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Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing the way that landlords and property managers are handling rental screenings, and it’s making the leasing process better for everyone. But it isn’t just for rentals. Many home buyers are also getting the kind of help they need from what some are calling “robot realtors.”    I thought I’d talk about a few ways that AI is rapidly changing the real estate world. For rentals, an AI assistant can be the one handling all the questions and the scheduling of tours. It’s taking a lot of stress out of the property manager’s job. They typically converse via email, text, or chatbox, but according to Curbed, the communication is so human-like, many people don’t even know it’s an AI assistant. Later, when they inquire about the person they were talking to, they are surprised to find out it....(more)   ...You can read more about “robot realtors” by following links in the show notes below. And more about investing in real estate by signing up for a free membership with real wealth.

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending February 3, 2024... what the Fed Chief is saying about when the rate cuts will begin, what happened to the homeownership rate in Q4, and why Millennials are worried about aging Baby Boomer homes. That’s it for today. If you are working on your investing plan for this year and need a better focus, check out our RealWealth webinar: The Focused Investor: 4 Steps to Success in 2024. You’ll find it at newsforinvestors.com under the Learn tab. Be sure to sign up for a free RealWealth membership while you are there. And please subscribe to this podcast and leave a review when you have a minute.   Thanks for listening! Kathy Fettke   Links:   1 - https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/powell-federal-reserve-track-cut-rates-year-inflation-106939082#:~:text=In%20December%2C%20Fed%20officials%20indicated,likely%20still%20reflected%20policymakers'%20views.   2 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-climb-to-nearly-3-month-high-of-224-000-layoffs-creeping-higher-

The Federal Reserve is squashing hopes for a rate cut in March. The Federal Open Market Committee met this week and left rates where they are, but the bigger message from policymakers: There are no plans yet to cut rates.   Hi I’m Kathy Fettke and this is the Real Estate News for Investors. Please make sure you are subscribed, and when you have a minute, leave us a review and let us know how we’re doing!   This episode is a quick update on the Fed’s latest policy meeting. The committee issued a statement after the two-day meeting that eliminated wording about their willingness to keep raising rates. Instead, it said that it would now begin policy adjustment considerations. But that doesn’t mean they plan on immediately lowering rates. In fact, it said: “The Committee does not expect it will be appropriate to reduce the target range until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent.”   Fed Chief Jerome Powell also added to that sentiment during a news conference after

If you’ve ever wondered how local regulations might impact your Airbnb rental plans, you might get a few insights from a tourist destination in Southern California. Palm Springs and eight other nearby cities have been an attractive market for Airbnb investors, especially during the pandemic. But the backlash against short-term rentals has led to strict regulations, investor losses and a depressed housing market in many of those high-demand neighborhoods.    Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. If you like our podcast, please subscribe and leave us a review.   Airbnb rentals have become controversial in many U.S. cities as local officials grapple with a housing shortage for residents. But for some investors, curbing short-term rentals in a vacation hot-spot like the Coachella Valley didn’t seem like much of a threat. Until it was...   ...That’s it for this episode. You can read more about this by following a link to the article in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. I also encou

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending January 27th, 2024... you’ll hear the latest good news on inflation, how many tenants are struggling to pay rent, and where you can still find fixer uppers worth fixing... ...That’s it for today. You can read more about the stories in this episode by following links in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. You can also sign up for a free RealWealth membership while you are there, if you haven’t already. You’ll find the help you need to create your own real estate empire as a RealWealth member. And please remember to subscribe to this podcast, and leave a review! Thanks for listening! Kathy Fettke   Links:   1 - https://www.marketwatch.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-s-p-500-futures-wilt-after-record-setting-run-as-pce-data-looms/card/core-pce-inflation-rises-at-slowest-rate-since-spring-2021-OORZcFtQ64lxnor9xLlG   2 - https://www.marketwatch.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-s-p-500-futures-steady-before-gdp-report-after-again-hitting-record/card/u-s-

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending January 20th, 2024... what Fed officials are saying about rate cuts, metros with the highest single-family rent growth, and the most searched metro for rental listings... ...If you’re looking a metro that is getting searched the most by potential renters, then Atlanta may be your city. RentCafe says that Atlanta rental listings attracted the most attention from users, and the Georgia capital “the apartment market to watch in 2024.”   It says users saved more listings for Atlanta than any of the 150 metros on the website. Other highly searched metros are Kansas City, Missouri; Cincinnati, Ohio; Arlington, Virginia; and Orlando, Florida.   That’s it for today. You’ll find links to more info about all these stories in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. You can also sign up for a free RealWealth membership to learn more about real estate investing, and what you can do to create passive income from real estate.   And please remember to subscribe to this podca

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending January 13th, 2024... what the latest two inflation reports are telling us about the months ahead, why the US Supreme Court is debating a California builder’s fee, and how a new apartment surge is impacting investors...   ...That’s it for today. You can read more about the stories in this episode by following links in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. If you’d like to know more about how to buy real estate for investment purposes, sign up for a free membership at RealWealth.com. And please remember to subscribe to this podcast, and leave a review!   Thanks for listening! Kathy Fettke   Links:   1 - https://www.marketwatch.com/livecoverage/december-cpi-report-s-p-500-futures-near-record-ahead-of-key-inflation-data/card/cpi-posts-biggest-increase-in-three-months-but-little-sign-of-rising-inflation-rOCUDDpBNCcBnF477Yd2   2 - https://eyeonhousing.org/2024/01/housing-costs-persist-in-driving-inflation-higher/   3 - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/12/wholesale-p

Do you have a checklist of essentials for a property you’d like to buy? Or you might be upgrading a home for sale, or renovating a property for future tenants, or making design choices for a development project. Whatever direction you are headed with real estate, it’s a good idea to know what’s trending right now in the real estate market.   The National Association of Realtors just published an interesting list of real estate trends to watch over the next year, and I thought I’d share some of the insights from this article. The NAR article also advised readers that trends can change so make sure that you’re not “just” following trends, but doing something that makes sense for you and/or the future residents – something that will create “joy” is the way the author put it...   ...That’s it for today. You’ll find a link to that article in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. You’ll also learn more about the ever-changing real estate market by joining RealWealth. It’s free to join and free to explore our webs

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending January 6th, 2024... why economists are getting a more hawkish message from the Fed, what Zillow is listing as the hottest housing market in 2024, and the top growth states according to U-Haul.   If you happen to be in the SF Bay area on Jan 20th, I'd love to meet you at our live event. You can get the details at GrowDevelopments.com under the event tab. I'll be giving my 2024 Economic forecast, plus I'll share about our newest syndication - a home development project in Klamath falls, OR, and I'll also be explaining what a syndication is. You can get the details at grow developments.com...   ...If you’d like to learn how to invest in real estate, sign up for a free membership at RealWealth.com. You’ll have access to hundreds of webinars and educational articles along with data on various growth markets, sample properties, property teams, our investment counselors, and a recommended list of real estate professionals.   I also encourage you to subscribe to thi

In this Real Estate News Brief for the final two weeks of 2023... you’ll hear the results of the last inflation report along with a few predictions for 2024 and some surprising data on the number of investors buying real estate in the Dallas area.   We begin with a report on the Personal Consumption Expenditures index which is the Fed’s favorite inflation gauge. It shows the PCE dipped .1% in November for an annual rate of 2.6%. The core rate went in the opposite direction with a .1% increase for an annual rate of 3.2%. The core rate eliminates prices for food and gas. If you look at the data for “just” the last six months, the core rate was just 1.9% which is below the Fed’s target rate. Economist Andrew Hunter told CNBC: “Adding in the further sharp slowdown in rent inflation still in the pipeline, it’s hard to see any credible reason why the annual inflation rate won’t also return to the 2% target over the coming months.”...   That’s it for today. You can read more about the stories in this episode by fol

Happy New Year! And welcome to the 9th year of Real Estate News for Investors. I'm Kathy Fettke, and I want to take this moment to thank you for being a loyal listener. And a shout out to some of our very kind recent reviews. Thanks Chris W Ball for saying this show  "is the most relevant, factual and considerate real estate information I get all week." and to Johnny Mously who said, "Love the news. The podcast gets to the current points. I admire her unbiased opinions. This show needs to be on autoplay every week." I appreciate that and yes, back when I worked at CNN, Fox and ABC, we were absolutely not allowed to have bias. We were required to present both sides of any story. Those were the days! Anyway, as we head into 2024, I wanted to share some exciting news on new technologies that can help drive your real estate business to greater success. As daunting as learning new technologies may seem to some of us, according to JLL.com, the real estate industry is going through a massive digital transformatio

Rental application fraud has always been a problem, but there’s a new trend on social media to share techniques for duping your future landlord. Deceptive tenants are learning from people boasting about their success at scoring luxury apartments with fake documents… and sharing tips on how to create them.  Bisnow published an extensive report on the problem just recently. It’s called “How Renters Are Using TikTok, X to Defraud Landlords at Luxury Apartments.” But it isn’t “just” luxury apartments. It could be an apartment where there’s a lot of competition among tenants, so the less worthy ones give themselves a phony upgrade... ...The NAA says that many of this fraud cases involve professional criminals, but easy-to-follow instructions on social media, the most unassuming rental applicant could suddenly become a fraudster. The NAA published a great article on how landlords can protect themselves. You’ll find a link to that article in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com, along with links to the other artic

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending December 16th, 2023… why homebuyers are happy about the Fed’s rate hike decision, how inflation is losing its battle against the Fed, and what Redfin says about the 2024 Housing Market.   We begin with economic news from this past week, and a Fed decision that spread some holiday joy among homebuyers. Fed officials held their December meeting and announced that short-term lending rates would remain where they are, between 5.25% and 5.5%. And the forecast for next year is looking even better...   ...That’s it for today. 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 as an investor, sign up for a free RealWealth membership at newsforinvestors.com. It’ll take just a minute to sign up and will give you access to our entire website. That includes hundreds of webinars, data

The Federal Reserve has put a little joy into the hearts of homebuyers this Holiday season. The December FOMC meeting closed with no rate hike, and instead hints of rate cuts next year. That drove the stock market up, with bond yields and mortgage rates coming down... ...And if you want even lower rates, the San Antonio and Jacksonville property teams listed on the Real Wealth website offer investor loans under 5%. Check it out at newsforinvestors.com. And if you want to better understand why home prices went up in 2023 in spite of rates reaching nearly 8%, check out my 2023 Housing in Review webinar under the Learn tab at newsforinvestors.com. You can read more about what the Fed is doing with rates and the impact on the housing market by following links in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. I also encourage you to sign up for a free membership at RealWealth if you want to know more about how you can invest in real estate. It only takes a few minutes to sign up and will give you access to our housing

There’s a new effort in Congress to keep big landlords from owning single-family homes. Democrats in the Senate and House introduced legislation that would ban hedge funds from owning rental homes and force them to sell off what they have over ten years. But that bill and a second one both appear to target any large real estate investor, not just hedge funds.   The legislation is called the “End of Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act of 2023.” It was introduced by Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon and by Representative Adam Smith of Washington. If passed, hedge funds would be unable to purchase any more single-family rentals, and would have to sell at least 10% of what they own per year, to American families. That would create a 10-year phase out of hedge fund ownership after which they’d be completely banned from owning them.   As reported by Fast Company, the legislation doesn’t just refer to hedge funds, but to real estate investment trusts or REITs as well as corporations that own single-family rentals.

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending December 9th, 2023… the latest big drop in mortgage rates, what Redfin is predicting for 2024, and another reason to live, work, visit, or invest in North Texas.   We begin with economic news from this past week. Several financial institutions are predicting a noticeable economic slowdown in the fourth quarter. BofA is forecasting a GDP of just 1%. Goldman and the Atlanta Fed lowered their GDP estimate to 1.4 for Q4.. This follows a revised GDP of 5.2% in Q3, according to the Commerce Department.   The job market is still strong however with a surprise decline in the unemployment rate in October. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says it fell from 3.9% to 3.7%. In November, U.S. companies added another 200,000 jobs which is a 50,000 month-over-month increase...   Redfin Predicts a Better Year for Homebuyers ...Many of our RealWealth investors are taking advantage of that growth curve by investing in our North of Dallas Rental Fund. We have been buying fixer uppe

New York landlords are hoping to resolve unpaid rent issues without going to housing court. It’s a plan that could save time and money for both tenants and landlords, but tenant advocates are fighting against the proposal, claiming it will cause more harm than good. Landlords say tenant groups are angry because they weren’t consulted before it was proposed to officials. But, there’s a reason for that which I’ll share with you.   New York is not known as a landlord-friendly state and is one of the proving grounds for rent regulation, usually favoring the tenant. In this case, the landlord group “Community Housing Improvement Program,” which is also known as CHIP, presented a plan that would give tenants the option for mediation after meeting with a financial advisor. If that isn’t okay with the tenant, then the case goes to housing court...   ...You can read more about New York rent issues, by following links in the show notes for this podcast at newsforinvestors.com. If you want to learn more about all aspec

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending December 2nd, 2023... what the Fed thinks of the latest inflation report, how much home you can buy with a conforming loan in 2024, and where you’ll find a hot housing market and mushrooming population growth...   ...I’m excited to share this next story with you about a Texas market that is expanding rapidly. It’s an area north of Dallas, in Collin County, which is attracting businesses and new residents at a very fast pace. According to the Texas Demographic Center, the county’s population is expected to double by the year 2060.   Why are people and businesses flocking to this area? One - Texas is a business-friendly state, and two - there is no state income tax. The good news there. As Collin County Commissioner Susan Fletcher says: “With an average of 100 people per day, these new residents don’t just bring their cars, they also bring additional need for services and facilities impacting all areas of county government.”   This headline confirms what our Re

When asked how much money a person needs to be wealthy the magic number is currently about $2 million. But many people who have far less than that say they already feel wealthy today, for other reasons. So what’s the catch? According to a Charles Schwab survey, there’s more to “wealth” than a dollar sign. Earlier this year, Schwab conducted its seventh annual Modern Wealth Survey. It took place in early March with about 1,000 participants. While all those people suggested an average $2.2 million to be wealthy, almost half of them said they feel wealthy with just $560,000 because of other non-financial assets... ...If you’re not a member, please take a moment to sign up. It’s free and will help guide you toward the kind of financial freedom that you need to reach your goals. Just go to newsforinvestors.com. You’ll also find a link in the show notes for the Charles Schwab story. And don’t forget to subscribe to this podcast and leave a review!   Thanks for listening! Kathy Fettke   Links:   1 - https://pressroo

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending November 25th, 2023... you’ll find out why many Americans are choosing to rent, why apartment landlords are offering more concessions, and a trend reversal for home size.   We begin this episode with a few economic reports that were released before the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. The weekly unemployment report shows a drop in the number of people filing for benefits. New jobless claims were down 24,000 to a total of 209,000. It was the first time in eight weeks that initial claims were down. The number of ongoing claims also fell slightly to 1.84 million. As MarketWatch reports, the job market remains strong in spite of the Federal Reserve's efforts to slow down the economy by increasing the cost of money through higher interest rates. This supports the belief that rates will be higher for longer, at least until initial jobless claims increase substantially...   ...That’s it for today. You can get more details on these stories by following links in the