Articles

Ready to get your read on? Dive into the article archive to help you build wealth through real estate investing. We feature top subject matter experts exploring every facet of the industry.

Articles

Ready to get your read on? Dive into the article archive to help you build wealth through real estate investing. We feature top subject matter experts exploring every facet of the industry.

Metrorealestate

Firm Commits 100,000 Hours of Community Services to Hurricane-Ravaged New Bern

When you searched “New Bern, North Carolina” years ago, you’d turn up fun historical facts or photos of the quaint town of 30,000 people. Now, the results aren’t so rosy. Peppered among visitor's information are images of Hurricane Florence’s devastation, stories of stranded people and data on the millions of ...
Opportunity Zones

Opportunity Zones: Prime Investing Opportunities in Amazon HQ2 Markets

The new Opportunity Zones created by the tax reform legislation passed in December 2017 provide real estate investors with prime, tax-incented investing opportunities, particularly if they can find zones that are in the path of progress. The newly announced Amazon HQ2 markets certainly qualify as being in the path of ...
Austin real estate

Taste of Texas: Austin Real Estate Market

Everything’s big in Texas, including the foreclosure auctions. A total of 27,324 Texas properties were scheduled for public foreclosure auction in the first 11 months of 2018, the most of any state and accounting for one in 10 scheduled foreclosure auctions nationwide, according to ATTOM Data Solutions. Texas foreclosure auctions ...
ATTOM Report Reveals Where Renting is More Affordable than Buying

ATTOM Report Reveals Where Renting is More Affordable than Buying

Renting is cheaper than buying a home in a majority of the largest U.S. counties, according to a recent ATTOM Data Solutions study on rental affordability. Renting a three-bedroom home is more affordable than buying a median-priced home in 442 of 755 U.S. counties — roughly 59 percent — that ...
Office Depot

Office Depot Pilots New Coworking Space

In an effort to expand their offerings and tap into an emerging commercial real estate trend, Office Depot may soon become an easy spot for real estate investors to get work done on the go (and print some postcards and yard signs at the same time!). In partnership with Proximity, ...
Neighborhood Housing Slowdown

Housing Slowdown Isn’t Stopping Prices in these Hot Markets

Thanks in part to rising interest rates, home prices have slowed down in about 70 percent of the 200 largest housing markets, according to Realtor Magazine. But while many homebuyers are pleased with that development, sellers in several metros are still enjoying double-digit annual price growth. “Even with the deceleration ...
Frozen Pipe polar vortex

As Polar Vortex Arrives, Protect Your Home from Extreme Temps

Frigid temperatures spurred on by what’s known as a polar vortex have Midwestern real estate investors and homeowners scrambling to prepare their properties for the extreme weather. As the polar vortex pushed temperatures in Chicago to 21 degrees below zero on Wednesday, homeowners would be wise to take precautions against ...
U.S. Treasury Department

Realtors Thrilled with Ruling that Protects Valuable Tax Deduction

Real estate professionals are lauding a ruling from the U.S. Treasury Department that enables them to enjoy a valuable tax deduction. The Treasury and IRS recently issued their final regulations regarding the qualified business income rule within the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The new regulations provide more clarity to ...
Report: Top Ten Cities That Homeowners Don’t Want to Leave

Report: Top Ten Cities That Homeowners Don’t Want to Leave

As a lack of home inventory and rising prices remain a challenge for buyers, many people are opting to stay put in their homes. And thanks to a recent study from LendingTree, we now know the cities in which people are particularly inclined to stay put for a long time ...
2018 Foreclosure Rates

ATTOM Report: 2018 Foreclosure Rates Hit a 13-Year Low

Foreclosures’ presence in U.S. housing continues to shrink, according to new data from ATTOM Data Solutions. Foreclosure filings were reported on 624,753 U.S. properties in 2018, down 8 percent from 2017, according to ATTOM’s Year-End 2018 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. The nearly 625,000 foreclosures in 2018 are down about 78 ...
Networking web

Lead Generation through Networking

As an entrepreneur, business owner and Think Realty-sponsored racecar driver, I not only understand racecars, but I appreciate the work that goes into building and maintaining them. Even though I feel guilty if I am not in the shop helping the team, my Crew Chief always reminds me: the best ...
Existing-home sales

As Shutdown Looms, Mortgage Rates Ding Existing-Home Sales

Despite two prior months of consecutive growth, existing-home sales dipped at the end of 2018. Total existing-home sales — which are completed transactions for single-family homes, townhomes, condos, and co-ops — decreased 6.4 percent from November to December, according to the National Association of  Realtors’ existing-home sales report that was ...
Home Inspections

Planning for a Home Inspection (Case Study)

You have cleaned both the inside and the outside of your house to make it attractive to buyers. You may have even gotten rid of a few things. But don’t forget to prepare for the home inspection. Whether a buyer is planning to own or rent a house, he or ...
Report: Despite Lag, Millennials Will Soon Be Driving Force of Home Buying

Report: Despite Lag, Millennials Will Soon Be Driving Force of Home Buying

Thanks to crushing student debt, stagnate wages and the 2008 housing market crash, Millennials have been wary to jump into homeownership. But as Millennials get older, their desire and plans to own homes remain constant, according to a recent report from Clever Real Estate. About 84 percent of Millennials believe ...
WorkingwithAgents web

Building Your Investor Network with a Realtor

Working with a real estate agent is a great way for investors to diversify their lead sources, and get access to deals before they even hit the market. Successful relationships with agents take a special set of skills. Since agents are used to working with owner-occupants who are often more ...
Competitive Real Estate Market Denver

Surprising Cities Land on Most Competitive Real Estate Markets List

Though prices are cooling across the United States, there are still many metros that are extremely competitive for buyers, according to a recent analysis by LendingTree. LendingTree analyzed credit scores, the share of buyers shopping for a mortgage before finding the house the want, and average down payments in the ...
Commercial web

Banks Still Want to Lend

It seems like everyone, from the investors I meet at local meetups to the national news media, is talking about interest rates going up. In fact, I sometimes feel as if we have been talking about this for almost 10 years now. While it is certainly true that interest rates ...
Gov shutdown opportunity zones

Gov Shutdown Worries Investors Eyeing Opportunity Zone Tax Incentives

As the U.S. government shutdown drags into its 28th day, real estate investors are growing concerned with the future of the opportunity-zone tax incentives that are a part of the nation’s new tax plan. Regulatory uncertainty amid the shutdown has cast doubt on the programs, whose primary aim is to incentivize ...
Motili Leads Sustainable Overhaul of Large Student Housing Facility

Motili Leads Sustainable Overhaul of Large Student Housing Facility

Proptech company Motili is helping bring one of the most sustainable and energy-efficient HVAC systems to a large student housing community in Georgia. The Denver-based company recently announced that it’s working with the Cardinal Group to comprehensively retrofit the HVAC system for Westmar Lofts, a nearly 400-unit student housing community ...
Note Investing

Note Investing from Afar

Would you buy real estate hundreds of miles away from home? Most people would say, “No way!” Would you buy a real estate note hundreds of miles away from home? Before you say, “No way!” think about this: call the note a “stock” and you wouldn’t care where the real ...
Content marketing

Content Builds Expertise and Generates Leads

| Abhi Golhar | Article | Operations
A comprehensive content strategy is critical for the success of any content marketing initiative, especially for real estate investors, agents and entrepreneurs to showcase their expertise in their field. Most importantly, content marketing is absolutely essential for lead generation—one of the most critical aspects of success in real estate investing ...
TaxBreaks web

Tax Break Creates New Frontiers of ‘Opportunity’

A new program that incentivizes real estate development in struggling communities could spur a flurry of investment activity as it helps uplift beleaguered areas. The Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017 contained a provision that allows investors to avoid taxes on capital gains if the money is reinvested in ...
VirtualReality web

Seeing Is Believing with Virtual Reality, Even Before It’s Built

| Dale Garrison | Article | Operations
Virtual reality (VR) technology is making the impossible possible for real estate professionals, even offering the ability to walk potential buyers through a project that has yet to be built. Although two-dimensional computer renderings and animated videos may bring some similar capabilities, the complete immersion accessible through VR allows potential ...
Home Remodel Slowing Home Prices

Slowing Home Prices aren’t Curbing Flips in these Cities

For about six straight years, home prices have seen consistent growth, but new data show that home price growth is slowing down in most states. Home price growth has slowed in 33 states and in 71 of the nation’s 100 largest markets, according to a report from Black Knight. Annual ...
marijuana REIT treehouse

Marijuana REIT Treehouse Raises $133M for Expansion

As more states legalize medical and recreational marijuana, more investors — including the Treehouse real estate investment trust — are tapping the cannabis industry’s serious real estate opportunities. A collaboration between MedMen Enterprises Inc. and Stable Road Capital, Treehouse recently completed a $133 million raise that will partially fund its ...