Realtor News

Disaster investors save money, wait for a disaster and attempt to buy real estate at bargain prices. In Mexico Beach, some owners have posted “Not for Sale” signs.

Wix, Weebly or WordPress? In the not-too-distant past, only a coder could create a website, but that’s changed. Here’s how to get started.

The housing industry is monitoring older American’s evolving housing needs. In 2012, 27M household heads are 65 or older. In 2017 it was 31M; by 2013 it will be 34%.  

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau oversees RESPA enforcement, and it updated the “Closing Disclosure” a few years ago – but is the way the group is structured actually legal? An appeals court said yes, but the U.S. Supreme Court will now consider the issue.

Millennials who want affordable housing are moving to smaller towns – but they prefer mini-versions of those big cities rather than traditional small-town life.

Need summary

A quick hint: If there’s an asterisk near the line number, a blank should be reviewed. And key dates and timeframes are important.

Builders see their market moving in the right direction, with the “unsustainable” level of multifamily starts slowing and the number of single-family starts growing.

A script can’t sound like a script, and how you deliver it may be more important than the actual words. Keep them short, ask a question and say “you” a lot.

The Florida Apartment Association says Fla. will need 600,000 new apartments by 2030 to keep up with the state’s growing population and rising rental demand.

A new family moved in and removed a large hedge in the backyard. But the neighbors liked their privacy and now wonder if there’s anything they can do about it.

How much is data worth? Once ransomware attackers hack a system, they hope a business will crunch numbers and decide that a ransom payment is their cheapest option.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to access more than $633M in first-of-its-kind federal funding to help prepare for disasters. “Damage brought by recent hurricanes has made it abundantly clear that Florida must prioritize disaster mitigation projects,” he says.

While the overall economy has shown signs of sluggishness, a NY Fed report is optimistic about new-home trends and strength in the overall housing market.

Single-family housing starts rose a bit (0.3% higher), but a sharp 28.3% drop in apartment construction caused the overall decline. Building permits were down 2.7%.

Study: In Florida, total student debt is $75.9 billion owed by 2,197,000 borrowers, according to realtor.com, making it difficult to buy a home. If these Floridians want to put 10% down, the downpayment vs. debt ratio is 72.4%.

To get empty homes into the hands of potential buyers, lenders may hold a foreclosure a maximum of five years – but Citibank allegedly moved too slowly.

Agents bake bread at open houses to tap into people’s “scent memory,” and a brokerage went a step further by inventing a unique odor that’s part of its branding.