Tag Archives: News Brief

New Freddie Mac mortgage plan bundles purchases and repairs

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The CHOICERenovation program offers homebuyers a single loan, with just one set of closing costs, that they can use to buy a house and then fix it up. Continue reading →

Zillow’s mortgage ambitions ramp up with office opening

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Zillow cut the ribbon on its Zillow Home Loans office today, in Overland Park, Kansas. The headquarters will serve as the main hub for its nascent mortgage program, which was launched in the wake of last year’s acquisition of the Overland Park-based Mo… Continue reading →

Amazon will match employee affordable housing donations

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The online retailer will also contribute $8 million to nonprofits in Washington and Virginia. The pledge comes as a handful of companies promise to spend big on housing. Continue reading →

Google’s big Bay Area housing investment won’t be enough

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Economists praised the tech giant’s plan to spend $1 billion on Bay Area housing, but expressed skepticism that the efforts will solve the region’s housing crisis. Continue reading →

Gary Keller, KW training scripts called out in commission lawsuit

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The lawsuit alleges that the National Association of Realtors (NAR), Realogy Holdings Corp., Keller Williams Realty, RE/MAX LLC, HomeServices of America Inc. and HomeServices subsidiaries BHH Affiliates LLC, HSF Affiliates LLC, and The Long & Fost… Continue reading →

NAR’s tech accelerator REACH goes global

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REACH — which first launched in 2013 and is part of NAR’s Second Century Ventures investment fund — has worked with dozens of companies over the years including House Canary, BoxBrownie and BombBomb. The goal is to provide promising new companies with … Continue reading →

HUD Sec. Ben Carson wants more cities to ditch single-family zoning

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Carson — who leads the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) — made his comments Tuesday during a visit to Minneapolis, where lawmakers voted last year to ditch single-family zoning, which had previously dominated the city limits. Spea… Continue reading →

Multifamily home automation startup SmartRent raises $32M

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SmartRent helps property managers deploy technology, such as the Nest smart thermostat, across multiple units. Continue reading →

Lennar partners with SkyNav in mixed-reality marketing

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National homebuilder Lennar announced this week that it has partnered with San Francisco-based SkyNav to showcase a Summerville, South Carolina, master-planned community called Summer’s Corner. Continue reading →