Editorial Staff
High-density detached urban infill is a booming real estate business so what are the challenges?
By Pete Reeb John Burns Real Estate Consulting Our urban infill feasibility business is booming, thanks to a confluence of trends that are creating heightened interest in high-density single-family detached urban infill housing deals: Gas expense. Uncertainty over gas prices and a growing desire for shorter commutes Time savings. Re-prioritizing ...
Buy-to-Rent Series: Is buy-to-rent better than buy-to-flip?
By Mark Bloom An investor is better off, over any medium- to long-term investment horizon, to hold a real estate asset as a rental rather than flipping or selling that asset, so long as the following are in place: The ability to obtain credit and withstand outlays for occasional, non-reoccurring ...
Buy-to-Rent Series: 5 secrets to successful buy-to-rent real estate investing
By Lori Greymont When I first started investing, I was taught to buy real estate is about three things: location, location and location, and not the advantages of buy-to-rent But over the years, I have learned there are other criteria just as important and often more important than location when ...
Buy-to-Rent Series: How to evaluate a buy-to-rent strategy that is right for you
By Brad Sumrok Some of the top questions to ask when evaluating what type of buy-to-rent strategy fits best for you and some of the answers that may be helpful to your strategy: How to evaluate if a buy-to-rent strategy is right for you Q. Does single-family housing or multifamily ...
Buy-to-Rent Series: Is buy-to-rent real estate investing a good self-directed IRA investment?
By Tom Anderson Investor James Mann was frustrated with the lack of appreciation in the stock market and decided it was time for a different approach. So he took a rollover IRA from a former employer and put it into a self-directed IRA to buy something “I could see and ...
Zombie foreclosures down overall, but still up from a year ago in half of U.S. metros
A new report shows that in the second quarter of this year there were that 127,021 homes actively in the foreclosure process had been vacated by the homeowners prior to a completed foreclosure, called zombie foreclosures, representing 24 percent of all active foreclosures, according to RealtyTrac. These owner-vacated foreclosure properties ...
Down payment average for home purchases drops to 14.8 percent, a three-year low
The average down payment for single family homes, condos and townhomes purchased in the first quarter was 14.8 percent of the purchase price, down from 15.2 percent in the previous quarter and down from 15.5 percent a year ago to the lowest level since the first quarter of 2012, according ...
Rental growth where you least expect it: single-family homes
By David Guarino Senior Research Analyst John Burns Real Estate Consulting Take a drive through the urban portion of any major city and you will likely see cranes and construction crews dotting the landscape, building what appears to be an endless supply of apartment units. Your eyes are not deceiving ...
Home buyers still purchasing below market value in 60 percent of markets, new study says
Home buyers in about 60 percent of the markets surveyed in a new report by RealtyTrac.com are buying at below market value, while sellers are getting above-market prices in about 27 percent of the markets, the report shows. “Nationwide in April single family homes and condos sold for almost exactly ...
Bank repossessions (REOs) and foreclosure filings were reported on 125,875 properties in April, up 9 percent from a year ago representing an 18-month high, according to a new report from RealtyTrac. The U.S. foreclosure rate in April was one in every 1,049 housing units with a foreclosure filing. “The REO ...
Mortgage loans originated on single-family homes up 17 percent year over year, new study says
Mortgage loans originated on single-family homes and condos were up 17 percent year over year according to a new report from RealtyTrac.com, led by California, Florida and Massachusetts. The majority of the loans were for refinancing and new mortgages for purchases were up only about 1 percent during the same year ...
Strong returns for homes flipped in the first quarter yield average gross profit of $72,000
A new report shows that 17,309 single family homes were flipped — sold as part of an arms-length sale for the second time within a 12-month period — in the first quarter of this year, 4.0 percent of all single family home sales during the quarter, according to RealtyTrac. And, more ...
Foreclosures jump in March driven by bank repossessions
Foreclosures jumped in March recording the first year-over-year increase since 2010 as bank repossessions pushed up the numbers, according to a new study from RealtyTrac. The increase in March was driven primarily by a jump in bank repossessions (REOs), which at 36,152 were up 49 percent from the previous month ...
The best markets for rental rate returns for investors are highlighted in a new report
A new report ranks the markets with the best, and worst, potential returns on residential rental properties that real estate investors can expect, according to RealtyTrac. The study also shows the most affordable, and least affordable markets, from a renter's perspective. Too, the residential rental property analysis report from RealtyTrac for ...
Home price appreciation slows year over year in 65 percent of metro areas
Annual home price appreciation in February slowed, compared to a year ago, in 60 of the 92 metros of 500,000 or more population analyzed in a new report from RealtyTrac. “While still significant at 33 percent, the average discount buyers are realizing on distressed homes has been shrinking over the ...
Rise in home prices led by Denver, Dallas and Miami new report says
Home prices continued their rise across the country over the last 12 months, however, monthly data reveal slowing increases and seasonal weakness, according to the latest release of the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index report for January. The index, which covers all nine U.S. census divisions, recorded a 4.5% annual gain in ...
Pending home sales jump in February led by the Midwest and West
Pending home sales in February increased to their highest level since June 2013 as sizeable gains in the Midwest and West offset smaller declines in the Northeast and South, according to a release from the National Association of Realtors. The number of contracts to buy, called the pending home sales ...
Texas cities top new list of best markets for real estate investment
Texas cities top a new list for best markets for real estate investment, according to a new release from Local Market Monitor and HomeVestors. "The Top 10 markets for real estate investment all have a common thread: a fast growing economy, which means more jobs and more renters," Ingo Winzer, ...
Climbing housing costs have renters feeling the squeeze in many parts of the country
The gap between rental costs and household income is widening to unsustainable levels in many parts of the country, and the situation could worsen unless new home construction meaningfully rises, according to a release of new research by the National Association of Realtors. NAR reviewed data on income growth, housing ...
Millennials represent the largest share of recent home buyers, new study says
The millennial generation represented the largest share of recent buyers, despite the economic and financial challenges young adults have faced since the recession, according to a release from the National Association of Realtors. The 2015 National Association of Realtors Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends study, found that an overwhelming majority ...
Foreclosure inventory down 33 percent in the past year
Foreclosure inventory declined 33 percent year over year according to the latest research in a release from CoreLogic. "Job growth and home-value appreciation have worked to push the serious delinquency rate to the lowest since mid-2008 and foreclosures down by one-third from a year ago," Frank Nothaft, chief economist at ...
Consumer confidence toward homeownership continuing to grow, new study says
Most consumers expect home rental prices to continue to rise in the next year, but 43 percent still think it is too difficult to get a mortgage, according to a release of the Fannie Mae February 2015 National Housing Survey. "Continuing improvements in consumer attitudes in this month's National Housing ...
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Home prices up moderately in the West, but housing recovery continues to falter new study says
San Francisco, Denver and Miami were the strongest, but overall nine cities reported monthly home price increases in the latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price data for December 2014, according to a release from PRNewswire. The 10-city composite gained 4.3% year-over-year, up from 4.2% in November. The 20-city composite gained 4.5% year-over-year, ...
Winners of HomeVestors 2014 top performance awards for franchisees announced
HomeVestors, with more than 540 franchises in 42 states, has announced the accomplishments of franchisees with top performance award for the 12-month ranking period in 2014 in a release. HomeVestors franchises bought 5,000 houses with a total sales volume of $474,000,000. HomeVestors is the number one buyer of houses in ...
