Tag: Zillow
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Compass Just Became the World’s Largest Brokerage. What Buyers and Sellers Should Know
Compass Inc. announced this month that it successfully acquired Anywhere Real Estate for $1.6 billion. A bargain. Consider the high-profile brands that AnywhereSM holds: Century 21, Coldwell Banker, Sotheby’s International, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, and Corcoran. Headquartered in New York, Compass is now the biggest real estate brokerage on Earth.
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Zillow Removes Climate Risk Scores From Home Listings
Zillow®, the online real estate powerhouse, has made a change on its website. And people are talking about it. Visitors no longer see a home’s risk score for climate factors like flooding or wildfire potential. Just last year, Zillow adopted calculations from First StreetTM, which assigns risk levels to specific homes. The risk scores rank…
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Zillow Says: Now, Your Rental Payments Count for Credit Scoring
Rental payments have traditionally been ignored by credit scores. This makes it that much harder for a renter to qualify to borrow money to buy a home. So, millions of people have excellent housing payment histories, but are shut out of opportunities that a strong credit profile can offer. Like, you know, getting a mortgage…
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One in Three Home Buyers Now Pay Cash. Here’s What This Means for Everybody Else.
A third of home buyers this year haven’t needed a mortgage. The proportion of people paying cash is “well above pre-pandemic levels,” according to the National Association of Realtors®. It’s hard to compete with buyers who don’t need to wait for a lender’s approval. These wealthier buyers are shaping markets by snapping up the lion’s…
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Should Brokers Keep For-Sale Homes Hidden?
It’s the Real Estate Industry’s Latest Debate — Pocket Listings Our regular readers know about recent changes in real estate practices. The big changes came out of settlements by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) and large brokerage firms in response to class-action court cases. NAR had to give up its long-running practice of having…
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Florida Hurricanes Raise a Question: Can We Guard Our Deeds From Climate Losses?
October saw a string of dangerous and deadly storms in Florida. Those who made it through the storms are now cleaning up, in the midst of severe property damage along the Gulf Coast. With Hurricane Milton quickly following Hurricane Helene, Florida homeowners’ insurance adjusters had their hands full. No wonder insurance payouts to Floridians in…
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Can We Use AI Instead of Real Estate Agents Yet?
Real estate sites use AI to offer cutting-edge listing searches. And lenders use artificial intelligence when sizing up an applicant’s financial strength. Tech-focused online lenders employ AI to help them approve or reject loan applications right away. Additionally, AI can automate various business tasks, thereby reducing the risk of fraud. But can AI manage a…
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First-Time Buyers, Get Ready for These Extra Costs
Seriously? Ordinary home expenses now cost the average homeowner more than $14K every year? That’s above and beyond the owner’s mortgage loan payment, according to Zillow and the home improvement estimate company Thumbtack, in their 2023 study. Mortgage interest and high property values aren’t the only price a buyer pays. And the totality of homeownership…
