Author: Brad Beckett

The latest HouseCanary quarterly Canary Rental Index (CRI), reports that the nationwide effective gross yield (EGY) is remaining steady at 7.7%  – which HouseCanary says effectively means that investors can expect a return on their investment of around 7.7%.  The CRI measures Effective Gross Yield, defined as the current fair market annualized rent minus estimated property tax, divided by the current fair market home value for all non-owner occupied single-family properties in the U.S.  They examine how rental yield varies from state to state by pinpointing the effective gross yield (EGY) that investors can expect on average in any given…

Local Market Monitor, a National REIA preferred vendor, recently released their National Economic Outlook for May, 2018 where they share their thoughts on developments taking place in the U.S. economy.  Interestingly, Mr. Winzer warns of “a risk we haven’t seen before” resulting from a “greater concentration of jobs and real estate value in a smaller number of big markets.” National Economic Outlook – May 2018 May 17, 2018 By: Ingo Winzer Like most people, I’m most confident talking about an economy that produces physical things like airplanes or soybeans or TV shows, or even data. I’m less sure when it comes…

Understanding the foreclosure process is a must for real estate investors who hope to pursue this profitable & tricky investing opportunity. The folks over at FortuneBuilders put together this handy infographic outlining the 10-step foreclosure buying process in order help develop a strategy that works for you.  Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to FortuneBuilders.

According to Gallup’s annual Economy and Personal Finance poll, 45% of non-homeowners say they plan to buy within the next 5 years, however only 22% of current homeowners plan to sell during that same time frame.  Gallup says that a favorable market for sellers will continue in the near future….Indeed! “One reason homeownership rates have not increased is that the supply of available homes has not kept up with demand. This has led to higher home prices, which — along with higher interest rates — are making homes less affordable overall…” Click here to read the full story on Gallup.com.

The U.S. Government is reporting that privately owned housing starts in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,287,000.  This figure is 3.7% below March revised estimate but is 10.5% higher than April, 2017. Single-family housing starts in April were at a rate of 894k, which is 0.1% higher than March’s revised figure of 893k. The April rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 374k.  Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,352,000. This is figure is 1.8% belowMarch’s revised rate but is 7.7%…

According to the latest Housing Trends Report (HTR) from the National Association of Home Builders, current home buyers are not showing any signs of giving up, despite the tight housing market.  Interestingly, 42% of those planning to buy a home this year said their search was in “full throttle.”  Indeed…..real estate investors are in a great position to help meet that need.  The HTR is a new quarterly research product by the NAHB’s economics team to track prospective home buyers’ perceptions about the availability and affordability of homes for-sale in their markets. According to the graph below:  These are the…

Have American’s views about renting changed how we should be viewing homeownership?  A recent article in the Washington Post by the President of the National Apartment Association suggests that it has – at least for Baby Boomers and Millennials.  In fact, he says that attitudes are changing and renting is no longer seen as a “rung on the housing ladder” but rather as a lifestyle decision that, in many cases, is more flexible than traditional homeownership.  Obviously, renting is not the best choice for everyone and there certainly is no one-size-fits-all rule for housing.  However, we are living in the…

What are the biggest exports from each U.S. state?  That question was recently settled by howmuch.net when they took data from the Census Bureau and then generated an economic snapshot of each state’s exports.  Interestingly they found that the airplane manufacturing supply chain stretched completely across the nation….the Wright Brothers would be proud. “…Building and manufacturing airplanes for the global market is deeply important in 17 states, totaling just under $100 billion in exports, and that’s not even the entire value of national airplane exports—that’s just for those states in which it is the leading export….” Click here to read…

By now we’re all used to seeing reality TV shows with half a million dollar, 2-bedroom ranch on a slab house somewhere out west (usually California).  Now we’ve come across a list from Redfin with the top 10 most desired tiny homes on the market right now….and guess what, they’re all out west and they’re not cheap – especially when you consider how much square footage you get!  To get their list, Redfin looked at actively listed single-family homes under 600 sq. feet in more than 80 markets.  Six of their top 10 tiny houses are in California and the…

What are the best and worst states for flipping a house?  That could be a loaded question depending on what criteria you’re using.  With that in mind, the folks over at GOBankingRates, using data from Zillow and ATTOM, evaluated all 50 states by looking at a combination of metrics including medium listing price, average number of days to flip, and average gross return.  They found the best states for flipping houses were mostly in the East and the worst states for flipping were predominantly landlocked states west of the Mississippi. “Flipping houses often sounds like easy money: Buy an older…