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In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending August 22nd, 2020... home sales are soaring, rent collection is near normal, and Airbnb bans party homes.   We begin with economic news from this past week, and lawmakers that are still battling it out over a new stimulus package. An agreement could be reached soon that includes another $1,200 stimulus check, but the two sides are still about $1 trillion apart on the total amount of a deal. Still being debated are the unemployment bonus, the extension of eviction moratoriums, and new funding for schools and local governments. The Republicans are calling their proposal the Heals Act while the Democrats are calling theirs the Heroes Act.   www.NewsForInvestors.com  

The job market is undergoing a big transformation right now because of the coronavirus. Many businesses have adopted work-from-home policies, for at least the near term, to keep the virus from spreading at the office. The situation has raised questions about whether we’ll see businesses resurrect an upgraded version of the office workspace, and for one big company, that answer appears to be “yes.”   www.NewsForInvestors.com  

We typically steer away from politics in this podcast but a change in the presidency could bring about tax changes that impact real estate investors and high-income taxpayers. Some of our listeners have requested a podcast on what Democratic nominee Joe Biden is proposing if he becomes president, so I thought I’d dedicate this podcast to what we know of his plan.   www.NewsForInvestors.com  

The death of a California real estate investor has uncovered what appears to be a 30-year-old Ponzi scheme and hundreds of victims who don’t know if or when they’ll get their money back.  Kenneth Casey died suddenly of a heart attack in May which led to a post-death audit and the discovery of financial irregularities at his two companies. In addition to an SEC investigation, investors are now hoping that a bankruptcy filing will help them recover some of the millions that they have invested.   www.NewsForInvestors.com  

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending August 15th, 2020... a new pandemic low for jobless claims, the kind of homes that are pricing higher, and a poll on the future of Social Security.   We begin with economic news from this past week, and a stalemate in Congress over a new round of stimulus relief. Both sides are blaming the other for the hold-up while millions of Americans are coming up short on money they need to pay bills.   www.NewsForInvestors.com  

Refinancing your home just got more expensive. In the midst of the current mortgage refinancing boom because of low rates, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac just announced a new half point fee. They say it’s the result of market uncertainty, but real estate and mortgage industry leaders say it’s a money grab that’s happening at a very bad time for homeowners.   The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced the fee on August 12th saying there would be a new half point fee on most loans backed by Fannie and Freddie starting next month.   www.NewsForInvestors.com  

Millennials are now the largest generation, and their homebuying years are underway, but they are behind the eight ball when it comes to having the money to purchase a home. Born between 1981 and 1996, they are dealing with their second financial crisis, and many haven’t recovered yet from the first one. According to some financial experts, this second career slump could keep them from generating the same kind of wealth as past generations. It may also keep many of them in rental housing for much longer than they expected.   www.NewsForInvestors.com  

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending August 8th, 2020... some positive news about mortgage rates, a new disclosure rule for landlords, and where people “hide out” at home.   We begin with economic news from this past week that is highlighted by negotiations in Congress for a new economic stimulus package. At the time this podcast was written, the two sides were at an impasse, the $600-a-week unemployment bonus had expired, and eviction moratoriums were ending.   www.NewsForInvestors.com    

As millions of Americans remain out of work and forbearance programs expire, there are new predictions about a surge in foreclosures. An analysis by ATTOM Data Solutions shows that foreclosures could more than double in the next year because of delinquent loan payments. The analysis includes best to worst case scenarios with the middle case showing a rise from 145,000 current foreclosures to about 336,000 in quarter two of next year.   www.NewsForInvestors.com  

If you are a real estate investor, you’ve probably thought about climate change and how it may impact your portfolio. We’ve been warned about rising sea levels, storm surges, more severe hurricanes, and more destructive wildfires, but one future risk that hasn’t gotten as much attention is the risk of a water shortage in areas that don’t get much rain or snow. According to a new risk assessment study by the Blackrock Investment Institute, it’s a financial risk that many investors may not be factoring into their portfolios.   www.NewsForInvestors.com  

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending August 1st, 2020… we have a sharp drop in the gross domestic product, a real estate market that defies gravity, and a new way to feel like you are taking a vacation with your laptop.   We begin with economic news from this past week, and a new record for the U.S. GDP, but not in a good way.  The government says the gross domestic product dropped a whopping 32.9% from April to June, on an annualized basis. That’s the worst drop in GDP ever, with the closest being in mid-1921.   www.NewsForInvestors.com  

The pandemic is changing the way people think about money, and how much they feel they need to be wealthy. The Charles Schwab 2020 Modern Wealth Survey was taken in January of this year, before the U.S. was hit by the pandemic, and again in June, several months after the pandemic began. The results reveal changes in both attitudes and behavior, when it comes to money.   More than half of the people who participated in the survey say COVID-19 has had a financial impact on them or a close family member. But the sudden economic uncertainty that the pandemic has created, is also having a good effect on how people are handing their money.    www.NewsForInvestors.com  

If you’ve thought about buying real estate in a self-directed Roth IRA but would like to get more money into that account, 2020 may be the year to do a Roth IRA conversion from a traditional IRA or 401k. The conversion will trigger a tax event, but due to current circumstances, you might save a bundle of money doing that conversion this year.   www.NewsForInvestors.com  

Millions of U.S. properties are at substantial risk of flooding, and some say that risk is growing due to climate change. But it hasn’t been easy to determine a property’s flood risk. Many states don’t have flood history disclosure requirements, and FEMA maps don’t tell the whole story. A non-profit academic research group hopes to close that information gap with a new visualization tool that calculates flood risk for 142 million properties across the U.S.   www.NewsForInvestors.com  

Demand for warehouse space is skyrocketing as more and more people shop online, and that is providing another option for struggling malls. Mall owners with vacant space on their hands or retailers with an online presence are turning retail space into warehouse space for e-commerce. And there’s plenty of room for this trend to fly. A new report from commercial real estate services firm JLL says we may need another 1 billion square feet of warehouse space by 2025.   www.NewsForInvestors.com  

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending July 25th, 2020... numbers surge for both new and existing home sales, first-time homebuyers may get penalty-free access to retirement accounts, and critics pounce on Airbnb’s request for donations.   We begin with economic news from this past week, and a real estate market that is not bogged down by the coronavirus. The Commerce Department reported that the pace of new home sales surged 13.8% in June. That’s the highest level in 13 years.   www.NewsForInvestors.com  

An Iowa landlord got caught in an impossible situation. He said “yes” to an emotional support dog, and that dog ended up bothering another tenant who had allergies. The allergic tenant sued because she rented the apartment with the understanding that no pets were allowed, and the court sided with her because she was there first. The case itself has an important lesson for landlords dealing with the conflicting needs of its tenants.   This has not been an easy dispute to resolve. The case worked its way to the Iowa Supreme court where Chief Justice Susan Christensen acknowledged that the landlord got himself into a “pickle” trying to satisfy the needs of both tenants.   www.NewsForInvestors.com  

A crowdfunding company that raised hundreds of millions of dollars from thousands of investors appears to have fallen into a black hole. Prodigy Network was already on shaky ground financially when founder Rodrigo Niño died a few months ago. And now, it’s not clear who’s running the company. The website is still blazing a message of prosperity, but calls and emails are going unanswered.   www.NewsForInvestors.com  

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending July 18th, 2020... home construction is booming for a second month in a row, mortgage rates are at a 50-year low, and drive-in theaters are popping up across the country.   We begin with economic news from this past week, and a housing market that is rebounding nicely from the pandemic. The Commerce Department reported that housing starts continued a surge that began in May. They were up 17.3% in June, after a 17% increase in May...   www.NewsForInvestors.com  

If you want to stretch your real estate investing dollars as far as you can, you may want to look at Detroit. Motor City is the number one large metro for the amount of residential square footage you can get for your money. You might run into some competition as a summer buyer however. There are reports that the Detroit real estate market is booming right now, despite concerns about the pandemic.   www.NewsForInvestors.com