Market & Trends
The world of real estate investing moves quickly. Catch the must-know news, market information, and trends for the industry here.
Back To: All Topics
Market & Trends
The world of real estate investing moves quickly. Catch the must-know news, market information, and trends for the industry here.
Back To: All Topics
$1 Million Cities on the Rise in the U.S.
The United States has 197 $1 million cities according to Zillow’s $1 Million City List, which identifies cities with median home values of $1 million or more. 33 of those cities are new additions within the past 12 months, and Zillow analysts predict another 23 cities will join the rankings ...
3 of 4 Home Buyers Will Pass on Homes “Not Right” for Pets
Three-quarters of today's home-buyers who own pets said they would pass up their dream home if the property did not meet their pet’s needs. These numbers make up a portion of the results from a recent survey conducted in July by Harris Research. They interviewed more than 1,000 homeowners who ...
Announcing the 2018 Think Realty Honors Finalists
Think Realty is proud to announce its 2018 Think Realty Honors finalists today. The finalists are peer-nominated investors who excel within their industry niches. The winners will be recognized at an award banquet on September 21st at the Westin Buckhead in Atlanta, preceding Think Realty's Conference and Expo on September ...
High-Volume Lender Making Escrow Optional
One of the country’s highest-volume lenders announced it will allow borrowers to opt into an escrow-free loan structure. United Wholesale Mortgage reports it will waive escrow accounts and fees for all borrowers, regardless of their downpayment size or credit score. The lender predicted borrowers might save as much as $3,625 on ...
Evite Debuts Real Estate Invitations
Electronic invitation website Evite.com recently introduced real estate invitations with themes intended to promote open houses and other industry-related events. The designs, which feature headlines like “Open House,” and “Just Listed,” invite recipients to attend showings for homes. Although most of the designs fall under the website’s “premium” designation, there ...
Zillow Expands Direct-Buyer Program for Second Time This Summer
Zillow announced last week it would expand its direct-buyer program, Zillow Offers, into a fourth market: Denver, Colo. This is just one month after announcing it would expand its direct-buyer program to Atlanta, Ga. By the end of 2018, the program will be operational in four markets, including the two ...
Inventory Climbing in One-Third of Largest U.S. Cities
According to new data from Realtor.com, high-priced local markets around the United States are showing signs of inventory climbing for the first time in months. Since the inventory “turnaround” is concentrated in high-priced markets, the effects of wider availability of housing may not become immediately obvious. This is true for the ...
Fannie Mae Warning: Generational Housing Bubble Forming
Fannie Mae’s Economic and Strategic Research Group recently published a new report in conjunction with University of Southern California researchers in regards to generational housing. According to the report, as baby boomers exit their owner-occupied homes there could be a “void” looming in housing too big for younger generations to ...
Capital One Lays Off More Lending & Mortgage Sector Employees
Capital One announced last week it will lay off nearly 300 employees from its Plano, Texas campus as part of its ongoing termination of the company’s mortgage lending and home equity operations. These employees are part of a larger population of 950 employees laid off last November, although a small ...
Home Renovation Returns are Falling
As a real estate investor, to take on a home renovation there is an art to “forcing appreciation” or, as it is more commonly described, “adding value” to a property. The process usually involves a series of upgrades and home renovations to an existing property in order to bring the ...
Investment Company Faces Negative Press After Investigative Report
The investment company holding the most single-family homes in the United States, Invitations Homes Inc., has received negative press and is now being accused of improper maintenance with its rentals. The fallout could include a class action lawsuit and according to Reuters, issues include plumbing problems, leaks, and spider infestations. While ...
Smoking Can Decrease Resale Value by Nearly a Third
Most real estate investors know that a “smoking home” can be a bear to clean up. However, the issue may go far beyond the cost of smoke and stain removal. According to a new report from Realtor.com, smoking in a home can reduce property value by up to 29 percent ...
National Flood Insurance Program Extended
Earlier this week, the U.S. Senate passed a bill to extend the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) through November. The program is the only option for many homeowners who live in areas threatened by flooding during hurricane season. It has come under attack for charging premiums much lower than the ...
Buyers’ Kitchen Preferences are Changing
Current homeowners who are planning to buy a new residence within the next decade say their kitchen preferences are changing. According to southeastern homebuilder Ashton Woods’ research, buyer preferences are shifting away from the dominant all-white kitchen motif. The all-white theme still places second, but buyers are looking for more ...
Think Realty Magazine August 2018
+ WHAT'S INSIDE Think Realty | News & Events • Think Realty's Newest Coach: Shawn Woedl Design Point | Renovation Rockstar: Historic Home Yields Hidden Treasures • 3 Countertop Options from the Field Special Focus: Strategy | Sourcing True Success in Housing •How to Identify the Best Secondary Markets for ...
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Shawn Woedl, Senior Vice President of National Real Estate Insurance Group (NREIG) and a sought-after industry speaker and educator, has been named Think Realty’s newest Resident Expert. His first three courses are “Intro to Risk Management,” “Protecting Yourself and Your Properties,” and “Insuring Your Fix and ...
Rising Home Values Hitting Pre-Recession Peaks
New research from Zillow indicates that seven out of 35 of the largest U.S. housing markets have regained all value lost during the recession, and that could signal a looming turning point in those markets. Zillow considers a market to have recovered to pre-recession values when more than 95% of ...
Live the Life You Dream of Sooner with the Right Tech
There are two types of technology people - those who love it and those who hate it. I absolutely love it, but I’m not so far gone that I must have the “latest greatest” as soon as it comes out. I make myself go two to five years minimum before ...
5 Strategic Videos that Will Revolutionize Your Real Estate Marketing
The same YouTube that hosts those crazy (and strangely addictive) cat videos can also be quite effective in promoting your real estate business. YouTube is a perfect platform for scaling your business brand along with adding a user-friendly team resource. Furthermore, many of the most effective YouTube strategies in use ...
Today’s Home Buyers Will Sacrifice All Amenities for This Feature
Many homebuyers have an extensive “wish list” for their new home and a few “must-have” items as well. However, according to a survey from Realtor.com of people who closed on a home in 2018, only one in five will stick to those must-have items when presented with a property in ...
FHFA Gives Up on Credit-Scoring Overhaul
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced this week it will suspend an initiative dedicated to updating a credit score model used by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The updated model would, the agency hoped, have helped “provide millions of creditworthy Americans who have been unable to be scored with ...
International Real Estate Wire Transfer Scheme: 74 Arrested
74 people were recently arrested in the United States and overseas for alleged wire transfer fraud. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, a “coordinated law enforcement effort” resulted in the arrests and the seizure of about $2.4 million and recovery of about $14 million in fraudulent wire transfers. When ...
Exposing the Human Element in “Direct-Data” Real Estate Sites
If you are like most real estate investors, you spend quite a bit of your time searching for deals. You probably also spend quite a bit of your time fielding offers from various service providers who are more than willing to find those deals for you. Unfortunately, most investors find ...
The Online Paperwork Evolution, Simplified at Last
Legal document preparation, legal research, and document review grow more sophisticated daily due to the rising abundance of data. In the last two years, the amount of legal data available has tripled, and with it, the volume of search and translation tools has risen as well. That growth includes the ...
Chinese Investors Buying Real Estate with Bitcoin
Chinese bitcoin tycoons are actively working to sell off their cryptocurrency in the United States in order to use the cash to purchase real estate investments. For example, one early adopter recently sold 500 bitcoin in the U.S. (that value is just under $3.8 million at time of publication), then ...
