Lakeside’s Legal Corner: Maryland Mortgage Lender Law
Tue Jan 2020Occasionally we are asked to prepare private loan documents for a real estate settlement. The seller might be holding a “seller take-back” loan, where the seller agrees to forego receipt of some or all of the purchase price at settlement in exchange for regular monthly payments with interest (or some ...
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Don’t Remodel Your Home Until You Read This
Mon Jan 2020Don’t remodel your home until you read this blog! Every year, Americans spend $400 billion on remodeling costs. That’s a huge sum, but it could be much higher. According to the NAR’s 2019 Remodeling Impact Report, 35 percent of homeowners would rather move to a new home than remodel their current ...
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5 Mortgage Lender Trends that Will Continue This Year
Sat Jan 2020We are just a few weeks into 2020, but already it is clear that many of the mortgage lender trends that defined 2019 will continue. Interest Rate Reductions It was common knowledge that the Fed would begin normalizing fiscal policy in 2019 by increasing interest rates. That never happened. In ...
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How the Denver Green Roof Law Fell Flat
Sun Jan 2020We’ve talked before about hempcrete, the material made from a mixture of hemp strands, lime binder and water that can be used in place of fiberglass insulation, sheetrock, drywall, and even siding. Another “green” building innovation, this time with regard to green space, put builders in Colorado in the crosshairs. ...
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Social Media Best Practices for Real Estate Agents in 2020
Thu Jan 2020Real estate agents are busy enough as it is — so how could they possibly have time for social media marketing? By doing it right. There is simply no time for trial and error, and we get that. Which is why we’d like to share these social media best practices ...
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Realtor Keeps Breaking World Record for Homes Sold
Fri Dec 2019Ben Caballero, real estate broker and owner of HomesUSA.com in Dallas, has once again broken the Guinness world record — his own record — for the most homes sold in a single year. He sold 5,801 homes in 2018 totaling $2 billion in sales volume, which averages out to 100 ...
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Construction is Booming in “Millennial Counties,” but There’s a Problem
Mon Dec 2019The National Association of Home Builders' Home Building Geography Index uses county-level single- and multifamily permit information to gauge housing construction in submarkets. It’s a way of looking at building activity in a more nuanced, specific way. The data from the most recent report is telling us that most single-family and ...
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Cause for Concern? Quantifying Mortgage Lenders’ Cybersecurity Risks
Tue Dec 2019The mortgage industry holds a vital position in the U.S. economy. It provides millions of consumers with financing that they use to buy homes and achieve the American dream. To do so, mortgage professionals must acquire sensitive, non-public information which makes the industry a target for criminals. As more of the ...
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Signs You’re Ready to Sell Your House…For Real
Thu Dec 2019There are many reasons to sell your house. You may be looking to downsize for retirement or because your kids are off to college. You may be thinking about upgrading because you have a baby on the way. No matter what your reasoning is, selling a home is a big ...
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These are the Most Common Items Stolen from Construction Sites
Fri Nov 2019Last month, builders in Jonesboro, Arkansas were hit by a series of robberies. As you’ll see, these crimes are incredibly common. We’ll take a look at this case specifically and look at the items most frequently stolen from construction sites. In the first robbery, the thieves made off with a stovetop ...
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