Print FriendlyAUBURN — A property manager in Auburn is concerned that online rental scammers will become more active now that Camp Fire victims are entering the rental market. Ed Koons, an attorney who is also part owner of Courthouse Property Management, said that a scammer recently hijacked one of his Craigslist advertisements for a condominium. It…
Print FriendlyU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson wants to entice more landlords to accept housing vouchers and the agency’s first step in Philadelphia is talking to people like Michael Batley. Batley owns 48 residential properties in Philadelphia, many of them in sections of North Philadelphia, Kensington, and Frankford where most renters survive…
Print FriendlyAfter launching a home-sharing revolution, Airbnb’s founders started asking themselves, “What’s next?” They successfully created a global network of more than 5 million homes, castles, and treehouses for rent and their business is worth an estimated $38 billion. But what else could Airbnb become? It’s a question that led chief product officer and co-founder Joe…
Print FriendlyThe average size of newly built apartments in 2018 is 941 square feet, which is 5 percent smaller than it was a decade ago. For studio apartments, the change is more pronounced — they’re 10 percent smaller. Overall, including old and new apartments, the Southeast has the largest units in the nation, while California has…
Print FriendlyIf you own a vacation home that you use for both rental and personal purposes, now is a good time to plan how to use it for the rest of this year with tax savings in mind. Here’s what you need to know: Rented less than 15 days during the year with more than 14 days of…
Print FriendlyAmericans renters are struggling with a “toxic mix of rising rents and stagnant wages” that are generating an “unprecedented affordability crisis,” leaving more than half of households in a precarious financial state, according to a report from the Federal Reserve’s Community Advisory Council. Fifty-one percent of renters nationally “pay more than 30% of their income…
Print FriendlyNewly released data from the Mortgage Bankers Association shows that 30-year mortgage rates are now firmly above 5%, and according to real estate giant Zillow, things are likely to stay that way in 2019. According to Zillow, the 30-year mortgage will only continue to rise throughout 2019. Zillow is now forecasting that the 30-year mortgage will finish up 2019…
Print FriendlyNewly released data from the Mortgage Bankers Association shows that 30-year mortgage rates are now firmly above 5%, and according to real estate giant Zillow, things are likely to stay that way in 2019. According to Zillow, the 30-year mortgage will only continue to rise throughout 2019. Zillow is now forecasting that the 30-year mortgage will finish up 2019…
Print FriendlyA New York landlord has been slapped with a $15,000 fine to settle a discrimination case involving a mentally ill tenant and her emotional support animal, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The resident of a Syracuse, New York, apartment complex reached out to HUD’s local agency in 2016 after the building…
Print FriendlyA rough combination of higher costs and lower demand is putting a chill on the once red-hot house-flipping market. After the epic housing crash, flippers poured in, buying up distressed properties at bargain prices, fixing them up and flipping them either to residents or to other investors. That continued for years, but now the math…