Author: Brad Beckett

As Travel becomes more and more routine in people’s lives so do the opportunities for criminals to ply their trade.  Recently there has been a new scam going around targeting hotel guests.  It’s referred to as the “Front Desk Scam” and it’s being used by criminals who call your hotel room and pretend to be from the front desk.  They then say there is something wrong with your credit card or they need to verify some other sensitive personal information.  Knoxville’s WBIR TV reported on this issue last summer when scammers called the wrong room – the one with the…

The U.S. Dept. of Commerce is reporting that housing starts rose 6.5% from August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.21 million in September.  An 18.3% surge in multifamilies led the increase.  This number represents the sixth straight month that starts were above 1 million and suggests a sustainable housing recovery.  Some takeaways: Multi-family starts rose 18.3% Housing starts increase 6.5% in September Single-family starts gain 0.3% While building permits fell 5%, their pace is above 1 million In addition, the an index of home builder confidence released this week by the National Association of Home Builders rose to…

Realtor.com, using 2015 data from the EPA, ranked the 100 largest metropolitan areas by their percentage of days with good air quality to come up with a list of the nation’s top 10 cities with the best and worst air quality conditions. The best: The worst: Click here to read the full report at Realtor.com

Internet rental-search-site Rent.Com recently released their 7th annual “Property Owner and Manager Market Report” that captures trends in the rental market directly from over 500 apartment property managers nationwide. Highlights from the report: 34% reported that renters are holding on tight to their apartments and renewing their leases (up from 29% in 2014). More than half reported seeing an increase in the number of former homeowners seeking rental apartments, thus adding to the already crowded rental space. Increased demand and low inventory were the primary reasons for increasing rental rates over the last year. 88% raised their rent in the…

Over on Inman, a former records manager for a local government shares her insights on the importance and often overlooked value of using records centers & permit desks when preparing to buy real estate. “Real estate is about planning for the future, and no one wants to buy a home only to learn that the zoning requirements prohibit them from making alterations they desire….Taking just a few minutes to check any of these sources might save you and your client a big headache in the long-run.” Read the full story here.  (subscription may be required)

Note: Infographics are a great way to sift through aggregated data and make sense of market current trends.  While we might not fully agree with the conclusions drawn from such illustrations, the data within are often highly valuable to real estate investors – especially footnoted from reliable sources. Case in point;  According to AffordableOnlineColleges.net there is a “rental housing crisis” in the United States resulting from the recent housing crisis, economic recession and stagnant wages.  There findings show that nearly half of all renters spend more than 30% of their monthly incomes on rent, with one in four paying more…

In Early October the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced it is charging a group of Colorado landlords with housing discrimination for allegedly relegating families with children to apartments in the rear building of an apartment complex. HUD charged the property owners and on-site manager after fair housing testing discovered illegal “steering” was taking place based upon the tenant’s family status. While there is legitimate concern about entrapment by these “fair housing” groups, there is no question that it is wrong to discriminate against tenants based on familial status. Furthermore, National REIA believes strongly in promoting “professional and ethical…

 House Takes Closer Look at Implications of Airbnb The apartment housing industry is increasingly dealing with the implications, both positive and negative, of peer-to-peer home sharing services such as Airbnb. The concerns facing the industry were part of the discussions during a key House subcommittee hearing, “How Sharing is Faring: Growth and Adjustment in the Sharing Economy,” held on Sept. 29. The industry’s concerns included tenant lease violations, on-site security concerns and property insurance implications. While there are unanswered questions for our industry, and our economy as a whole, the sector is booming. Specifically, revenues are projected to be as much as $335 billion in a…

Late last week a US federal appeals court blocked an EPA regulation that would bring even more waterways & wetlands under their jurisdiction.   Eighteen states are currently challenging the regulations who say, as well as others, that the new regulations are a federal intrusion upon states’ rights. “The order, issued on a 2-1 vote from the Cincinnati-based Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, was a preliminary boost for a group of 18 states that challenged the EPA regulation. The rule seeks to bring smaller bodies of water at the outer edges of watersheds under the Clean Water Act and was…

HousingWire is reporting that a real estate investor in Georgia recently pleaded guilty to conspiring to rig bids at foreclosure auctions in two Atlanta-area counties.  According to US Department of Justice the individual admitted conspiring with other real estate investors regarding bids in public foreclosure auctions. “After the foreclosure auctions closed, the individual and his co-conspirators would then hold private auctions amongst themselves for the targeted properties.” Click here to read the full story on HousingWire National REIA believes strongly in promoting “professional and ethical business practices that set standards of excellence.”