#Emerging Opportunities in Real Estate and Finance
- Lending information is still not freely accessible or reliable. CFPB Report Finds Nearly Half of Borrowers Do Not Shop for a Mortgage. Key findings of the report include:
- Almost 50% of consumers fail to shop around before applying i.e. they are considering only one lender or mortgage broker seriously!
- 75% of consumers apply only with one lender or broker. The consumers have no idea as they do not apply to multiple lenders to check who can offer them the best deal
- Most consumers get their information from lenders or brokers who have a stake in their outcome. 70% of consumers rely only on the mortgage broker or lender who have a vested interest in the transaction and hence do not serve the information that would suit the consumers' interest the best
- Zillow has recently sponsored a contest to Hack Housing Empowering Smarter Decisions
The premise .... To develop products and create solutions to aid home buyers and renters with particular needs. Deep housing data is more accessible than ever thanks to companies like Zillow and federal open data efforts. But this wealth of information remains fragmented across a number of dense .gov websites and can be confusing even for the experts. During this weekend-long hackathon, teams will be asked to come up with creative solutions to make it easier for first-time homebuyers, low-income renters and senior citizens to find a home that meets their needs. As part of the event, participants will have access to newly released government data sets on topics like federal housing programs, apartment buildings with accessory dwelling units and transit information. In addition, Zillow will make available its data on home values and rents.
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In order to help improve the situation and empower the consumer, the CFPB has embarked on many initiatives including:
- Owning a Home Toolkit
- Owning a Home: Check interest rates > Rate Checker Tool
- Ability-To-Repay: The introduction of the Ability to Repay rule will attempt to ensure that consumers are offered mortgages that they can likely afford
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Similarly, Fannie Mae is rolling out new services in the Appraisals space
- The Collateral Underwriter (CU) from Fannie is an AVM that uses Fannie's wealth of data for creating a computer generated appraisal. Appraisers will be score by Fannie based on their adherence to Fannie guidelines and deviations will be put on Fannie's watchlist for further action