Author: Brad Beckett

When it comes time to sell that recent flip, or even just maintaining value and appearance, good curb appeal is essential. Today’s infographic from Keeping Current Matters reminds us that landscaping and small updates can go a long way in boosting your property’s curb appeal. As always, stay safe and have a Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to Keeping Current Matters.

What are the top U.S. cities for starter homes?  The folks over at StorageCafe took a look at over 100 cities and ranked them across more than 20 factors including home values for 2-bedroom homes, 5-year sales activity involving properties averaging 1,700 square feet or less, mortgage rates, incomes and cost of living, to come up with the best areas and cities for first-time homebuyers. They define starter homes (aka entry-level homes) as being smaller and more affordable properties, and are often specifically targeted at first-time homebuyers. They are normally around 1,700 square feet or less, generally have 2 bedrooms,…

A recent report on Bankrate.com reminds us that the acronym BRRRR is not a signal that it’s cold, but rather a strategy that many investors may know well;  Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat.  Bankrate says the BRRRR method requires some advanced-level real estate expertise, but the thinking behind it is simple: Increase the value of distressed or older properties to make them attractive enough to rent, then leverage that appreciation to continue acquiring more properties for more rental income. They say that, if done right, the BRRRR method is a pathway to collecting passive income and building a large portfolio…

I like to overpay for rental properties.  That’s not a typo.  Hear me out. By Daniel Hart All too often we fixate on one metric alone; sales price.  It’s the measurement that we’ve been conditioned to use as an indicator of our success or failure.  We all want a great deal, and for many of us a discounted sales price is our goal, but should it be?  Sometimes, yes, but “it depends”. The sales price does not always need to be a concern.  At first read this may sound ludicrous.  How could the sales price not matter?  Well, it might…

For readers of this site this data will not be surprising.  According to recent Census data, cities in the South & West regions of the U.S. experienced the most growth from July 2020 to July 2021 – with the top 15 fastest-growing cities/towns located in these regions.  Breaking it down, 8 of the 15 fastest-growing large cities or towns by percent change were in the West  and 7 were in the South.  The South and West also contained the top 15 cities with the largest numeric gains. “While only 4% of all cities and towns had a population of 50,000…

A recent report from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis says that, in April, personal income increased $89.3 billion, or 0.4% at a monthly rate, while consumer spending increased $152.3 billion, or 0.9%. Interestingly, the personal saving rate dropped slightly to 4.4% in April compared with 5% in March.  Also, note the 26.9% drop in fuel spending thanks to higher gas prices. Click here to read the full report at the BEA.

The U.S. government is reporting that total construction spending in April, 2022 was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,744.8 billion, which is 0.2% lower than March’s revised estimate and 12.3% higher than one year ago.  Residential construction came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $891.5 billion in April, which is 0.9% higher March’s revised estimate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

According to the latest Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI), U.S. house prices rose 18.7% from Q1 2021 to the first Q2 2022.  The seasonally adjusted monthly index for March was up 1.5% from February.  The FHFA produces the nation’s only public, freely available house price indexes (HPIs) that measure changes in single-family house prices based on data that cover all 50 states and over 400 American cities and extend back to the mid-1970s. “High appreciation rates continued across housing markets during the first quarter of 2022…Strong demand coupled with tight supply have kept prices climbing. Through…

There is a lot of misinformation out there about landlords and profit margins from their investments.  Today’s infographic from the National Apartment Association rightly calls supposedly large profit margins a “misconception” which is why they chose to explain where $1 of rent really goes.  Indeed……Stay safe & and have and Happy Friday!! Hat tip to the NAA.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index reported a 20.6% annual gain for March, 2022.  Their 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 19.5% and their 20-City Composite posted a 22.2% year-over-year gain.  March’s reading was the highest year-over-year price change in more than 35 years of data. “Mortgages are becoming more expensive as the Federal Reserve has begun to ratchet up interest rates, suggesting that the macroeconomic environment may not support extraordinary home price growth for much longer. Although one can safely predict that price gains will begin to decelerate, the timing of the deceleration is…