Author: Brad Beckett

Remodeling Magazine recently released their 33rd annual Cost vs. Value Report comparing 22 remodeling projects & upgrades with the value they retain when the property is sold in 101 U.S. housing markets.  Interestingly, they say this year’s numbers show a slight downturn on the ROI for nearly all projects relative to the trends in 2019’s report.   Indeed… “Why the difference? The most likely answer is consumer jitters. While remodeling professionals need to stay on point, they can breathe easy. Remodeling activity is growing at a slower rate than in years past, but it continues to grow (see the Q3 RRI…

The Wall Street Journal (reposted on Realtor.com) is reporting that the nation’s builders are on track to finish more new apartments in 2020 than in any year since the 1980s, however data from RealPage shows these new units are trending toward the higher end.   According to the report, upwards of 371k new rental units are expected to come online this year –  which is 50% higher than the number of new units completed in 2019.  In addition, RealPage also says that the gap between luxury rental properties and those “one rung lower” is increasing. “State and local governments are grappling…

One of the many challenges of posting photos on social media is how to size or even resize them.  It can be a mystery at best and an exercise in frustration at worst.  Never fear, the folks over at ConstantContact recently put together this handy chart for all of the main social media platforms.  Happy posting….and Happy Friday!! Hat tip to Constant Contact.

National apartment listing site ABODO recently reported that the median nationwide rent price for one-bedroom units in February was $1,090 with two-bedroom units coming in at $1,348.  ABODO uses over 1 million listings across the United States to calculate the median 1-bedroom rent price by city, state, and nation and then track the month-over-month percentage change. To avoid small sample sizes, they restrict their analysis to cities meeting minimum population and property count thresholds. Be sure to check out their extensive city list. Click here to read the full report on ABODO.com.

The U.S. government is reporting that total construction spending in December was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,3277.7 billion, which was 0.2% lower than November’s revised estimate. However, December’s figure is 5% higher than December, 2018.  Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $540.7 billion in December, up 1.4% from November’s revised rate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

We recently posted moving data from Atlas Van Lines, now it’s United Van Lines’ turn.  According to their 43rd annual National Movers study, Idaho had the highest percentage of inbound migration, which marks their first time leading the list in over 25 years.  As for the outbound leader, that honor goes once again to New Jersey, with 68.5% of their moves in the outbound category.  In addition, United reported that Baby Boomers moved than any other age group in 2019.  Indeed…. “Key factors like the Baby Boomer generation re-locating upon reaching retirement age as well as states’ economic performances and…

Rental information site Zumper recently released their National Rent Report for February, 2020 showing that the median national rent for 1-bedroom apartment was $1,220 (up 0.3%) and the median two-bedroom rent was $1,464 (up 0.3%).   Year to date, one bedroom prices are flat and two bedroom prices are up 0.7%.  Zumper analyzes rental data from over 1 million active listings across the United States. Data is aggregated on a monthly basis to calculate median asking rents for the top 100 metro areas by population, providing a comprehensive view of the current state of the market. The report is based on…

In a recent episode of the Rent Perfect podcast, David Pickron talks about the increase of short-term rentals and how property owners are finding new and creative ways to be landlords.  David is joined by his wife Stephanie, to discuss how they have turned to this new type of investing to expand their portfolio and share some of their hard-earned knowledge on how to attract renters and keep them coming back year after year. “The experience of being a landlord has never been more complicated… or more rewarding. Making sure that things go right with your investment is perfectly possible,…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently announced the publication of guidance clarifying how housing providers can comply with the Fair Housing Act when assessing a person’s request to have an animal in housing to provide assistance because of a disability. HUD says their notice will “…help housing providers in this process by offering a step-by-step set of best practices for complying with the Act when assessing accommodation requests involving animals and information that a person may need to provide about his or her disability-related need for the requested accommodation, including supporting information from a health care…

The U.S. government is reporting that the national vacancy rates in Q4 2019 were 6.4% for rental housing and 1.4% for homeowner housing.  The national homeownership rate for Q4 2019 was 65.1% (a six-year high).  In addition, approximately 88.5% of the housing units in the United States in Q4 2019 were occupied and 11.5% were vacant. Owner-occupied housing units made up 57.6% of total housing units, while renter-occupied units made up 30.9% of the inventory. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.