The House of Representatives passed a cannabis banking bill with bipartisan support that would allow banks to provide services to Cannabis companies where it is legal. What was in the bill? How will this impact real estate throughout the country? Before you pop the...
In September, Toyota's year over year auto sales plummeted 16.5%, Honda down 14%, and Nissan down almost 18%. The severity of the slide stokes fears that a long-anticipated car sales collapse may be arriving. Why should you care about Autos in real estate? Autos are...
It is interesting to watch the release of indexes like the Case Schiller on a regular basis. Many of the same cities continue to pop up like Atlanta and Denver. Why? What continues to drive markets like Atlanta and Denver? Can you predict what cities will show up...
With recession talks all over the headlines and stock markets tumbling around the globe are you ready whenever the next real estate cycle occurs? Do you know the mushroom theory and how it can help you plan for the next cycle? I developed this theory after...
President Trump announced the revocation of the California clean air waiver act. Regardless of where you sit on this particular issue, the impacts will be profound on States rights, on real estate and one industry in particular. Why are 33 states impacted? Which...
California recently passed a bill (AB5) to target “gig workers” like Lyft and Uber drivers to ensure they are classified as full time employees as opposed to contract workers but there will be other side effects. This law will drastically alter the real estate...
It is crazy, the last real estate crisis was 10 years ago and the government is still debating what to do with Fannie/Freddie, the largest securitizers of 30 year fixed mortgages. Why are we still debating the governments role in housing? Why is this increasing the...
The economy is currently in a “transition” phase. To determine if the sun is setting on our current cycle, it is critical to watch for leading indicators of where we might be heading. One of the strongest predictors of a recession is consumer purchases of one...
As US superstar top 20 real estate investment cities thrive, the weaker ones get left behind. In many ways the country has seemingly recovered from a 2007-2009 recession that was the worst downturn since the 1930s. But a Reuters analysis of federal data...
The National Association of Business economists (NABE), the premier professional association for business economists counting Alan Greenspan as their past president, just released their business outlook predictions placing the odds of a recession in the next two years...
The federal reserve cut rates by a quarter percent at their recent meeting. This is the first cut since 2008. A rate cut now is a bit peculiar as the economy is doing quite well with inflation low, unemployment at record lows, and the stock market at record...
Recently the news has been overwhelming on the China trade war. Last week there was a trade meeting surrounded by fanfare, then there were the tweets from the president announcing more tariffs. The US markets plunged losing 2% in one day and bonds gained. What is...
Fitch Ratings, one of the big three rating services (the other two are Moody’s and Standard and Poors) announced big changes to their pricing models that rates mortgage securities. What is changing? Why is this change so impactful? Why will commercial and...
It was only a matter of time before the largest seller of almost anything entered the real estate market. Amazon announced it’s new program, Turnkey. This program partners with Realogy (owner of Sothebys, Coldwell Banker, etc..) to funnel potential buyers to...
Cities across the country are now coming to terms with the impacts of nightly rentals as primary residents demand action. Before now nightly rentals have been the wild west of regulation, but the tide is starting to change quickly. Denver is leading the way as the...
I took the pic after the 4th outside of Breckenridge, CO (has nothing to do with the article, but thought you would enjoy). Last week the US June jobs report was released that toppled all expectations. After a week May report the job numbers in June did not disappoint...
If you have closed any real estate loan since 2003, you have over a 25% chance you were impacted. First American, the second largest title insurance company in the United States handling over 26% of all closings, announced a data breach that exceeds anything we have...
I wanted to wish each of you a Happy 4th of July. I know the picture above is not what you would expect from a 4th of July e-mail. It is a picture of my windshield after a chance encounter. I’ve known many of you as a friend, client, or peer for the past 20 years. ...
I’ve been hearing rumblings of this suit for months and I’m usually skeptical that lawsuits will totally alter an industry but the recent suit against the National Association of realtors, various multiple listing services, and many large real estate brokerages could...
The economic news has been wild recently with GDP soaring, consumer confidence down, and the federal reserve holding monetary policy (interest rates) steady. It is challenging to decipher what is actually going on with the economy with so many mixed messages. With...
We keep hearing that the spring real estate season is just around the corner, yet the April housing numbers came out showing a 4.4% decline from 2018 and continuing a downward trend of declining sales for the 14th straight month. What is driving this trend? What are...
Federal Reserve Chairman Powell recently announced that inflation is transitory. Sound familiar? Janet Yellen, the prior fed chair, used this same term 2017 and 2018. Seems like we are in an extended “transit”. Why? Are we headed for the next...
Recently the news has been overwhelming. Originally there was a deal with China then there wasn’t; now China is referring to the trade differences as a trade war. The US markets sold off and then they recovered then sold off again. What is going on? Why are we...
Home Prices in 20 U.S. Cities Cool with the smallest gain since 2012. At the same time mortgage rates have dropped off their highs by 20% to around 4% for a 30-year mortgage. Why are lower mortgage rates not spurring more demand and helping home prices? Why is...
The House of Representatives passed a cannabis banking bill with bipartisan support that would allow banks to provide services to Cannabis companies where it is legal. What was in the bill? How will this impact real estate throughout the country? Before you pop the...
In September, Toyota's year over year auto sales plummeted 16.5%, Honda down 14%, and Nissan down almost 18%. The severity of the slide stokes fears that a long-anticipated car sales collapse may be arriving. Why should you care about Autos in real estate? Autos are...
It is interesting to watch the release of indexes like the Case Schiller on a regular basis. Many of the same cities continue to pop up like Atlanta and Denver. Why? What continues to drive markets like Atlanta and Denver? Can you predict what cities will show up...
With recession talks all over the headlines and stock markets tumbling around the globe are you ready whenever the next real estate cycle occurs? Do you know the mushroom theory and how it can help you plan for the next cycle? I developed this theory after...
President Trump announced the revocation of the California clean air waiver act. Regardless of where you sit on this particular issue, the impacts will be profound on States rights, on real estate and one industry in particular. Why are 33 states impacted? Which...
California recently passed a bill (AB5) to target “gig workers” like Lyft and Uber drivers to ensure they are classified as full time employees as opposed to contract workers but there will be other side effects. This law will drastically alter the real estate...
It is crazy, the last real estate crisis was 10 years ago and the government is still debating what to do with Fannie/Freddie, the largest securitizers of 30 year fixed mortgages. Why are we still debating the governments role in housing? Why is this increasing the...
The economy is currently in a “transition” phase. To determine if the sun is setting on our current cycle, it is critical to watch for leading indicators of where we might be heading. One of the strongest predictors of a recession is consumer purchases of one...
As US superstar top 20 real estate investment cities thrive, the weaker ones get left behind. In many ways the country has seemingly recovered from a 2007-2009 recession that was the worst downturn since the 1930s. But a Reuters analysis of federal data...
The National Association of Business economists (NABE), the premier professional association for business economists counting Alan Greenspan as their past president, just released their business outlook predictions placing the odds of a recession in the next two years...
The federal reserve cut rates by a quarter percent at their recent meeting. This is the first cut since 2008. A rate cut now is a bit peculiar as the economy is doing quite well with inflation low, unemployment at record lows, and the stock market at record...
Recently the news has been overwhelming on the China trade war. Last week there was a trade meeting surrounded by fanfare, then there were the tweets from the president announcing more tariffs. The US markets plunged losing 2% in one day and bonds gained. What is...
Fitch Ratings, one of the big three rating services (the other two are Moody’s and Standard and Poors) announced big changes to their pricing models that rates mortgage securities. What is changing? Why is this change so impactful? Why will commercial and...
It was only a matter of time before the largest seller of almost anything entered the real estate market. Amazon announced it’s new program, Turnkey. This program partners with Realogy (owner of Sothebys, Coldwell Banker, etc..) to funnel potential buyers to...
Cities across the country are now coming to terms with the impacts of nightly rentals as primary residents demand action. Before now nightly rentals have been the wild west of regulation, but the tide is starting to change quickly. Denver is leading the way as the...
I took the pic after the 4th outside of Breckenridge, CO (has nothing to do with the article, but thought you would enjoy). Last week the US June jobs report was released that toppled all expectations. After a week May report the job numbers in June did not disappoint...
If you have closed any real estate loan since 2003, you have over a 25% chance you were impacted. First American, the second largest title insurance company in the United States handling over 26% of all closings, announced a data breach that exceeds anything we have...
I wanted to wish each of you a Happy 4th of July. I know the picture above is not what you would expect from a 4th of July e-mail. It is a picture of my windshield after a chance encounter. I’ve known many of you as a friend, client, or peer for the past 20 years. ...
I’ve been hearing rumblings of this suit for months and I’m usually skeptical that lawsuits will totally alter an industry but the recent suit against the National Association of realtors, various multiple listing services, and many large real estate brokerages could...
The economic news has been wild recently with GDP soaring, consumer confidence down, and the federal reserve holding monetary policy (interest rates) steady. It is challenging to decipher what is actually going on with the economy with so many mixed messages. With...
We keep hearing that the spring real estate season is just around the corner, yet the April housing numbers came out showing a 4.4% decline from 2018 and continuing a downward trend of declining sales for the 14th straight month. What is driving this trend? What are...
Federal Reserve Chairman Powell recently announced that inflation is transitory. Sound familiar? Janet Yellen, the prior fed chair, used this same term 2017 and 2018. Seems like we are in an extended “transit”. Why? Are we headed for the next...
Recently the news has been overwhelming. Originally there was a deal with China then there wasn’t; now China is referring to the trade differences as a trade war. The US markets sold off and then they recovered then sold off again. What is going on? Why are we...
Home Prices in 20 U.S. Cities Cool with the smallest gain since 2012. At the same time mortgage rates have dropped off their highs by 20% to around 4% for a 30-year mortgage. Why are lower mortgage rates not spurring more demand and helping home prices? Why is...
