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14 ON THE WEB WEBSITES TO GET TO KNOW. BALCONY makes it easier for real estate agents to network and connect with other qualified real estate agents. Once registered as an agent on the Balcony site, agents can connect with any of thousands of other agents to suggest business opportunities or make and accept referrals right through Balcony's platform. Not only that, but Balcony will handle all the paperwork, including getting the sign-off from your broker. And Balcony will pay the commission directly to the broker via ACH within 48 hours of the close of the referral transaction. With ZENPAYROLL, "running payroll has never been faster." ZenPayroll is a paperless service that streamlines the payroll process for employers. With ZenPayroll, each employee receives an account that allows them to access their paystubs anytime from anywhere, and even allows them to have charitable donations deducted from their paycheck. ZenPayroll will automatically calculate income taxes as well as automatically report new hires to the government. e service eliminates paper forms – it will create and electronically file all state and federal payroll tax documents, including all end-of-year forms. It will also automatically process the company's payroll to make sure all employees are paid on time every time. FUZE is an easy-to-use video conferencing solution that leads to better communication and increased productivity among teams by facilitating real-time collaboration in both HD video and voice. Users can share and annotate documents, presentations, and videos, including those from Box and Dropbox). Fuze gives users the flexibility to work anywhere from any computer or device using any operating system and enables multi-party video and full duplex audio at a fraction of the cost of traditional systems. Fuze complements the tools many businesses rely on today, such as Microsoft Outlook, Lync, and Google Calendar. ZENPAYROLL.COM 2 BALCONY.COM 1 FUZE.COM 3 AGENCY PURCHASE LOANS INCREASE SUBSTANTIALLY; RISK INDEX HITS SERIES HIGH e number of agency purchase loans increased substantially year-over-year in May, but with that increase came a slight nudge upward for the National Mortgage Risk Index (NMRI), according to data released at the end of June by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI)'s International Center on Housing Risk. e total of agency purchase loans in the NMRI stood at about 6.2 million at the end of May following the addition of about 223,000 loans during the month—an increase of about 23 percent from May 2014. May's NMRI stood at 12.33 percent, which was an increase of 0.4 percentage points from the prior three-month average and a jump of 0.7 percentage points from May 2014, according to AEI. e composite risk index reached a series high, as did the index for Veterans Affairs-backed loans, while the share of high-risk loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) increased. e first-time buyer NMRI reached a new series high of 15.66 percent in May, compared with just 8.88 percent for the repeat buyer NMRI, according to AEI. e number of first-time buyer agency purchase loans added in May totaled nearly 119,000, an increase of 28 percent from May 2014. e total of first-time buyer agency purchase loans in the NMRI totaled 2.7 million as of the end of May. AEI cited robust first-time buyer volume driven by increasing leverage and an improving job market as the main drivers for a strong spring home buying season. e AEI's data for May suggested access to credit for first-time buyers is not tight. During the month, 71 percent of first-time buyers had down payments equal or less than 5 percent, and 25 percent had debt-to-income ratios greater than 43 percent, which is the limit defined by the qualified mortgage rule. e median FICO score for first-time buyers was 706, slightly below the median of 713 for all individuals in the United States, according to AEI. To this point, low mortgage rates and high leverage have been supporting the housing market; leverage is likely to rise further as mortgage rates normalize unless income gains pick up, AEI reported. Also according to AEI, the FHA premium cut boosted its market share at the expense of the agency's most direct competitors, Fannie Mae and Rural Housing Service; and more higher-priced homes have been purchased with riskier FHA loans.