The J.D. Power’s 2017 U.S. Primary Mortgage Servicer Satisfaction Study was released and it’s not what the mortgage industry wants to hear. After years of steady improvements, customer satisfaction has teetered, with the latest report indicating customers feel their lender was more concerned about profit than the customer’s experience. Ten percent of industry clients complained “their time was wasted during their most recent interaction with their mortgage supervisor.” High-functioning technology and great communication were just two keys to success identified within the report. Client-focused is our motto for a reason.

Freddie Mac announced the 1% down program will be no more come November. Under Freddie’s new guidelines for Home Possible Mortgages, the borrower must put down a 3% minimum to receive lender contributions. With these changes set to go into effect soon, it’s a great motivator for first-time homebuyers to buy now. It’ll be interesting to see how long Fannie Mae’s 1% down program is available to borrowers or if it’ll be next on the chopping block.

It’s not a family that motivates first-time homebuyers, it’s more space, opportunity to build equity, and dogs. That’s right. For a third of this population, wanting a yard or better space for their dog played an influential role in choosing to purchase a home. In comparison, only a quarter of first-time homebuyers were motivated by marriage and less than 20% by building a family.

Millennials can’t let the downtown living go entirely as they grow older, opting to live in “surbans”: urban-like suburbs found on the city’s outskirts.