Residential housing starts fell 12.3%, multifamily fell 19.8%, and permits (a proxy for future builds) fell 2.2%. Furthermore a recent builder survey found that sales were “sluggish” in June (Marketwatch). What does all this mean for real estate values? Is the...
Banks are an interesting bunch. In the old days you knew your banker and you could walk in and get a loan. Those days are over. Now loans are underwritten in an offsite location by a robot with little local input. Either the loan fits in the pretty box or it...
The markets tanked losing almost 2% with some companies down almost 10% due to the selloff. What caused the selloff? What does this mean for real estate? What should you do? Is it time to panic? What is the silver lining? What happened? The markets has in the...
The economy is in for a bit of a ride! The federal reserve in their last meeting changed their tone signaling two more rate increases this year as opposed to one bringing the total rate increase to four. Why is this change in tone important? What does this have to...
The Federal reserve in their recent Report on Economic Well being made two very concerning discoveries: 1) 40% of all adults if faced with an unexpected expense of $400 would not be able to cover it 2) 25% of all adults are not able to pay all of their current...
In real estate should you be following your children? The chart above shows the net gain in births by state and provides a profound picture of the future of real estate. What is the importance of the chart and why is it so important for long term real...
I know this sounds pretty crazy that a mushroom should be your guide to real estate investing. First, put the magic mushroom down! I’m not talking about actually consuming a mushroom. Do you know the mushroom theory? I think most people would agree, the...
No I’m not crazy and I don’t subscribe to conspiracy theories. But, as we speak the value of your commercial real estate is being “changed” by the federal government. This is not a joke; the federal government is making your real estate value decrease. How is this...
Last year it was announced that Libor will be phased out by 2021. Why is this such big news? According to a fed survey almost 45% of mortgages are linked to Libor and the vast majority of jumbo loans are Libor based. In total there is about 862 billion...
There is a huge risk to your business and your personal finances. Are you prepared? Think of how many electronic transactions you partake in for your business and personally. From online payments to vendors, to remote deposits, to ACH, to wires, and the list...
What is your property worth? Chances are someone in India is answering that question for your lender without ever stepping foot in the country, let alone in the property. The process of using a Broker Price Opinion for valuation was outlawed in the last crisis, but...
Although this ski season just wrapped up. Some ski real estate is hitting the breaks with seasons end while others continue with the foot on the gas. Why are certain ski real estate markets throughout the country behaving differently than others? What do you...
Last summer Zillow announced that it would start a pilot program that allows instant offers on properties effectively eliminating real estate agents in the transaction. At that time 87% of agents thought Zillow would become a brokerage to eliminate agents....
Did the tooth fairy predict the recent market turmoil? The tooth fairy was a bit frugal in 2017, the average payout dropped 11%. Why such a large drop when the economy is supposedly the healthiest it has been in 10 years and wages are rising? Can the tooth fairy be...
It is ironic that all the focus on the possible trade war with China and others is focusing primarily on the impact to certain industries whether it is steel, pork, high tech, services, etc… Little focus has been given to an industry that impacts more of general...
Last week an Uber driverless/ autonomous car struck and killed a pedestrian. This is the first fatality from a fully autonomous vehicle that was using sensors and artificial intelligence to drive itself. Why is this incident so important? How does this...
Like many of you I had a “rocky” ride in the last real estate recession and successfully learned many “million-dollar” lessons that were very painful. One of the key takeaways from the last recession is that risks lurk in plain sight. Hindsight 20-20 it was easy to...
Investors flipped more than 207,000 single-family houses and condos in the U.S. last year. More than 138,000 investors flipped a home last year, the most since 2007. This represents 5.9% of all single family and condo sales in 2017. Why is this metric important? How...
Pretty crazy to think of a small task like using an iPhone or a Windows computer is increasing your mortgage rates. How can a computer or phone have any impact on rates? Apple, Microsoft, and Google are the largest holders of offshore cash piles. Under the new law...
The sharing economy has taken over. From Uber to Airbnb and now your mortgage. Are you ready to be part of the new “shared” economy? There is a new product that is backed by many Silicon Valley venture funds that allows people to partner with a fund to purchase a...
Reagonomics, Clintonomics, Obamanomics, Bushonomics (1 and 2), Trumponomics, and the new Moronomics which has been embraced by both political parties. It seems like every party has their own economics plan whether is it trickle down or trickle up; economists...
Although we are a hard money lender and do not rely exclusively on credit for our loan decisions (we are an asset lender focusing on the property), we do pull it on every borrower to verify identity, etc… There are three important recent changes that...
Dow plunged 666 points on Friday, yet the jobs report was strong. Why the selloff? Why are treasury rates on a tear? Why did mortgage rates also jump? What does this mean for real estate? Are certain real estate sectors more impacted than others? What happened?...
We’ve recently watched the federal reserve raising short term interest rates while the 10-year treasury barely moved. Inflation expectations are low, but suddenly 10-year treasuries began moving drastically higher climbing to a 10-month high and mortgage rates...
Residential housing starts fell 12.3%, multifamily fell 19.8%, and permits (a proxy for future builds) fell 2.2%. Furthermore a recent builder survey found that sales were “sluggish” in June (Marketwatch). What does all this mean for real estate values? Is the...
Banks are an interesting bunch. In the old days you knew your banker and you could walk in and get a loan. Those days are over. Now loans are underwritten in an offsite location by a robot with little local input. Either the loan fits in the pretty box or it...
The markets tanked losing almost 2% with some companies down almost 10% due to the selloff. What caused the selloff? What does this mean for real estate? What should you do? Is it time to panic? What is the silver lining? What happened? The markets has in the...
The economy is in for a bit of a ride! The federal reserve in their last meeting changed their tone signaling two more rate increases this year as opposed to one bringing the total rate increase to four. Why is this change in tone important? What does this have to...
The Federal reserve in their recent Report on Economic Well being made two very concerning discoveries: 1) 40% of all adults if faced with an unexpected expense of $400 would not be able to cover it 2) 25% of all adults are not able to pay all of their current...
In real estate should you be following your children? The chart above shows the net gain in births by state and provides a profound picture of the future of real estate. What is the importance of the chart and why is it so important for long term real...
I know this sounds pretty crazy that a mushroom should be your guide to real estate investing. First, put the magic mushroom down! I’m not talking about actually consuming a mushroom. Do you know the mushroom theory? I think most people would agree, the...
No I’m not crazy and I don’t subscribe to conspiracy theories. But, as we speak the value of your commercial real estate is being “changed” by the federal government. This is not a joke; the federal government is making your real estate value decrease. How is this...
Last year it was announced that Libor will be phased out by 2021. Why is this such big news? According to a fed survey almost 45% of mortgages are linked to Libor and the vast majority of jumbo loans are Libor based. In total there is about 862 billion...
There is a huge risk to your business and your personal finances. Are you prepared? Think of how many electronic transactions you partake in for your business and personally. From online payments to vendors, to remote deposits, to ACH, to wires, and the list...
What is your property worth? Chances are someone in India is answering that question for your lender without ever stepping foot in the country, let alone in the property. The process of using a Broker Price Opinion for valuation was outlawed in the last crisis, but...
Although this ski season just wrapped up. Some ski real estate is hitting the breaks with seasons end while others continue with the foot on the gas. Why are certain ski real estate markets throughout the country behaving differently than others? What do you...
Last summer Zillow announced that it would start a pilot program that allows instant offers on properties effectively eliminating real estate agents in the transaction. At that time 87% of agents thought Zillow would become a brokerage to eliminate agents....
Did the tooth fairy predict the recent market turmoil? The tooth fairy was a bit frugal in 2017, the average payout dropped 11%. Why such a large drop when the economy is supposedly the healthiest it has been in 10 years and wages are rising? Can the tooth fairy be...
It is ironic that all the focus on the possible trade war with China and others is focusing primarily on the impact to certain industries whether it is steel, pork, high tech, services, etc… Little focus has been given to an industry that impacts more of general...
Last week an Uber driverless/ autonomous car struck and killed a pedestrian. This is the first fatality from a fully autonomous vehicle that was using sensors and artificial intelligence to drive itself. Why is this incident so important? How does this...
Like many of you I had a “rocky” ride in the last real estate recession and successfully learned many “million-dollar” lessons that were very painful. One of the key takeaways from the last recession is that risks lurk in plain sight. Hindsight 20-20 it was easy to...
Investors flipped more than 207,000 single-family houses and condos in the U.S. last year. More than 138,000 investors flipped a home last year, the most since 2007. This represents 5.9% of all single family and condo sales in 2017. Why is this metric important? How...
Pretty crazy to think of a small task like using an iPhone or a Windows computer is increasing your mortgage rates. How can a computer or phone have any impact on rates? Apple, Microsoft, and Google are the largest holders of offshore cash piles. Under the new law...
The sharing economy has taken over. From Uber to Airbnb and now your mortgage. Are you ready to be part of the new “shared” economy? There is a new product that is backed by many Silicon Valley venture funds that allows people to partner with a fund to purchase a...
Reagonomics, Clintonomics, Obamanomics, Bushonomics (1 and 2), Trumponomics, and the new Moronomics which has been embraced by both political parties. It seems like every party has their own economics plan whether is it trickle down or trickle up; economists...
Although we are a hard money lender and do not rely exclusively on credit for our loan decisions (we are an asset lender focusing on the property), we do pull it on every borrower to verify identity, etc… There are three important recent changes that...
Dow plunged 666 points on Friday, yet the jobs report was strong. Why the selloff? Why are treasury rates on a tear? Why did mortgage rates also jump? What does this mean for real estate? Are certain real estate sectors more impacted than others? What happened?...
We’ve recently watched the federal reserve raising short term interest rates while the 10-year treasury barely moved. Inflation expectations are low, but suddenly 10-year treasuries began moving drastically higher climbing to a 10-month high and mortgage rates...
