Author: Brad Beckett

Okay, this is one of the coolest things we’ve seen in a while (well, maybe a close 2nd to the secret room post).  According to a recent report from Fox News, a former ICBM silo near Topeka, Kansas has been listed on short-term rentals site Airbnb as a place to stay.  The former Atlas missile silo, now known as the “Subterra Castle” was used during the Cold War and was refurbished into an underground mansion in the early 90’s. “The structure, built in 1959, was originally part of a ring of nine Air Force silos built around Topeka, The Journal…

A recent Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) chart of the week took a look at the change in single-family homes for owner-occupied versus renters during the period of 1987-2017.  Their data found that while 1987-97 saw a 90% growth in owner-occupied, a major shift occurred beginning in 2007. “Falling home prices and rising rents tend to bring some owner-occupied units into rental tenure, while rising home prices and falling rents draw some of the single family rental stock back into owner-occupation over time…however, both rents and prices have been rising, reflecting demand for both tenures.” Click here to read more on…

Mashable is reporting that Facebook is working with Zumper and Apartment List to help people find an apartment through the online social media platform.  Facebook said the two partner sites offer “hundreds of thousands of house and apartment rentals” that users can browse.  The apartment rental feature is currently only available to users in the U.S. Click here to read the full story on Mashable.com.

Today’s infographic, courtesy of Equity Trust, gives a nice snapshot of today’s prospective home buyers and renters, using data from Zillow’s 2017 Consumer Housing Trends Report.  Happy Friday! Hat tip to Equity Trust.

Housing insight chronicler Curbed has an interesting piece about how the changing demographics of mobile homes, coupled with a growing Latino population, are shining a light on larger demographic changes taking place across the U.S.  The point out that as the lack of affordable housing affects cities across the country, mobile and manufactured homes have become a way to achieve this goal- as they point out, half of the American dream since the land belongs to someone else.  If you’re invested in mobile homes, this is worth a read. “…Often these parks are looked down upon by city officials, sometimes…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently awarded $5 billion to help hard-hit areas in Texas recover from Hurricane Harvey. The grant is provided through HUD’s Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Program and will support the repair of damaged homes, businesses and critical infrastructure in the State of Texas. “As President Trump has said from the beginning, the whole federal family is with the people of Texas to help them recover from this devastating storm as quickly as possible,” said HUD Secretary Ben Carson. “HUD will work with Governor Abbott and his staff to…

A new startup is encouraging wannabe tiny house enthusiasts to “try it tiny” by renting a property for a month, week or even a few days.  In addition, they’re working to connect landowners with land for rent to host/share their land and become part of a growing movement.  Their mantra? Give it a try before you buy……Indeed. Try It Tiny connects people to give them the opportunity to rent a tiny house or share their land with tiny house enthusiasts nationwide. Become part of a growing community by renting a tiny house or parking your tiny house on hosts’ properties.…

Where exactly do renters most enjoy renting?  That’s the question that apartment rental site ABODO recently pondered as it sifted through reams of data form the 2015 American Housing Survey. In essence, they wanted to discover the cities where renters are the most satisfied (or not) with their homes.  There are some interesting data in here as well as some subjective findings open to debate.  Overall, it’s good insight into what’s driving renters’ decisions. “…if our data has shown us anything, it’s that certain cities are more favorable renting environments than others. And it turns out that price isn’t the…

The U.S. Government is reporting that privately owned housing starts in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,290,000.  This is 13.7% above the revised September estimate of 1,135,000, but is still 2.9% below the October 2016.  Single-family housing starts in October were at a rate of 877k, 5.3% higher than September’s figure. The October rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 393k.  Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,297,000. This is 5.9% higher than September’s revised rate and 0.9% above October 2016. …

Water….we all drink it, we all must have it and if you’re a landlord it might be included with the rent.  The NAHB’s Eye on Housing, using data from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), recently crunched the numbers to show that the residential sector accounts for less than 8 percent of all water used in the U.S.  Interestingly, the USGS release shows that, in 2010, residential water use totaled 27,400 million gallons per day (Mgal/d). Click here to read the full story at the NAHB’s Eye on Housing.