Fintech Lenders Circumnavigate Regulation
Opendoor is stepping into the mortgage space in Texas & Arizona. Arizona passed a ‘regulatory sandbox program’ which allows Fintech companies (like Opendoor & Zillow) to circumnavigate standard CFPB mortgage regulations. In Arizona Opendoor can be your realtor, lender, and title agent simultaneously (what could go wrong?). Already having developed a reputation for hidden fees […]
Fortnite World Cup, Rates Improve, Fed Funds 0.25% Cut
E-Sports – the Fortnite (released July 2017) world cup took place last weekend in the sold out Arthur Ashe Stadium (seats 23K+). A 16 year-old beat out 40 million players to win a $3M purse which eclipsed Djokovic & Halep’s purses @ Wimbledon. Viewership peaked at 2.3M viewers which is 2.6X the viewership of Wimbledon […]
Rethinking Economic Principles, Rates Flat, Appreciation
Going below the ‘natural rate’ of unemployment could spark an inflationary escalator. even Fed Chair Powell has commented on how the relationship between unemployment & inflation has been zero. Globalization is good for everyone – except our blue collar workers. Large budget deficits cause the government and private sector to compete over selling bonds driving […]
Rates Improve, Fed Cuts Likely, Conforming Low Income Program Updates
Both Fannie & Freddie have announced updates to their low income/down payment programs that give discounts on note rate and mortgage insurance rates (these programs allow: 3% down, boarder income, ADU income, & low down payment on owner occupied 2-4 units). The updates make it more challenging to qualify. Instead of allowing 100% of Area […]
Cornering the Lottery, Delinquencies Hit 20 Year Low, Rates Bounce Up.
Ever think about buying all possible number combinations to win the lottery? This story covers this history of lottery and how one man managed to successfully corner the lottery 12 times. Rates bounced up this week after a steady decline for the previous two months. Fed Chair Jerome Powell testified that uncertainty continues to weigh […]
Happy 243 BD, How we use our Land, Strong Appreciation Forecast
Who could have predicted 243 years ago that the United States would become the largest global economy? A big reason for our success is our vast amount of land and natural resources, but how do we use these 1.9 billion acres of real estate? It turns out that we use most of our land for […]
NAR Confidence Index, Rates Stable, Tame Inflation
In the NAR confidence index 82% of respondents reported prices are constant or rising which is down from 88% in May of 2018. Properties are typically on the market for 26 days, first time home-buyers make up 32% of sales and 81% of transactions are financed. Rates – held steady this week as the 10 […]
Flexible Work Spaces, Rates Improve, Lousy Jobs Report
WeWork – doubled in size and 2017 & again in 2018 and is the largest private sector Real Estate occupier in NY, DC, London, & soon to be SF. They are going public this year to keep up with the projected $4 billion in annual lease spending. This NPR article breaks down the numbers and […]
New Telecom Space Race, Rates Hit 17 Month Low
The FCC has approved 4 companies to provide internet via low-orbit satellites. Yesterday SpaceX successfully deployed 60 of its planned 12,000 satellite ‘Starlink’ Network that would provide high-speed internet to the entire planet. “You would would actually have access to all of humanities information so you would effectively create a super organism.” Elon Musk Rates […]