Author: Brad Beckett

How much salary does someone need in order to afford the average-price home in each state?  A new study from GOBankingRates reveals that the minimum salary in one state can be vastly different than that of another.  To arrive at their conclusions, GOBankingRates looked at the average monthly mortgage payment for each state along with the average APR on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and then assumed no more than 30% of monthly income was devoted to housing. “Before you buy a home, it’s important to find out if you can afford the monthly mortgage payment.  To do this, some financial…

According to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices,  home prices continue to rise across the country, reporting a 6.2% increase in January, 2018.  Their 10-City Composite annual increase came in at in at 6.0% and their 20-City Composite posted a 6.4% year-over-year gain.  Seattle, Las Vegas, and San Francisco reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities.  The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Indices are one of the leading measures of U.S. residential real estate prices, tracking changes in the value of residential real estate both nationally as well as in 20 metropolitan regions. Click here to read the full report…

Recently we posted an infographic showing that for the first time in American history, older people are projected to outnumber young people. Now comes a recent story in the Wall Street Journal (and posted on Realtor.com) showing that, according to their analysis of numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau, Americans are relocating to retirement hot spots around the country and returning to suburbia.  The numbers point to a growing population (up 2%) in federally designated retirement destination counties over the past year – representing nearly three times the annual rate of the national population growth. “Almost three-quarters of a million…

Leave it to Jeff Watson to share with real estate investors how to “legally” take advantage of the recent tax reform package passed by Congress earlier this year.  Listen to Watson share how he went from being strictly an attorney to owning his first multiple family property and being a landlord. Jeff cautions listeners on what mistakes NOT to make in THIS shifting Real Estate market so that you can master the necessary systems that will afford you the ability to scale your business, despite the possibility of the inevitable crash. This podcast divulges the what, why, how and MAJOR…

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy has a fascinating State-by-State Property Tax Visualization Tool that presents information about property taxes in all 50 states (and DC).  Their interactive map allows users to easily view and compare key property tax statistics among all 50 states along with companion tables & charts that display numerical values for key property tax system variables for each state, DC, and the U.S.  The average reliance across the whole county is 30%. “Reliance on the property tax varies markedly across the U.S.  In New England, local governments rely heavily on the property tax, with local governments…

The U.S. government is reporting that sales of new single-family houses in February, 2018 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 618k, which is 0.6% below January’s revised number.  However, February sales were 0.5% higher than one year ago.  The median sales price of new houses sold in February was $326,800 and the average sales price was$376,700.  There was an estimated 305k new houses for sale at the end of February representing a 5.9 months at the current sales rate. Click here to read the full release on Census.gov.

Local Market Monitor, a National REIA preferred vendor, recently released their National Economic Outlook for March, 2018 where they share their thoughts on developments taking place in the U.S. economy. National Economic Outlook – March 2018 March 22, 2018 By: Ingo Winzer One reason a lawyer might pay off a porn star with a home equity line rather than a credit card is that interest rates on credit card balances are very high, around 15 percent at a time when inflation is only 2 percent. The high rates are needed partly because banks constantly have to write off credit card balances…

The National Association of Realtors recently reported that total existing home sales were up 3% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.54 million.  The median existing-home price for all housing types came in at $241,700, which is 5.9% higher than February 2017 and marks the 72nd straight month of year-over-year gains. Total housing inventory was up 4.6%, coming in at 1.59 million existing homes available for sale.  This figure is 8.1 percent lower than a year ago and has been falling year-over-year for 33 consecutive months.  Unsold inventory is at a 3.4-month supply at the current sales…

We are indeed an aging nation…..just look around and maybe even look in the mirror.  Last month we saw that America’s population was growing and now the U.S. Census bureau recently released data showing that, for the first time in U.S. history, older people are projected to outnumber children.  But, keep in mind, that no matter what their age, they all need a place to live…and real estate investors are best positioned to meet that need.  Happy Friday!! Hat tip to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Major smoke alarm maker Kidde has issued a recall for nearly 500k dual-sensor smoke detectors in the U.S. and Canada because a manufacturing malfunction can compromise the devices’ ability to detect smoke.  According to Consumer Reports, a yellow cap that was left on during manufacturing that can cover one of the two smoke sensors, posing a risk of people not being alerted to a fire in their home.  The recalled detectors, the PI2010 and PI9010, are dual-sensor that use photoelectric & ionization technology to detect both smoldering and fast-moving fires. Kidde has established a toll-free number (833-551-7739) which is available…