Author: Brad Beckett

Having a presence on the internet today is as important as placing an ad in the yellow part of the printed phone book was 20 years ago.  However, with today’s ever-increasing use of mobile devices (over 64% of Americans own a smartphone) it is vitally important to make sure your website is optimized for viewing a mobile phone. One quick and easy to check is use Google’s Mobile Friendly Test.  This test analyzes a web address (URL ) and then reports if the page has a mobile-friendly design. Depending on how your website is designed, there are many tools available…

Focus on Kitchens and Bathrooms to Maximize ROI By Cameron Mickey, National Pro Manager, The Home Depot When looking at home upgrades, every real estate investor is trying to find the optimal balance between cost and ROI. When considering your options for interior improvements, two of the first rooms you should look at are the kitchen and bathroom. According to Remodeling’s 2015 Cost vs. Value Report, minor kitchen remodels yield a 79 percent return on investment, the best of any room in the house. Bathrooms also yield a strong return of 70 percent. Updating a kitchen can range from small…

Last Fall we featured data showing the fastest growing counties in the nation.  That makes for an interesting correlation with where the aging of America is taking place.   Recently, the NAHB’s HousingEconomics.com reported that currently, in the United States, there are over 48 million households (roughly 42%) headed by someone aged 55 or over. Some key takeaways: In every state, the 55+ category accounts for over 34% of all households. In every county, 55+ category accounts for over 20% of all households. In 99% of the counties, 55+ accounts for over 30%. At the high end, 112 counties have…

How typical is your household when it comes to a few basic characteristics?  Define typical…..well, anyway, the folks at FannieMae put together the following infographic based on data from the American Housing Survey.   My question is, if 99.9% of us are using gas or electric as our cooking fuel, what is this elusive .1% using???  Charcoal?  Happy Friday.

According to a recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, as of the end of December 2015, total household indebtedness was over $12 trillion, an increase of $51 billion (0.4%) from the previous quarter.  Overall, December’s number remains 4.4% below 2008’s peak balance of nearly $14 trillion.  Mortgage balances (the largest component of household debt) remained flat during the fourth quarter at $8.25 trillion. Click here to read the full report “QUARTERLY REPORT ON HOUSEHOLD DEBT AND CREDIT, Federal Reserve Bank of New York

The federal government recently released new residential construction data for January 2016 that show that housing starts fell 3.8% compared to December, 2015.  However, they were still 1.8% higher than January 2015’s rate and still remain above the 1 million mark.  Housing starts for multi-families dropped 2.5%, compared to December.  Bad weather is mostly to blame as many construction projects were delayed/disrupted. Click here to read the full release from the US Department of Commerce.

Where are the best schools in the U.S. with homes that offer the best value?  Realtor.com recently answered that question and posted the top 10 school districts in America with homes that won’t break your budget.  Using data from Greatschools.org they found every district that scored a 10 rating (the highest) and calculated the median home price within that district. Next they compared home prices in each of those top school districts within their respected counties and identified the top 10 districts where you’ll pay the smallest premium – thus producing a list of  school districts that are most within financial reach.  Indeed……

The Los Angeles Times recently posted an interesting piece about a family-run property business that has turned to crowdfunding for their financing needs.  The relatively new phenomenon of crowdfunding enables businesses to publicly solicit investment from individual investors online. Berneman’s family business, Golden Bee Properties, borrowed $1 million to buy a West Los Angeles home that he plans to renovate and expand before putting it back on the market. The money didn’t come from a bank but from 44 small investors, some of whom put in as little as $5,000. Today’s crowdfunding platforms enable flippers to tap into a much…

With all the recent buzz about Tiny Houses we thought it would be interesting to take closer look at this phenomenon and see what they’re all about.  The following infographic from The Tiny Life attempts to do just that….Can something this small be so big?  Happy Friday.

The National Association of Realtors says that although rising sales & home prices typically coincide that wasn’t the case in the 4th quarter of 2015. Despite slightly cooling demand from earlier in the year that caused sales to decline (5.4 percent) from the third quarter, single-family home prices picked up speed and showed continued strength in nearly all metro areas (81 percent) to close out the year.  Why? Depressed supply levels in relation to the overall pool of prospective buyers continues to lift upward pressure on home prices in several metro areas. The end result is that even in some…