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VP of Largest Black-Owned Mortgage Lender, Legacy Home Loans, Receives Industry-Wide Recognition

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At a time when some real estate finance leaders have questioned the existence of Black talent within the industry, LEGACY Home Loans is starting the year off strong, celebrating the various wins of its Vice President of Operations, Jammie Jelks, who has been accepted into Forbes’ Real Estate Council—an invitation-only community for executives in real estate. Along with this great distinction, Jammie Jelks has also been named a “Visionary” by the National Association of Minority Mortgage Bankers of America.  Jammie Jelks, who handles everything from loan disclosures to funding for LEGACY’s 12 branches across the country, was selected by Forbes based on the depth and diversity of his experience, partnered with his proven track record of successfully impacting business growth metrics. “I am ecstatic to be a member of the Forbes Real Estate Council,” said Jelks. “Forbes is such a prestigious and highly regarded organization and it is an honor to be recognized as an industry leader amongst some of the most prominent names in real estate. I am looking forward to sharing my voice and real estate finance insights with Forbes’ network.” “We are honored to welcome Jammie Jelks into the community,” said Scott Gerber, founder of Forbes Councils, the collective that includes Forbes Real Estate Business Council. “Our mission with Forbes Councils is to bring together proven leaders from every industry, creating a curated, social capital-driven network that helps every member grow professionally and make an even greater impact on the business world.” Jammie has also been deemed a “Visionary” by the National Association of Minority Mortgage Bankers of America. NAMMBA’s mission is to create a culture of diversity and inclusion within the real estate finance industry that mirrors the communities we live in and serve. Per its website, NAMMBA’s “Visionary” designation is “for CEO’s, senior leaders and industry stakeholders to show support for diversity and inclusion.”

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Toorak Capital Dedicates $500 million to Acquire Long-Term Rental Investor Loans

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Toorak Capital Partners (Toorak), the largest capital provider to the residential bridge real estate lending industry, has announced a major capital commitment to its unique Long-Term Rental Investor Loan program. Toorak will dedicate up to $500 million over the next year to purchase these loans in response to continued strength in the residential rental market and growing demand from investors utilizing ‘fix to rent’ strategies. “Single-family rentals have been one of the best performing asset classes in 2020, and our Rental Investor Loans are designed to meet the long-term needs of such rental investors,” said John Beacham, CEO of Toorak. “These 30-year term loans allow real estate investors to qualify for amounts up to 80% LTV based on future rents from the mortgaged property. The product is ideal for investors looking for longer-term financing options, including those who are refinancing a short-term bridge or rehabilitation loan.” Toorak, which has funded over $5.0 billion in loans since its inception in 2016, has been further expanding its Long-Term Rental Investor lending platform. “Over the past year, we’ve witnessed an already favorable single-family rental market grow in demand as lockdown policies put a premium on housing. Families are looking for quality long-term rental options, particularly in suburban areas. The lack of affordable homes across the country continues to push housing prices out of reach for many would be buyers, making single-family rentals an attractive option.” To qualify potential borrowers, Toorak uses innovative credit guidelines that focus on rents from the rental properties relative to the mortgage debt obligations (debt service coverage ratio, “DSCR”), instead of typical borrower income metrics used by majority of residential lenders like debt-to-income (“DTI”) ratio. Toorak’s high credit standards are reflected in de minimus losses across the entire Toorak portfolio — as well as regular securitization issuance attracting strong investor demand. To support the acquisition of the Long-Term Rental Investor loans, Toorak has made significant human capital additions over the last five months, including industry veterans Carole Mortensen, Ketan Parekh and Frank Shiau. Carole has joined as Head of Credit and brings over 20 years of experience in managing over $30 billion in ABS, RMBS and CMBS transactions from her leadership roles at M1 Strategic Advisors, Waterfall Asset Management, and Ready Capital, among others. Ketan joined as Head of Business Development & Capital Markets and brings over 25 years of experience in residential structured products, mortgage- and real estate-banking from his leadership roles at Invictus Capital Partners, Window Rock Capital Partners and Premium Point Investments, among others. Frank Shiau has joined as Head of Trading and bring over 13 years of experience in trading residential whole loans and bonds and managing securitizations at Fortress Investment Group, Shellpoint Partners, Ranieri Partners Asset Management, and PWC. The company has also invested heavily in technology to provide its lending partners with real-time insights on every step of the loan submission process. To learn more about Toorak Capital Partners’ 30-year Rental Investor Loans, please contact the firm at toorakcapital@toorakcapital.com or 212-393-4100. About Toorak Capital PartnersToorak Capital Partners is an integrated correspondent lending platform based in Summit, NJ. Toorak loans on small balance business purpose residential, multifamily and mixed-use properties throughout the US and the UK. Backed by global investment firm KKR, Toorak Capital Partners acquires loans directly from private lenders that originate high credit quality loans. Toorak Capital Partners’ principals have a deep understanding of mortgage credit in the residential and commercial space with backgrounds in real estate lending, capital markets, securitization, asset-liability management, asset management and credit. Toorak Capital Partners-funded projects have renovated or stabilized housing for more than 17,000 families to date – an average of more than 500 families every month. Further information is available at www.toorakcapital.com. 

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Realtor.com® Selects Qualia to Deliver Simplified Digital Home Closings

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Realtor.com® and Qualia today announced a new relationship that will give agents and their clients a unique ability to collaborate online in real time with their title provider of choice as part of a fully integrated digital closing experience.  The experience will first launch next month as a pilot test in seven states across the country, followed by a nationwide launch later this year. The seven states are Florida, Maryland, Ohio, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia. “Realtor.com® believes an open marketplace approach that offers choice, control, transparency and efficiency creates the best experience for home buyers, sellers, and real estate professionals,” said Move Inc. CEO David Doctorow. Move, Inc., is a subsidiary of News Corp and operates realtor.com®. “Our relationship with Qualia is a great example of this. We’re empowering agents by providing options to help them get their clients all the way through closing, as we simplify the process of buying and selling homes for people throughout their real estate journey.” Agents in realtor.com®‘s ReadyConnect Concierge℠ network will be able to use their existing ReadyConnect℠ Agent app to select one of the many highly rated title partners who are powered by Qualia’s platform. Agents can also introduce additional title partners to the network through the ReadyConnect Concierge℠ app and web experience. If they choose, agents can continue to work outside of the app with any title provider outside of the Qualia platform. If they work with a title provider in the Qualia network, agents and their clients can automatically manage and review documents, track progress in real time, and communicate with the chosen title company through the secure Qualia Connect platform. The platform’s security features also help protect buyers from phishing and fraud; cyber crime in real estate transactions has been increasing rapidly over the past few years, according to FBI reports. Consumers can sign their closing documents, and in select states some participants can have them remotely notarized with Qualia’s fully integrated Remote Online Notarization tool, as well. In states that allow fully remote closings, agents who give their clients the ability to e-close by working with title providers that embrace modern, digital solutions can set themselves apart from the competition. In an October 2020 Qualia Homebuyer Sentiment Survey, more than 60 percent of survey respondents said they wanted a fully digital closing experience, and more than half of home buyers chose their real estate agent based on a differentiated level of service around closing. Title and escrow providers in the Qualia network can grow their business with the increased exposure to the 140,000+ agents in realtor.com®‘s ReadyConnect Concierge℠ network. They will also save time and increase efficiencies by collaborating with agents and consumers on one secure, cloud-based closing platform. “The role that each participant in the home buying journey serves is evolving faster than we’ve ever seen,” said Qualia CEO Nate Baker. “Realtor.com® is a Proptech leader that has consistently remained ahead of the curve, empowering its agents to deliver a differentiated home buying experience. We are excited to help them continue this journey alongside our existing network of Qualia powered title and escrow partners across the country.” Title providers can learn more about Qualia and join the network at https://succeed.realtor.com/title-escrow-advertising.  Visit marketing.realtor.com/concierge to learn more about the ReadyConnect Concierge℠ network and how realtor.com®‘s referral program can help agents and brokers build their business. Unlike some other success-based models, ReadyConnect Concierge℠ is open to all brokers and their agents who want to join – as market conditions allow – and requires no upfront expenses.

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Black Knight’s First Look: 2020 Ends With 1.7 Million More Seriously Delinquent Homeowners Than at Start of Year; Foreclosures at Record Low

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Black Knight, Inc. (NYSE: BKI) reports the following “first look” at December 2020 month-end mortgage performance statistics derived from its loan-level database representing the majority of the national mortgage market. Total U.S. loan delinquency rate (loans 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure): 6.08%Month-over-month change: -3.90%Year-over-year change: 78.93% Total U.S. foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate: 0.33%Month-over-month change: 1.30%Year-over-year change: -27.77% Total U.S. foreclosure starts: 7,100Month-over-month change: 61.36%Year-over-year change: -82.03% Monthly prepayment rate (SMM): 3.15%Month-over-month change: 11.73%Year-over-year change: 112.17% Foreclosure sales as % of 90+: 0.07%Month-over-month change: 5.18%Year-over-year change: -95.33% Number of properties that are 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure: 3,251,000Month-over-month change: -130,000Year-over-year change: 1,448,000 Number of properties that are 90 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure: 2,146,000Month-over-month change: -47,000Year-over-year change: 1,719,000 Number of properties in foreclosure pre-sale inventory: 178,000Month-over-month change: 2,000Year-over-year change: -67,000 Number of properties that are 30 or more days past due or in foreclosure: 3,429,000Month-over-month change: -128,000Year-over-year change: 1,382,000 For a more detailed view of this month’s “first look” data, please visit the Black Knight newsroom. The company will provide a more in-depth review of this data in its monthly Mortgage Monitor report, which includes an analysis of data supplemented by detailed charts and graphs that reflect trend and point-in-time observations. The Mortgage Monitor report will be available online at https://www.blackknightinc.com/data-reports/ by Feb. 1, 2021. For more information about gaining access to Black Knight’s loan-level database, please send an email to Mortgage.Monitor@bkfs.com.

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OWNING A HOME MORE AFFORDABLE THAN RENTING IN NEARLY TWO THIRDS OF U.S. HOUSING MARKETS

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ATTOM Data Solutions, curator of the nation’s premier property database, released its 2021 Rental Affordability Report, which shows that owning a median-priced three-bedroom home is more affordable than renting a three-bedroom property in 572, or 63 percent of the 915 U.S. counties analyzed for the report. That has happened even though median home prices have increased more than average rents over the past year in 83 percent of those counties and have risen more than wages in almost two-thirds of the nation. The analysis incorporated recently released fair market rent data for 2021 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics along with public record sales deed data from ATTOM in 915 U.S. counties with sufficient home sales data. Home ownership is more affordable in almost two-thirds of the country following a year when the impact of declining interest rates helped counteract home prices that rose faster than rents and wages. Trends favoring home ownership show up most in suburban and rural areas with the most affordable home values, while renting remains more affordable in the biggest cities. “Home-prices are rising faster than rents and wages in a majority of the country. Yet, home ownership is still more affordable, as amazingly low mortgage rates that dropped below 3 percent are helping to keep the cost of rising home prices in check,” said Todd Teta, chief product officer with ATTOM Data Solutions. “It’s startling to see that kind of trend. But it shows how both the cost of renting has been relatively high compared to the cost of ownership and how declining interest rates are having a notable impact on the housing market and home ownership. The coming year is totally uncertain, amid so many questions connected to the Coronavirus pandemic and the broader economy. But right now, owning a home still appears to be a financially-sound choice for those who can afford it.” Home prices rising faster than rents in 83 percent of counties across U.S. Median prices for three-bedroom homes are increasing more than average three-bedroom rents in 764 of the 915 counties analyzed in this report. Counties were included if they had at least 500 sales in YTD (Jan-Nov) 2020. The most populous counties where home prices are rising faster are Los Angeles County, CA; Cook County (Chicago), IL; Harris County (Houston), TX; Maricopa County (Phoenix), AZ and San Diego County, CA. The largest counties where rents are rising faster are Kings County (Brooklyn), NY; Queens County, NY; New York County (Manhattan), NY; Bronx County, NY; and, Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), PA. Renting more affordable than buying in nation’s most populated counties Renting is more affordable than buying a home in 18 of the nation’s 25 most populated counties and in 29 of 44 counties with a population of 1 million or more (66 percent) — including Los Angeles County, CA; Cook County (Chicago), IL; Harris County (Houston), TX; San Diego County, CA; and, Orange County, CA (outside Los Angeles). Other markets with a population of more than 1 million where it is more affordable to rent than to buy a home include counties in the New York City, Seattle, Dallas, San Francisco, San Jose and Boston and Riverside, CA, metropolitan areas. Among the 44 U.S. counties analyzed in the report with a population of 1 million or more, those where it is more affordable to buy a home than rent include Maricopa County (Phoenix), AZ; Miami-Dade County, FL; Clark County (Las Vegas), NV; Tarrant County (Fort Worth), TX; and, Broward County (Fort Lauderdale), FL. Owning more affordable in less-populated counties Home ownership is more affordable than renting in counties with a population of less than 1 million, especially among those with less than 500,000 people. Owning is more affordable in 47, or 50 percent, of the 94 counties with 500,000 to 999,999 people. The largest in this group where it is more affordable to buy are St. Louis County, MO; Pinellas County (Tampa), FL; Milwaukee County, WI; Marion County (Indianapolis), IN; and, Shelby County (Memphis), TN. The largest in this group where it is more affordable to rent are Honolulu County, HI; Fresno County, CA; Westchester County, NY (outside New York City); Collin County, TX (outside Dallas); and, Fairfield County (outside New York City), CT. Among the remaining 779 counties with a population less than 500,000, owning is more affordable in 510, or 65 percent. The largest in this group where owning is more affordable are Greenville County, SC; Adams County, CO (outside Denver); Lake County (Gary), IN; Hampden County (Springfield), MA; and, Clark County, WA (outside Portland, OR). The largest counties where renting is more affordable are Spokane County, (WA); Morris County, NJ (outside New York City); Polk County (Des Moines), IA; Richmond County (Staten Island), NY; and, Tulare County (Visalia), CA. Most affordable rental markets in South and Midwest; least affordable in West The report shows that renting the typical three-bedroom property requires at least a third of average weekly wages in 506 of the 915 counties analyzed for the report (55 percent). The most affordable markets for renting are mostly in the South and Midwest, led by Roane County, TN (outside Knoxville) (18.4 percent of wages needed to rent); Benton County (Rogers), AR (20.7 percent); Madison County (Huntsville), AL (21.6 percent); Greene County, OH (outside Dayton) (22.5 percent); and, Sullivan County (Kingsport), TN (22.6 percent). The most affordable for renting among counties with a population of at least 1 million are Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), PA (23.9 percent of average wages needed to rent); Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), OH (24 percent); Fulton County (Atlanta), GA (24.6 percent); Wayne County (Detroit), MI (26 percent); and, Oakland County, MI (outside Detroit) (26.1 percent). The least affordable for renting are mostly in the West, led by Santa Cruz County, CA (82.9 percent of average wages needed to rent); Santa Barbara County, CA (68.7 percent); Marin County, CA (outside San Francisco) (67.9 percent); Park County, CO (outside Denver) (67.5 percent); and, Kauai

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Investor Profile

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Vince and Noelle Mora ACHIEVING WORK-LIFE BALANCE Achieving a “work-life” balance is a basic human need and desire that everybody strives for, but few ever achieve. For Vince and Noelle Mora, that is the very reason they started VinLex Ventures LLC, an independently owned and operated HomeVestors® franchise, in 2014. “I needed to be my own boss and get some balance in my life,” said Vince. “I needed to avoid that awful commute from New Jersey to New York City every day and start spending some quality time with my wife and children.” Vince graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in Economics in 1988 and within three weeks he was working at Merrill Lynch trading mortgages. He worked for Merrill Lynch for twenty years culminating his career as the Managing Director of whole loan trading. “In a nutshell, I would buy loans, bundle them in a securities package, and then sell that package to investors,” Vince recalled.  That experience in “securitization” and financing, coupled with his degree in Economics, laid the foundation for Vince to become a real estate entrepreneur. A NEW BEGINNING VinLex Ventures LLC is part of the HomeVestors Central New Jersey Advertising Council, of which Vince is the President. While Vince is the buyer, risk assessor, and “field manager” for VinLex Ventures, Noelle is the coordinator and administrator. “Noelle is very analytical. If I have a problem, I turn it over to Noelle and let her analyze the situation and solve it,” said Vince. Starting their franchise business in 2014, Vince and Noelle recently hit the important 5-yr milestone with HomeVestors and renewed their franchise agreement for a second term. Being a HomeVestors business owner in New Jersey is different than other markets. The MLS systems in New Jersey are not beneficial to the iBuyer group of investors. As one example, MLS home data in New Jersey does not provide consistent information such as square footage, only the number of bedrooms and bathrooms. HomeVestors, on the other hand, offers a virtual or in-person visit to the home so the prospective buyer can determine the square footage and make a firm cash offer. Since becoming an independently owned and operated HomeVestors® business owner in 2014, the Mora’s lifestyle has changed, just as they desired. For both Vince and Noelle, who have been married for twenty-two years, the work-life balance has substantially improved. Vince became the coach of his daughter Alexa’s softball team. “I love teaching young people skills and then teaching them how to apply those skills and execute,” he reminisced. And he finally was able to spend some quality time with his son. “My son Vincent is a piano player and a singer. I missed so many of his performances while working at my other career,” Vince said. Vincent still plays piano and sings at local venues while a freshman at the University of Tampa. He is also the only freshman to be accepted as a member of the University’s real estate club. A Big Heart HomeVestors provides its franchisees many opportunities to help people because real estate is a people business. And as is often the case with “self-made” people, Vince and Noelle have big hearts. They recently received a call from a gentleman (a stranger) who had inherited a mortgage-free home from his mother. This gentleman was 62 years old and unable to work, which meant he had zero income. He could no longer afford to keep the home because of the outrageous New Jersey property taxes, insurance, and maintenance costs. As time went by, the tax bills kept mounting. And he could not move; with no income, every time he filled out a rental application he got rejected. Vince and Noelle came up with a “big heart” solution! “We are exploring the idea of buying a condo for him, letting him live there, and he can start paying rent when he begins collecting social security,” Vince said. “Once he has a place to live, then we can help him with the house he inherited.” Best Advice and Rules Vince does offer advice for people looking to become real estate investors. Rule #1 – Be prepared to work extremely hard! Rule #2 – You only get out what you put in! Rule #3 – Manage your risk. Make sure you are well capitalized and do not over leverage yourself! Rule #4 – Be patient. Do not chase a bad deal for the sake of a deal! Rule #5 – There are no quick riches in real estate! HomeVestors does not offer, or promote, a “get-rich-quick” scheme!  Your house-buying business is yours and you run it as your own independent venture. HomeVestors does provide the tools necessary to help ensure success and provide the opportunity to build a business and not just create a job. Contact Vince, Noelle, and their two children (Vincent, 18; Alexa, 15) currently reside in New Jersey. If you wish to contact Vince, he can be reached at Vince.Mora@homevestors.com.  

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