El Paso Investors Club ©

Photo: Zillow

Last year we posted about Zillow getting into the “instant offers” business where potential sellers submit their property address and get no-obligation offers from “qualified” investors. Their program has been going for about a year in Las Vegas and Orlando but recently they announced that Phoenix was being added to the mix.  Now, the Wall Street Journal is reporting (provided by MarketWatch) thatZillow is getting into the home flipping business.  According to the report,  Zillow will purchase homes in Las Vegas and Phoenix, renovate and flip them within 90 days.  There goes the neighborhood….

Click here to read more at MarketWatch.com.

Click here to read the release about their expansion into Phoenix.

Yes, you read that headline right….subprime mortgages are making a comeback and they have a new name;  “nonprime.”  Realty Check’s Diana Olick is reporting that although the subprime mortgage industry vanished after the so-called Great Recession it is now being reinvented as the “nonprime” market.  In addition, she reports that Carrington Mortgage is now offering mortgages to borrowers with “less-than-perfect credit” and that demand from both borrowers & investors is exceeding expectations.  Indeed…..things might get weird, again…buckle up.

Click here to read the full story on CNBC’s Realty Check.

U.S. Property Taxes Levied on Single Family Homes in 2017 increased 6% to More Than $293 Billion,according to a recent report by ATTOM Data Solutions.  The conclusion was part of their annual property tax analysis covering more than 86 million single family homes across the U.S.  It shows that, in 2017, property taxes levied on single family homes totaled $293.4 billion.  This figures is 6% higher than 2016 and averages out to nearly $4k per home (an effective rate of 1.17%).  ATTOM’s report analyzed property tax data collected from county tax assessor offices nationwide at the state, metro and county levels along with estimated market values of single family homes calculated using an automated valuation model (AVM). The effective tax rate was the average annual property tax expressed as a percentage of the average estimated market value of homes in each geographic area.

Key takeaways:

• Average Property Tax Was $3,399, Up 3% and Effective Tax Rate of 1.17%
• Highest Effective Tax Rates in New Jersey, Illinois, Vermont, Texas, New Hampshire
• Average Property Taxes Nearly Twice as High in Politically Blue Counties as in Red Counties

Click on the map to view it interactively.

Click here to read the full report at attomdata.com.

Logansport, Indiana (www.cityoflogansport.org)

Everybody loves a “small town,” right?  The charm, the people, you name it.  A lot of those notions are pure romanticized imagination but there are some aspects of small towns that make them attractive and therefore a great place to live and invest.  The folks over at Realtor.com put pen to paper and sent their folks out to find the best small towns in America where you can find affordable, good-looking housing, safe communities and fun things to do.   They looked at over 500 U.S. cities with populations between 10k-50k and came up with rankings based on items which  include:  median home price, unemployment rate, crime rate, overall housing costs and unique things (food, culture, activities, etc).  Indeed…

Here are Realtor.com’s top 10 “affordable” small towns:

1. Logansport, IN
2. Mexico, MO
3. Guymon, OK
4. Defiance, OH
5. Albert Lea, MN
6. Emporia, KS
7. Lexington, NE
8. Shewano, WI
9. Dumas, TX
10. Spencer, IA

Click here to read the full story on Realtor.com.

According to the NAHB’s Eye on Housing Blog, nearly 6.8% of single-family homes started (close to 60k) in 2017 qualified as “tear-down starts.”  While this estimated number is down 10.2% from 2016, it is significant because of an ongoing shortage of new entry-level housing, more and more homes that might be considered starter are being knocked down due to the increased value in land.  A tear-down start is defined as a home built on a site where a previous structure or evidence of a previous structure was present before the new home was started.

“Between 2016 and 2017, the number of single-family tear-down starts remained relatively constant in the Midwest and South Census regions, nearly doubled in the Northeast, and declined by nearly 75 percent in the West (after increasing by more than 200 percent the year before).”

Click here to read the full report on the NAHB’s Eye on Housing.

According to recent data published by the Mortgage Bankers Association, U.S. homeowners are seeing a dramatic increase in the amount of equity in their homes while at the same time seeing a big decline in the amount borrowed through home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) – the lowest since 2008.  Using data from the Federal Reserve, they report that estimates owners’ equity is $14.1 trillion.  However, they do suggest that as interest rates rise, HELOC’s might become more attractive to potential borrowers seeking to preserve the low rate of interest in their current mortgage.

MBA Source: Federal Reserve

Click here to read the full story on MBA.org.

Anyone who has ever flipped a house knows about the potential perils of what kind of wiring the house has and when was it last upgraded.  Depending on the age & condition of the house it could be extremely costly or maybe just a cheap fix.  However, you have to know what to look for and what you’re looking at.  Today’s infographic from John K McCraw Electrical discusses common items in older homes, what you might need a permit for, and some general due diligence items when flipping a home.   Happy Friday!!

A new initiative being developed by Airbnb, in partnership with Fannie Mae and several lenders, would allow homeowners wishing to refinance their homes the ability to count, as income, funds generated from their properties listed on the homesharing site.  According to a recent article on Curbed, Airbnb will supply a Proof of Income statement that hosts can now include when applying with Quicken Loans, Citizens Bank, and Better Mortgage in order to  refinance an existing mortgage.

“This initiative was developed with Fannie Mae to identify new ways of recognizing home-sharing income, making it possible for homeowners to maximize their investment to better reach their financial goals,” Airbnb said in a statement. “The project is part of Fannie Mae’s work to find new, innovative ways to expand the availability of affordable mortgage credit.”

Click here to read the full story on Curbed.com.