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 Florida Realtors are celebrating a new law that makes it easier for property owners to remove squatters. It’s become a crisis situation across the nation when squatters take control of a property and claim they are the victims. Florida has changed that, but property owners also need to protect themselves from the illegal occupation of their rightful homes...   ...You should also know your rights and the rights of squatters (if they have any) for the area where your property is located. If squatters don’t leave when you ask them, you may have to file an eviction notice and take them to court. And make sure you have a lawyer who’s experienced with property rights law.   The Florida anti-squatting law will take effect on July 1st.   That’s it for this episode. We’ve posted links to some of these stories in the show notes if you’d like to read more about it. Just go to newsforinvestors.com.   I’d also like to mention our live event on May 4th in San Francisco for people who’d like to invest in rental properti

Demand for housing in and around Dallas, Texas continues to soar. While investors have been pouring millions of dollars into creating more affordable housing, the metro is attracting so many people that tens of thousands of homes are still needed. Supply isn’t expected to catch up to demand any time soon.   An article in Bisnow says that investors have put a record amount of money into the area, but it hasn’t done much to close the affordable housing gap. Executive director of the Texas Affiliation of Affordable Housing Providers, Roger Arriaga, says: “The demand is excruciatingly big. We haven’t really even dented what the true need is for affordable housing.”...   ...This is why we started a North Dallas Rental Fund, which is now closed to new investment, but is still in the process of buying and renovating properties. The plan is to lease the updated homes to tech professionals who are moving to the area. My fund partner is also a property manager and helps individuals build their own rental portfolio. You

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending April 6th, 2024... more prognostications on when the central bank may cut rates, which major cities are attracting the most home buyers, and why artificial intelligence could have a negative impact on commercial real estate.   We begin with economic news from this past week. Fed Chief Jerome Powell expressed caution about when we might see the first interest rate cut. While many economists have been predicting three rate cuts this year with the first happening in June, Powell said it’s too soon to say exactly when it may be appropriate to begin the rate cutting process. He spoke at Stanford University saying: “Recent readings on both job gains and inflation have come in higher than expected” and that policymakers believe rate cuts may be possible later this year but they need “greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably down” toward the central bank’s 2% target...   ...That’s it for today. To keep up with the latest in real estate, the economy, an

With the help of artificial intelligence, there's a new wild, wild west on the internet, where scammers are pretty much free to pick your pocket. Security experts are warning people that you can be scammed out of money or even real estate by deepfake audio or video clips. And there aren’t a lot of safeguards in place right now. The technology is evolving more quickly than security experts can design or implement safeguards. As reported by Bigger Pockets, scammers orchestrated a $25 million dollar heist by impersonating the CEO of a multinational company. Hong Kong authorities say the money was transferred by an employee after a video conference call with who he thought was the CEO, but wasn’t... ...AI fraud can certainly turn your world upside down, but using AI in constructive ways could lead to much greater success in whatever you are trying to accomplish. That’s it for this episode You can read more about these stories by following links in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. While you're there, check

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending March 30th, 2024...yet another hot inflation report that we shouldn’t worry about, a turnaround in rent growth, and criticism for the Fed about the impact of high rates.   We begin with economic news from this past week. Another inflation report shows that we still have a few bumps in the road to deal with. The government released a report on the PCE for February which shows a sharp increase in prices. The Personal Consumption Expenditure Index was up .3%. That’s slightly below the .4% that Wall Street economists had predicted. The core rate, without prices for food and fuel, was also up .3%. The monthly increase led to a higher annual rate of inflation from 2.4% to 2.5%. The core rate went down slightly from 2.9% to 2.8%.   The report doesn’t change much about the central bank’s forecast. Fed Chief Jerome Powell said, a day after the PCE was released, that the data was inline with expectations but that officials want to see more evidence that inflation is de

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending March 23rd, 2024... why the latest Fed meeting provided some assurance about potential rate cuts in the months ahead, what you would pay for a home if home price growth hadn’t outpaced inflation, and how Airbnb is dealing with the use of monitoring devices like indoor cameras. We begin with economic news from this past week. The Fed held rates steady at the March meeting this last week, and suggested that we’re likely to see “three” quarter-percent rate cuts this year. The current short-term interest rate is between 5.25% and 5.5%. If rates are cut by a total of .75%,  the short-term rate would be reduced to a range of 4.5% to 4.75% by the end of the year...   ...You can read more about the stories in this episode by following links in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. And please remember to subscribe to this podcast, and leave a review!   If you’d like to know more about how to buy real estate for investment purposes, sign up for a free membership at

Regional banks are still under pressure because of their exposure to commercial real estate loans. A new study shows that almost 300 banks are at risk of failure if they don’t get an infusion of cash or merge with another institution. And the risk grows as time drags on with higher short-term interest rates. Consulting firm Klaros Group analyzed about 4,000 banks. It found that 282 or more than 7% of the banks in the study are under stress, and that most of the ones at risk are community banks with less than $10 billion in assets. But it also found that 16 regional banks holding $10 and $100 billion in assets are also at risk... ...You can read more by following links in the show notes below or at newsforinvestors.com.  And please join our network of real estate investors by signing up for a free membership at our website. And please subscribe to this podcast so you won’t miss an episode.    Thanks for listening! Kathy   Links:   https://www.bisnow.com/national/news/capital-markets/study-finds-282-community-a

For the first time in 17 years, Japan is hiking short-term rates from negative to positive. Japan has been battling deflation and economic stagflation since the worldwide economic crisis and was the lone hold-out among several countries experimenting with negative rates. This last week, that experiment ended with a rate hike from negative  .1% to between zero and positive .1%.   The Japanese economy has been suffering through a very long period of stagflation. This has been going on since the late 1990’s but the decision to lower short-term rates happened sometime after the 2007 to 2009 economic crisis with Denmark being the first country to do so. The European Union followed suit in 2014, and then Japan did so in 2016. Sweden and Switzerland were also among the countries dipping into negative territory.   In the US, the Federal Reserve kept rates very close to zero from late 2008 to 2015, and when Covid hit, the rates went back down from March 2020 to March 2022, but we never joined the negative interest rat

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending March 16th, 2024... what the latest inflation reports are telling us, why home sellers might be jumping for joy, and where we’ll be seeing the most single-family construction.    We begin with economic news from this past week. Two new inflation reports add to concerns about which way prices are going. The Consumer Price Index and the Producer Price Index both show prices were higher in February with the PPI showing the biggest surprise on the upside. The PPI represents the wholesale cost of goods and services and what we might expect to see bubbling up at the retail level.   For the month of February, the PPI was up .6% which is double what Wall Street economists had predicted. That brought the annual rate of wholesale inflation up from 1% to 1.6%. Higher energy costs can be blamed for most of that gain. They were up 4.4% for the month. Food prices were also 1% higher. When you eliminate food and energy prices for the core rate of inflation, you still get a

The latest inflation reports are renewing concerns about whether prices are going up or down. Both the Consumer Price Index and the Producer Price Index were released for the month of February this week. They were both on the hot side but the PPI delivered the big surprise.   The Federal Reserve released the CPI on Tuesday which shows that inflation was up .4% for the month and 3.2% from a year ago. Economists had anticipated an increase but the annual rate was slightly higher than they expected. As for the core rate, which eliminates food and fuel, both were higher than expected by one tenth of a percent. The monthly rate came in at .4% and the annual rate at 3.8%.    It wasn’t an earth-shattering increase. And it isn’t expected to have a significant impact on the Federal Reserve’s decision because central bank officials will be looking for trends and not a short-term bump in the inflation battle. But the PPI was a bit more of a shock on Thursday...   ...You’ll find a link to various articles on these inflat

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending March 9th, 2024... why we might see more homes on the market this spring, what builders are planning for this year, and where local stores are experiencing a big comeback.   We begin with economic news from this past week. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testified before Congress about the state of the economy and said that it’s “growing at a healthy, sustainable, solid, strong pace.” He also said that policymakers were paying attention to the risks of inflation and that more evidence is needed to reduce the interest rate from its current range of 5.25 to 5.5%. But he also said that he thought that was the peak and that rate cuts were likely at some point this year. He and the other committee members want to “see a little bit more data” showing that inflation is truly coming down before they make a move on rates...   ...That’s it for today. You find links to all these stories in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. You can also learn more about how

Texas multifamily developers may have overshot their goal. They have pumped so much new product into the market, that many have slammed on the brakes for new builds as they finish up current projects.    According to a detailed report in The Real Deal, Texas apartment developers have produced more apartments than almost any other group of US developers over the last three years. In Dallas, they put more than 20,000 apartments on the market last year. That’s about twice the number of new apartments that opened up in New York with a much larger population. In Austin, the story is even more dramatic, with  more than 17,000 new apartments on the market in 2023. Compared to Dallas with 1.3 million people, Austin only has 1 million....   ...You’ll find a link to the full article in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. If you’d like more information on the single-family rental business, be sure you’ve signed up for a free RealWealth membership. We help new and experienced investors find cash-flowing rental proper

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending March 2nd, 2024... you’ll hear what the Fed’s favorite inflation gauge is telling us, the challenges facing builders today, and a popular new trend in home design....   We begin with economic news from this past week. The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation report came out last week showing the biggest increase in four months. The Personal Consumption Expenditure index or PCE was up .3% in January to an annual rate of 2.4%. The “core” rate, which excludes prices for energy and food, was up .4% with an annual rate of 2.8%. The results were not a surprise after similar reports for the Consumer Price Index and the Producer Price Index. But, there are worries that the new reports will convince the Fed to wait longer to cut rates. The Fed has also said it expects a “bumpy” ride back to its 2% target...   ...If you’d like to know more about buying real estate rental properties, please sign up for a free membership at our website. We provide education and networki

The latest report on inflation is showing the biggest increase in four months. It’s the PCE report which is the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, and one that provides important data for a decision on rate cuts. The results were also in-line with expectations and what the Fed expects to be a bumpy ride back to its 2% target.   PCE stands for the Personal Consumption Expenditure index. The Fed prefers this report over the Consumer Price Index because it more accurately reflects what substitutions consumers are making as prices rise and fall. But the Consumer Price Index or CPI also produces important data for the Fed’s consideration along with the Producer Price Index or PPI for wholesale prices. And those two reports recently surprised us on the upside.   The new PCE report shows similar upside results with a .3% increase in January and an annual rate of 2.4%. The Fed pays the most attention to the “core” rate, which eliminates food and energy. That reading was .4% higher in January with an annual rate of 2.8%

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending February 24th, 2024... the 2023 numbers for all-cash home buyers, where NAR stands on a huge class-action lawsuit, and what’s happening with single-family rent growth.   We begin with economic news from this past week. Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s late January meeting show that Fed officials are more concerned about cutting rates too soon than they are about waiting too long. Released this last week, the minutes show that most committee members were concerned about the risks of going too fast while only a few were concerned about the opposite. Chief U.S. economist for Oxford Economics, Ryan Sweet, told MarketWatch that he’s worried this approach “could turn a soft landing into a bumpier one.” He added: “If the central bank waits for clear signs that the labor market, or the broader economy, is deteriorating, they will be behind the curve.”...   ...You’ll find links to all these stories in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. You should also check out

Apartment landlords are finally seeing positive revenue four years after Covid-related rent  moratoriums, but the eviction saga continues. Landlords are able to replace non-paying tenants by evicting them, but the legal proceedings don't happen overnight.   As you know, Covid triggered eviction moratoriums for tenants who weren’t paying rent. That helped many people who lost jobs, got sick, or had other Covid-related issues. But the protections continued well past the end of the emergency.   Although most of those moratoriums were canceled more than a year ago, some ended just months ago. According to BisNow, landlords are now slowly replacing tenants who don’t pay their rent and are finally seeing revenue from those units. They reported during fourth-quarter earnings calls, that this sliver of revenue is helping multi-family focused REITs get back on their feet.    This comes at an especially good time since many apartment landlords also face issues with higher costs from inflation and loan maturities that n

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending February 17th, 2024... why the latest inflation reports could delay a rate cut, why U.S. homes are growing older overall, and what share of home sales went to investors in the fourth quarter of last year...   ...Investors are working their way through the tough housing market, with some success. Redfin reports that investors accounted for 26% of low-priced home purchases in the fourth quarter. And about two-thirds of those investor transactions were single-family homes.    Looking only at the price points that investors are buying, about 46% were low-priced, 24% were mid-priced, and 28% were high-priced. Redfin agent, Carrie Caruthers, says: “I get tons of emails every day from investors looking for properties, but of course, they only want homes that are under market value, which are hard to come by. When they find those properties, they pile in.”   On that note, I’d like to add that you can get help finding those kinds of properties as a RealWealth member.

The week began with an inflation report that was anything but pretty. The Consumer Price Index came in hotter than expected for January, upsetting Wall Street and frustrating people who want the Fed to cut rates in the coming months. The report triggered a sharp stock sell-off but stocks have bounced back since then as investors and traders wondered whether they overreacted.   The CPI for January came out on Monday, February 5th with a .3% increase for January. Economists had expected a .2% increase. The annual gain did come down from 3.4% to 3.1%, but economists expected it to dip below 3% to 2.9%, according to CNBC. The report doesn’t show a significant increase in prices, but it does indicate that inflation continues to be sticky...   ...That’s it for this episode. You’ll find links to these stories if you’d like to more details on the CPI report. As for the housing market, you can get my forecast by watching 2024 Housing Markets Predictions webinar that I recorded with economist Rick Sharga. That’s at new

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending February 10th, 2024... why a no news report about inflation is actually good news, why some real estate agents say the spring homebuying season starts now, and where you’ll find the best short-term markets for this year. You can find the links to this episode in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. You’ll also find lots of information about the business of long-term rentals at our website. You can join for free and get access to our investor portal with data on our top markets for single-family rentals. That’s at newsforinvestors.com.   Thank you for listening! And please remember to subscribe to this podcast, and leave a review! - Kathy Fettke   Links:   1 - https://www.marketwatch.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-s-p-500-futures-inch-higher-ahead-of-cpi-revision/card/cpi-revisions-are-no-big-deal-trajectory-of-inflation-pretty-much-the-same--DNxkuW5QUF3eqATBGwTA?mod=home-page   2 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-first-big-inflation-report-of-2

Two big headlines out of New York this week have one thing in common – rent stabilization laws that are destabilizing the value of multi-families. One of those stories is about the sale of two multi-million dollar properties for less than half of the purchase price. The other story is about New York Community Bank which suffered a downgrade to “junk” because of commercial loan losses, including multi-family properties that are sinking in value. We’ve heard a lot about the impact of high interest rates on loans for unprofitable office buildings. But this story highlights the negative impact of rent stabilization laws. The headline that caught my eye in The Real Deal read: “Another rent-stabilized haircut, this time with shears.” The investment firm Bentall Green Oak unloaded two properties in upper Manhattan for just $31 million. That’s 64% less than the purchase price of $85 million...(more) ...That’s it for this episode. You can read more about this two-headed monster by following links to the articles in th