Author: Brad Beckett

What are the best cities for America’s dog lovers?  Redfin and Rover (the pet-sitter & dog-walking site) recently put pen to paper to figure it out.  Redfin used data from Rover’s 14k+ cities to compile a list with the highest counts of walks, dog walkers and sitters, along with total hours, minutes and distance per walk by each dog walker or sitter on Rover.  Then,they cross-referenced that data with Redfin’s listings of homes for sale that had points such as proximity to dog parks, being dog-friendly, etc.  The list is fun and a reminder that America loves her dogs. “Despite…

Department of Housing & Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson recently penned an insightful op-ed about how Opportunity Zones present a new dawn for economic opportunity by offering tax relief to those who invest in designated low-income communities across the country. He emphasized that Opportunity Zones are estimated to attract over $100 billion in private capital to some of the most economically neglected communities in the U.S.  Indeed… “It is one of our Nation’s bedrock beliefs that America is the Land of Opportunity. Every street in every city, every stretch along every country road, should indeed be a zone where opportunity…

We can’t make this stuff up and, quite frankly, it was too humorous not to share… According to a recent report on FOX News, recently divorced “Flip or Flop” TV-star Tarek El Moussa is looking for a girlfriend.  Yes, ladies, the home-flipper-extraordinaire is finally putting some distance between himself and ex-wife Christina and is searching for that special someone.  Might we suggest Match.com??? El Moussa doesn’t have any specific traits or dealbreakers in mind for his next love, and admits that he doesn’t want to jump into anything too quickly. That said what he’s looking for is “my best friend,”…

With tax season over more many of us, the visualization website Engaging Data recently took a look at US household spending using data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.  The interactive chart (click on it) breaks down spending and income data into many categories that are aggregated and plotted into a Sankey graph. One of the key factors in financial health of an individual or household is making sure that household spending is equal to or below household income. If your spending is higher than income, you will be drawing down your savings (if you have any) or borrowing…

With income tax season  now over for most of us (hopefully) we can turn our attention to that other inevitable form of taxation – property taxes.  According to a recent report from ATTOM Data, property taxes levied on single family homes totaled $304.6 billion in 2018, up 4% from 2017.  Their analysis says this averages $3,498 per home (up 3% from 2017) and is an effective tax rate of 1.16%.  To get their data, ATTOM analyzed property tax data collected from county tax assessor offices nationwide at the state, metro and county levels along with estimated market values of single…

We see a lot of these “is it better to rent or buy” stories from time to time and we have covered them. However, the bottom line is that it’s all about the local market conditions.   To that end, the folks over at howmuch.net crunched the numbers to provide an intuitive look at the geography of renting vs. owning.  They looked at factors such as student loan debt, financial insecurity, and high housing prices which they say disincentivizes some would-be homeowners.  In fact, howmuch.net concludes it is cheaper to rent than to buy in most states.  Indeed…be sure to…

A recent Wall Street Journal article (posted on Realtor.com) discussed the Trump administration’s plans to overhaul Fannie and Freddie – the two giants that back almost half of all U.S. mortgages. They report that the administration wants to put them on the road toward returning them to private hands.  Currently there is intense debate in Washington about the future of these two behemoths.  Indeed… “Fannie and Freddie make mortgages more readily available and more affordable. The 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage essentially owes its existence to them. But some argue that the private market could fill this role more efficiently. Right now,…

National apartment listing site ABODO recently reported that the median nationwide rent price for one-bedroom units in May was $1,074 with two-bedroom units coming in at $1,325.  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. “We saw more volatility in May as near double-digit rent increases and decreases headlined our report. We…

The U.S. government is reporting that total construction spending in March was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,282.2 billion, which is 0.9% lower than February’s revised number.  Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $500.9 billion in March, which was 1.8% lower than February’s revised estimate.Click here to read the full report at Census.gov.

The Kentucky Derby has been called the “most exciting two minutes in sports” and it takes place this Saturday, May 4th, in Louisville, Kentucky.  Today’s infographic from WalletHub reminds us that at this year’s event (the 145th year) over 120k Mint Juleps will be served, 90% of female attendees will be wearing a great big hat, and over $238 million will be wagered while watching this big equine party.  And let’s not forget that about that big moment than when the horses move onto the track, the band strikes up “My Old Kentucky Home” and the crowd starts to sing…..Indeed…..Happy…