Author: Brad Beckett

We recently posted a compare & contrast chart for the 2024 Presidential Race.  With that in mind, this Tuesday, November 5th is election day all across America.  Every four years on the first Tuesday, following the first Monday in November America chooses its next President (or reelects the current one).  However, as the folks over at Kids Discover point out, it is actually a little more complex than just casting a vote for your favorite man or woman to be the next leader of the free-world. The U.S. constitution contains a mechanism called the Electoral College in which electors are…

We’ve had a lot of posts related to the cost of living and how it affects real estate and quality of life.  With that in mind, a recent report from Realtor.com reveals their list of the top 10 states with the lowest cost of living.  The say Americans are still feeling walloped with high prices every time they open their wallet—at the grocery store, gas pump, to pay for housing, and beyond. To get their list, they examined the latest regional price parities data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which measures the differences in price levels across states and…

The NY post is reporting that a Florida couple has been arrested and charged with stealing properties from homeowners using an amazingly easy scam that costing less than $1 to pull off.  According to reports, the couple allegedly forged quitclaim deeds on homes in Tampa and Miami-Dade County.   In addition, the report says that most states have little on the books to make these kind of thefts more difficult.  Simply put, a quitclaim deed is a document that transfers ownership of a property with the owner’s consent.  However, crooks can simply forge signatures and walk away with the title for…

The American Land Title Association (ALTA) is reporting that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in mid-October renewed its Geographic Targeting Orders (GTO) requiring U.S. title insurance companies to identify the natural persons behind shell companies used in non-financed purchases of residential real estate.  In addition, ALTA reminds readers that FinCEN began issuing Geographic Targeting (GTOs) orders in January, 2016 requiring title insurance companies to file reports & maintain records concerning all-cash purchases of residential real estate above a certain threshold in select metropolitan areas of the United States. Key points: The terms of the GTOs are effective through April…

We have run a few posts about a website that allows you to see if someone died in the house or property you’re about to buy.  However a recent report from CNBC says that while real estate agents are required to point out physical or material defects in a property, it depends on the state whether they have disclose if someone died there. Some homes are considered “stigmatized properties,” or dwellings that have been “psychologically impacted by a past or suspected event on the property, but has no physical impact of any kind,” according to the National Association of Realtors.…

According to the latest CoreLogic Single-Family Rent Index (SFRI), U.S. single-family home rental prices continue to grow at a slow and steady pace.  According to their report, prices posted a 2.4% gain year-over-year – the lowest rate of growth recorded since last fall.  Interestingly, detached rental prices rose by 2.3% from August 2023, compared with 2% for attached properties. “Single-family rent growth slowed in August from both a year and a month ago…The monthly drop in single-family rents of 0.2% was notable as it was contrary to the typical August increase of 0.3% and therefore points to quickly decelerating single-family…

The U.S. Government is reporting that sales of new single-family houses in September, 2024 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 738k, which is 4.1% higher than August’s revised rate and is 6.3% higher than one year ago.  The median sales price of new houses sold in September was $426,300 with an average sales price of $501k.  There were an estimated 470k new houses for sale at the end of September representing a 7.6-month supply at the current sales rate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that existing home sales were down 1% in September to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 3.84 million – down 3.5% year over year.  Total housing inventory at the end of September was 1.39 million units, up 1.5% from August and up 23% from one year ago.  Unsold inventory sits at a 4.3-month supply at the current sales rate with properties remaining on the market for around 28 days.  The median existing-home price for all housing types in September was $404,500. “Home sales have been essentially stuck at around a four-million-unit pace for the…

The folks over at Statista say that just like Rome, the United States wasn’t built in a day.  It took 172 years for all 50 states to be added to the Union – not to mention a contentious civil war that almost ended this experiment of liberty.  The last states to join the union were Alaska and Hawaii in 1959.  Indeed…stay safe and have a Happy Friday!! 13 colonies initially drafted and ratified the United States Constitution. Those turned into the first 13 states of the U.S. – Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, North and South Carolina,…

A recent report by The Wall Street Journal says (reposted on Realtor.com) many Americans drive to and from work while enduring slow-moving, soul-draining traffic.  They also point out that commuting remains one of the top complaints that workers have about returning to offices.  However, they highlight that in certain cities, rush hour driving during is a breeze.  Indeed… “Columbus, Ohio; Memphis, Tenn.; and Milwaukee have some of the fastest commutes, clocking in around 22 minutes one way, according to a new analysis of federal data looking at cities. While the data includes all types of commutes, three out of four…