podcast, our Data Reports, the "A Tale of Two Mortgages" webcomic, and LodeStar Report Newsletter.
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Data Reports
2025 Purchase Mortgage Closing Cost Data Report
The national average total closing costs for a purchase mortgage transaction were $4,661. This amount consists of a national average of 1.06% of the home sales price.
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Alayna’s Homebuying Journey
Ever wonder what the homebuying process looks like from an insider’s perspective? We’v highlighted Jim’s homebuying process in the past. Now it’s Alayna’s turn!
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A Tale of Two Mortgages
CRM Revisited
Horace and Octavia continue their protracted conflict over the use of the CRM (or lack thereof).
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Comics for the Mortgage Industry?!
For this week’s special episode of the Lending Leaders Podcast, Alayna Gardner chats with LodeStar’s Marketing Content Manager Tim Austen about his original webcomic, “A Tale of Two Mortgages,” the cost of content marketing, and the importance of trying new things.
A Tale of Two Mortgages
100 Weeks of “A Tale of Two Mortgages”
This is LodeStar’s 100th “A Tale of Two Mortgages” webcomic!!!
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The Secret to Collaboration
LodeStar’s Jim Paolino talks with Melissa Langdale about the future of mortgage lending and what it really means to collaborate as an industry.
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The Joy of Problem Solving
This week, Alayna had the pleasure of speaking with Stacy Holindrake, a veteran of the mortgage industry with a strong background in Mortgage Operations. Together they discuss new opportunities and the joy of problem solving
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Building Trust in Mortgage
For this week’s episode of the Lending Leaders Podcast, Alayna chats with Monica Raciti of Vesta. Together they talk about technology, how it’s changed our industry, and how we can build trust amid the changes.
A Tale of Two Mortgages
Boring
Horace makes a new acquaintance with strong feelings about title agents.
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Homebuying with the Right Tech
For this week’s episode of the Lending Leaders Podcast, Alayna chats with longtime friend and industry partner, Olga Faynshteyn, Business Development Manager at LenderLogix. Olga is no stranger to the world of optimizing the loan origination process with key tech—especially since she just got to use LenderLogix products to buy her own house.