Carole VanSickle Ellis
5 Things Ken and Anita Corsini Think Every Investor Should Know
Both Ken and Anita spend a lot of time talking to real estate investors, especially new ones. “We actually have certain things we really want everyone to know about real estate investing, that we feel helps kind of frame the concept,” Ken said. Here are the five things they feel ...
Report: Homes Listed in July Sold in Less Than Four Weeks
Homes listed in late June and early July were likely sold before August, according to a recent report from the National Association of Realtors. The NAT reported that properties typically remained on market for 27 days, which was only one day longer than was reported for June. The information — ...
Renovation Rockstar: The Park at LeBlanc
Featured investors: Mike Becker & Carl Dean, SPI Advisory LLC (Dallas office) Making over a 168-unit apartment complex is no simple task, even when you have more than a dozen deals under your belt. When Michael Becker, Principal at SPI Advisory LLC in Dallas, Texas, first encountered The Villas at ...
Study: Equity Growth in Minority Neighborhoods Continues to Surge
Neighborhoods predominantly populated by minority families are substantially growing in home equity — a trend that’s now reaching into its sixth year. Predominantly minority neighborhoods posted large percentage gains each year from 2012 to 2018, according to a new Redfin study. The gains were, in fact, larger than mostly non-minority neighborhoods during ...
What Does Hurricane Florence Mean for Investors in the Carolinas?
Most of the U.S. experienced significant declines in serious mortgage delinquency rates this summer. A serious delinquency — one that extends more than 90 days — is a sign of significant distress on the part of the homeowner and, as such, is a strong indicator for the health of a ...
Sellers with Children Usually More Motivated to Sell
About one in every four home-sellers with children describe their need to sell as “very urgent.” This is compared to about one in seven homeowners without children at home. According to a new survey from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), homeowners with children under 18 have very different real estate ...
FHA Loans Shifting Toward Lower-Credit Approvals
Underwriting standards appear to be loosening for FHA loans according to a new report from credit developer FICO. The report indicated that borrowers with FICO scores dipping down into the 400s rose from 21.9% in 2009 to 29.7% in 2017. The FICO score is one of the standard measures of ...
Rising Home Prices May be Discouraging California Buyers
Rising home prices and higher interest rates may be discouraging housing activity in California markets. Although median home prices in Southern California still rose nearly 6% in July, this was the weakest annual growth in 18 months. While prices are still much higher this year than last, there is an ...
As New Home Lots Shrink, Investors Should Question a Yard’s Value
As lot sizes for new homes remain relatively small by historical norms, the amount of yard space most developers are allotting for new homes is shrinking. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC), median lot size fell below 8,600 square feet in 2015 and has remained there ...
New Data Reveals the Most Valuable Remodeling Projects, Upgrades
As the home-remodeling boom maintains momentum, Houzz.com estimates more than half of all homeowners will either begin or continue a home renovation project for the remainder of 2018. Homeowners are opting to spend a median dollar amount of $10,000—a number actually down slightly from the year prior. But homeowners do ...
The 5 Least Affordable Cities for Middle Class Households
Some of the most attractive metro areas in which to live are completely inaccessible to middle-class homeowners, a trend which is becoming more pronounced. Families paying over 30 percent of their incomes toward housing are considered “cost-burdened” by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Furthermore, cities in ...
Facebook Buying Up Real Estate in the Bay Area
Facebook is getting plenty of negative attention from the media and investors, but they continue to expand their real estate in the Bay Area. This comes in the wake of ongoing issues with speculation that the company’s user growth may have hit a wall. However, that does not appear to ...
One-Third of Homeowners Have “Neighborhood Regret”
You’ve heard of buyer’s remorse—now there is a more specialized form of angst for homebuyers: “neighborhood regret.” According to a study from Trulia, 36 percent of recently relocated Americans say they would have moved to a different neighborhood if they could do it again. Homebuyers in metro areas feel particularly regretful, ...
Housing Dollar Value Varies Widely Across Country
“A dollar today isn’t what it used to be, particularly when it comes to real estate,” says Zillow Senior Economist Aaron Terrazas. This comes from a recent report from Zillow Research regarding home values around the country. However, according to the study, a dollar can buy nearly 20 times more ...
Ken and Anita Corsini: Tuned In to the Market
When Ken and Anita Corsini first entered the world of real estate in 2005, the scene was very different than it is today. “It’s amazing to think back about the market cycles we’ve been through,” Ken recalled. “2005 was a screaming hot market, then 2008 brought it to a screeching ...
3 Signs an Airbnb Rental Could Be Right for Your Market
Airbnb has permanently changed the way we travel and, perhaps even more significantly, the way we think about real estate investing. In 2013, best estimates indicated about 3 percent (7 million Americans) considered themselves active real estate investors of any type. Just two years later, market data indicated there were ...
Placing Tenants with “Thin” or No Credit
Most landlords consider working with tenants with less-than-perfect credit part of the job description, particularly when interest rates are low and a higher proportion of high-credit individuals are opting to buy. Tenants with less-than-stellar credit but a high motivation to pay rent on time and remain in place for the ...
The 5 Best College Towns for Real Estate Investors
Most investors think of college towns as good places for real estate investments because they tend to have relatively affordable housing, a steady stream of potential tenants and buyers, and are somewhat recession-resistant. However, as CNBC Money reporter Sarah Berger put it, “Some college towns make for much savvier investments ...
Buyers Undeterred by Wildfires
Historically, the occurrence of wildfires has dampened home-value appreciation in the immediate area of the fire. This holds true even in neighborhoods with no evacuations or property damage. However, the 2018 wildfire season appears to be a different case entirely. According to a new study released by University of Las ...
32,000 Smart Homes Susceptible to Hacking
According to reports from security and risk management data provider CSO, some 32,000 smart homes can be “easily hacked” by “cyberthugs [who] could gain complete access to a home.” Once inside, hackers can manipulate entertainment systems, voice assistants, household devices, and even physically open smart doors. Avast blogger and IT ...
Top Cities for Housing Market Stability
SmartAsset’s 2018 list of the top cities for growth and stability in housing was recently published. Typically when a housing market appreciates, often property owners start fearing the wors. They wonder when the correction will come. According to quarterly data from 1993 to 2017, certain cities were most likely to ...
Flood Risk Hurts Home Values in Multiple States
Living near the water has traditionally been a pleasant dream for home-buyers, but research from a nonprofit group evaluating the impact of rising sea levels indicates home values may be suffering as buyers start avoiding the water. First Street Foundation (FSF) is a group based around the cause of advocating for ...
Economists Say New-Home Sales Hit 9-Month Low
When you see headlines about home-sales volumes hitting nine-month lows, read carefully. Likely, the article is referring to new-home sales, or the number of newly built, single-family homes. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), sales in this sector are at their lowest level since last October. Furthermore, existing-home ...
Most Millennials Could Not Qualify for a Mortgage
One third of millennials who do not have a mortgage could use their prime credit score and this could help them qualify for one. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and Experian data, only about one in six millennials has a mortgage. Of the remaining 85% of the ...
Young Americans Push Homeownership Rates Up
U.S. homeownership added one-tenth of a percentage point during the second quarter of 2018, pushing the rate to 64.3% at the end of June 2018. Analysts credit young Americans—under 35 years old—for the slight bump in the homeownership rate. This is especially because this population’s ownership rate rose by 1.2% over ...
