For decades, mortgage lending has been built around a single objective: to make homeownership affordable. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage became the dominant structure because it lowers monthly payments, expands borrower eligibility, and fits cleanly into underwriting frameworks built around debt-to-income ratios. It works—and it worked at scale. But in optimizing for affordability, the industry made…
"April 2026" Archives
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Oriented strand board (OSB) has been a trusted staple in construction for decades. Builders have relied on its consistency, familiarity and structural performance in an industry where predictability often outweighs experimentation. But as fire risk intensifies, building codes evolve and insurance pressures mount, even the most established materials are being reevaluated. What emerges is not…
Builders are generating more online leads than ever, but many are missing what matters most: speed. The homebuying journey now begins with an online inquiry, a form submission or a request for pricing and the outcome is increasingly determined by how quickly a builder responds. New Home Star is working with builders to address this…
Securing homeowners’ insurance is reshaping the homebuying process itself. Premiums are rising, carriers are pulling back from entire states and buyers are increasingly discovering, sometimes days before closing, that the home they plan to purchase is either too expensive to insure or cannot be insured at all. What was once a routine, last-step check is…