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R your sales practices strong enough?
Posted Date: Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Surviving in the title industry is dependent on your ability to sell services to others in the real estate business. But what percentage of your employees is responsible for sales?
If you need a calculator to answer that question you are undoubtedly viewing sales in an ineffective way, Orange Leaf Consulting CEO Cindy McGovern said during the National Settlement Services Summit (NS3) in Phoenix.
Read on to learn McGovern’s 6 ‘R’s of sales.
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National Integrity hosts open house
Posted Date: Tuesday, July 30, 2019
Marlton, N.J.-based National Integrity Title Agency (NITA) recently hosted an open house at its new corporate headquarters.
Read on for more details.
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NTC commits to charitable endeavors
Posted Date: Tuesday, July 30, 2019
Nationwide Title Clearing, Inc. (NTC) has committed to several local and national non-profit organizations throughout 2019.
Read on for more details.
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Kensington Vanguard acquires 1031 exchange provider
Posted Date: Thursday, July 11, 2019
Kensington Vanguard National Land Services has acquired a majority stake in the largest independent 1031 exchange service provider in the Eastern United States.
Kensington said the acquisition significantly expands its market presence in the 1031 exchange industry, and creates an enormous growth opportunity for its national platform, infrastructure, technology, client base and capital.
Read on for more details.
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HomeLight acquires digital mortgage startup
Posted Date: Thursday, July 11, 2019
A real estate technology platform has acquired a digital mortgage startup with a proprietary software platform that automates 70 percent of the mortgage process, both companies announced.
Along with its acquisition, HomeLight simultaneously announced the launch of its loans division, with operations in California, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Texas.
Read on for more details.
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NFIB opposes $15 minimum wage
Posted Date: Thursday, July 11, 2019
The National Federation of Independent Business has urged Congress to dismiss a bill to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
The NFIB released a statement in response to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office’s report on the Raise the Wage Act, in which the CBO estimates the bill would result in an estimated 1.3 million lost jobs and $9 billion in total income lost in 2025.
Read on for more details.
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ClosingCorp adds natural disaster alerts
Posted Date: Thursday, July 11, 2019
During natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornados or wildfires, lenders using SmartFees will receive an alert listing all properties in the affected area with mortgage applications pending.
Read on for more details.
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Inventory of homes declined in June
Posted Date: Thursday, July 11, 2019
Redfin said if supply growth continues falling at the rate it has been since April, by September the number of homes for sale will be down from a year earlier by more than 4 percent.
Read on for more details.
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Fed report: Signs of looming recession in place
Posted Date: Wednesday, July 10, 2019
A report from an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis said new and existing home sales have declined in all four census regions, which in the past has been a sign of an impending economic slowdown.
The report said the downturn in the housing market merits close attention, as some indicators are weaker than they were prior to the 2001 recession.
Read on for more from the economist’s report.
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WFG, SoftPro update integration
Posted Date: Wednesday, July 10, 2019
SoftPro has enhanced its integration with WFG National Title Insurance Co., both companies announced.
WFG agents now have enhanced capabilities for ordering title searches and retrieving title evidence directly from their SoftPro software, eliminating duplication of data entry as well as phone calls.
Read on to learn what Williston Financial Group founder and Executive Chairman Patrick Stone had to say about the new integration.
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Nationwide real estate compliance manual published
Posted Date: Wednesday, July 10, 2019
A New York management consultancy has published an encyclopedic guide to the laws and customs governing real estate transactions throughout the U.S.
Read on for more details.
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Demotech affirms Agents National, Security Title’s FSR
Posted Date: Tuesday, July 9, 2019
Demotech, Inc. recently affirmed the financial stability ratings (FSR) of A, Exceptional, assigned to both Agents National Title Insurance Co. and Security Title Guarantee Corp. of Baltimore.
Demotech said ANTIC’s and Security Title’s FSR level are “assigned to insurers who possess exceptional financial stability related to maintaining positive surplus, realistic pricing, and an acceptable level of financial leverage.
Read on for more details.
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Stewart expands RON capacity to 20 states
Posted Date: Tuesday, July 9, 2019
Stewart has expanded its capacity to provide remote online notarization (RON) to more than 250 of its direct operations in 20 states, the company announced.
Stewart, which has partnered with vendors such as Notarize and NotaryCam, has conducted hundreds of RON closings since completing a fully digital closing in July 2017 in Texas.
Read on for more details.
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Southern Title enhances website
Posted Date: Tuesday, July 9, 2019
Florida-based Southern Title has added enhancements to its website to make it more user friendly for individuals with disabilities and non-English speakers.
The company’s website will enable users who are color blind to change the color contrast on the website; users who are dyslexic to change the font type; and users to get a title quote in more than 110 languages.
Read on for more details.
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Loan defects down in May
Posted Date: Tuesday, July 9, 2019
During May, Arkansas, Vermont, Florida, Utah and Arizona had the greatest year-over-year decreases in defect frequency.
Read on for more details.
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ALTA warns title companies of industry breach
Posted Date: Friday, July 5, 2019
The American Land Title Association (ALTA) said has updated an alert of a breach within the title and settlement industry which revealed non-public personal information.
ALTA has worked to contact member and licensee companies who might have been affected.
Read on for more, including ALTA’s tips to protect your company and its information.
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NC firm up, running after fire
Posted Date: Friday, July 5, 2019
A title attorney firm in North Carolina is up and running hours after an overnight fire destroyed the building which housed much of the firm’s operation.
Brady & Kosofsky Partner Jaime Kosofsky told The Title Report that the staff was unharmed as he described the way his company was back on the job less than nine hours after the fire began.
Read on for details from the story of the company’s recovery.
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Radian Group rebrands title operations
Posted Date: Friday, July 5, 2019
Radian Group Inc. has rebranded its recently acquired EnTitle Insurance Co. as Radian Title Insurance Inc., the company announced.
Radian said the rebranding of EnTitle is consistent with its strategy of uniting all of its subsidiaries under the One Radian brand which, in turn, reflects the strength of a combined team dedicated to helping Americans achieve the dream of homeownership.
Read on for more details.
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CoreLogic offers new tool for title agents, lenders
Posted Date: Friday, July 5, 2019
CoreLogic has announced the availability of an online portal that provides on-demand data and analysis on real estate transactions to help title agents and lenders gain a competitive edge.
CoreLogic said lenders and title companies can use its platform to identify top performing real estate agents and brokerage firms to prioritize professional relationships based on market trends.
Read on for more details.
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Oak Title’s parent adds board director
Posted Date: Friday, July 5, 2019
The holding company for Oak Title Services, LLC has added to its board of directors, the company announced.
The newest addition to the company’s board previously was a financial auditor and consultant with Ernst & Young, LLP, Chicago, and a licensed certified public accountant in Illinois.
Read on to learn what the president and CEO of Oak Title’s holding company had to say about its new board member.
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CyberScout announces CEO
Posted Date: Friday, July 5, 2019
Arizona-based CyberScout has hired a former Experian executive as its next CEO.
Read on for more details.
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The Closing Exchange integrates with DocuSign
Posted Date: Friday, July 5, 2019
The Closing Exchange has integrated its eSignature capabilities and hybrid eClosings within DocuSign’s CXChoice platform.
Read on for more details.
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Lennar’s second-quarter profits surge
Posted Date: Tuesday, July 2, 2019
Lennar Corp. credited a “general recovery” in the housing market for the double-digit increase in second-quarter profits reflected in the company’s latest earnings statement.
Executive Chairman Stuart Miller said the combination of lower interest rates, slower price appreciation and, in some instances, slightly lower prices have positively impacted affordability.
Read on for details about Lennar’s second-quarter performance.
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Situs Group, American Mortgage Consultants merging
Posted Date: Tuesday, July 2, 2019
Situs Group Holdings Corp. and American Mortgage Consultants, Inc. have entered into a definitive agreement to merge the two firms, the companies announced.
The combined firm will have more than $175 billion of commercial assets under management and provide fair value assessment on more than $290 billion of commercial real estate assets quarterly.
Read on for more details about the merger.
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DocMagic, LendingPad integrate
Posted Date: Tuesday, July 2, 2019
DocMagic, Inc.’s loan document preparation, regulatory compliance and comprehensive eMortgage services have been integrated into LendingPad’s cloud-based loan origination system.
Read on for more details.
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Housing more affordable in April
Posted Date: Tuesday, July 2, 2019
During April, affordability improved month-over-month in 43 of the 44 markets First American tracks.
Read on for more details.
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Mortgage-rate slide boosting market
Posted Date: Monday, July 1, 2019
Mortgages rates last week dropped to their lowest level since November 2016, increasing mortgage applications and significantly expanding the pool of candidates who would benefit from a refinance.
That’s great news for the title industry, which in the past two years has seen refinances plummet and residential transactions decline as mortgage rates increased.
Read on for more details.
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Patten Title hires former Stewart CFO
Posted Date: Monday, July 1, 2019
Texas-based Patten Title Co. has hired a former Stewart chief financial officer to serve in the same role.
Patten said the former Stewart executive will enhance the internal financial structure of its top-rated full-service closing practice, as he has experience working for a number of financial organizations ranging from small, privately held entrepreneurial companies to large Fortune 500 organizations.
Read on for more details about the hiring.
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Federal Title launches credit partner program
Posted Date: Monday, July 1, 2019
Federal Title & Escrow Co. recently launched a credit partner program designed to help Realtors and mortgage lenders better serve homebuyers and sellers.
CEO Todd Ewing said the new program is part of the company’s continuing effort to invent new technology and programs to assist real estate agents and lenders in delivering more benefits to clients.
Read on for more details about the program.
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Wells Fargo names CTO
Posted Date: Monday, July 1, 2019
Wells Fargo & Company has named a chief technology officer.
Read on for more details.
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ClosingCorp integrates with Wipro
Posted Date: Monday, July 1, 2019
ClosingCorp’s SmartFees service has been integrated into Wipro Gallagher Solutions’ (WGS) loan origination platform, the companies announced.
Read on for more details.
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ATG names vice president
Posted Date: Monday, July 1, 2019
Attorneys’ Title Guaranty Fund, Inc. has named a vice president for its downstate operations.
Read on for more details.
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Foreclosures decline for 11th consecutive month
Posted Date: Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Metropolitan areas with double-digit decreases in foreclosures during May included Birmingham, Ala., New York, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and Detroit.
Read on for more details.
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Affordable places for nuptials and a first home
Posted Date: Friday, June 14, 2019
For people looking to get married and cover the downpayment on their first home in the same place, the Midwest cities of Cleveland, Detroit and Pittsburgh may be places to consider.
Read on for more details.
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