Beyond the Buildings

Finding the dream home can be incredibly competitive these days. From "sight unseen" home purchases to bidding wars, a combination of low supply, low interest rates, and the pandemic-driven desire for space have raised the stakes for buyers, sellers and agents alike.

Deneka Waddell, from the Holmes Realty Group, is the expert on the ground. In this episode, she sits down with Core Conversations host Maiclaire Bolton Smith to reveal what is actually happening, how data can improve the home purchase process, and whether freshly baked cookies actually sell homes.

A few weeks ago, Texas was on thin ice. A combination of below freezing temperatures and widespread power outages resulted in a multi-pronged crisis: no heat, no water, no food, no gas.

In this episode, catastrophe risk expert Tom Larsen dives deep with Core Conversations host Maiclaire Bolton Smith to answer the lingering questions. What caused people to suffer? How were homes damaged so badly? And is this sort of phenomenon the new normal?

The insurance industry had a big shake up last year, and Swiss Re was at the heart of it. Traditional insurance hasn't fundamentally changed since the '80s--the 1880s, that is--but with new technologies, Swiss Re has been able to innovate and create protection for the most frequently occurring, highest-claims-causing natural disaster out there: hail.

Core Conversations host Maiclaire Bolton Smith chats with Dr. Megan Linkin and Cole Mayer from Swiss Re about how they did it and why it matters, and they address the question on everyone's minds: what's the next frontier for insurance?

When we think about innovation and invention, everything from flying cars to Steve Jobs to TikTok comes to mind. But when it comes to the nuts and bolts of it, how does innovation come to be? How did we get to the airplane, and why is Google as successful as they are?

CoreLogic Chief Innovation Officer John Rogers chats with host Maiclaire Bolton Smith to let us in on the magic, science and marketplace understanding of what it takes to innovate.

Earthquake are unique: they come without much warning and they can be incredibly destructive. California, in particular, is notorious for its propensity for earthquakes, yet the earthquake insurance uptake rate in California remains very low.

In this episode of Core Conversations, host (and earthquake seismologist) Maiclaire Bolton Smith sits down with Shawna Ackerman, Chief Risk and Actuarial Officer for the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) to talk about the 1994 Northridge earthquake, how homeowners can better prepare for the next Big One, and what the future holds for the CEA.

Change is upon us all, and the appraisal industry is no different. New technologies like homeowner-assisted valuations, drones and more have shifted the way appraisals have traditionally been conducted. In this episode, host Maiclaire Bolton Smith and CoreLogic Chief Appraiser Shawn Telford discuss how automation has affected the industry and what the future holds for the profession.

There's no doubt about it: the pandemic has caused change for us all, and the housing market is no different. Digital transformation has rocked the property ecosystem across real estate, lending and insurance. Virtual tours have changed the way families find their dream home, the CARES act has impacted the lending and mortgage process, and even property insurance, typically inclusive of in-person surveys and in-person adjusting, has been affected.

In the latest episode of Core Conversations, host Maiclaire Bolton Smith invites Scott Little, Pete Carroll and Mikhail Palatnik to talk about the data-driven changes in these spaces--and whether these changes are here to stay.

The amount of wildfire activity in 2020 can seem overwhelming, ranking among the most devastating years in recent memory.

Core Conversations host and California resident Maiclaire Bolton Smith sits down with wildfire scientist Dr. Tom Jeffery to unpack what all has happened, why this year was so bad, and what we can do to prepare for the future.

Core Conversations host Maiclaire Bolton Smith explores the economic impact of this year's pandemic from two perspectives: the United States and Australia.

CoreLogic Chief Economist Dr. Frank Nothaft, based in the Washington, D.C. area, and Tim Lawless, Executive Research Director for Asia Pacific, based in Brisbane, explore the extent of the impact varying lockdowns, social distancing orders and other coronavirus regulations have had on each country--and find what the similarities and differences are, from labor to GDP to the housing market and beyond.

In this episode, Core Conversations host Maiclaire Bolton Smith sits down with Kagan Coughlin, co-founder of Base Camp Coding Academy in Water Valley, Mississippi.

The academy is a hands-on, tuition-free program that seeks to train students to be software developers within 12 months, and in a time where the cost of higher education is increasing, Kagan describes how the program opens doors to students who may have otherwise not had the opportunity--and how this program is a model for how the rest of the country can think about higher education in rural America.