Author: Brad Beckett

The National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales were up 1.1% in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.60 million.  The median existing-home price for all housing types in March was $250,400, up 5.8% from March 2017.  In addition, March’s price increase marks the 73rd straight month of year-over-year gains.  Total housing inventory at the end of March climbed 5.7% to 1.67 million existing homes available for sale, but is still 7.2% lower than one year year ago and has fallen year-over-year for 34 consecutive months.  Unsold inventory is at a 3.6-month supply at the current…

Are these places the worst in America for renters or maybe the best places to be a landlord?  I guess it all depends on your perspective.  However, a recent article in Forbes identifies Los Angeles as the “worst city for renters”  based on (among other factors) the average monthly price of $2,172 to rent an apartment – which they say is two-thirds higher than the national average.  In addition, they go on to report that LA rent “eats up” 41% of the local median household income while vacancy is low, allowing “landlords to raise rents at a much faster pace…

There has been a lot of talk about housing affordability lately.  We even had a post a while back about the ideal salary in every state to afford a home.  Now, the folks over at GOBankingRates have put together a list of the top cities in America where you can own a home for less than $1k per month.  In fact, four out of the top 10 are less than $500! To get their list, GOBankingRates took the 75 largest cities in the U.S. and ranked those with a monthly mortgage payment of $1k or less, based on median housing…

According to statistics, each year over 22k Americans die from a prescription opioid overdose.  Almost every American either knows someone or is related to someone who has had trouble with prescription opioids.  Today’s infographic from the National Safety Council is a powerful reminder of these circumstances.  The NSC works to eliminate preventable deaths at work, in homes and communities, and on the road through leadership, research, education and advocacy. Click here to read more at the National Safety Council.

The National Association of Realtors have developed a new metric to determine housing affordability at different income levels for all active inventory on the market.  Their new REALTORS® Affordability Distribution Curve & Score covers the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas and shows how many houses are affordable to households ranked by income and is intended to represent affordability for all different income levels in a single measure.  There is some pretty good data in here if you take time to drill down. Specifically the new measure: Considers affordability for all income percentiles, not just the median income Looks at affordability…

The U.S. Government is reporting that privately owned housing starts in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,354,000, which is 1.9% higher than February’s revised estimate and 10.9% higher than March, 2017.  Single-family housing starts in March were at a rate of 867k, which is 3.7% below February’s number. The March rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 439k.  Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,354,000. This is 2.5% higher than February and is 7.5% higher than March, 2017. Single-family authorizations in…

This has to be one of the more interesting forms of new technology we’ve seen in a while.  Science site Phys.org is reporting that researchers have designed special “fire alarm wallpaper” made of environmentally friendly, nonflammable materials (go figure?) that can detect a fire as well as prevent it from spreading and even sound an alarm. Apparently, when the wallpaper material is exposed to heat, it is transformed from an electrically insulating state into an electrically conductive one, causing it to automatically trigger an alarm that generates warning sounds and lights. “Compared with flammable commercial wallpaper, the fire-resistant wallpaper is…

With 2017 tax season now firmly moving into the rear-view mirror, John and Jeff go deep into what you can do to reduce your tax bill and how to get the most out a year that’s already passed.  Be sure to take detailed notes and listen to this episode as it will put EXTRA money in your pocket immediately.  They say that this is the episode you’ll want to listen to 5 times unless you like giving money away to the IRS!!! http://media.blubrry.com/wholesalereformation/p/wholesalereformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/5-Tips-Tricks-To-NOT-Pay-The-Max-In-Tax.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Android | RSS Click here to listen on WholesaleReformation.com.…

According to the latest Realtors Confidence Index Survey, the share of investor and vacation home buyers has been steady over the past two years, with investors comprising 15% of existing home buyers in February, 2018.   The NAR’s Economists’ Outlook blog says investors are still active, despite rising housing costs, because of a tight rental market that corresponds with a continued downtrend in rental vacancy rates. “As of 2017 Q1, the U.S. rental vacancy rate was 6.9 percent, which is below the eight percent rate that is considered normal —the rate during 1996–2000, the period before the housing market boomed…

What are the best cities for middle-class buyers?  Leave it to Realtor.com to put pen to paper and come up with a top-10 list of the best cities.  To come up with their list, they identified the middle class in each of the nation’s 100 largest metros by median household income for each area and then determining what these potential buyers could afford with a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (at 5%) and putting 20% down. “The Pew Research Center defines middle-class Americans as those households earning between $42,000 and $125,000 annually—although most hew closer to the $59,000 median. As a group,…