Every Friday, we round up the most popular, most read, most critical stories of the week to give you a quick catchup on the big headlines you might have missed in the hustle and bustle of the workweek. Here’s this week’s Top 5 as chosen by our readers.
P.S. Don’t miss The Download, our weekly column that breaks down one of the week’s top stories and equips you with what you’ll need to meet next Monday head-on.
Mortgage originator fined $31K, loses license in 19 states

Judge gavel with Justice lawyers, Businessman
The settlement resolves allegations that someone else took pre-licensing and continuing education courses that Colorado-based loan officer claimed credit for.
‘No listings, no eyeballs, no sales’: Zillow docs outline plans to win the private listing battle

“Listings are the lifeblood of our company. No listings, no eyeballs, no sales.” A trove of newly released documents in the lawsuit between Zillow and Compass sheds light on the private listing fight.
EXTRA: Docs offer inside peek at Compass’ war against ‘organized real estate’
This real estate video content WILL convert in 2026

If your resolution for 2026 includes a video marketing strategy, these real-life examples from Jimmy Burgess will provide inspiration for implementation.
CoStar plans to slash spending on Homes.com through 2030

After investing heavily to create a fourth competing major real estate search portal, CoStar said Wednesday that it would cut spending on Homes.com by 35 percent this year.
A Texas couple promised a ‘Chip and Joanna Gaines vibe.’ Instead they stole nearly $5M

Photo by Bill Oxford on Unsplash
Chris and Raquelle Judge earned $4.8 million from renovation projects they didn’t complete, leaving some clients out of more than six figures in costs.
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