US housing market
Interest Rates 2015: Defying Expectations?
For the past year or more, experts in finance and real estate have watched the movement of interest rates with a wary eye. Now, as a new year opens, those experts are weighing in with predictions about what investors can expect in the coming months- and years. And they’re basing their predictions on...
Changing Demographics Shape Rental Demand
Rental real estate isn’t what it used to be – and for investors hoping to build wealth through investment property, that’s a good thing. Changing social, cultural and economic trends are creating some surprising new groups of long term tenants with needs and interests that create both opportunities...
The 3% Down Payment Makes a Comeback
Federal lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are announcing a major change in their mortgage lending requirements, and that has some housing market watchers worried. Will lower down payment requirements boost a stagnant market – or lead to another collapse?
Fannie and Freddie, two leading players...
Successful Investors Think Young – and Old
Millennials – those born between about 1983 and 2003 – now make up the largest age group in the US, eclipsing even the legendary baby boomers.
On the other end of the spectrum, the number of centenarians is expected to reach over 200,000 by 2020 – nearly triple the current population.
These...
HOAs Beat Lenders to the Punch
In the real estate world, homeowner’s associations are almost universally loathed. Their pitched battles with homeowners who put out the wrong lawn decorations or paint their houses an inappropriate color have made news in cities across the country.
But in a recent Nevada court case, one such HOA...
Will Easier Lending Help Housing – or Hurt It?
The US housing market is on the rebound – or is it? As housing prices rise, mortgage lending stays flat. Venerable government mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have a solution for that – but critics worry that it might trigger another housing collapse.
Fannie Mae, AKA the Federal National...
New Investing Opportunities Promise Profits
Want to get started making money from rental real estate – but hate the thought of being a landlord? There just may be a solution for that - if you don't mind putting the fate of your investments into the hands of others.
Even though the US housing market is still struggling 'to fully recover from...
The Rental Market: A Smorgasbord for Investors
The rental market is hot right now, the headlines say. Home ownership is down, and rents are going up. It’s a good time to cash in on the growing demand for rental housing.
But hold on a minute. Not all rental markets are created equal. And while rents are rising and it really is a good time to be...
Retirement May Be Hazardous To Your Health
Retirement’s not what it used to be. Or perhaps it never really was. As midlife Americans look toward planning for what they hope will be a second life of leisure with family and friends after decades in the work force, new research suggests that retirement in the traditional sense could actually kill...
Abundance: Don’t Fear the Future
It seems that the headlines of the day are always filled with relentless drumbeat of sad news: the economy’s slow, jobs are stagnant, crisis and chaos grip the world. But a new book that takes a look at the big picture of economic and cultural trends over the last century or so offers a bold challenge...