Knowledgebase
All of Think Realty's extensive content archive is at your fingertips. Filter by media type and keyword to hone in on exactly what you need.
Knowledgebase
All of Think Realty's extensive content archive is at your fingertips. Filter by media type and keyword to hone in on exactly what you need.
A Good Contractor is as Essential as Salt
“Mr. Plumber, have I told you lately you are the salt of the earth?” Salt, necessary for human life, was once a highly prized commodity that could not be easily accessed in many parts of the world. However, most of us associate salt as nothing more than the inexpensive stuff ...
I still remember the night I made the list. I was babysitting for Tyler and Charlie while their parents went out for dinner and a movie, and after putting the boys to bed, I got to do every middle-school babysitter’s favorite thing: get paid $7/hour to watch TV. I quickly ...
U.S. Cities Dominate Most-Affordable Global List
A recent report from the Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey (DIHA) shows once again that everything is relative and that real estate is first and foremost, always a local issue. The DIHA 2017 measured affordability in 406 metro markets in nine countries around the world and despite nationwide concerns about ...
Next Housing Crunch Could Hit Seniors Where it Hurts
As the 65-and-up population surges over the next 20 years thanks to health innovations, medical progress, and constantly lengthening American lifespans, one thing that is not progressing is the availability of senior housing. According to a recent report published by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS), fewer than ...
2016 Distressed Sale Share Drops to Nine-Year Low
ATTOM Data Solutions’ Year-End 2016 Home Sales report shows 16.2 percent of single-family home and condo sales in 2016 were distressed sales — bank-owned sales, short sales or foreclosure auctions sold to third-party buyers — down from 18.8 percent of all sales in 2015 to the lowest level since 2007, ...
Home Sales off to Slow Start in 2017
Ten-X Residential Real Estate Nowcast indicates a slight year-over-year increase in January existing home sales. According to the Nowcast, January sales will fall between seasonally adjusted annual rates of 5.32 and 5.67 million, with a targeted number of 5.49 million – the same number of homes sold in December of ...
One-to-One: Eddie Wilson Discusses China, Investing Outlook
Recently, Eddie Wilson, president of Affinity Enterprise Group (AEG), returned from a trip to China to visit AEG’s Chinese division, Affinity Investments Asia (AIA). AIA has a physical office in Shanghai with the sole designated purpose of helping Chinese investors find credible investment opportunities in the United States. The office ...
How to Find the Best Mentor for You
Many people who consider real estate investing can find themselves at a loss, not knowing how to move forward. Then, they quit before they ever get started despite this being a wonderful time to begin real estate investing. Did you know that the No. 1 reason people don't begin investing ...
Changing Dynamics for Retail Centers
Retail properties are recently experiencing a few different trends – some, seemingly contradictory. The sector is doing well, but there are changing dynamics with retail centers that should be examined as part of any investment decision. Department Stores Have Lost Importance Big American department stores like Macy’s are being outmaneuvered ...
I’m a big—no, huge!—anti-guru person. They are a real danger, especially to real estate investors who are just starting out and desperately trying to learn this business. Let me tell you a story to illustrate why I am so emphatic about this. I had a speaking engagement in Chicago recently, ...
US Remains No. 1 Choice for Foreign Real Estate Investors
It's a yearly ritual to find out where international investors will put their money. And, the latest AFIRE survey shows that 95 percent plan to maintain or increase their investments in the United States. But investor "caution" is also rising. The survey by the Association of Foreign Investors in Real ...
We just ended a year with a huge jump in homes that fell out of contract ("failed sales") and went back on the market. It's not clear why this happened but there are several possible reasons, including problems with loans, appraisals and inspections. According to Trulia, 3.9 percent of homes ...
Is Your Online Business Profile Up to Date?
About one in every 10 brokerages have outdated or inaccurate information about the real estate business online, resulting in potentially huge losses in terms of online leads on deals and traffic. Is your business also guilty of this? According to an audit conducted by the WAV Group, a real estate ...
The ‘Fine Print’ on Rising Home Values
National home values rose by 6.8 percent over the course of 2016, according to the latest Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), putting December 2016 home values just below the highest value ever, set in April 2007. Zillow economists speculated home values would continue to rise in 2017, but added that ...
10 Spots Where Tear-downs Could Be Profitable
If you’ve ever thought about purchasing a property just so you could tear it down and build something better, then you would feel right at home in a number of America’s hottest housing markets these days. According to recent data released by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, there are ...
Report: Homeowner ‘Safety Net’ Has Rips
The Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) audited its target program and found that the “Hardest Hit Fund” established under TARP is failing to act as intended. Although that fund is supposed to serve as a “safety net” for unemployed and underemployed Americans, ...
2016 Home Sales Highest in a Decade
The numbers are in. Sales of existing homes in 2016 were the highest in a decade, but inventory levels were the lowest in recorded history! What does this mean for real estate investors? Every month the National Association of Realtors releases its report on existing homes sales nationwide. But month-to-month ...
Street Smart Q & A: How do You use Social Media in Your Real Estate Business?
Social media has become the backbone to many investors and businesses alike. It has stepped out of the ranks of simply being a way to communicate with friends and family to become a necessary tool for all industries. In this month’s Street Smart question the Think Realty team asked our ...
Chinese Real Estate Mogul Takes a Shot at President Trump
One of China’s most successful real estate billionaires is taking a few shots at the new U.S. president, using an end-of-year video to relay his message that “globalism and regional protectionism” simply cannot go hand in hand. Soho China chairman Pan Shiyi started out the video with some optimistic observations ...
Keep Your 2017 Real Estate Resolutions
As we make our New Year resolutions and move to achieve those resolutions, many of us have already failed. And here we are only in January. There are a lot of data sources and numbers vary, but it is said that normally only about 8 percent of people’s New Year’s ...
Ben Carson Explains Plans for HUD
Former republican presidential candidate and HUD Secretary-Designate Ben Carson told the Senate Banking Committee last week he wants to run the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in order to “heal America’s divisiveness.” He went on to say political division, racial conflict, and class warfare are “ripping this country ...
What Trump’s VA Secretary Pick Could Mean for Housing
Last week, president-elect Donald Trump revealed that he will replace sitting Veterans Affairs, VA, secretary Bob McDonald when he takes office. McDonald has held the position since 2014 and is the former CEO of Proctor & Gamble. He is a republican who was appointed by President Obama and enjoys the ...
Economist Says Cincinnati is “Insulated” from Trump Administration
Despite her insistence that her city, Cincinnati, is “insulated” from the national economy thanks to its diversity, Julie Heath, the director of the University of Cincinnati’s Economics Center, said recently that she is worried about the city’s economy. Heath said some of the proposals that the incoming presidential administration has ...
One-to-One with Matt Neisser: How Private Lending Works for Investors
LendingOne helps real estate investors across the country secure the financing they need to build bigger, more profitable portfolios. The direct private real estate lender, headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, provides bridge loans for fix-and-flip deals, as well as longer-term financing for properties that investors hold onto for years. Curious ...
Proposed One-Bedroom-Per-Adult Rental Regulation Creates Uproar in Ohio
An Ohio city council has proposed a rule that will have far-reaching effects on renters and landlords and that could infringe on their civil and private property rights. Brunswick, Ohio, city officials recently proposed that all adult renters in the municipal area would have to have their own bedrooms in ...
