Author: Brad Beckett

How Agents and Investors Develop a Mutually Beneficial Relationship By Jennifer Riner Zillow Not every agent is perfect, but a majority of them put their best foot forward when it comes to representing their clients’ best interests. However, many real estate agents are accustomed to dealing with the typical condo or single-family home buyer. Investors have a different approach to buying, which is why both parties should prepare beforehand. In order for agents to tailor their practice toward the unique needs of investors, consider the following tips. Be market savvy Many real estate investors are localized and therefore knowledgeable on…

A recent article by Bloomberg cites research provided by RedFin and the U.S. Census Bureau (and other sources) showing that in 2015, fifty-two of the nation’s 100 largest cities were majority-renter.  In fact, twenty-one of those cities shifted over to the renter-majority column since 2009 alone.  With a shortage of homes on the market it is understandable that renting is taking a greater share of the market, but is that the only dynamic at play?  Bloomberg suggests that the American Dream now increasingly involves a lease, not necessarily a mortgage. “Most low-income families don’t rent by choice, said Nela Richardson,…

The U.S. Federal Government announced that sales of new single-family houses in February 2017 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 592k.  This number is 6.1%  above January’s revised rate and is 12.8% higher than February 2016.  The median sales price of new houses sold in February 2017 was $296,200. The average sales price was $390,400.  At the current sales rate there is an approximate supply of 5.4 months of homes on the market. Click here to read the full release.

We’ve posted several stories over the past couple years about where Americans are moving.  After all, real estate investors are best prepared to meet the needs of all those folks looking for new home.  Keeping Current Matters recently put together this handy infographic based on United Van Lines recent moving study.  Happy Friday! Hat tip to Keeping Current Matters.

Data powerhouse CoreLogic is reporting that for 2016, cash sales represented 32.1% of all sales – which is the lowest share seen since 2007.  For December, 2016, cash sales accounted for 33.1% of all home sales, down 1.3 percentage points from December 2015.  In addition, REO sales made up 5.8% and short sales made up 2% in December 2016.  Distressed sales’ share was 7.8% and was the lowest for any month since October 2007.  New York had the largest share of cash sales (47.9%), followed by New Jersey (47.6%), Alabama (46.1%), Michigan (44.3%) and Florida (42.1%). Some takeaways: The full-year…

Trulia recently released their quarterly Inventory and Price Watch report showing that U.S. housing inventory hit its lowest level on record in Q1 of 2017 with the number of homes on the market dropping for the 8th consecutive month (down 5.1% over the past year).  The report is quarterly analysis of the supply and affordability of starter homes, trade-up homes, and premium homes currently on the market. Some Takeaways: The number of starter and trade-up homes continues drop, falling 8.7% and 7.9% respectively, during the past year, while inventory of premium homes has fallen by just 1.7% The persistent and…

The National Association of Realtors are reporting that existing home sales were down 3.7% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.48 million.  However, February’s sales pace is 5.4% higher than one year ago. The median existing-home price for all housing types in February was $228,400, up 7.7% from February 2016.  Total housing inventory increased 4.2% to 1.75 million existing homes available for sale, but is still 6.4% lower than a year ago and has fallen year-over-year for 21 straight months. Unsold inventory is at a 3.8-month supply at the current sales pace. “Realtors® are reporting stronger foot…

The Mortgage Bankers Association is reporting that mortgage applications decreased 2.7% for the week ending March 17th (measured weekly).   Refinancing’s share of the mortgage applications was 45.1%, slightly lower than previous weeks.  However, the share of ARM’s (adjustable-rate mortgages) increased to 9% of total applications – representing their highest rate since October, 2014.  The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($424,100 or less) remained unchanged at 4.46%, with points increasing to 0.41 from 0.37 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. Click here to read the full release on MBA.org.

We’ve posted a lot about the millennial generation over the past couple years.   They’re an important demographic that investors would be wise to keep their eye on.  Recently, apartment listing site ABODO did a deep-diver into some of the numbers to come up with the top cities across the country where millennials still live at home.  Using data from the federal government, they found that millennials (compared with all other generations) are most likely to be living with their parents than any other living situation.  Furthermore, they say that they’re “the largest, most educated generation in history” – so, are…

As seasoned investors know, sometimes flips don’t always go as planned.  That’s true even for reality TV stars like Tarek & Christina El Moussa, the stars of HGTV’s Flip or Flop.  Realtor.com is reporting that one of their recent flips didn’t go down the golden highway as they had planned and they have ended up with a pretty expensive flop.  According to the story the couple paid $900,000 (without seeing the inside) for a 1,700 square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bath home and have sunk over $281k in it (new roof, driveway, electrical, plumbing and more) just to bring up to market standards. …