Author: Brad Beckett

A Florida investor thought he got a great deal when he was buying a $177k-valued villa for $9,100 at a county property tax auction, but it soon turned into sour grapes.  According to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, what he actually purchased was not a villa but a 1-foot by 100-foot strip of land worth about $50 (see arrow in photo below).  Now the buyer wants Broward County to void the deal and claims that the photos were misleading and deceptive.  The land actually contains two mailboxes starting at the curb and then runs under a wall separating the garages…

According to recent data from RealPage.com, strong leasing activity this summer has pushed occupancy levels to their highest level in nearly 20 years.  U.S. apartment occupancy hit 96% in May, up 60 basis points (bps) from April.  In addition, they confirm what we’ve already been seeing with annual rent growth holding solid at 3.1% – marking the 10th consecutive month of annual rent growth at 3% or higher.  In addition, the average rent was $1,394 among the 150 largest apartment markets. “Healthy demand should be reassuring to developers as the number of units under construction nationwide keeps climbing. More than…

If there is a way to cheat short-term rental customers out of their money online you can bet that criminals will find a way to exploit it.  A recent story at the Virginia-Pilot (Virginia Beach area) illustrated the growing problem of scammers using sites like Craigslist to surreptitiously list and then rent short-term rental properties that they do not own or control.  One rental home owner in Virginia Beach says he’s had to turn away people already this year who paid someone else to rent one of his summer rentals – which he only lists on Airbnb and VRBO.  He…

Do you remember the story we posted about the twice-married woman in New York City who was “adopted” at age 58 by an elderly man she befriended so she could stay in his rent-controlled apartment (where he’d been living for at least 85 years, btw)?  Well, as Kathy Fettke reports in a recent episode of Real Estate News for Investors, things just got a lot worse in New York.  She says New York landlords are gearing up for a court battle over new statewide rent control rules that will have a dramatic impact on rent-regulated apartments in New York City,…

Rentcafe reminds us that Baby Boomers certainly don’t fit the mold when it comes to housing preferences because while many are staying put in their houses a growing number have become renters.  So where are the most popular places for them to live?  RentCafe crunched Census data for the 250 largest U.S. cities and then looked at the share and population of Boomers by zip code.  So where are they? Click here to read the full report at RentCafe.com.

The National Association of Realtors are reporting that existing home sales were up 2.5% in May, marking the first time in two months that there was an increase in sales.  The NAR says that all four major U.S. regions saw a sales growth, with the Northeast experiencing the biggest surge.  The median existing-home price for all housing types was $277,700, up 4.8% from May, 2018.   Total housing inventory at the end of May was 1.92 million, representing a 4.3-month supply at the current sales pace.  However, they do point out that while inventory is up, the months’ supply numbers…

Warning…this might make you feel old.  Do you remember those days, just over 30 years ago before there was an internet and a world wide web?  Back when surfing required a board and a beach?  Today’s infographic from the AppInstitute celebrates the past 30 years of history that we’ve had this wonderful thing commonly referred to as “the web.”  Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to the AppInstitute.

A new report from John Burns Real Estate Consulting says that a majority of homeowners & renters benefiting from the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act, passed in 2017.   Their research shows that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) will likely impact housing with;  More entry-level home buying in most areas of the country, Higher rents, since tenants now have more disposable income, and Acceleration in Southern migration.  Overall, they say homeowners saved an average of $1,508 on their 2018 federal tax bill with renters saving an average of $2,716 on their 2018 federal tax bill across the top housing…

When it comes right down to it, the taxes applied to a good or service ultimately will affect an area’s cost of living and along with it the price of housing.   The folks over at the Tax Foundation remind us that the federal government collects an excise tax on beer (which ranges from $0.11 to $0.58 per gallon based on production, location, and quantity) as well as all 50 states and the District of Columbia.  According to their research, most states charge the retailer directly for the excise tax – versus tacking it on to the bill like sales tax. …

The U.S. government is reporting that that privately‐owned housing starts in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of  1,269,000.  This figure is 0.9% lower than April’s revised estimate and is 4.7% lower than one year ago.  Single‐family housing starts in May were at a rate of 820k, which is 6.4% below April’s revised figure. The May rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 436k.  Privately‐owned housing units authorized by building permits in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,294,000.  This figure is 0.3% above April’s revised April rate but is 0.5%…