Help, advice and practical how-to-guides for home remodelling, maintenance and construction
Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage insurance policies are forcing homeowners to pay unnecessary premiums even after building substantial equity, according to Brendan McKay, Chief Advocacy Officer of the Broker Action Coalition, who is advocating for reform. “When you have Americans with 50% equity in their home paying mortgage insurance, which is foreclosure insurance when there’s ...
The aftermath of the Altadena fire has exposed significant gaps in disaster preparedness among homeowners, while revealing the complex realities of insurance claims and rebuilding in one of California’s most challenging real estate markets. For Sara Skelton, a Realtor with EXP Realty and host of The LA Real Estate Podcast, the disaster struck particularly close ...
Leading Miami mortgage broker David A. Krebs says artificial intelligence and automated underwriting systems are creating a dangerous false sense of security for borrowers with non-traditional income streams. “These automated systems can be manipulated,” warns Krebs, Principal Broker at DAK Mortgage. “If there’s any kind of bonuses or RSUs where you get stock options, they’re ...
“With fewer new homes being built due to economic headwinds, the market for existing homes becomes increasingly important,” explains Patrick Hayes, General Manager at Colibri Group. This reality underscores the critical importance of skilled contractors in today’s real estate ecosystem. In an industry facing severe labor shortages and technological disruption, Colibri Group is addressing the ...
The credit bureaus’ practice of selling consumer mortgage application data without explicit consent represents a “categorically wrong” violation of privacy that needs immediate reform, according to Brendan McKay, Chief Advocacy Officer of the Broker Action Coalition. “The credit bureaus are private, publicly traded companies on stock exchanges, and they get to sell consumer data without ...
“Credit bureaus are private, publicly traded companies on stock exchanges, and they get to sell consumer data without permission or proper disclosure. In what world should this exist?” questions Brendan McKay, Owner and Senior Loan Officer at McKay Mortgage Company and a leading voice in the Broker Action Coalition (BAC). The question cuts to the ...
Traditional banking systems assume steady paychecks and salaried employment. For nearly half of the professional workforce in the United States, that assumption simply doesn’t hold. “Financial services are built for the salaried professional and the companies that employ them. This presents significant challenges, as 46% of the professional layer of our economy is self-employed,” explains ...
Homebuyers can lose their life savings in a matter of minutes, and for many, the threat comes when they least expect it. Wire instruction fraud, a fast-growing scam targeting real estate transactions, has become one of the industry’s most urgent problems. Now, one tech founder is leveraging personal experience to deliver a solution. “I have ...
“There is a significant number of people across the nation renting, and the correlation between people who rent and own pets is very evident,” observes Andrés Mishaan, Co-Founder and CEO of Kanguro. This intersection represents one of the most significant yet underserved segments in the insurance market today. The numbers tell a compelling story: 59% ...
“People have been working on instant title searches for 25 years. The race is on to do an instant search, with underwriters well-positioned because they own all the data, and data is king,” says Erich Wiedel, President of Mortiles, describing the technological competition reshaping the title insurance industry. The title insurance sector, traditionally methodical and ...
In an industry focused on aggressive growth and consolidation, Mortiles distinguishes itself—growing to employ 650 full-time staff and 1,300 independent contractors while intentionally maintaining a low profile throughout most of its existence. Accidental Entrepreneurs The Mortiles story began when Erich, as a teenager, worked part-time at a mortgage company during high school. When the company ...
