BiggerPockets Daily

On June 11, Amazon announced that it would be contributing another $1.4 billion to its Housing Equity Fund. Amazon created the fund back in 2021, initially giving $2.2 billion “with a commitment to create or preserve 20,000 affordable homes in the Puget Sound, National Capital, and Nashville regions—three communities that Amazon calls home,” according to a report by the company. The three areas ar...

Just as there is a move-in checklist for landlords, there’s also a move-out checklist to guide you when the time comes. Taking the right steps now will make it easier to market your property and ensure a seamless transition to a new tenant in the future. Communicate to the Tenant Their Responsibilities It’s your responsibility to communicate to the tenant their responsibilities. These are the esse...

Are you a new college graduate (or a concerned parent) wondering if it is possible to buy a house? Spoiler alert: It is absolutely possible! It may be easier for someone further along in life, with a more established financial situation, but that does not mean you have no chance of qualifying for your first mortgage right out of college. There are many tactics that college students can actively pu...

Are you a new college graduate (or a concerned parent) wondering if it is possible to buy a house? Spoiler alert: It is absolutely possible! It may be easier for someone further along in life, with a more established financial situation, but that does not mean you have no chance of qualifying for your first mortgage right out of college. There are many tactics that college students can actively pu...

The pursuit of financial independence (FI) is a journey that promises freedom, security, and the ability to live life on your own terms. However, this path isn’t always straightforward—nor without pitfalls.  It’s tempting to focus solely on financial freedom, but obsessing over it can have unexpected downsides that affect your overall happiness and well-being. We’ll discuss the true journey to fin...

As we all know, one of the main advantages of investing in real estate is the tax benefits. Many of the investors who I meet for the first time are broadly aware of depreciation, expenses incurred through renovations, and operating costs. However, many don’t know about the steps they need to take to maximize their deductions or about costly mistakes that could attract the unwanted interest of the...

Success in real estate does not require securing “great deals.” It requires great fundamentals: location, a reliable tenant segment, and properties that attract those tenants. A Personal Case Study Let me share my own experience. In 2016, my partner and I bought a three-bedroom, two-bathroom, one-story townhome. We paid the asking price of $180,000, which was then the fair market value.  Learn mor...

The good news is that the inflation rate is on the decline. The bad news is that it still exceeds the Federal Reserve’s target rate of 2%. As a result, the Federal Reserve announced last week that it will maintain the current interest rate of 5.25% to 5.5%.  In a statement, the central bank noted: “Economic activity has continued to expand at a solid pace. Job gains have remained strong, and the u...

Guru programs are notoriously difficult to assess in terms of quality or outcome for their students. Some students rave about their gurus, while some complain about how they got ripped off by a fake guru. There are a few patterns that raise yellow and/or red flags that I want to call out that are concerning and should make you skeptical when deciding whether to spend thousands (or sometimes tens o...

Since first being introduced in 2023, Florida’s Live Local Act—the $711 million package offering developers tax breaks and bypassing local zoning restrictions to create more affordable and workforce housing—has been a lightning rod for controversy. Local municipalities and residents argued that the increased height of buildings would ruin the character of neighborhoods and that the affordable hous...

A lot has changed since New York City began strictly enforcing Local Law 18, which effectively banned short-term rentals in the city. But it’s unclear whether improved housing affordability, the goal of the crackdown, is one of those changes. An Airbnb analysis released in January found no evidence that the new rules had impacted rent prices or rental inventory, even amid new construction completi...

After a decade of relative stability in mortgage rates, the last few years have seen unprecedented volatility and changes in mortgage rates. Interest rates are often a key concern for real estate investors, as mortgages are often the difference between a cash-flowing deal and a dud.   Since spring 2022, when the Federal Reserve embarked on its latest rate-hiking cycle, interest rates on the most p...

The BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast is about to hit a huge milestone—our 1,000th episode! Real estate has changed quite a bit since we started this podcast, so we’re making some changes, too.  We’re bringing on new guests and new formats while focusing on investing tactics and strategies that work in TODAY’s housing market. Oh, and did we mention fewer ads, too? We’re still delivering the time-t...

Home prices are rising across the country, but luxury home prices are skyrocketing. According to data from Redfin, luxury home prices rose twice as fast as non-luxury homes in the first quarter of 2024. But even as prices jumped, sales are still rising, even as prices for non-luxury homes have declined. The median-priced luxury home sold for a record $1.225 million in the first quarter of 2024, up...

You’ve probably heard of the term “lipstick on a pig.” In house-flipping parlance, it means doing basic cosmetic upgrades that camouflage the underlying issues beneath the paint and Sheetrock.  California house flippers will have to put their makeup away and bring out the heavy machinery because a new law—Assembly Bill 968 (AB-968), effective July 1—mandates a comprehensive disclosure of repairs a...

For any real estate investor, understanding current market conditions is crucial. Right now, most investors are finding themselves in an environment where great investment deals are more scarce while competition is high. In practice, this means that as a real estate investor, you will miss out on many deals on properties advertised on the open market.  To try and mitigate the effects of tough comp...

Now is a great time to be in the vacation rental business. According to short-term rental data and analytics website AirDNA, travelers are spending big on luxury vacation rentals—the more unique, the better. Recent occupancy rates for well-furnished homes increased from 49.1% to 55.9% between 2019 and 2023, with the overall STR market generating a groundbreaking $64 billion in revenue in 2023.  Wh...

We identified a seemingly great target property in Sherman, Texas, which is about an hour north of Dallas in the high-growth path-of-progress area along Interstate 75 on the way up to Oklahoma. There were two structures in the deal, including 13 apartments—a mix of studios, one-, and two-bedrooms. We did the underwriting, looked at the full financials, and saw that the vacancy rate was low and tha...

Want to invest in real estate but don’t want the headaches of landlords, financing, renovations, renters, permits, inspectors, direct mail campaigns, and all the other hassles that come with a real estate investing side hustle? Me too. I’ve owned dozens of single-family rental properties, but today, I only invest in real estate passively. Passive real estate investments include notes, funds, real...

Turnkey property investing can be a great option when you are just starting out on your real estate investing journey or when you want to cast a wider net with your investments beyond your local area. When done right, turnkey investment can be a part of a long-term real estate portfolio-building strategy. However, with turnkey investing, the same things that make it an attractive investment formul...

Mortgage payments are decreasing, which has some house hunters returning to the real estate market. According to the latest data from Redfin, for the four weeks ended Dec. 31, 2023, the median mortgage payment was down 14% compared to October’s all-time high. Meanwhile, the weekly average rate in early January 2024 was at 6.66% for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, compared to 7.79% in October. This...

As a real estate investor, you must always remember one thing: every type of investing strategy involves risk. With that in mind, it’s good practice to learn more about low-risk real estate investing strategies. You may come to find that these provide the perfect balance of risk and profit potential.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In November 2023, Fannie Mae implemented a game-changing reduced down payment requirement of just 5% for two-to-four-unit properties for conventional loans.  This presents a golden opportunity for house hackers looking to purchase or refi a two-to-four-unit property. However, few sources have broken down what this means for investors. Here, I’ll look at this new product, compare it to alternatives...

Home sales fell to one of the lowest levels on record in May as high prices, elevated mortgage rates, and a housing shortage continue to keep buyers on the sidelines. According to data published by Redfin, there have only been two months in the past decade with fewer home sales: when mortgage rates jumped to a 23-year high in October 2023 and in May 2020, during the early days of the pandemic. Lea...

The U.S. housing market is facing an affordability crisis. The combination of high home prices, high mortgage rates, and decreased spending power has driven housing affordability to its lowest level in decades. As such, it is difficult for investors and homebuyers alike to identify cities where they can afford to buy property.  But, there are still great opportunities to buy real estate, even on a...