How much does it really cost to sell your home? Chances are -- more than you might think to cover the costs of repairs, upgrades, staging, commissions, and other fees. Real estate website Zillow and local services marketplace Thumbtack have come up with a figure that can help get you off to the right start.
Money magazine writes that Americans are expected to spend $327 billion dollars this year. And many of those dollars will be spent to spruce up a home before it’s put on the market.
For the full scoop, go to: NewsForInvestors.com
The single-family rental business isn’t letting a tight inventory get in the way. Some investors are buying up “new” properties to help meet the demand. They are paying a bit more money for new homes, but they say new homes come with their own financial benefits.
Bloomberg reports that as foreclosures become harder and harder to find, and demand remains strong for single-family rentals, investors are turning to new construction. The market for single-family rentals was born out of the financial crisis. Families who lost homes still wanted to live in similar detached homes, so investors began buying up foreclosed homes and renting them out.
For the full scoop, go to: NewsForInvestors.com
In this week’s Real Estate News in Brief, we have a new 2017 “low” for mortgage rates, a warning about gold prices, and a contest to improve Zillow’s controversial home valuation tool.
For the full scoop, go to: NewsForInvestors.com
#272 - News Brief - New low for mortgage rates, warning about gold prices and Zillow contest
The old American Dream maybe isn’t for everybody...at least if it comes with a mortgage. That's why a new American Dream seems to be taking shape in the land of the free - one that promotes a lifestyle without financial anchors or home repair responsibilities.
Zillow writes in a blog that owning is almost "twice" as affordable as renting but that while some former homeowners can't afford to get back into the game, others are thrilled to be renting. For them, gone are the worries that haunt homeowners such as roofs that leak and lawns that need mowing. When something goes wrong, they just call the landlord. They feel like they are on vacation as renters.
For the full scoop, go to: NewsForInvestors.com
We’re constantly hearing about the high price of homes in California, and how that’s driving people away, especially from the San Francisco Bay Area. If it’s true, where are all these people going?
Redfin did a migration study that could be very useful for real estate investors. Migration trends tell us where the demand for housing may be weakening, and where it may be growing. In this study, the metro with the biggest outflow of residents was the pricey Bay Area. There are several major destination metros for all those people, but the one that attracted most of those Bay Area expats was Sacramento, followed by several out-of-state locations.
For the full scoop, go to: NewsForInvestors.com
Millennials in China are living the American Dream of homeownership. A new survey shows that Chinese Millennials are almost twice as likely to own their own homes as young U.S. adults, but the reason behind this real estate trend is “not” what you might expect.
An HSBC survey shows that China has the highest rate of Millennial homeownership in the world -- at 70%. There is no other country with a Millennial homeownership rate above 46%, and that 46% is in Mexico. In the United States, just 35% of Millennials own homes.
For the full scoop, go to: NewsForInvestors.com
Last year, international investors spent $426.8 billion on cross-border transactions – basically, buying real estate in countries other than their own. And the United States is the recipient of the biggest share of those investing dollars by far. As real estate investors, how can we benefit from these big spenders?
When you hear numbers like $426 billion, it often pays to sit up and take notice – it literally pays, if you are a real estate investor. According to analysts at Tranio, an overseas property brokerage, the lion’s share of that money went to the United States in 2016. It also went largely to residential real estate.
For the full scoop, go to: NewsForInvestors.com
This week’s news brief will include what could be another “drop” in mortgage rates, a huge contingency of U.S. Realtors in Washington, D.C., and a warning about a DocuSign breach.
For the full scoop, go to: NewsForInvestors.com
#267 - News Brief - Another drop in mortgage rates?, Realtors in D.C. and Docusign breach
Builders are predicting that virtual reality will revolutionize the real estate industry. And for them, the impact could be huge. When the technology truly catches on, they will be able to sell homes before they are built, saving money on model homes, and getting their income stream flowing much sooner.
Consumers are dabbling in the technology now. You might hear about college students with a tight budget using this technology to virtually visit future housing options. Or home buyers who put on a pair of Goggles to virtually tour a home several states away.
For the full scoop, go to: NewsForInvestors.com
#266 - Virtual Reality Getting “Real” for Real Estate
Billionaire Warren Buffett is betting on something small in the real estate world. One of his Berkshire Hathaway subsidiaries is going mainstream with tiny homes. It’s an idea that caters to the minimalist lifestyle and affordable housing needs.
Clayton Homes unveiled a new line of tiny modular homes recently at a Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. The homes are less than 500 square feet and are designed for the minimalist lifestyle, but are made to “feel” large with vaulted ceilings and plenty of windows.
It’s an extension of a movement that’s been underway for a few years but has only more recently gained traction. Many people are now seeing the tiny home as a possible solution to high housing costs along with a desire to live more simply.
For the full scoop, go to: NewsForInvestors.com
Some people are calling this tech start-up the eHarmony of real estate. And, it’s about to expand its operations nationwide with $27 million dollars in new venture capital funding.
Opcity is a technology platform out of Austin, Texas, that sorts through online real estate inquiries to identify people who are ready to buy, or sell. It then delivers referrals or what it calls “warm transfers” to brokers and agents. The company claims the lead conversion ratio is 3 to 5 times better than industry standards. And it’s all done with no upfront costs. What real estate agent wouldn’t want that kind of help?
For the full scoop, go to: NewsForInvestors.com
If you’ve ever shaken your head at what Zillow’s “Zestimate” says about your property, you are not alone. One Illinois property owner, who’s also a lawyer, is suing Zillow because of that automated valuation tool. She says it’s inaccurate, and has become a huge roadblock in the sale of her home.
Barbara Andersen of Andersen Law LLC in Glenview, Illinois, filed the suit on April 27th, alleging that Zillow’s “Zestimate” provides a “sloppy, computer-driven appraisal” of her home. She says the “Zestimate” has repeatedly undervalued her home and has made it virtually impossible to sell it for its true value.
For the full scoop, go to: NewsForInvestors.com
We’ve heard a lot about millennials flocking to the city centers as they chase after jobs and the benefits of the sharing economy. But a new report shows that the biggest U.S. metros are experiencing a renter “boom” in the suburbs -- and RentCafe says suburban Atlanta is at the top of that list.
The RentCafe report says it looked at Census data for a 5-year period, from 2011 through 2015. And, it found that urban centers have not gained as many renters as we’ve come to believe. In fact, it says the numbers show that suburban areas gained substantially more renter households than their urban counterparts in 19 out of the 20 metros it reviewed.
For the full scoop, go to: NewsForInvestors.com
Ha! Got your attention with that headline!
But here's what I meant: when it comes to owning a home, women are winning the gender race - at least among singles. A recent report leaves some clues as to whom your future homebuyers may be.
According to Pew Research, nearly one in every five home sales have gone to single women this year. Compare that to single men, who represent fewer than one in 10 homebuyers.
What’s the explanation for this?
Find out at NewsForInvestors.com
With more and more websites showing available properties for sale, are we looking at the death of the MLS? One article on the topic actually featured a picture of a mushroom cloud. If the days of MLS are really over, how would that affect the real estate industry?
In the past, long ago before the internet and before websites like realtor.com and Zillow existed, real estate agents and brokers had near complete control over available inventory. If you wanted to buy a home back then, you’d either have to drive around looking for for sale signs, check out newspaper ads and real estate magazines, or walk into a brokerage.
For the full scoop, go to: NewsForInvestors.com
The repeal of a law that protects California landlords is now on hold until next year, after fierce opposition from landlords. Assembly Bill 1506 would do away with statewide rules that exempt new construction and single-family homes from rent control. But who does that really hurt?
If you haven’t heard it by name, the rule that helps make it possible to survive as a landlord in California is the 1995 Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act. Key features include rent control exemption for units built after 1995 and exemption from any kind of rent control for single family homes across California. It also requires that local rent control rules contain a “vacancy decontrol” provision. That makes it possible to raise the rent to market rates during the vacancy gap between tenants.
For the full scoop, go to: NewsForInvestors.com
The Commerce Department’s latest report on the Gross National Product was dismal. It shows that the national economy only inched along at .7% annual growth during the first quarter. That could be a random hiccup along our slow and steady road to recovery. After all, we hit the 2.1% GDP mark in quarter four of last year.
Economists say GDP is just one of several indicators. With Treasury yields falling, they say the bond market has been flashing signs of trouble for a few months. Automakers are reporting a fourth straight month of slow sales. Retailers are shutting stores. They have trimmed the national retail workforce by about 90,000 employees since October. Regional banks are reporting the first decrease in lending since the beginning of 2013. And that’s just a short list of indicators.
For the full scoop, go to: NewsForInvestors.com
While the stock market has been booming since Donald Trump won the presidential election, bank lending has been slowing down. Bloomberg reports that the nation’s 15 largest regional banks posted a drop in loans for the first time in four years. And it reports, that almost all those banks missed analysts’ estimates for lending. Is this cause for concern?
The stock market has been hitting record high numbers since President Trump took office. Many people call it the “Trump bump” because stock investors have been motivated by the President’s pro-growth, pro-business agenda, and promised policy changes. But for banks, it seems that bump is more of a slump.
For the full scoop, go to: NewsForInvestors.com
Scammers continue to swindle unsuspecting property owners out of their homes, in a way that is now being referred to as “Dirty Deeds”. It’s a crime that has risen from the ashes of the housing crisis, and continues to haunt cities and homeowners across the nation. don’t let it be you!
Deed theft can appear in many forms, but is often associated with foreclosure rescue scams. Property owners making a last ditch effort to save their homes will enter into what they think is a mortgage restructuring plan, but later, they find out they signed their title over to someone else.
The Associated Press writes that these rescue scams has been particularly troublesome in New York, where home values are skyrocketing. Dina Levy of the Homeowner Protection Program in the New York attorney general’s office told the Associated Press: “The scammers are no longer content with stealing $5,000. Now they want the whole house.”
For the full scoop, go to: NewsForInvestors.com
Does your home or investment property benefit from a good walk score? Walkability is becoming more important in the quality of life equation, and that makes it important for real estate investors.
Redfin came up with a way to value Walk Scores. It compared sales prices to Walk Score ratings for one million homes. Based on that research, it says one Walk Score point is worth an average $3,250 or .9% But the added value varies wildly from city to city.
For the full scoop, go to: NewsForInvestors.com
It’s something we haven’t seen in 11 years. The latest report from the Census Bureau shows that homeownership rose faster than renter households during the first quarter of this year. Should real estate rental investors be worried?
The Census Bureau’s Homeownership and Vacancy Survey shows a homeownership rate of 63.6% during the first quarter of 2017. That’s up slightly from a year ago when it was 63.5% but it’s down from 63.7% in the fourth quarter of last year.
What Trulia Chief Economist Ralph McLaughlin noted after the report’s release, was that new owner-occupied households were more than double those of new renter households. And this is a phenomenon that hasn’t happened since 2006, prior to the housing meltdown.
For the full scoop, go to: NewsForInvestors.com