Author: Brad Beckett

In a recent episode of Real Estate News for Investors, Kathy Fettke discusses how Landlords in Portland (Oregon) and Seattle are being “choked” by new & proposed rental laws.  Portland landlords are gearing up for a fight over legislation that would limit their use of an applicant’s criminal history as well as a proposal to reduce income and security deposit requirements.  In Seattle, the city is facing a lawsuit over a more stringent version of those rules that were passed last year, and went into effect in February.  The bottom-line here is that what starts on the coasts could spread…

Believe it or not, we’ve found another “airbnb-like” site to post about only this time it is geared toward camping.   Hipcamp allows users to book unique camping experiences at over 300k campsites, ranches, vineyards, public parks and more – in all 50 states!  From public parks to private land, they’re perhaps the most comprehensive guide to camping in the nation.  Hipcamp partners with property owners to create new places for people to get outside.  “Hipcampers” book and pay for their stay directly through Hipcamp and the hosts keep 90% of the payment – as well as setting their own prices. …

According to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices, home prices once again are showing no signs of slowing down as they continued to rise across the country over the last 12 months.  The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, covering all nine U.S. census divisions, reported a 6.2% annual gain in June, which was slightly down from May. Their 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 6.0% and their 20-City Composite posted a 6.3% year-over-year gain.   The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Indices are one of the leading measures of U.S. residential real estate prices, tracking…

Just as we’ve had several posts about keeping an eye on the millennial generation, we also need to be watching that other elusive group, baby boomers (those born between 1946 & 1964).   A recent report by Fannie Mae and the University of Southern California says in the coming years boomers will be exiting the homeownership arena as they become renters, move to care facilities or even die.  They note that boomers currently inhabit 46 million owner-occupied homes that are worth an estimated $13.5 trillion.  For their report, they analyzed the attrition rates of past generations of older homeowners and used…

According to the latest ATTOM Data Solutions U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, year-over-year foreclosure starts increased in 44% in 96 of the 219 metropolitan statistical areas (44%) analyzed for the report.  There are a total of 30,187 U.S. properties that started the foreclosure process for the first time in July, which is up 1% from June and up less than 1% from 2017.  ATTOM says this represents the first year-over-year increase in foreclosure starts nationwide following 36 consecutive months of year-over-year decreases.  In addition, twenty-one states posted a year-over-year increase in foreclosure starts in July, including Florida (up 35%); California (up…

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) will conclude their single-family rental pilot programs and then terminate their participation in the single-family rental market except through their previously existing investor programs – Fannie Mae’s Multiple Financed Properties and Freddie Mac’s Investment Property Mortgages.  The FHFA’s announcement does not preclude the Enterprises from proposing changes to their existing programs to meet the needs of the single-family rental market, or from developing proposals that are calculated to utilize single-family rentals as a pathway to homeownership. “What we learned as a result of the…

The U.S. government is reporting that sales of new single-family houses in July 2018 were 1.7% lower than June’s revised rate but is 12.8% higher than July, 2017.  The median sales price of new houses sold in July 2018 was $328,700 and the average sales price was $394,300.  The seasonally-adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of July was 309,000 representing a 5.9 months supply at the current sales rate. Click here to read the full release on Census.gov.

Is that rehab project worth it?  That’s the proverbial million-dollar question.  Today’s infographic from leading self-directed IRA custodian Equity Trust Company takes a look at several rehab projects and how much ROI they bring back (per Remodeling Magazine’s 2018 Cost vs value Report).  As we’ve seen before, adding a deck and a new front door tops the list….Happy Friday! Hat tip to Equity Trust.

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that existing home sales were down .07% in July, marking the fourth straight month of declines.  The median existing-home price for all housing types in July was $269,600, which is up 4.5% from July 2017 and marks the 77th straight month of year-over-year price gains.  Total housing inventory at the end of July decreased 0.5% to 1.92 million existing homes available for sale (unchanged from one year ago). Unsold inventory is at a 4.3-month supply at the current sales pace – also unchanged from one year ago. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says…

According to recent data analyzed by the NAHB’s Eye on Housing, the number of single-family homes built-for-rent has been increasing over the last four quarters.  Using data from the Census Bureau’s Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, they report that construction starts of single-family homes for rent totaled 42k homes, compared to 29k in the prior four quarters. In Q2 2018, there were 13k single-family built-for-rent starts.  Interestingly, this class of single-family construction excludes homes that are sold to another party for rental purposes and only includes homes built and held for rental purposes. Click here to read the full…