Author: Brad Beckett

HousingWire is reporting that Fannie Mae recently announced that it “no longer accepts plywood boards as an acceptable boarding solution on windows of its properties.”  Recall that last year they said that mortgage servicers would be reimbursed for using clear boarding instead of plywood when securing homes in pre-foreclosure.  As of this new rule, they are now required to replace any plywood boarded windows with the clear boarding (or a new window).  There are two clear boarding products (aka poly-carbonate windows), SecureView and InvisiBoard, that have been approved for use by Fannie Mae.  Also, earlier this year Ohio became the…

National apartment listing site ABODO recently reported that nationwide rent prices slightly rose in March with the median price of $1,005 for a one-bedroom apartment.  New Orleans continues lead the list of the biggest increases at 12%, followed by Glendale AZ with a 10.7% increase and then Seattle, WA at 7.2%.  ABODO uses over 1 million listings across the United States to calculate the median 1-bedroom rent price by city, state, and nation and then track the month-over-month percentage change. To avoid small sample sizes, they restrict their analysis to cities meeting minimum population and property count thresholds. Click here…

Data powerhouse ATTOM Data Solutions (parent company of RealtyTrac) recently released their Q1 2017 Single Family Rental Market report, which ranks the best U.S. markets for buying single family rental (SFR) properties in 2017.  The average annual gross rental yield (annualized gross rent income divided by median purchase price of single family homes) among the 375 counties was 9%  for 2017, down from an average of 9.1% in 2016.  The report analyzed single family rental returns in 375 U.S. counties each with a population of at least 100k and sufficient rental and home price data, along with more than 6k…

Are gas stations and convenience stores the new grocery stores?  That’s the gist of a recent article by Chase Bank about the cultural shift taking place among shopping habits – particularly among millennials.   They report that in 2014, convenience stores accounted for 11% of food & beverage stops – up from around 8% in 2006.  Keep in mind that these stores sell an estimated 80% of all fuel purchased.   Real Estate investors take note…..it may not be about the best deal anymore, more and more it’s about convenience. “They are less likely to shop for staple ingredients and more likely…

The U.S. Department of Commerce is reporting that total construction spending in February was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,19 trillion, which is 3% higher than February 2016.  Private residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $484.7 billion in February, 1.8% higher than January’s number. Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $432.7 billion in February, 0.3% below January’s number.  Public construction spending was $275.5 billion in February. Click here to read the full release.

The folks over at Realtor.com took a look at the data from the country’s largest housing markets to come up with their top 20 “hottest” markets.  With buyer demand outpacing the available inventory, these 20 cities burn the brightest – especially when you consider that the median list price is now $260k (8% higher than one year ago). “While the story keeps revolving around low inventory, prices are now also taking center stage, reaching all-time highs and keeping waves of buyers at bay,” said Javier Vivas, manager of economic research at realtor.com. Vallejo, CA San Francisco, CA Dallas, TX Denver,…

We recently told you about ATTOM Data Solutions’ 2016 Year-End U.S. Home Flipping Report, which revealed that 193,009 single family homes and condos were flipped (sold in an arms-length transfer for the second time within a 12-month period) in 2016. Today’s infographic helps put all that data into perspective.  Happy Friday! Hat tip to ATTOM Data Solutions & RealtyTrac.

We’ve all heard about them and undoubtedly, you’ve seen several stories here about the growing problem of bed bug infestations.  Now, after years of research & design, there is finally a solution to the growing problem of bed bugs.  ClearVue Technologies has brought to market a revolutionary new product that not only detects bedbugs but captures them via a specially designed trap that is pet-safe and people-friendly.  These traps provide the most effective detection & protection against the growing threat of bed bugs on the market today. Click here to learn more about ClearVue’s bed bug traps. ClearVue Bed Bug…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Policy Development & Research (PD&R) recently released their National Housing Market Summary for the Q4 of 2016.  According to the report,  the housing market showed a mixed set of results for the fourth quarter of 2016 with construction starts rising for both single-family and multifamily housing. While purchases of new single-family homes fell,  sales of previously owned (existing) homes rose.  In addition, for all of 2016, the housing market continued to improve with housing starts up 6% over 2015.  Construction of single-family homes increased 9% and multifamily housing starts dropped…

CNBC’s Realty Check is reporting that home builders across the country are having trouble finding workers to build homes.  Reporter Diana Olick cites a home builder in Denver, CO, where homes are taking about two months longer to build and there are instances of contractors doubling their wages just to keep workers from skipping to the next job site.   In addition, she reports that wages in the residential building industry are growing at twice the rate of wages in the overall economy. “Thousands of construction workers left the industry during the recession, many of them heading to the energy sector.…