BiggerPockets Daily

Home inspections are crucial in identifying potential property issues that may not be visible to the naked eye. By providing comprehensive information about the property’s condition, home inspections help homebuyers make informed decisions about whether or not to purchase the property.Home inspectors will generally cost you between $300 and $500. However, owning a larger home or requesting additional inspection services may cost you a little more. The cost also differs based on the property’s location. Whether you’re a real estate investor or an aspiring homeowner, you should consider a home inspection a necessary expense. Research shows that 86% of buyers who got their desired home inspected learned of at least one problem that required attention.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Several days ago, the Wall Street Journal published an article about real estate syndicator Applesway Investment Group (owned by real estate entrepreneur Jay Gajavelli), which lost more than 3,000 apartments across four rental complexes that went into foreclosure. What led to one of the largest commercial real estate bursts since the financial crisis of 2008? In a nutshell, Gajavelli’s company held floating interest rate loans where payments ballooned. Inflation brought higher expenses, but rental revenues could not compensate for the difference. Thus, bills became overdue, ultimately leading to these properties’ foreclosures. Thousands of individual investors looking to generate passive incomes (without being a landlord) have now been left empty-handed.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rent prices tend to increase in spring and summer as more people seek new rental homes, but lower demand alongside new inventory keeps rent prices nearly flat nationally. In some states, however, an influx of new residents is causing median rents to grow, according to a May report from Rent.com. The trend is clear: People are moving to areas with strong economies that still have affordable rent and housing prices. In the states where rents are rising the fastest year-over-year, the median rent is still relatively low compared to the national median.Nationally, rents were up just 0.29% year-over-year in April. The month-over-month decrease from March to April was -0.23%, following a 1.77% uptick from February’s low to March. The national median rent now sits at $1,967. Monthly declines have slowed, but that may be due to the season—there’s no telling whether the national median rent has ended its descent. In nearly 79% of markets, however, rents are still growing year-over-year. And in some Southern and Midwestern states, rents are rising at double-digit rates.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Forget basketball and even the weather—when anyone mentions the Miami “heat” in recent years, it’s more likely to be real estate talk. But in 2023, when interest rates have spiked, and the markets are showing signs of slowdown and seasonality returning, is Miami still the hottest place to own a residential investment property? What about Central Florida’s boom cities Orlando and Tampa? Or are the better deals up north in Jacksonville?In our third and final installment of market snapshots, BiggerPockets has teamed up with Belong to look at the Sunshine State. If you want guaranteed rent every month in popular cities like Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Jacksonville—check out if you qualify for BelongX, the new app changing the way residential investors manage their rental homes. Only you know your financial situation and what you can take on, so this report is designed to support your research by presenting stats on median pricing, rents, and the current state of the market in Florida. The data published is accurate as of April 2023.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you were to ask most investors who they thought the biggest player in the real estate industry would be, the name Sam Zell would be many’s first thought. The legendary real estate investor and entrepreneur passed away recently at the age of 81. His legacy is vast. Many have referred to him as the “grave dancer” because Zell took seemingly dead assets and breathed new life into them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Institutional investors (those who own 1,000 or more homes) have been selling off their inventory in 2023. These big investors have reduced their buying activity by nearly 80% from Q4 of 2022 compared to Q4 of 2021, according to John Burns Research and Consulting. This change in activity has led to 90% fewer purchased homes in January and February of this year than in the first two months of 2022. This is a sharp contrast to the pandemic purchasing of houses in the U.S. These were times when it was easy to borrow money and interest rates were at rock bottom—coupled with rising rents and soaring home prices making it a perfect storm for institutional homebuyers to add to their portfolios. So, why has the trend reversed? We’ll take a closer look at the trends of institutional homebuyers, the reasons why they are backing out, and what this means for individual investors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s difficult to predict what will happen in the housing market, even during normal times. Given that the economy is anything but normal right now, predicting what will happen in the housing market over the coming months is pretty much a fool’s errand. But it’s important to have an investing thesis, and it’s also fun, so I will try anyway. Below I will share my five predictions for the housing market in the summer of 2023 and three important indicators to watch that could change my predictions completely.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For decades, when investment advisors talked about “diversifying your portfolio to include real estate,” they typically meant adding REITs to your stock portfolio.Don’t get me wrong, real estate investment trusts (REITs) have their advantages. They’re extremely liquid and easy to buy or sell with the click of a button in your existing brokerage account. And you can invest for the cost of a single share, which could mean investing $15 instead of $50,000. But do publicly-traded REITs offer true diversification from the stock market at large? Perhaps not as much as you’d like to think. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The financial press is abuzz again about the debt ceiling deadline and the risks of another government shutdown and perhaps a catastrophic default on U.S. debt if an agreement cannot be reached. The ceiling (currently sitting at $31.4 trillion) is set to be hit on June 1. The Washington Post is particularly apoplectic,“Federal workers furloughed. Social Security checks for seniors on hold. Soaring mortgage rates. A global financial system sent reeling… “Leaders from Congress and the White House are trying to forge an agreement to lift the federal debt ceiling, with only a few weeks before the Treasury Department may no longer be able to avert an unprecedented U.S. default. If they fail, and the government can’t meet its payment obligations, economists and financial experts predict chaos.“’It would be a lethal combination,’ said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s. ‘You can see how this thing could really metastasize and take down the entire financial system, which would ultimately take out the economy.’”Well, that sounds rather bad. So, is this something real estate investors should be concerned about, and if so, how should one prepare?Let’s first start with a quick overview of what’s going on and how such “fiscal cliffs” have gone in the past.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tampa, Florida, is one of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S. and boasts a strong housing market that’s held up to correction pressures through this point. With a diverse economy, large tourism sector, and growing population, investing in the Tampa Bay area is a no-brainer for anyone looking for long-term growth.Population and Labor MarketLocated in the southwest portion of Central Florida along the “I-4 Corridor,” the Tampa Bay metropolitan area consists of three cities: Tampa, Clearwater, and St. Petersburg. As of 2021, the total population tracks at just over 3.2 million, making it the 18th largest metro in the country.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices