El Paso Investors Club

By now, almost Americans are aware of the growing amount of student debt many folks are carrying.  In fact, according to a report from LendingTree, the total U.S. student loan debt reached $1.5 trillion earlier this year, up around $600 billion 10 years ago.  They also cite data from the Pew Research Center revealing that 37% of adults under 30 have at least some student debt.  No doubt about it, all this debt has a big impact on whether someone is able to buy a home or chooses to rent.

“Incurring student debt isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and the return on investment — for those who leave school with degrees that are valued in the marketplace — is generally well worth it. The biggest problems tend to arise when people take on debt to attend programs they don’t complete or aren’t properly accredited or are generally unethical.”

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

Detroit’s abandoned train station

A new study from 24/7 Wall Street identified what they say are the 50 worst cities in America to live in.  To come up with their list they looked at data on 551 U.S. cities with a population greater than 65k.  Then, they looked at a whole range of quality of life variables that included schools,  local economy, job market, public safety and even its climate.  They said that cities that perform well on these measures are more likely to attract new residents while those that don’t tend to drive residents away. Oh, and their number one worst city;  Detroit.  That’s brilliant…you be the judge.

“Quality of life in an American city often depends on the neighborhood one lives in, as abject poverty and crime can be found just blocks away from prosperity. Still, as much as a city can be judged on the whole, some cities face widespread problems that detract from their residents’ overall quality of life.”

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

The professional association Counselors of Real Estate (CRE) recently issued their annual Top Ten Issues Affecting Real Estate for 2018-2019.  In a break with previous years, their new list separates issues by current and long-term concerns.   Topping their list of current concerns was “Interest Rates and the Economy” while long term they view “Infrastructure” as a major issue.  Indeed…their entire list is worth a strategic look.

“Leading the list of current issues is Interest Rates and The Economy.  As interest rates rise, the commercial and residential real estate markets are already experiencing changes – decreasing demand for commercial property, and higher home mortgage rates. Rate increases also limit value appreciation for commercial real estate and make housing less affordable…”

Longer-term, however, Infrastructure – and the lack of serious effort by the U.S. to address its condition and much-needed revitalization – leads the list of broader and emerging issues affecting real estate. Roads, bridges, airports, water and sewer lines, electricity, even public transit…are rapidly deteriorating…”

Top 5 right now:

1. Interest Rates and The Economy
2. Politics and Political Uncertainty
3. Housing affordability
4. Generational Change and Demographic
5. E-commerce, and Logistics

Top 5 going forward:

1. Infrastructure
2. Disruptive Technology
3. Natural Disasters and Climate Change
4. Immigration
5. Energy and Water

Click here to read the full list at CRE.org.

Leave it to Realtor.com to identify the few places in America where prices are actually going down.  In fact, there are only 27 of the country’s 350 metros that saw price drops.   They do, however, point out that in each of these areas there was some sort of legitimate reason for the decline – whether it was from overbuilding, mass job losses, natural disasters, you name it. To come up with their top-10 list, Realtor.com compared two years of median list prices in the 350 largest metros areas over the 12-month periods of May 2016 to April 2017 and May 2017 to April 2018. With that data in hand, they ranked the areas with the largest price cuts.

“We are in a full-fledged housing boom, and home prices are skyrocketing. At a national level it is blue skies with no real big clouds on the horizon,” says Daren Blomquist, a senior vice president at the real estate information firm ATTOM Data Solutions. “But an act of God can stall a region’s housing market, something you can’t predict well: mudslides, wildfires, hurricanes…”

Their top ten metros here home prices are falling are:

1. Santa Barbara, CA
2. Pottsville, PA
3. Napa, CA
4. Austin, TX
5. Beckley, WV
6. College Station, TX
7. Corpus Christie, TX
8. Anchorage, AK
9. Houma, LA
10. Bismarck, ND

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

The National Association of Realtors recently released their 2018 Veterans & Active Military Home Buyers Profile, which evaluated the differences between recent active-service and veteran home buyers & sellers to those who have never served.  Among their findings, out of all home buyers, 2% are active-duty military, 17% are veterans, and the remaining 81% are non-military.  Happy Friday!!!

Hat tip/salute to the NAR.

We have had several posts on REI2Day about important legal issues brought to the public’s attention by the Pacific Legal Foundation – including warrantless searches of apartments, 4th amendment rights and property takings.  In a recent opinion article on FoxNews.com, Ethan Blevins, an attorney with PLF, says that a “smug” city of Seattle is telling mom & pop landlords that criminals are welcome but your rights not so much. In essence, Seattle recently passed an ordinance called the The Fair Chance Housing Ordinance that forbids landlords from checking criminal backgrounds or considering prior criminal convictions when selecting tenants.  In other words, legitimate concerns about

“…[these laws]curtails landlords’ rights to their own property and raises serious safety and financial risks…..[and]…make the risks of renting out property utterly intolerable for the average mom-and-pop landlord.”

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

Click here to visit the Pacific Legal Foundation.

Dear Landlord Hank: Where Do You Draw The Line On Normal Wear And Tear?

According to the latest Zillow Market Report, the median U.S. home value rose 8.7% to $215,600, representing the fastest year-over-year increase since June, 2006.  Zillow says this gain is part of a general upward trend that started in early 2015 when values were climbing at less than 5% year-over-year.  In addition to rising values, Zillow says the median U.S. rent grew by 2.5% (year-over-year) to $1,449 a month and has been growing by more than 2% since September 2017.  Be sure to click on the interactive map below for more detail.

Click here to read the full report on Zillow.com.

According to Gallup’s annual Economy and Personal Finance poll, 45% of non-homeowners say they plan to buy within the next 5 years, however only 22% of current homeowners plan to sell during that same time frame.  Gallup says that a favorable market for sellers will continue in the near future….Indeed!

“One reason homeownership rates have not increased is that the supply of available homes has not kept up with demand. This has led to higher home prices, which — along with higher interest rates — are making homes less affordable overall…”

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

Understanding the foreclosure process is a must for real estate investors who hope to pursue this profitable & tricky investing opportunity. The folks over at FortuneBuilders put together this handy infographic outlining the 10-step foreclosure buying process in order help develop a strategy that works for you.  Happy Friday!!!