Author: Brad Beckett

Recently the data-crunchers over at Realtor.com looked at 30-years worth of data on six major types of disaster (earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, wildfires, and floods) to come up with a pretty comprehensive disaster index for all counties in the United States.  Their conclusion;  while you cannot escape the risk for natural disaster there are areas that are more prone for a perfect storm of instances of multiple disasters.  The graphic below illustrates the top 20 U.S. counties with the highest risk while the report itself is quite extensive and worth a look. “In the South, recent catastrophic floods in Louisiana claimed…

Forbes is reporting that twenty-one states have filed suit against the federal government arguing that last year’s new overtime rules promulgated by the U.S. Department of Labor are a violation of the constitution and exceeds congressional authority.  The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Texas, accuses President Obama of pushing through a near-doubling of the salary level (to $913 a week or more than $47,000 a year) up to which employers are required to pay overtime.  The new rule is to take effect this December. Click here to read the full story on Forbes.com Click here to read the court…

Real estate resource site Trulia recently released their 3Q 2016 Inventory and Price Watch report that shows U.S. home inventory 6.7% over the past year – marking the fifth straight quarter of decreases. Trulia says this decline pushes home affordability further out of reach for more Americans.  In addition, the number of starter and trade-up homes on the market nationwide has dropped by 10.7% and 9.2%, respectively, with premium home inventory dropping just 3.2% over the past year. “As inventory continues to fall nationally across starter, tradeup, and premium home segments, starter homebuyers will need to dedicate a larger share…

As we know, our friends to the north are generally not known for their free-market economics – and real estate is no exception.  Recently, the Canadian city of Vancouver, British Columbia enacted a vacancy tax on property owners who leave homes vacant (except their primary) for a year or more.  The measure was conceived as a solution to increase the amount of available rental housing and could cost owners as much as $20,000 a year on a home valued at million dollars.  The city’s rental vacancy rate has been around 1% for the past five years.  So basically, Vancouver is…

The Commerce Department reported this week that privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,139,000.  This is 0.4% below the revised July rate of 1,144,000 and is 2.3% below August 2015.  Single-family authorizations in August were at a rate of 737k – this is 3.7% above the revised July figure of 711k.  Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 370,000 in August.  Privately-owned housing starts in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,142,000.  This is 5.8% below July but…

Drones are hot…and they’re not the radio-controlled toys you might remember from your childhood.  While the advantage of utilizing Drone photography and aerial video are just becoming practical for Realtors, the same benefits hold true for Real Estate Investors as well.  When was the last time you relished the thought of climbing up a ladder to inspect a roof?  How about getting a good view of a chimney?  Now imagine if you could get a better image from all angles without ever setting foot on a ladder at all?  That’s where using drones can really payoff and contribute to your bottom line…

Attom Data Solutions (parent company of RealtyTrac) recently released their Q2 2016 U.S. Home Flipping Report, which shows over 51k U.S. single family home and condo sales were completed flips in the second quarter of 2016, up 14% from the previous quarter and up 3% from a year ago – representing the highest number of home flips since Q2 2010 (a six-year high).  Homes flipped in 2016’s 2nd quarter accounted for 5.5% of all single family and condo sale, down from 6.7% in the first quarter. “We’re starting to see home flipping hit some milestones not seen since prior to…

What are the best & worst city to raise a family?  That’s the question WalletHub recently put to the test by analyzing 150 of the most populated U.S. cities based on 36 key metrics that take into account essential family dynamics such as the relative cost of housing, the quality of local school and health care systems, and the opportunities for fun and recreation.  The top five?  Overland Park, KS; Madison, WI; PLano, TX; Sioux Falls, SD; and Virginia Beach, VA.  Click on the interactive map below for each city’s ranking. Source: WalletHub Click here to see the full list…

Believe it or not, next week is the Autumnal Equinox (the first day of Fall is 9/22) and it’s time to think about lawn-care for the upcoming cooler months.  The following infographic from The Home Depot lays out why Fall is the perfect time and what exactly must be done to prepare yard for the winter months to be in good shape when Spring rolls around.  Happy Friday! Hat tip to The Home Depot.

What’s median time a home stays on the market?  The folks over at the NAR’s Economist Outlook site recently analyzed the data back to the late 80’s to find that over the last 2 years (2014 & 2015) the median has been four weeks!  This is the shortest median time on time on the market in 20 years.  It should be noted that a lack of inventory is partially to blame for this record amount. Click here to read more on the NAR’s EconomistOutlook.org.