Ashli Sims, the managing director of Build In Tulsa, challenges Black businesses to think outside the box regarding relocation.
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Mortgage rates have been trending upward since last March when the Federal Reserve began tightening the reins on inflation. Last November, they even hit a 20-year high, clocking in at over 7% on the typical 30-year loan. Now, less than a year later, they’ve broken that record again, notching yet another two-decade high at 7.23% as of Aug. 24.
Historically, that’s not the highest rate we’ve ever seen, but compared to the record-low rates of just two years ago, it’s quite the about-face for anyone looking to buy a house. In fact, according to Redfin, as of July 30 the typical homebuyer’s monthly mortgage payment is now up 19% compared to just a year ago.
The question is this: How much worse can it get? And is there any hope for lower rates on the horizon? Here’s the scoop.
If you’re looking to purchase a property anytime soon, high mortgage rates only add to an already challenging situation. For one, inventory is incredibly low, and with 80% of homeowners having a current mortgage rate of 5% or less, according to Zillow, the likelihood of much existing inventory hitting the market is pretty low—at least until rates drop some.
According to a recent Zillow survey, homeowners with rates under 5% are half as likely to sell their homes as those with rates above that threshold, essentially locking up a good portion of that existing inventory. (Total for-sale inventory fell 19% in July, according to Redfin, and new listings were down over 20%.)
This, of course, trickles down to home prices. With such low inventory, buyers are forced to compete for the few options out there—keeping prices elevated until something finally shifts.
According to the most recent Real House Price Index from First American, consumer homebuying power, defined as how much one can buy based on changes in income and mortgage rates, has now dropped 9% year over year. In addition, “real” home prices, which take into account mortgage rates and nominal home prices, are up a whopping 12% in the same period.
As Mark Fleming, chief economist for First American, put it: “While many expected that a higher mortgage rate environment would prompt house prices to adjust downward, the lack of housing inventory amid a resilient economy is keeping a floor on how low prices can go.”
We’re nearing the housing market’s slow season of winter and the holiday season, which is when home prices normally drop and competition wanes. According to most forecasts, we’re likely nearing the peak for rates, too.
Fannie Mae’s latest forecast says the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate will dip to 6.6% by year’s end, while the Mortgage Bankers Association has its sights on a 6.2% average rate. Either way, it’d be an improvement for those looking to get in on the market—if they can find a property.
The trajectory of rates over the next few months will depend on what the latest economic indicators say, as well as how the Federal Reserve responds to them. As of now, the CME Group’s Fed Watch Tool shows there’s an around 80% chance that the Fed makes no changes to its benchmark rate next month. If that’s the case, rates could moderate or even drop later on in the year.
As for 2024, both Fannie and MBA expect a steady downtrend in rates, with MBA eyeing the lowest rate of the two—an average of 5%—by the end of the year. By 2025, we could see rates in the 4% range, according to the trade group.
Until then, though, homebuyers and real estate investors will have to make do with rates that are quite a bit higher than just a year or two ago. That means getting creative with financing (adjustable-rate and shorter-term loans), negotiating buydowns, or using equity to make bigger down payments and, hopefully, qualify for a lower rate.
Ready to succeed in real estate investing? Create a free BiggerPockets account to learn about investment strategies; ask questions and get answers from our community of +2 million members; connect with investor-friendly agents; and so much more.
Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.
Mortgage Rates Reach the Highest Point in 20 Years—How Much Higher Will They Go? Read More »
Orphe Divounguy, Zillow home loans senior economist, joins ‘The Exchange’ to discuss America’s housing affordability crisis, Zillow offering a one percent down payment loan program in Arizona, Zillow’s plan to roll out the home loan plan beyond Arizona.
Zillow rolls out new 1% down payment program in Arizona Read More »
Casual Discussion, Meeting Colleagues
Networking is an essential skill for entrepreneurs to learn because it generates business.
The term networking can become over complicated. It is simply starting and nurturing relationships which is something that humans do throughout life.
It doesn’t have to be difficult. Practice, repetition and following the tips below will help you build rewarding professional relationships wherever you are, whether that’s at work, a seminar, a party or on a flight.
Who do you want to meet and why? How many networking events will you commit to attending? Where will you go to network? How will you measure your progress? What do I want to get help with?
Asking yourself these powerful questions is a great place to start. You can’t hit a goal without a target, so be strategic about your time and your intentions.
First impressions really do count. Before attending a networking event, think about how you will introduce yourself. Do you have an elevator pitch of around 30 seconds? If not, write and practice one. Make sure you are dressed well and feel confident in your appearance (whatever that means to you). Your personal brand also follows you online, so be mindful of how you want to show up.
Networking can feel scary. Introverts should find someone to attend events with to take the edge off. This tip is also very good if you know that you need help staying accountable. Having a networking partner will mean you’re both more likely to show up.
Is anybody surprised that 75% of entrepreneurs have reported concerns for their mental health? Running a business is hard and can be a lonely road. This is not to say that you should treat networking as a free talking therapy, but be vulnerable about the problems in your industry or that you’re facing in business. Vulnerability builds deeper connections more quickly, and you never know if the person you’re talking to has the perfect solution to the issue that’s holding you back.
LinkedIn is not just an online resume. It’s the most suited platform for building professional relationships, so make sure to interact with content, post your own content and send direct messages. Aside from LinkedIn, you can network on every other social media platform. Attending online workshops and being active in forums are other ways to meet people who share your interests.
When you make a connection ask yourself two questions.
Openly sharing knowledge, contacts and opportunities to help others win will create a culture of generosity within the relationship. The other person will be more likely to help and introduce you to others when the time comes.
People tend to talk more than they listen. If you can learn to truly listen, you will gather so much information about people, the industries they are in and the professional problems they face. It is said that knowledge is power.
Networking doesn’t start until you follow up. Aim to send a text, email or direct message within 24 hours of meeting someone. Check in with them every 3 to 6 months to further nurture the relationship.
Six months after attending a networking event, review the relationships that were built. You might start to notice trends such as which types of events are the most beneficial to your networking goals. From this exercise, you can tailor your networking strategy if needed.
Building relationships is a skill that you have already been practicing for years, so try not to feel intimidated by the word networking or by trying to ‘do it right’. The more you network, the more confident you will get.
Social Networking
Networking is about establishing connections and creating a supportive community. Even if you don’t have a specific product or service to promote, your presence can still contribute to engaging conversations, the exchange of ideas, and potential collaborations.
This article is presented by Avail. Read our editorial guidelines for more information.
One of the easiest ways to establish a consistent income stream is by improving lease renewal rates among your tenants. Doing so can help you avoid turnover costs that quickly add up and help you retain tenants you’ve enjoyed renting to.
There are various ways to find and keep great tenants, but we outlined the top six ways to increase lease renewal rates.
One of the strongest ways to increase lease renewals is by offering tenants a renting experience that considers their feedback and addresses their complaints. In other words, the quicker you act on maintenance tickets or implement feedback on making paying rent easier, the more likely a tenant is to renew, even if you plan on raising rent.
But exactly how can this be done? That depends on the feedback you generally receive that could impact a tenant’s desire to renew. For some, this can be a non-working A/C unit or outdated kitchen appliances. For others, this can be paying rent via checks versus online payments. The key is having a good grasp on how your tenants feel about both the rental property and adjusting where necessary.
Requesting feedback from your tenants on a monthly or quarterly basis can provide visibility on the areas of improvement, which can increase the likelihood of your tenants renewing if immediately addressed.
To collect feedback, this can be through direct contact with your tenant (if you have the time), or you can create an online form to email your tenants at a cadence you prefer. This method can make it easier to keep track of feedback, especially if managing several rental properties or tenants. Examples of questions to include in the form can be:
You can determine what changes to make to increase your lease renewal rates from these responses.
While this is not required, there are different ways to incentivize tenants to renew that can sometimes be the final nudge a tenant needs to lock in a new lease. Some examples of this are:
The opportunities are endless, so explore options you’re comfortable with offering.
Over the past few years, all-time-high rent prices have been top of mind for millions of renters, so it’s no surprise that they’re often not excited to learn about a landlord’s plan of raising rent. Although this is inevitable to increase profits and cover the rising cost of managing a rental, it may be best to notify your tenants 2-3 weeks before sharing the lease renewal proposal to talk through it first.
You can provide your reasons for raising the rent and let your tenants share their thoughts on your plans. They may try to negotiate a lower rent price that’s still above their current rent. In this case, you can decide if you’re flexible on your plans to increase the chances of them renewing or will stick to your new price.
Automation is a landlord’s best friend—it helps you save time (and even money) by simplifying tasks that have historically been manual, such as lease renewals. Instead of going back and forth with tenants via email on lease renewal plans, you can leverage property management software to automate the process.
As the landlord, you can input the new rent price and any incentives you plan to offer. The system will usually ask your tenants if they want to renew. If so, they can sign a new lease agreement with an updated rent price and new clauses (if any) to sign online. If not, you can begin the tenant turnover process by marketing your rental property on reputable rental sites.
Like with many things, certain characteristics or features of your rental property can be considered past its prime and time for change. If you’re unable to offer incentives or make any further changes to how you manage your rental, consider improving the property itself. This can be anything from refreshing the paint in each room to replacing the kitchen appliances with new stainless steel ones.
Some tenants may offer to add changes themselves, which can be helpful, but ensure they’re not violating landlord-tenant laws by doing this or expecting a deduction in rent in return.
Being able to retain your tenants not only ensures a consistent rental income stream but can also improve the reputation of your business. That’s why implementing steps, whether it be offering incentives or regularly requesting feedback from tenants to improve processes, is an integral part of the success of your business.
Feel good about the way you manage your rentals.
Avail, by Realtor.com, is free rental property management software that enables landlords to advertise their rental property listing across a dozen sites, screen tenants with customizable questions, request in-depth background checks, create and sign state-specific leases, collect rent, track your rental income and expenses, and much more — all online.
512,000+ landlords use Avail because it’s the only end-to-end platform that helps you scale from beginner landlord to professional with tools, support, and education.
Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.
6 Effective Ways to Increase Lease Renewal Rates and Keep Great Tenants Read More »
Vishal Garg, Better.com founder & CEO, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the company going public on the Nasdaq via a SPAC merger with Aurora Acquisition Corp., the mortgage lender's rough road to debut amidst layoffs, losses and SEC probe, the mortgage business at large, and more.
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Weekday founders Amit Singh, Anubhav Malik and Chetan Dalal
Could a tiny start-up in the online talent sourcing market really take on the industry giant LinkedIn? The founders of Weekday believe they can survive and prosper in this David versus Goliath story – and so do investors in their $2.2 million seed round, which the company is announcing today.
Founded in 2021 by Amit Singh, Anubav Malik and Chetan Dalal, Weekday is targeting a single industry as it builds its business – albeit a large and lucrative one in software engineering. The company has already built a database of more than 800,000 engineers, a pool from which it claims recruiters will have a better chance of finding the best talent.
“We want to solve the problem of lack of trust in the hiring process,” explains Singh. “We believe that a recruiting platform with references as the cornerstone is the solution that solves all these problems – we are what LinkedIn should have been.”
By “problems”, Singh means that while recruiters appear to be well-served by rival platforms that offer access to millions of would-be candidates for roles, identifying the best people on those platforms is often challenging. In particular, candidates’ references may be misleading, because they’ve often sought them out themselves.
Weekday’s alternative is a different type of model. It invites software engineers to sign up and to connect their “social graph” – essentially their LinkedIn networks and other contacts. The platform can then search for engineers who match a particular recruiter’s needs; Weekday then approaches the closest contacts of those who make the shortlist and seeks references for them. “The quality of candidates is much superior to any job board-based platform,” Singh insists.
His analogy is to internet shopping, where many customers will not buy without first reading the dispassionate reviews of products posted by other shoppers. Recruiters should be able to read the same sort of reviews when looking for candidates for their roles, Singh argues. But currently, they seek out references only once they’re very close to making an appointment – and even then, those references typically come from people lined up by the candidate, rather than being provided independently.
Weekday’s approach therefore offers the potential for recruiters to connect with the best candidates for their roles more quickly. “We have a ready pool of users willing to give references; that, along with automated reference forms being sent on WhatsApp and by email, makes reference collection very easy and fast,” Singh explains. “For most candidates, we are able to get quality references within 24 hours.”
It’s an interesting approach, particularly in the software engineering sector where the battle for talent is hot and remote working is becoming the norm. Recruiters are racing to hire good-quality engineers but need to be sure they’re talking to the best candidates, many of whom they will never meet face to face.
Singh, Malik and Dalal have spent the past two years refining the product and building their database, but have now begun to sell Weekday’s services. So far, around 120 companies have used it to recruit staff – participation on the platform is free, with recruiters only paying a fee if they hire through the company.
It’s a humble start given the scale of the main competition. But Weekday, backed by the Y Combinator accelerator, thinks it has a shot at winning plenty of business from the likes of LinkedIn. “We believe that in order to build a truly powerful hiring platform; social data and references need to be the centrepiece,” Singh says. “It is the back-channel references which end up being the most important ones.”
The company’s target market is essentially any business looking to hire software engineers, but the founders believe start-ups making their first engineer hires – and in need of support rapidly – are likely to be early adopters. If the model works, moreover, there is no reason why it cannot be applied in other areas of the technology sector, or even to support recruitment in completely different industries.
For now, that’s some way off, but the $2.2 million of seed funding raised by the business speaks to the faith that investors have in its potential. The funding round was led by Venture Highway, with participation from a number of angel investors. “While most other company functions, including design, product, dev tools and sales have seen breakthrough products in the last five to six years, recruitment still hasn’t,” says Venture Highway’s Aviral Bhatnagar. “LinkedIn is a 20-year-old company that continues to be the defacto platform for recruitment – we are partnering with Weekday as they try to change that.”
Weekday Raises $2.2 Million As It Pledges To Take On LinkedIn Read More »
We all know that one person who bought a property for a price that seems unfathomably cheap by today’s standards, such as $50,000, and it’s now worth $350,000. It’s crazy to think that just 50 years ago, median home prices were right around $24,000.
Today, the median home price is over $456,000, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. In 50 years, property prices have increased by nearly 14x.
This is enough to get anyone to buy real estate and to become wealthy, right? Well, not exactly. The numbers I’ve shown you so far are nominal home prices, meaning they have not been adjusted for inflation. But as investors, we want to understand how our money is growing relative to our spending power, and for that, we need to use real housing prices.
In this context, “real” just means “inflation-adjusted.” When you adjust real estate prices for inflation, the growth looks much less impressive. Property values are still going up but in a much less dramatic way.
Despite the impressive-looking run-up in housing prices over the last 50 years, the average real growth rate of property values is just 1.8%. Getting 1.8% on your money above inflation is not bad, but it’s not great either. Consider the fact that Over the last 20 years, the real yield on 10-year U.S. Treasuries is 0.86%. This means you could do pretty much nothing with your money and get relatively close to the real growth rate of property values.
Of course, this simple analysis of home prices doesn’t paint the full picture of returns that you get from investing in real estate. It doesn’t factor in leverage, amortization, cash flow, value-add, or many of the tax benefits that come from real estate investing.
To me, all of this data shows that property prices are not what drive real returns for real estate investors. This data underscores the importance of not counting on appreciation to make your deals work. This is particularly true in today’s uncertain economic climate. If you look at this graph of real property value growth rates over time, you can see that there are many periods of negative growth.
Real property growth is far from certain! Over the last several years, in an ultra-low interest rate environment, it was reasonable to assume price appreciation above and beyond inflation, at least for a few years. Personally, I think those days are behind us. Given high rates and high levels of economic uncertainty, appreciation is falling back to what it was historically: an excellent inflation hedge, a floor for your returns, and a potential bonus if you invest in the right areas.
Don’t get me wrong, I look for deals that have strong appreciation potential, but it’s not wise to count on appreciation to drive your returns. You need cash flow, value-add, and amortization to serve as your fundamentals, and if you experience some real appreciation on your property, that’s just gravy. As this data shows, appreciation is not always as powerful as it appears.
Ready to succeed in real estate investing? Create a free BiggerPockets account to learn about investment strategies; ask questions and get answers from our community of +2 million members; connect with investor-friendly agents; and so much more.
Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.
The “Real” Story of Home Prices—Why Growth Doesn’t Matter as Much as You Think Read More »
Bess Freedman, Brown Harris Stevens CEO, joins ‘Power Lunch’ to discuss the real estate market, the rise of mortgage rates and the health of the housing market.
As leaders of their respective companies, CEOs are naturally very busy, so often it can make sense to outsource tasks to a virtual assistant, or VA. From simple yet time-consuming tasks like scheduling meetings and managing emails to more involved tasks such as research and report preparation, VAs can help CEOs gain back a significant amount of time during their workday, allowing them to turn their focus back to vital decision-making and operational tasks.
But not every task a CEO may have on their to-do list each day can be assigned to someone else, so what are the tasks best suited for a virtual assistant? Here, the members of Young Entrepreneur Council weigh in with 10 tasks they recommend CEOs outsource to VAs and why doing so will save them so much time.
CEOs should outsource very time-consuming tasks that are not core to their business. One particular activity that can be outsourced and save a great deal of time for very busy executives is preparing reports and presentations. This task usually requires many hours of detailed work and customization. Depending on the project’s specificities and required information, it may take up to four hours. However, this task does not necessarily require a high-ranking executive’s direct intervention, as data can be easily shared and processed by virtual assistants. – Riccardo Conte, Virtus Flow
As the co-founder of a virtual assistance company, I know the value a VA brings to CEOs. They mainly assist with key tasks like calendar and email management, filtering messages, setting meetings and optimizing schedules, freeing up a lot of time. One area where my VA excels is travel management, handling everything from bookings to itineraries. This service has been pivotal for me. Having my travel organized just as I want, without investing my own time, has been a liberating experience. It allows me to focus on driving my company’s growth. – Alfredo Atanacio, Uassist.ME
One task CEOs should outsource to a virtual assistant to help them save time is scheduling meetings and appointments. Allowing others to be able to schedule time on your calendar without requiring the back-and-forth conversation makes the process much more efficient. – Jordan Edelson, Appetizer Mobile LLC
One task that stands out as ideal for outsourcing to a virtual assistant is managing emails. By entrusting this responsibility to a VA, CEOs can reclaim valuable time and alleviate the burden of sifting through and answering countless messages, allowing them to concentrate on more pressing matters. – Kristin Kimberly Marquet, Marquet Media, LLC
Outsourcing industry news monitoring to a virtual assistant is a wise choice for busy CEOs. VAs can save time by scanning multiple sources, summarizing key updates and filtering out noise. They can provide curated insights tailored to the CEO’s interests, allowing them to focus on strategic planning. VAs can also bring strong research skills, ensuring accurate and relevant information. With timely industry updates, CEOs can anticipate trends, adjust strategies and maintain a competitive edge. By entrusting this task to a capable VA, CEOs can make informed decisions in a dynamic business landscape. – Abhijeet Kaldate, Astra WordPress Theme
I would hire a VA to manage media mentions from social media, forums and the news. Very often, businesses and CEOs get mentioned online but it’s difficult to track when and where this is happening. As a result, it becomes impossible to respond to such mentions or to promote featured posts and so on via social media. Having a VA to take care of PR and media mentions ensures that you leverage the opportunity whenever you see that you’re being talked about online. And they can be trained to leave comments, share the posts or discussions on social media and so on. This is a great way to handle the PR side of things without wasting time. – Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner
It’s best for CEOs to outsource their administrative tasks to virtual assistants. Administrative tasks are generally mundane and repetitive and yet often time-consuming. The tasks may include, but are not limited to, answering phone calls, maintaining a schedule, booking appointments, responding to emails and so on. Outsourcing such tasks can save a lot of time for CEOs and help them focus on things that matter. – Stephanie Wells, Formidable Forms
Customer relationship management is a task CEOs should outsource to a virtual assistant to save time. VAs can handle updating customer information, tracking interactions and managing databases efficiently. This frees up CEOs to focus on strategic decision-making. With a VA managing routine customer communication, CEOs can ensure timely engagement and enhance customer satisfaction. By delegating CRM to a capable VA, CEOs gain organized data, enabling informed decisions on sales, marketing and customer service strategies. Outsourcing CRM streamlines your workflow, strengthens customer relationships and drives business success. – Pratik Chaskar, Spectra
CEOs should outsource content creation tasks like writing articles, blog posts and press releases to a virtual assistant. These can also include guest posting on relevant websites, creating marketing materials like whitepapers and e-books, and proofreading copy before it is sent. Ensuring that the content calendar is created in time and that content is consistently posted on blogs and relevant social media is also critical. The VA can even respond to customer questions on blogs and social media posts, and work on repurposing old content from interviews, webinars and podcasts and applying it to current projects, thus saving on critical time that the CEO can use for more crucial purposes than repetitive tasks. – Brian David Crane, Spread Great Ideas
Some of the more obvious tasks to outsource to a virtual assistant include emails and phone calls, but it also really helps to give them the task of research. Especially today, it’s critical to stay on top of the latest trends and industry news—technology alone is changing at a staggering pace. A virtual assistant can help you collect information, look for articles, keep up with the latest news and dive into other in-depth research tasks. Some virtual assistants can even help with completing competitor analyses. Of course, you will still need to read the relevant materials yourself, but having a virtual assistant gather and keep up with the information for you saves valuable time and energy. – Blair Thomas, eMerchantBroker
10 Tasks CEOs Can Outsource To Virtual Assistants To Gain Back Time Read More »
