Real Estate News: Real Estate Investing Podcast

The Small Business Administration says it has begun PPP loan forgiveness after some frustrating delays. The Paycheck Protection Program was introduced in April, and tens of thousands of small business owners have been waiting to have those loans forgiven. Banks say the process for converting loans into grants has been complicated, but the SBA says it now expects to move quickly on the approval and payoff of those loans. www.NewsForInvestors.com

There's a new twist on the old timeshare. It's a start-up called Pacaso that takes the timeshare model and expands it to something closer to owning your own single-family vacation home. Instead of owning a second home and all the costs that go along with it, Pacaso finds co-owners to share the expense. Scheduling for use of the home is flexible, and allows for much greater access than a timeshare. And, Pacaso takes care of all the management. www.NewsForInvestors.com

Home buyers searching for affordable markets may be changing the political landscape. A new Realtor.com analysis shows that blue state home buyers are searching for new homes in red states. It's unclear if these search results represent actual migrations, but they could indicate a shift in voter preferences for several important swing states. And that could have an impact on the upcoming presidential election. www.NewsForInvestors.com

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending October 3rd, 2020... the sale of new homes hit a big milestone in September, small business owners are feeling optimistic about survival, and why the daily commute could be gone for good. We begin with economic news from this past week that has been overshadowed by news that President Trump tested positive for the coronavirus. www.NewsForInvestors.com

Official reports on consumer prices show that inflation is on the low side, but the true cost of living feels a little different. The cost of things that people are actually buying have risen sharply during the pandemic -- things like food, cleaning products, used cars, medical care, and real estate. Although the Fed feels that we're likely to see an extended period of low inflation, some economists say "inflation is already here." At least one financing expert is also predicting that this low mortgage rate bonanza is about to end. www.NewsForInvestors.com

Many people have reported an unusual side effect of the pandemic. They say they've been having more intense dreams than normal, and can often remember them when they wake up. Sleep experts call them "quarandreams." And oddly enough, many of them are focused on "real estate." Sleep experts say it's not surprising that people are dreaming more vividly right now. It could be due to more stress because of the virus, more time to sleep without interruption, or less noise to interfere with sleep. Or maybe something else entirely. But the real estate-focused subject matter may be something to pay attention to because a house often represents our current emotional state. And according to experts, dreams are a way we send a message to ourselves about what we may want or need. In this case, Realtor.com teamed up with author and sleep analyst, Layne Dalfen, to come up with a list of common real estate dreams and what they might mean. www.NewsForInvestors.com

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending September 26th, 2020... home sales hit new highs, remote workers head south, and a new color-of-the-year for your wall. We begin with economic news from this past week, and testimony from Fed Chief Jerome Powell that rattled stock investors. As you know, Wall Street doesn't like uncertainty, and that's what Powell dished up for members of Congress last Tuesday. www.NewsForInvestors.com

The presence of a Whole Foods on the ground level of an apartment building provides a big bump in rental rates for landlords. There's a new study that shows renters will pay a premium to live so close to a high-end grocery store. The so-called "premium grocer effect" also applies to single-family neighborhoods with an impact on home prices and equity, if there's a favorite grocery store nearby. www.NewsForInvestors.com

Existing home inventory is down. It's gotten much worse since the start of the pandemic. Realtor.com says there are almost 400,000 fewer homes on the MLS than there were at the same time last year. The lack of inventory is pushing home prices higher, and reducing the number of days it takes to sell a home. That's pushing many homebuyers and investors into the new home market. www.NewsForInvestors.com

The pandemic has turned many office employees into remote workers, and for some, that could mean the freedom to move to a new, less expensive location. Some businesses are even encouraging employees to move, with a bonus. But there is a catch. Employees who move to a place with a lower cost of living, may also get a pay cut, and that's not sitting well with some of them. Payment processing company Stripe is one company that is encouraging employees to move. It has offices in 16 cities around the globe and almost 3,000 employees. It's giving $20,000 to employees who move from some of the bigger cities like San Francisco, New York, and Seattle, but is also telling them they'll get a 10% pay cut. The pay cut will correspond to a lower cost of living in the city they move to. www.NewsForInvestors.com

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending September 19th, 2020... the Federal Reserve offers an improved 2020 forecast for U.S. economic growth, empty nesters are getting their adult kids back, and the Detroit rental market has gotten "wacky." We begin with economic news from this past week, and an update on economic policy from the Federal Reserve. The Fed said in a statement it expects to keep short-term bank rates near zero until the end of 2023, and that inflation would have to rise above 2% for "some time" before rates are increased. www.NewsForInvestors.com

A decline in rent growth for single-family homes brought on by the pandemic appears to have stabilized. The CoreLogic Single-Family Rent Index shows that it moved higher in July at a year-over-year rate of 1.7%. It had sunk to 1.4% in June. While that's good for the nation, metros vary and some have more catching up to do than others. The pandemic swept across the country in February, forcing businesses to close and leaving a huge number of people unemployed. Many single-family landlords lowered their rents to keep tenants in place. That brought a steady rate of rental increases in the SFR marketplace to a much lower level. According to data from CoreLogic, they were rising at an average of 2.9% during the first quarter of the year. From there, they slide to 1.7% in May and then 1.4% in June. www.NewsForInvestors.com

There was a slight uptick in foreclosure filings in the U.S. as the pandemic continues and an agreement on a new stimulus to help ailing homeowners has stalled. Real estate data firm CoreLogic released a report that shows serious delinquencies spiked in June. Without government assistance or major job market improvement by the end of the year, those delinquencies could turn into foreclosures. The CoreLogic report shows that 2.9% percent of U.S. home loans were overdue by 90 to 119 days in June. That's the highest they've been in 21 years, according to CoreLogic's chief economist Frank Nothaft. He says: "If there are new government programs, maybe that alleviates some of the risks, but given what we know today, we could be looking at a serious delinquency rate that is four times higher at the end of 2021 than it was before the start of the pandemic." www.NewsForInvestors.com

A national eviction ban is now in place that protects tenants for the rest of the year without offering any help for landlords. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced it as an emergency health measure to prevent the further spread of COVID-19. But it does little to solve the problem of unpaid rent for landlords, who have bills to pay, or tenants, who face a giant balloon payment when the moratorium expires. The CDC order went into effect on September 4th and runs through December 31st. That gives tenants a four-month reprieve from their rent obligations, if they don't have the means to pay. Local eviction bans that provide equal or greater protection for tenants take precedence, so properties already covered by a COVID-19 eviction ban, are likely exempt from the national ban. www.NewsForInvestors.com

Corporate landlords are defying the federal eviction ban with a surge in new filings. According to one report, institutional landlords filed more than 900 eviction cases in eight metro areas during the week after the ban was announced. The ban attempts to protect tenants who can't pay their rent because of the pandemic, but the moratorium is not preventing landlords from challenging tenant claims about their finances. The Private Equity Stakeholder Project was already tracking evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic before the CDC announced a national moratorium on evictions, and that in early August, the big landlords had only filed 165 eviction claims. The organization attempts to connect investors with the people and communities that are impacted by private equity investments. www.NewsForInvestors.com

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending September 12th, 2020... mortgage rates dipped into record territory once again, apartment rent collection numbers, and a housing market that is on a "sugar high." We begin with economic news from this past week, and a mixed report on the job market. The number of people applying for jobless benefits rose slightly this last week. Continuing claims were also slightly higher than they were the week before. But, the government reported a 1.4 million increase in newly created jobs, and an unemployment rate that fell from 10.2% to 8.4%. www.NewsForInvestors.com

The pandemic is not dampening enthusiasm for Crystal Lagoons. In fact, the Crystal Lagoons company says it's expanding its model for lagoons built for public access, and expects post-pandemic demand to rise. It says people will want to enjoy a vacation-like atmosphere without going on a plane. At Real Wealth, we are looking forward to the 2020 opening of a lagoon connected with one of our developments in Florida. We've been excited about Crystal Lagoons since they were first introduced several years ago as a way to create a tropical beach paradise of any size on just about any piece of property in the world. They change the real estate concept of location, location, location to "wherever you want to build," because these lagoons "create" a location. www.NewsForInvestors.com

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending September 5th, 2020... upbeat reports on new jobs and unemployment, another nationwide eviction moratorium, and a pandemic-inspired boom in the purchase of second homes. We have the latest economic news from this past week, and some good news about the job market and residential construction. But, overshadowing those headlines is an announcement from the federal government for a new nationwide eviction moratorium. www.NewsForInvestors.com

Some California landlords say a new tenant protection law increases their risk of foreclosure, although the new law is better than the one it replaces. Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB-3088 on August 31st just hours before previous eviction moratoriums expired. Because it includes an emergency clause, it went into effect right away, protecting tenants for another five months. Newsom approved the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act of 2020 after "feverish" negotiations by lawmakers and landlord groups. They hammered out AB-3088 as a compromise bill while the clock ticked down on the deadline. Without a deal, the Sacramento Bee says as many as four million California tenants would have been at risk of eviction, for unpaid rent. www.NewsForInvestors.com

Lumber has become a sizzling hot commodity during the pandemic, and when commodities sizzle, so does the price tag. The cost of lumber has shot sky high since April, and that's adding thousands on to the cost of new homes and renovations. For some, it isn't a matter of price. It's a matter of whether you can get the lumber you need. In a report by Fortune, research by Random Lengths shows that lumber prices have soared 134% year-over-year due to a lumber shortage and high demand. www.NewsForInvestors.com

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending August 29th, 2020... the Fed unveils a new monetary policy that will allow higher inflation, home sales surge to the highest level since 2006, and the FHFA announced a delay in the new fee on refinance loans. We begin with economic news from this past week, and a new inflation control strategy from the Federal Reserve. Fed officials unveiled the new policy this last week after approval by all 17 committee members. The Fed will now shoot for an "average inflation target" of 2%. www.NewsForInvestors.com

The pandemic isn't the only reason that demand is growing for single-family rentals, but it is one of them. And with an already tight supply of existing homes that can be turned into single-family rentals, the build-to-rent strategy is gaining momentum. There's a new report out from RCLCO Real Estate Advisors that says that demand for single-family rentals will likely outstrip supply for the next ten years, creating "a strong opportunity" for developers, builders, and investors. www.NewsForInvestors.com

The CEOs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are responding to a massive backlash over an unexpected refinancing fee. In a letter to lenders, they wrote that the uproar was unwarranted, saying it won't make much of a difference to a homeowner's monthly payment. And the fee will help the mortgage guarantee companies continue their work of helping others. If you haven't heard of the fee yet, it's a half point surcharge on the cost of a refi that takes effect on September 1st. For the average $280,000 refi, that's about $1400 added into the amount that is being financed. www.NewsForInvestors.com

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending August 22nd, 2020... home sales are soaring, rent collection is near normal, and Airbnb bans party homes. We begin with economic news from this past week, and lawmakers that are still battling it out over a new stimulus package. An agreement could be reached soon that includes another $1,200 stimulus check, but the two sides are still about $1 trillion apart on the total amount of a deal. Still being debated are the unemployment bonus, the extension of eviction moratoriums, and new funding for schools and local governments. The Republicans are calling their proposal the Heals Act while the Democrats are calling theirs the Heroes Act. www.NewsForInvestors.com

The job market is undergoing a big transformation right now because of the coronavirus. Many businesses have adopted work-from-home policies, for at least the near term, to keep the virus from spreading at the office. The situation has raised questions about whether we'll see businesses resurrect an upgraded version of the office workspace, and for one big company, that answer appears to be "yes." www.NewsForInvestors.com

We typically steer away from politics in this podcast but a change in the presidency could bring about tax changes that impact real estate investors and high-income taxpayers. Some of our listeners have requested a podcast on what Democratic nominee Joe Biden is proposing if he becomes president, so I thought I'd dedicate this podcast to what we know of his plan. www.NewsForInvestors.com

The death of a California real estate investor has uncovered what appears to be a 30-year-old Ponzi scheme and hundreds of victims who don't know if or when they'll get their money back. Kenneth Casey died suddenly of a heart attack in May which led to a post-death audit and the discovery of financial irregularities at his two companies. In addition to an SEC investigation, investors are now hoping that a bankruptcy filing will help them recover some of the millions that they have invested. www.NewsForInvestors.com

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending August 15th, 2020... a new pandemic low for jobless claims, the kind of homes that are pricing higher, and a poll on the future of Social Security. We begin with economic news from this past week, and a stalemate in Congress over a new round of stimulus relief. Both sides are blaming the other for the hold-up while millions of Americans are coming up short on money they need to pay bills. www.NewsForInvestors.com

Refinancing your home just got more expensive. In the midst of the current mortgage refinancing boom because of low rates, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac just announced a new half point fee. They say it's the result of market uncertainty, but real estate and mortgage industry leaders say it's a money grab that's happening at a very bad time for homeowners. The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced the fee on August 12th saying there would be a new half point fee on most loans backed by Fannie and Freddie starting next month. www.NewsForInvestors.com

Millennials are now the largest generation, and their homebuying years are underway, but they are behind the eight ball when it comes to having the money to purchase a home. Born between 1981 and 1996, they are dealing with their second financial crisis, and many haven't recovered yet from the first one. According to some financial experts, this second career slump could keep them from generating the same kind of wealth as past generations. It may also keep many of them in rental housing for much longer than they expected. www.NewsForInvestors.com

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending August 8th, 2020... some positive news about mortgage rates, a new disclosure rule for landlords, and where people "hide out" at home. We begin with economic news from this past week that is highlighted by negotiations in Congress for a new economic stimulus package. At the time this podcast was written, the two sides were at an impasse, the $600-a-week unemployment bonus had expired, and eviction moratoriums were ending. www.NewsForInvestors.com

As millions of Americans remain out of work and forbearance programs expire, there are new predictions about a surge in foreclosures. An analysis by ATTOM Data Solutions shows that foreclosures could more than double in the next year because of delinquent loan payments. The analysis includes best to worst case scenarios with the middle case showing a rise from 145,000 current foreclosures to about 336,000 in quarter two of next year. www.NewsForInvestors.com

If you are a real estate investor, you've probably thought about climate change and how it may impact your portfolio. We've been warned about rising sea levels, storm surges, more severe hurricanes, and more destructive wildfires, but one future risk that hasn't gotten as much attention is the risk of a water shortage in areas that don't get much rain or snow. According to a new risk assessment study by the Blackrock Investment Institute, it's a financial risk that many investors may not be factoring into their portfolios. www.NewsForInvestors.com

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending August 1st, 2020… we have a sharp drop in the gross domestic product, a real estate market that defies gravity, and a new way to feel like you are taking a vacation with your laptop. We begin with economic news from this past week, and a new record for the U.S. GDP, but not in a good way. The government says the gross domestic product dropped a whopping 32.9% from April to June, on an annualized basis. That's the worst drop in GDP ever, with the closest being in mid-1921. www.NewsForInvestors.com

The pandemic is changing the way people think about money, and how much they feel they need to be wealthy. The Charles Schwab 2020 Modern Wealth Survey was taken in January of this year, before the U.S. was hit by the pandemic, and again in June, several months after the pandemic began. The results reveal changes in both attitudes and behavior, when it comes to money. More than half of the people who participated in the survey say COVID-19 has had a financial impact on them or a close family member. But the sudden economic uncertainty that the pandemic has created, is also having a good effect on how people are handing their money. www.NewsForInvestors.com

If you've thought about buying real estate in a self-directed Roth IRA but would like to get more money into that account, 2020 may be the year to do a Roth IRA conversion from a traditional IRA or 401k. The conversion will trigger a tax event, but due to current circumstances, you might save a bundle of money doing that conversion this year. www.NewsForInvestors.com

Millions of U.S. properties are at substantial risk of flooding, and some say that risk is growing due to climate change. But it hasn't been easy to determine a property's flood risk. Many states don't have flood history disclosure requirements, and FEMA maps don't tell the whole story. A non-profit academic research group hopes to close that information gap with a new visualization tool that calculates flood risk for 142 million properties across the U.S. www.NewsForInvestors.com

Demand for warehouse space is skyrocketing as more and more people shop online, and that is providing another option for struggling malls. Mall owners with vacant space on their hands or retailers with an online presence are turning retail space into warehouse space for e-commerce. And there's plenty of room for this trend to fly. A new report from commercial real estate services firm JLL says we may need another 1 billion square feet of warehouse space by 2025. www.NewsForInvestors.com

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending July 25th, 2020... numbers surge for both new and existing home sales, first-time homebuyers may get penalty-free access to retirement accounts, and critics pounce on Airbnb's request for donations. We begin with economic news from this past week, and a real estate market that is not bogged down by the coronavirus. The Commerce Department reported that the pace of new home sales surged 13.8% in June. That's the highest level in 13 years. www.NewsForInvestors.com

An Iowa landlord got caught in an impossible situation. He said "yes" to an emotional support dog, and that dog ended up bothering another tenant who had allergies. The allergic tenant sued because she rented the apartment with the understanding that no pets were allowed, and the court sided with her because she was there first. The case itself has an important lesson for landlords dealing with the conflicting needs of its tenants. This has not been an easy dispute to resolve. The case worked its way to the Iowa Supreme court where Chief Justice Susan Christensen acknowledged that the landlord got himself into a "pickle" trying to satisfy the needs of both tenants. www.NewsForInvestors.com

A crowdfunding company that raised hundreds of millions of dollars from thousands of investors appears to have fallen into a black hole. Prodigy Network was already on shaky ground financially when founder Rodrigo Niño died a few months ago. And now, it's not clear who's running the company. The website is still blazing a message of prosperity, but calls and emails are going unanswered. www.NewsForInvestors.com

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending July 18th, 2020... home construction is booming for a second month in a row, mortgage rates are at a 50-year low, and drive-in theaters are popping up across the country. We begin with economic news from this past week, and a housing market that is rebounding nicely from the pandemic. The Commerce Department reported that housing starts continued a surge that began in May. They were up 17.3% in June, after a 17% increase in May... www.NewsForInvestors.com

If you want to stretch your real estate investing dollars as far as you can, you may want to look at Detroit. Motor City is the number one large metro for the amount of residential square footage you can get for your money. You might run into some competition as a summer buyer however. There are reports that the Detroit real estate market is booming right now, despite concerns about the pandemic. www.NewsForInvestors.com

Mortgage rates have never been this low. Freddie Mac reported on July 16th that the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell below the 3% mark to just 2.98%. That's the lowest they've been in the 50 years that rates have been tracked. Those low rates are great for buyers, but they are also the results of the current crisis. Mortgage rates tend to drop when investors pour money into the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond. When there's more demand from investors buying up Treasurys, bond prices rise as yields go down (just like in real estate, when prices rise and cash flows decline). Investors who typically buy bonds also buy mortgage-backed securities for the same reason -- for safety, even if the return is lower. www.NewsForInvestors.com

Multi-millionaires around the world are renewing their call for a wealth tax. This time, they say it's needed to help heal the world from this pandemic. There are 83 ultra-wealthy individuals who signed an open letter this last week, asking their respective governments to raise taxes for people like them. They call themselves "Millionaires for Humanity" and say this tax should be imposed "immediately, substantially, and permanently." www.NewsForInvestors.com

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending July 11th, 2020... new record-low mortgage rates, where rents are rising, and what to expect from home prices. We begin with economic news for the past week, and some progress on getting back to work. The Labor Department reported that initial jobless claims hit a seasonally-adjusted four-month low of 1.31 million. That's down from 1.41 million the week before last. Those figures don't include benefits handed out through a temporary federal-relief program or state programs. If you include those figures, the total number of people receiving benefits is more like 31.5 million. www.NewsForInvestors.com

Businesses large and small lined up for the government's Paycheck Protection Program, and now many of them may be lining up for an audit. The program was designed to help companies that were hurt by the coronavirus with loans that are forgivable if employees are kept on the payroll. But loans were approved quickly, without a lot of documentation, and now many businesses may have to prove that they truly meet the loan criteria, or give the money back. www.NewsForInvestors.com

Two national reports on rent collection show that most tenants are meeting their rent obligations, although the results are slightly lower than last month. Eviction moratoriums are also being lifted in some markets, making it possible for landlords to address a difficult financial situation with an eviction, if needed. The National Multi-Housing Council keeps track of rent collection for apartments. In the Council's rent collection report for July, it says that 77.4 percent of renters made a full or partial rent payment by July 6th. Property managers usually give renters five days to pay their rent, so they can report "on time" payments by the 6th. www.NewsForInvestors.com

The latest jobs report shows a stunning 4.8 million jobs were added back into the economy in June. That's on top of 2.5 million jobs that were added in May. Both represent the two biggest monthly gains in U.S. history. Although they "shattered expectations" as the White House wrote in a headline, there's more to know about the status of the current job market. The COVID-19 pandemic that shut down our economy put 22.2 million people out of work during the first two months of the crisis. The addition of 8.3 million jobs in the last two months is an impressive turnaround, but it still leaves millions of formerly employed people without a job. www.NewsForInvestors.com

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending the Fourth of July 2020... market optimism after a report on pending home sales, good news about jobs, and a new FICO score that could help borrowers with below-average scores. We begin with economic news from this past week, and a report on pending home sales that sent the stock market soaring. They were up a record 44.3% from April to May, according to the National Association of Realtors. That's the largest monthly increase ever. It also followed two months of serious declines, but is evidence of what some economists say will be a "V"-shaped recovery for the housing market. www.NewsForInvestors.com