat Ishbia and UWM were truly committed to the real kind of competition that benefits brokers and their clients, he wouldn’t use his lawyers to take away brokers’ options, and he wouldn’t celebrate the demise of other…
By CHUCK GREEN Bank of America is launching the Community Affordable Loan Solution, a zero-down payment, zero-closing cost mortgage designed to expand sustainable homeownership opportunities in Black and Hispanic communities. The Community Affordable Loan Solution is a Special Purpose Credit Program that uses credit guidelines based on factors such rent payments, utility bills, phone, and auto insurance payments. It requires no mortgage insurance or minimum credit score. Individual eligibility is based on income and home location, according to a press release. This adds to the company’s existing $15 billion Community Homeownership Commitment. Through this commitment, Bank of America has helped more than 36,000 people and families become homeowners, providing more than $9.5 billion in low down payment loans, and over $350 million…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS The global chair of The Counselors of Real Estate says inflation and interest rates are this year’s leading concerns of his 1,000-member organization. At the National Association of Real Estate Editors conference at The Westin Buckhead in Atlanta, GA, William McCarthy said everyone they talk to wants to know about inflation and interest rates. The Counselors of Real Estate is an international consortium of commercial property advisors which has posted a top ten list of issues affecting real estate for 11 years. “Inflation dictates interest rates. Interest rates dictate inflation,” McCarthy said. McCarthy told the crowd they have some questions about the current interest rate narrative. “Interest rates are supposed to go up a little bit more, level,…
Habitat for Humanity Affiliates in Florida and South Carolina will be able to build more affordable homes after the recent sale of mortgage notes on their behalf. Leaders at CBC Mortgage Agency, a nationally chartered housing finance agency and a source of down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers, announced its CRA Note Exchange platform had completed the sale on Sept. 12. CRA Note Exchange enables the sale of Community Reinvestment Act-eligible loans through an online portal to free up capital for additional affordable home construction. Banks and other financial institutions can review, select and purchase loans in specific areas that support their CRA or other lending objectives. The exchange was launched in 2018. Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit housing organization…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS As interest rates climb towards seven percent and loan applications fall to their slowest pace since 1997, leaders at Rocket Mortgage say they have a solution and it has a name: Inflation Buster. Rocket’s new Inflation Buster program was announced on Sept. 16. It gives homebuyers a reprieve by reducing their monthly mortgage payment by one percentage point for the first year of their loan, according to a press release. Bill Banfield, EVP of Capital Markets at Rocket Mortgage, sat down for an interview with The Mortgage Note to explain how the program is the result of leaders at the company listening to the needs of their clients. “You, me, everybody is talking about inflation. You can’t…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS Update: This home, without photos of the seller dressed as the fictional character Michael Myers from the “Halloween” series of slasher films, is now under contract. A New England couple’s house listing has gone viral because it features photos of the fictional character Michael Myers from the “Halloween” series of slasher films. A man is seen holding a knife on the property and inside the house, which is listed for $375,000. It is located at 73 Guys Lane in Weare, New Hampshire. Realtor Tommy Bolduc of Keller Williams Realty-Metropolitan said on Tuesday morning that the two-bedroom, two-bathroom house has been popular online since it hit the market on Sept. 30. “Anybody who is looking for a house in…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS Officials at the Federal Emergency Management Agency are warning survivors of Hurricane Ian they should be aware of con artists and criminals looking to take advantage of the situation. Predators may promise homeowners a disaster grant in return for payment or fill out an application for assistance without a person’s knowledge, according to the FEMA website. “If a FEMA Inspector comes to your home and you did not submit a FEMA application, your information may have been used without your knowledge to create a FEMA application. If so, please inform the inspector that you did not apply for FEMA assistance so they can submit a request to stop further processing of the application,” the website says. People…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS Fans of HBO’s “The Gilded Age” can take a guided tour of one of the mansions where the popular show created by Julian Fellowes is being filmed this fall. “The Gilded Age” begins in 1882 with the character Marian Brook moving from rural Pennsylvania to New York City to live with her thoroughly old-money aunts, Agnes van Rhijn and Ada Brook after the death of her father. The show’s first-year finale earned 1.6 million viewers across HBO platforms, according to Alexandra Del Rosario at Deadline. Rotten Tomatoes critics said the show has “an outstanding cast making the travails of the rich a compelling watch.” In real life, The Elms was the summer home of Mr. and Mrs. Edward…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS Eight senior living facilities that are inaccessible to the disabled will be retrofitted as part of a settlement between officials at the U.S. Justice Department and a New Jersey architecture firm. According to a press release issued on Thursday, the owner of J. Randolph Parry Architects P.C. has agreed to settle a federal lawsuit alleging that it violated the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to design and construct senior living facilities that are accessible to people with disabilities. The retrofits will, among other things, make the kitchens and bathrooms at these properties more accessible and useable. “The Justice Department is committed to vigorously enforcing the federal laws guaranteeing people with disabilities…
