Principles of Consolidation - Summary of Redwood's Interest in Third-Party Variable Interest Entity's (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands		Mar. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Real estate securities	[1]	$ 293,462	$ 1,099,874
Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary | Other assets
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Real estate securities		177,475	887,015
Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary | Other assets | Senior
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Real estate securities		12,580	127,094
Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary | Other assets | Mezzanine
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Real estate securities		25,867	508,195
Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary | Other assets | Subordinate
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Real estate securities		122,689	235,510
Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary | Other assets | Total Mortgage-Backed Securities
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Real estate securities		161,136	870,799
Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary | Other assets | Excess MSR
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Real estate securities		$ 16,339	$ 16,216

[1] Our consolidated balance sheets include assets of consolidated variable interest entities (“VIEs”) that can only be used to settle obligations of these VIEs and liabilities of consolidated VIEs for which creditors do not have recourse to Redwood Trust, Inc. or its affiliates. At March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, assets of consolidated VIEs totaled $7,470,706 and $11,931,869, respectively. At March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, liabilities of consolidated VIEs totaled $6,759,260 and $10,717,072, respectively. See Note 4 for further discussion.