No matter where you live, winter storms can wreak havoc on property. Taking action before and after storms can reduce the chances of serious damage to homes and lives.

Before the storm

• Outdoor furniture, grills, toys, birdbaths and the like should be stored away. Secure and anchor large objects such as prefab sheds and play structures.
• Trees can look like they’re in good shape, but may be diseased or have other problems that can cause them to fail unexpectedly. Trees stressed by drought or rooted in saturated soil can be more susceptible to problems when storms hit.
• Local ordinances may require that trees be trimmed a minimum distance from driveways, structures and power lines. For safety’s sake, a qualified professional should perform this work.
• Use binoculars to check your roof for missing or damaged shingles. Flying shingles can damage structures, while missing shingles can allow water to leak into the home. Any roofing repairs should be done by licensed professionals to ensure the work is done safely and correctly.

After the storm

• Look for downed or sagging power lines and report them immediately to your utility company. Always assume a downed power line is live, and never approach or touch it.
• Check around for fallen branches or other damage to trees and structures. This is also a good time to re-inspect the roof for storm damage; any repairs should be made as soon as possible to prevent further problems.
• Note any areas where water may have i ... Read More…

 

House Price Appreciation by State

 

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Realtor.com’s 2025 Housing Forecast

 

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U.S. Construction Spending Up Slightly

 

By Brad Beckett on December 9, 2024  News

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FHFA Announces Conforming Loan Limits for 2025

 

By Brad Beckett on December 10, 2024  Residential

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NAR’s Migration Trends Report – 2024

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By Brad Beckett on December 12, 2024Market Trends

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 As you may know, in the Real Estate Investing business, You've got to Buy Low ("DEALS") and Sell High (the closer to Perfect you Fix-up the Property, the better you're able to enter the Retail Market (MLS) of highest sale prices).

You can Buy Distressed Property or find a Distressed Owner. Then Fix-up the Property and Sell or Rent it.

To be Successful you've got to keep finding these "DEALS" otherwise it's like you're treading water. OK to tread in a Lake but this business is more like a River so Treading ends you down river, breaking even or losing money.

One way to fill your "Pipeline" with Deals is with the Marketing Magic from National Expert Kathy, who'll Teach us How YOU can be Successful with that "PIPELINE" of opportunities! Tuesday, January 28, 6:30-9pm & Saturday, February 1, 10:00-3pm2025.

Another way for finding DEALS is Tony Youngs Hidden Market techniques. Tony shared page 1 of his Goals on his Thursday (1/2/25) evening webinar, below. Like to join us for Tony's Thursday webinar? Mike@MassRealEstate.net and I'll see if I can get Tony for an invitation for YOU.

  GOALS FOR 2025 (print and paste on your Refrigerator beside your Vision Board)

Financial:

Health Goals:

Spritual Goals:

FINANCIAL:

I will make $250,000 this year

I will do this by working the Hidden Market System

I will plot a course of 8 foreclosure properties and find 30 hidden market leads by following that course.

I will wholesale the properties I find to other i ... Read More…

 

The Wall Street Journal (re-posted on Realtor.com) is reporting that home insurers are pushing for big rate increases along with weakened consumer protections.  In addition, the WSJ says they are increasingly getting what they ask for.  According to their report, state regulators across the country appear to be adhering to industry demands, fearing that insurers will exit their states.

States are also giving home insurers almost everything they ask for on rates, an analysis conducted for The Wall Street Journal suggests. The average state-approved increase since the start of last year is just 0.2 percentage point below the increase requested by the industry, according to the analysis by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

“The industry is definitely playing hardball at the moment,” Colorado Insurance Commissioner Michael Conway said. “They’re doing that because they’re scared [of forecast extreme-weather losses].” 

Many state regulators are in a weak position to push back on industry demands. “The [state home-insurance]markets are incredibly unstable right now,” Conway said.

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There are 3 figures that go hand-in-hand when trying to determine a commercial/apartment property's value. They are; Net Operating Income (NOI), Cap Rate (CR) and Asking Price or Purchase Price (PP). If you know 2 of the figures you can always figure out the third.

I will be talking about the NOI of a property. More specifically, how NOI is calculated as it relates to an apartment building.

We are going to start with a simplified version of how to arrive at the NOI of a property and then expand each category. Basically, the formula is: Income -Expenses (other than debt service) = Net Operating Income.

INCOME:

First thing, I determine the income generated by the property. I start with the Gross Potential Rental Income (GPI) or Scheduled Gross Rental Income (SGI). Both terms are used interchangeably within the industry. The GPI assumes that all apartments (100%) are rented at full market value even if some are actually vacant or discounted.

For our example, I will use a 30 unit apartment building that has all 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom units with market rents of $600 per month each. Therefore, the GPI of this complex as an annual figure will be: 30 units x $600/month = $18,000/month x 12 months = $216,000 per year of Gross Potential Income.

The second step in the equation is to determine the vacancy of the property, both physical and economic. If you have a 30 unit complex and 3 units are vacant, the vacancy is 10% (3/30 = .1 or 10%). I will not be calculating economic vacancy in this ... Read More…

As you can imagine, I meet a LOT of real estate entrepreneurs every year.

And something that I’ve noticed about many of you, including newbies and old pros, is an energy you give off that I can only describe as clenched-upness.

Even folks who are excited, on the surface, about starting or expanding their real estate businesses are often simultaneously radiating a sort of anxiety about the whole thing.

Yes, I understand that what I (and your sellers and buyers and private lenders, by the way) am really feeling is your underlying fear.

Whether it’s a fear that you’re being sold a bill of goods by all the folks (like myself) who tell you that there’s unimaginable money in real estate, or a fear that it works but you can’t do it, or a fear that you WILL succeed and then be judged because you have money and your friends and family don’t, it’s definitely there—at least in most people that I meet.

But there are others, and some of them ARE brand new, who are JUST excited, because (sometimes in the face of all evidence) they seem to have total confidence that, ultimately, everything will work out for them. And guess what? In a MUCH higher percentage of cases than with the hand-wringers, it does.

And no, I’m not going to now exhort you to go out and find, or fake, some confidence. That’s silly, and there’s nothing you can do to get it if you don’t have it OTHER THAN go out and get some deals under your belt.

Instead, I ... Read More…