Your Estate

When Bank of America completed the purchase of Countrywide in July, there was no mention of what would happen each companies reverse mortgage mortgage divisions.  If you take a look at last months HECM endorsements, Countrywide was the third largest originator of HECMs and Bank of America was fifth.  Together the two companies become the 2nd largest reverse mortgage originator behind Wells Fargo.

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ServiceLink, a provider of origination and default services and the national mortgage services platform of Fidelity National Financial, announced enhancements to its title and settlement solution for reverse mortgage transactions.

Looking to cater to the reverse mortgage industry, the company recently added a dedicated reverse mortgage staff with years of experience to ensure they can answer any questions and resolve issues that may affect the closing and expedite title commitment.

While ServiceLink offers several closing options, its iClose solution is a web-based electronic closing platform designed specifically for reverse mortgages.  The secure platform allows borrowers to close online, virtually anywhere and at any time. 

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If you bought your house only a few years ago or are entering the real estate market as a first-time home buyer, chances are you researched real estate online before you were within one to two months of making a move. The ability to search listings and home values online, along with getting school and community information, has become synonymous with the home buying process.

It hasn’t always been this way.

I had the opportunity to take a time travel through real estate to the year 1975. Steve Osmar, Connect2Agent member and real estate agent in Lansing Michigan, navigated past and present real estate practices … buckle up as we take a trip back to get to the present and future of real estate.

It’s the year 1975. The United States was in a recession similar to the country’s economic climate today. Greater Lansing was vey dependent on General Motors, which had gone through a lengthy strike. The country was coming out of an Arab Oil Embargo that raised gas prices.

Real estate systems were starting to evolve. The method for keeping track of real estate listing data had just gone through an upgrade, from an index card system to a catalog that was updated weekly. Access to the listing data could only be obtained through a real estate broker/agent.

Documents for real estate resembled handshake-type deals compared with the paperwork that exists today. A listing contract was the length of a letter-size piece of paper; there were no agency disclosures. An Offer to Purchase agreement was one page, which included room for the seller’s acceptance and any counter offer.

Searching houses online didn’t exist. A typical home search process would involve looking at several houses. Once a buyer found a house, it was common to have the buyer’s parents come out to give it their stamp of approval. There weren’t any home inspections at this time, so parents tended to be very critical of the properties.

Osmar remembers one father who walked through a real estate showing.  He spent 1/2 hour alone in the bedroom, inspecting details as minute as the white caulking on a window sill, running his finger along the caulking to make sure it was sealed properly. This father felt ultimately responsible for his children’s final choice in their home purchase.

Now, home inspection contingencies on a contract and seller’s disclosures are standard components of an Offer to Purchase agreement.

Traveling back to the future, what does Osmar see differently in the real estate market today? There is twice as much inventory coming onto the market in the Lansing area. In the 33 years Osmar has been selling real estate, the only other time he saw prices go backward was in the 1980s.

What can consumers expect to see with Lansing real estate in the future? Osmar doesn’t have a crystal ball, but he believes the local Lansing real estate market is near the bottom. He said the market will start to take an uptick in sales when it can get rid of the REO (real estate owned) properties.

All real estate time travelers wanted: If you sold or bought a house 10 years ago or earlier, Connect2Agent would love to hear your story. We invite you to share by commenting below.

Posted by Rebecca D. Levinson