Real Estate, Updates, News & Tips - Walter Taylor - iPro Real Estate

Investors have their Sights Set on Senior Housing

Investors are increasingly eyeing senior housing and plan to increase their buying within the sector over the next 12 months, according to the CBRE U.S. Seniors Housing & Care Investor Survey. Sixty-two percent of investors surveyed say they intend to increase the size of their portfolios with elderly living segments over the next year.“Senior housing demand should remain at relatively healthy levels through 2019, given expected steady

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Are Renters Stigmatized?

Nearly 30% of Americans believe that there is a negative social stigma against renters, according to a new survey from Apartment List. This belief is held by renters and homeowners alike.“Some of what we found was surprising,” says Igor Popov, chief economist at Apartment List.Apartment List surveyed more than 5,000 participants in June across the country. Some of the survey respondents referred to renters as “second-class citizens”

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Bidding Wars Expected to Heat Up Again

Lower mortgage rates are bringing out more potential home buyers. In certain parts of the country, this has translated into a lot more competition. In markets that have seen prices become more moderate, supply is lower than it was a year ago and bidding wars are becoming more prevalent. For example, a recent Redfin housing index notes that cities like Oklahoma City; Richmond, Va.; Memphis, Tenn.; Buffalo, N.Y.; and Atlanta are seeing buyer d

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What ‘Move-In Ready’ Really Means

A “move-in ready” home may mean different things to different buyers—everything from having freshly painted walls to having window blinds included.Bungalo, a real estate platform for buying newly renovated homes online, surveyed more than 550 home shoppers between the ages of 25 to 54 on what elements are required for a home to be considered “move-in ready.”If you’re going to use the term to describe your listing, here’s what most b

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Category 5 Storm No Match for House of Plastic Bottles

JD Composites, a Canadian homebuilder, has constructed a three-bedroom home in Nova Scotia that is made of 612,000 recycled plastic soda bottles. But the attention has mostly centered on how the home can withstand extreme winds—even a category 5 hurricane.The builder, which melted thousands of plastic bottles and injected them with gas to form the walls of the home, tested the plastic panels for hurricane resistance and found they could withsta

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Barry Spares New Orleans but Threatens More Flooding

Tropical Storm Barry, which crashed into Louisiana as a Category 1 hurricane over the weekend, may still bring heavy rain and flooding to the Gulf Coast for days. Barry largely spared New Orleans, which was expected to feel the brunt of the storm, but Louisiana and the Gulf Coast still could get up to 20 inches of rain in some areas.Life-threatening flash floods and possible tornadoes are still possible in Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, southe

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The Steep Affordability Decline since the 1960s

Purchasing real estate has become an increasingly costly endeavor over the last half-century. Median home prices have surged 121% nationwide since 1960, but median household income has only increased 29%, according to a new study by Clever Real Estate. Renters have faced escalating prices, too. Median gross rent has risen 72% since 1960, more than double the growth in adjusted incomes.“Rising rents and increasing home prices make it harder than

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10 Happiest States in America

How do you measure residents’ happiness? It may come down to having social relationships, financial security, strong ties to the community, good physical health, and plenty of career prospects, according to a new survey.The 2019 Gallup Well-Being Index examined responses from more than 115,000 adults ages 18 and older on how they feel about their lives and what they experience on a daily basis. Overall, well-being in the U.S. has seen a gradual

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Bill Proposes Cutting FHA Insurance Fees for First-Timers

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill this week that would cut the cost of upfront mortgage insurance fees on Federal Housing Administration loans for first-time home buyers who take part in housing counseling. The bill requires first-time buyers to complete a housing counseling program about sustaining homeownership in order to be eligible for the 25-basis-point discount on their FHA mortgage insurance loan.The Housing Financial Lite

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Mortgage Rates Barely Budge from 3-Year Lows

After steady declines since the beginning of the year, mortgage rates appear to be leveling off. But that still bodes well for home buyers.“While rates have moderated, we’re still at nearly three-year lows, which is good news for buyers looking to purchase a home before school starts,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “The recent stabilization mortgage rates reflects modestly improving U.S. economic data and a more accomm

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