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In another case stemming from the mortgage business’ Wild Wild West days, the former owner and CEO of a New York mortgage bank will spend the next 150 months in prison after being convicted of a $100 million mortgage fraud scheme that cost financial institutions $30 million. …read more

From:: Real Estate Wire

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced it is reassessing the Equal Credit Opportunity Act in order to provide lenders with additional flexibility when collecting consumer ethnicity and race information. The new proposal should hopefully help the industry comply with the law and simultaneously still help protect consumers against illegal discrimination. …read more

From:: Real Estate Wire

First American released its monthly Loan Application Defect Index, which showed loans became more risky in February due to increasing interest rates and a move toward adjustable rate mortgages. What else is behind the rise in these riskier loans? Click the headline to read more. …read more

From:: Real Estate Wire

By Mary Girsch-Bock

There are 75 million of them; people born between 1980 and 2000. That’s roughly 25% of the U.S. population. Millennials, like all of us are looking for a great place that is safe, convenient, and affordable.

But millennials have their own set of desires, and even requirements when looking for a new apartment home. And they have their own way of locating those apartments.

The question is: are you ready to market and lease to this largest segment of the population? Here are a few tips for reaching and renting to millennials:

· Make sure your rental ads are where millennials can find them. This includes the ability to access ads, including photos and floor plans from the Internet or on a mobile phone.
· Make sure you’re proactive on any public ratings issues that may appear. Millennials, more than any other group rely on the opinion of others. If there are issues, make sure you respond to them promptly, and note that response where it can be viewed by potential renters.
· Ramp up your social media presence. Don’t underestimate the value that millennials place on a solid social media presence, such as an active Facebook page, Twitter account, and Instagram account.
· Speaking of Facebook, be sure to create a Facebook page for your properties if you don’t already have one; and more importantly, keep posts fresh and timely. Facebook remains a popular forum for millennials, where they can easily access additional information and even download an application.
· Make sure you list amenities such as free Wi-Fi, Leed-certified appliances, in-unit washers and dryers, electric car charging stations, bike racks and bike storage. Being pet-friendly doesn’t hurt either.
· If your properties are convenient to public transportation, be sure to mention that in your ads. Millennials are much more likely to use public transportation than their older counterpart and will see this as a definite plus.
· Fitness centers and coffee shops also top the list of amenities that millennials want. While space can be an issue for fitness centers, as an option, you can offer a discount to area gyms if desired. And millennials aren’t the only ones that would like an onsite coffee shop. Offering coffee and quick snacks would appeal to just about any demographic.

While marketing to millennials can seem tricky, in the end, millennials, like generations before them, simply want a place that they can call their own.

…read more

From:: Property Management

Migration patterns show people moved from inner cities to suburbs, a shift that hasn’t been seen since before the housing crisis. Rising home prices continue to push homebuyers away from booming city markets. …read more

From:: Real Estate Wire