Author: Brad Beckett

By now we’ve all heard of so-called “tiny houses.”  But are they a passing fad or do they really have a future?  Recently Curbed.com posed that question in an article “Tiny Houses: Big Future or Big Hype,” where they looked deeper into the industry and talked with advocates about the challenges & opportunities the industry is facing as it struggles to become mainstream. “Most define the tiny home as a building between 100 and 400 square feet (Curbed counts everything under 500 square feet), and many of them are portable. The admittedly loose definition, and the lack of longstanding…

The Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader is reporting that a group called American Farm Investors is buying up tracts of farmland in central Kentucky which they lease back to tenant farmers, who in turn farm the land and pay rent from their proceeds (not sharecropping).  Interestingly, the corn and wheat grown on these farms is sold to big name whiskey distilleries like Jim Beam, Makers Mark and others.   The Herald-Leader also reported that roughly 40% of AFI’s investors live in Kentucky while the rest are from out of state. The bottom line;  it’s all about diversification. “AFI leases its land to tenant…

A lawsuit on behalf of property owners filed by Ohio’s 1851 Center for Constitutional Law has resulted in a federal court certifying a class-action lawsuit against a Northeastern Ohio city that says “all homeowners who were forced to endure government searches as a precondition to the sale of their homes are entitled to demand refunds of illegal “Point of Sale” inspection fees.”   The 1851 Center is a non-profit, non-partisan legal center dedicated to protecting the constitutional rights of Ohioans from government abuse and, as such, litigates constitutional issues related to property rights, voting rights, regulation, taxation, and search and seizures.…

The U.S. Census Bureau is reporting that total construction spending in June was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.2 trillion, which is 1.3% lower than May, but is 1.6% higher than June 2016.  Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $940.7 billion, which is 0.1% below May’s figure.  Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $502.9 billion in June, 0.2% below May’s estimate. Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $437.8 billion in June. Click here to read the full report.

A recent Housing Perspectives from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies says that even though overall construction is down, construction of smaller homes (under 1,800 sq. feet) has actually increased 20% in 2016.  They say this is significant because 1st-time and lower income buyers tend to purchase smaller homes – which tend to be less expensive.  They suggest that continued increases in the supply of smaller homes, as well as townhouses and condos, could help meet the demands of  those first-time and lower income homebuyers.  Sounds like a good play for investors. “Increased demand for entry-level housing and the corresponding…

National apartment listing site ABODO recently reported that the median nationwide rent price decreased in July to $1,013 for a one-bedroom apartment.  Glendale, AZ saw the largest drop with a 10.7% decrease in August over July’s one-bedroom rents, to $744.  San Francisco continues to dominate the list with $3,210, followed by New York City, NY ($2,907), San Jose, CA ($2,445) and Boston, MA ($2,343).   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…

According to the first ATTOM Data Solutions Neighborhood Housing Index, the median home sales price in Q1 2017 was $410,684 on average, but the median sales price in 382 of those zip codes was under $250k.  ATTOM says this lower priced housing in quality neighborhoods translates into stellar returns with lower risk for flippers and rental investors.  Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to RealtyTrac.

The New York Times is reporting that quasi-governmental mortgage finance company Freddie Mac plans to get into the rentals game by providing up to a billion dollars in financing to midsize landlords and smaller firms that buy single-families and rent them out as affordable housing.  While the details are still be worked the Federal Housing Finance Agency has approved the financing effort on a trial basis. “There are now about 17 million homes being rented, up from 11 million in 2007….The vast majority of rentals are still managed by mom-and-pop operators who own a small number of homes. And Fannie…

As we approach back-to-school time, 16 states across the country will be holding sales tax holidays this year.   The folks over at the TaxFoundation put together a comprehensive list of states (and their criteria) participating in this potential sales bonanza.  Love it or hate it, if you live in or near one of these states you might take notice.  Be sure to look at the entire list. “At first glance, sales tax holidays seem like great policy. They enjoy broad political support, with backers arguing that holidays are a highly visible form of tax cuts and provide benefits to low-income…

Attom data solutions (parent of RealtyTrac) recently released their Q2 2017 U.S. Home Sales Report which revealed that the share of all-cash sales exhibited its first annual increase since Q1 of 2013.  All-cash sales represented 28.9% of all single family and condo sales in Q2 2017 – which is up from 27.3% in Q2 2016.  Those major metro areas with the highest share of all-cash sales were Raleigh, NC (57.4%); Miami (46.2%); Detroit (45.2%); Oklahoma City (44.6%); and Tampa-St. Petersburg (43.2%). The report also highlighted that the average home seller price gain was $51k in Q2 2017, representing an average…