Author: Brad Beckett

So let’s get this straight;  there is a real neighborhood near Kansas City, Missouri that does not have a homeowner’s association connected with it.  However, according to WDAF TV, some crafty criminals decided to create a fake HOA for the neighborhood and then send out fake dues notices which were ignored by the residents.  But then, if that weren’t already enough, the perpetrators attached not-so-fake liens to the properties in the subdivision for the fake dues their fake association was charging.  Finally, adding insult to injury, the man behind the enterprise is running it from federal prison where he’s serving…

A landlord in Southern California is part of a class-action lawsuit against the cities of Indio & Coachella over exorbitant fees resulting from actions taken by her tenants who had chickens.  As you might have guessed, there’s a little more to the story than just raising chickens.  According to the Desert Sun, the lawsuit alleges that the two cities have “made a practice of taking residents to criminal court for exceptionally minor crimes, then charging them thousands to pay for the cost of their own prosecution.” Indeed……it turns out that the cities employment of overzealous private prosecutors that have billed…

We’ve had several posts about the impact of so-called tiny houses on the real estate market but now comes a survey from the National Association of Home Builders that says a majority of Millennials (63%) would consider buying a tiny home.  In fact, just over half (53%) of those surveyed said yes or maybe to purchasing one.  Interestingly, the enthusiasm wears off with age as the results below reveal.  Indeed…. Tiny homes, however, may be inviable in many areas. Many local zoning laws have minimum lot size requirements, which wouldn’t prohibit tiny homes, but would make them very expensive considering…

Realtor.com says now that the economy is roaring again McMansions are making a comeback.  To that end, they scoured the data for homes with at least 3k square feet as well as the metros with the highest percentage of them on the market.  Interestingly, they found that more than 70% of the surveyed markets saw an increase in the share of listings of these homes since January, 2016.  In addition, they found there are actually more large homes being built now than there were at the height of the housing market (10 years ago), however that doesn’t mean they’re selling.…

The U.S. Government is reporting that privately owned housing starts in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,326,000.  This is 9.7% above December’s revised number and is 7.3% above January 2017.  Single-family housing starts in January were at a rate of 877k, which is 3.7% higher than December. The January rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 431k.  Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,396,000.  This is 7.4% above December’s revised rate and is 7.4% higher than January, 2017.  Single-family authorizations in…

The contributions of Chinese-Americans to the greatness of this country have been incredible.  Today, February 16th marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year; the Year of the Dog.  If you’re fortunate enough to live in an area of the country with a sizeable population of ethnic Chinese, be sure to find & join in the celebrations….Happy Friday!! And Happy Chinese New Year!

Data powerhouse HouseCanary recently released their Rental Investment Index (HCRI Index) for Q4 2017 which showed the nationwide Effective Gross Yield (EGY) for U.S. single-family rentals was 7.3%, indicating what they say was a “healthy yield in spite of the continued rise in housing prices.”  The HCRI Index helps single-family rental home investors, lenders, and renters benchmark the health of the single-family for-lease market by individual state, ZIP code, and block. “…our analysis shows that even in markets where EGY is average or middle-of-the-road, rental investors can still find hidden gems that will generate better-than-average returns,” said Alex Villacorta, HouseCanary’s…

Local Market Monitor (a National REIA preferred vendor) recently released their National Economic Outlook for February, 2018 where they share their thoughts on developments taking place in the U.S. economy. National Economic Outlook – February 2018 February 14, 2018 By Ingo Winzer Measured by Gross Domestic Product the economy grew 2.3 percent in 2017 – better then 2016, not as good as 2015. As usual, the spending of individuals was 80 percent of economic activity. What GDP doesn’t tell us is how much risk is building up. We don’t have to look back very far – only ten years -…

A new initiative being developed by Airbnb, in partnership with Fannie Mae and several lenders, would allow homeowners wishing to refinance their homes the ability to count, as income, funds generated from their properties listed on the homesharing site.  According to a recent article on Curbed, Airbnb will supply a Proof of Income statement that hosts can now include when applying with Quicken Loans, Citizens Bank, and Better Mortgage in order to  refinance an existing mortgage. “This initiative was developed with Fannie Mae to identify new ways of recognizing home-sharing income, making it possible for homeowners to maximize their investment…

Driving…..We all do it and we all hate getting stuck in traffic.  Some cities are better than others and some make the list for being the most congested.  The folks over at Statista recently crunched the numbers to come with America’s top 10 most congested cities.  They report that 86% of commutes in the U.S. are done by car with annual vehicle miles surpassing 3.2 trillion! Click here to read the full story on Statista.com.