Author: Brad Beckett

The New York Times is reporting that smoking would be prohibited in public housing nationwide under a rule recently proposed by the US Department of Housing & Urban Development.  The proposal would affect nearly one million households and open the latest front in the long-running campaign to curb unwanted exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke. It would require housing agencies to prohibit lit cigarettes, cigars & pipes in all living units, indoor common areas, administrative offices and all outdoor areas within 25 feet of housing and administrative office buildings. The rule would not apply initially to electronic cigarettes, but federal officials…

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the US Labor Department’s final rule on overtime eligibility isn’t likely to appear before late 2016.  This sentiment was reportedly expressed by Solicitor of Labor Patricia Smith at a recent panel discussion. The issue was in the news back in August when the Labor Department opened it up for comments that were due in early September.  Reportedly, over 270k individuals & organizations have submitted comments on the proposed change, which was more than three times the number received the last time the rules were changed. The rule was expected to go into effect…

Real estate data services giant CoreLogic recently released it’s September 2015 National Foreclosure Report showing that September’s foreclosure inventory was down 24.3% and completed foreclosures declined by 17.6% compared with September 2014 Some key takeaways: The five states with the highest number of completed foreclosures ALSO happened to account for  almost half of all completed foreclosures nationally: Florida (91k) Michigan (45k) Texas (32k) Georgia (26k) California (26k) The four states and the District of Columbia had the lowest number of completed foreclosures for the 12 months ending in September 2015 were: District of Columbia (69), North Dakota (310), Wyoming (498),…

According to an article in The Real Deal, New York City’s government may soon make it harder for landlords to screen potential tenants.   Reports say proposal would prevent building owners from using credit scores, information about medical debt, consumer debt judgements and debts sent to collections when selecting tenants. Click here to read the full story

According to data extracted from ColdwellBanker’s 2015 listing report, the 5 most expensive housing markets are in California and the 5 most affordable find themselves on the other side of the country.  Their annual report also includes market data for more than 2,700 real estate markets nationwide, analyzing more than 81k similar-sized four-bedroom, two-bathroom homes.  The report includes rankings of the most expensive and affordable markets in all 50 states. Highlights: Most Expensive: 1. Newport Beach, California.  Average listing price: $2,291,764 2.  Palo Alto, California.  Average listing price: $2,066,600 3.  Saratoga, California.  Average listing price: $1,979,218 4.   Cupertino, California.  Average…

The National Association of Realtors recently released their 2015 Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers.  This annual survey provides insight into detailed information about the experiences of home buyers & sellers. Below are highlights from this latest report: 30% said the primary reason for purchasing a home was the desire to own a home of their own First-time buyers – 32% (lowest since 1987 at 30%) Home size – 1,620 sq. ft. (first-timers); 2,020 sq. ft. (repeat buyers) Cost – $170,000 (first-timers); $246,400 (repeat buyers) Type of home – single-family (83%), townhouse or row house (7%), condo (3%), other (7%)…

According to various reports, the guarantee fees (g-fees) charged by Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac to guarantee loans will likely not go to pay for new roads, after the US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to remove a controversial portion of a massive $325 billion transportation bill that would have used g-fees to offset the costs.  The amendment, put forth by Rep. Randy Neugebauer, (R-TX), and Bill Huizenga, (R-MI), passed 354-72.   The full version of the bill passed the House by a vote of 363-64. The Senate passed their own version of the bill back in July that contained language…

In a fun play on a popular phrase from the movie “Dumb & Dumber,” Inman is reporting locations where “Where home-flipping profits flow like wine And the millennials flock like the salmon of Capistrano.”  Indeed….What they really mean are the top places to “flip to millennials.”  Some takeaways: Home flipping has undergone a bit of a resurgence in 2015 thanks, at least in part, to a surge in low down payment FHA buyers, many of whom are millennials looking for their first home. The share of buyers using FHA loans increased 31 percent during the same time period, from 17.9…

CoreLogic’s latest US Home Price Index Report says that home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased 6.4% in September compared with September ’14 and increased by 0.6% in September compared with August ’15. “After nearly 10 years of very high home price volatility, home price increases have been remarkably stable for the last 15 months, ranging between a 4.8 percent and 6.5 percent year-over-year increase,” said Sam Khater, deputy chief economist for CoreLogic. “Home price volatility is now back to the long-term trend prior to the boom and bust which is a good barometer of the market’s stability and health.”…

The new domain “.rent” went live last week as a domain registration name as a marketing tool for the real estate industry – particularly those with rental properties.   BloovianPrime reports that the company behind the .rent domain is run Daniel Negari, who has extensive experience in commercial real estate. “Although real estate is a well developed and booming industry, property owners have been constrained by a limited number of naming options, until now” says Negari. “Every owner or broker should have the opportunity to utilize industry-relevant domains to attract new tenants and grow their businesses. .rent web addresses are the…