Author: Brad Beckett

No, this is not an April Fools post…….And yes, we have posted a lot about the tiny house phenomenon and even one about repurposing shipping containers into swimming pools.  However, now comes the “barndominium” – basically converted homes made from pole barns or industrial buildings.  Realtor.com says the true beauty of the barndominium is that it only has one limitation to its final format – the owner’s imagination.  Indeed…. “Roomy, endlessly flexible, and customized to match its owner’s passions, barndominiums represent everything wonderful about rugged ingenuity and folks who want to carve out their own little slice of heaven.” Click…

Rental information site Zumper recently released their National Rent Report for April, 2021 showing that their median national rent for 1-bedroom apartments was $1,248 (up 0.6%) and the median two-bedroom rent was $1,514 (down 0.8%).  Be sure to check out their list of the top 100 metro areas. “A year out from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US, the rental market has shifted. Notably, rent prices dropped dramatically in the country’s most expensive cities and went up in historically cheaper, mid-sized cities. This change was largely brought on by a migration of people out of larger cities…

A couple in California who cash-purchased their dream home, suddenly got a rude awakening when the seller refused to leave, citing the coronavirus eviction moratorium.  According to FoxBusiness, it has been over a year and the couple still cannot gain possession of the property.  Efforts to enlist the authorities were met with frustration as the COVID rules rule prevented them from forcibly removing (evicting) the previous owner.  Their real estate agent said the (previous) owner needed just over half a million dollars, and demanded it on a Sunday, which meant he was looking for a cash buyer.  In addition, A…

What is next in the residential build-to-rent market?  A recent interview article on Builder.com discusses how the build-to-rent asset class is one of the fastest growing in residential real estate.  Interestingly, they point out that so-called “mom and pop” investors have known the value of single-family rental homes for decades.  Indeed…. There will continue to be demand for rental communities even as millennials age into prime home-buying years and the homeownership rate rises. These communities can range from highly amenitized and institutionally managed to single-family homes…” Click here to read the full story at Builder.com.

Realtor.com says bigger is now definitively better again when it comes to houses.  With that in mind they set out to discover the metro areas with the largest homes (4k  sq. ft. and up) for sale.  They say buyers seem desperate for more space, a dedicated home office(s), home gym, and maybe an extra bedroom or three.  Top get their list they looked at the 150 largest metros with the highest percentage of single-family homes measuring 4,000 square feet and more on the market last February.  Indeed… “Even the long derided McMansion—those oversized, column-bedecked, architecturally confused totems of the ostentatious…

The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) announced at the end of March that it was extending their nationwide ban on evictions through the end of June. Stay tuned… Click here to read the full release at the CDC.

(UPDATED – see below) In late February, a federal judge in the Eastern District of Texas ruled that the CDC’s moratorium on evictions was unconstitutional.  According to the Business Insider, U.S. District Judge John Barker said that the creation of such a moratorium criminalizes the use of state legal proceedings to vindicate property rights as well as the possibility that federal agencies could extend even further control over evictions.  Indeed… “The government’s argument would thus allow a nationwide eviction moratorium long after the COVID-19 pandemic ends,” he wrote. “The eviction remedy could be suspended at any time based on fairness…

We have already had a few posts this year about changes to the tax laws as well as information about sales taxes.  And with that in mind, the old axiom about the two certainties in life, death & taxes, is the topic for today.  The TaxFoundation says there are 18 states with an inheritance or estate tax – with one state, Maryland, having both!  Hawaii and Washington State have the highest estate tax top rates in the nation at 20%.  The distinction between the two, they point out, is that estate taxes are paid by the decedent’s estate before assets…

The U.S. Government is reporting that sales of new single-family houses in February, 2021 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 775k which is 18.2% lower than January’s revised rate and is 8.2% higher than one year ago.  The median sales price of new houses sold in January was $349,400 with an average sales price of $416,000.  There were an estimated 312k new houses for sale at the end of December representing a 4.8-month supply at the current sales rate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

As of March 16th, 2021, thirteen states have lifted almost all of their coronavirus restrictions. Today’s infographic from Statista says that in places like Texas, Florida, and Georgia there are no mask mandates, stay-at-home orders or interstate travel quarantines in place.  In case you were curious, California continues to have the most coronavirus restrictions.  Interestingly, Statista points out that “all opened-up states have Republican governors.”  Draw your own conclusions……   As always, stay safe and have a Happy Friday!!! “According to Johns Hopkins University, almost all of the opened-up states were experiencing fewer or stagnating new cases, with the exception of…