Real estate agent fees are paid at closing, but they’re not usually considered part of a buyer’s closing costs. Instead, they’re a separate expense that’s handled as part of the overall transaction. The confusion comes from how the term “closing costs” is used. In most cases, buyers use “closing cos

As an industry, we tend to care about interest rates, especially mortgage rates. (A recent STRATMOR piece is titled, “Mortgage Rates Are Not Random.”) But there is a group of people much less sensitive to rates and represent competition to lenders. All-cash home purchases have remained structurally

Growth in retained and investment portfolios drove gains as the government-sponsored enterprise reported the highest refinancing share seen in four years.