2022 – Page 73

Word of the Day: Soigné

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[swan-YAY] Part of speech: adjective Origin: French, 19th century Definition: Dressed very elegantly; well groomed Examples of Soigné in a sentence “Matthew was tall, handsome, and soigné when he met Lucy for their date.” “Looking at the photographs of his grandparents, Joe was surprised at how soigné they were.” About Soigné “Soigné” is the past participle of the French verb “soigner,” meaning “to take care of.” In turn, “soigner” comes from the French word “soin,” meaning “care.” Did you Know? French words have masculine and feminine forms. To use “soigné” to describe a woman, the feminine adjective would be pronounced the same, but it has an additional “e” on the end: “soignée.” For example, “Sarah was tall, fair, and soignée.” In English, it’s not necessary to differentiate between the masculine and feminine forms.

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Typical Home Remains Within Means of Average Wage Earner in Fourth Quarter of 2021; But Historic Affordability Down in Three-Quarters of U.S. Markets; National Median Home Price Hits $317,500, Another New High ATTOM, curator of the nation’s premier property database, released its fourth-quarter 2021 U.S. Home Affordability Report, showing that median-priced single-family homes are less affordable in the fourth quarter compared to historical averages in 77 percent of counties across the nation with enough data to analyze. That’s up from just 39 percent of counties that were historically less affordable in the fourth quarter of 2020, to the highest point in 13 years, as home prices continue rising faster than wages throughout much of the country. The report determined affordability for average wage earners by calculating the amount of income needed to meet major monthly home ownership expenses — including mortgage, property taxes and insurance — on a median-priced single-family home, assuming a 20 percent down payment and a 28 percent maximum “front-end” debt-to-income ratio. That required income was then compared to annualized average weekly wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Compared to historical levels, median home prices in 440 of the 575 counties analyzed in the fourth quarter of 2021 are less affordable than past averages. The latest number is up from 428 of the same group of counties in the third quarter of 2021 and 224 in the fourth quarter of 2020 – an increase that has continued as the median national home price has shot up 17 percent over the past year to a record high of $317,500. While major ownership costs on median-priced homes do remain within the financial means of average workers across the nation in the fourth quarter of 2021, the percentage of counties where affordability is worse than historical averages has hit another high point since the third quarter of 2008. The latest pattern – home prices still manageable but getting less affordable – has resulted in major ownership costs on the typical home consuming 25.2 percent of the average national wage of $65,546 in the fourth quarter of this year. That is up from 24.4 percent in the third quarter of 2021 and 21.5 percent in the fourth quarter of last year. Still, the latest level is within the 28 percent standard lenders prefer for how much homeowners should spend on mortgage payments, home insurance and property taxes. The mixed fourth-quarter patterns follow similar trends over the past year as the U.S. housing market continues booming for the 10th straight year both because of and in spite of the Coronavirus pandemic that hit in early 2020 and damaged major sectors of the U.S. economy. House hunters largely unscathed financially by the pandemic have surged into the market amid a combination of mortgage rates hovering around 3 percent and a desire to trade congested virus-prone areas for the perceived safety of a house and yard, as well as the space for growing work-at-home lifestyles. But they have been chasing a tight supply of homes made tighter by the pandemic. The soaring demand combined with the limited supply have pushed prices ever higher and affordability downward. “The average wage earner can still afford the typical home across the United States, but the financial comfort zone continues shrinking as home prices keep soaring and mortgage rates tick upward,” said Todd Teta, chief product officer with ATTOM. “Historically low rates and rising wages are still big reasons why workers can meet or come very close to standard lending benchmarks in a majority of counties we analyze. But the portion of wages required for major ownership expenses nationwide is getting closer to levels where banks become less likely to offer home loans. Amid very uncertain times, with the pandemic again threatening the economy, we will keep watching this key measure of housing market stability.” Despite the continued decline in historic affordability, major home-ownership expenses on typical homes still are affordable to average local wage earners in about half of the 575 counties in the report, based on the 28-percent guideline. The largest are Cook County (Chicago), IL; Harris County (Houston), TX; Dallas County, TX; Bexar County (San Antonio), TX, and Wayne County (Detroit), MI. The most populous of the 279 counties where major expenses on median-priced homes are unaffordable for average local workers in the fourth quarter of 2021 are Los Angeles County, CA; Maricopa County (Phoenix), AZ; San Diego County, CA; Orange County, CA (outside Los Angeles) and Miami-Dade County, FL. Home prices up at least 10 percent in two-thirds of country Median single-family home prices in the fourth quarter of 2021 are up by at least 10 percent over the fourth quarter of 2020 in 368, or 64 percent, of the 575 counties included in the report. Data was analyzed for counties with a population of at least 100,000 and at least 50 single-family home and condo sales in the fourth quarter of 2021. Among the 43 counties with a population of at least 1 million, the biggest year-over-year gains in median prices during the fourth quarter of 2021 are in Middlesex County (outside Boston), MA (up 42 percent); Wake County (Raleigh), NC (up 27 percent); Maricopa County (Phoenix), AZ (up 26 percent); Hillsborough County (Tampa), FL (up 26 percent) and Clark County (Las Vegas), NV (up 23 percent). Counties with a population of at least 1 million where median prices have decreased year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2021, or gone up by the smallest amounts, are Wayne County (Detroit), MI (down 12 percent); Cook County (Chicago), IL (down 3 percent); Kings County (Brooklyn), NY (up 2 percent); Dallas County, TX (up 5 percent) and Contra Costa County, CA (outside San Francisco) (up 6 percent.) Price gains outpace wage growth in nearly 80 percent of markets Home-price appreciation is greater than weekly wage growth in the fourth quarter of 2021 in 447 of the 575 counties analyzed in the report (78 percent), with the largest including Harris County (Houston), TX; Maricopa County (Phoenix), AZ;

Cooks With Class #2

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At the IMN Single Family Rental Forum (West), REI INK and RCN Capital co-hosted a “networking” cooking event at the Classic Cooking Academy. The event was sponsored by National Real Estate Insurance Group and BuildWallet. About 40 industry executives, clients and friends came together to hone their cooking skills and to have fun in a unique social setting.

Real Estate Became Music to My Ears

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How a Career in the Music Industry Pivoted to Real Estate By Michael Jansta When I was in 7th grade, I had a history teacher named Mrs. Van Ornam. At the start of the year, she announced a perfect attendance challenge to the class; any student who had perfect attendance ALL YEAR could choose an album or cassette of their choice and she would pay for it. At the end of the year, I did have perfect attendance and the album I chose? Ozzy Osbourne – Blizzard of Oz. On the last day of school, she called me into her office with the LP in hand and asked me if I was sure my mother would be ok if she gave me this album. With a straight face I said, “Of course, my mom LOVES Ozzy!” That day was the beginning of a music addiction that continues to this day, though not quite as passionately as it once was. Fast forward to my college years at University of California, Santa Barbara. I was very active with the Associated Students Program Board booking over 150 concerts and comedy shows in three years while also working at the local Wherehouse Music record store. This experience led to my first post-college job. I landed a two-week “temp” gig in the radio promotion department at Epic Records as an assistant before getting the full-time job in 1992. In six months I was promoted to Manager, National Rock Promotion and then to Director. My dream of working in the music business became a reality, working with bands like Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, Korn, The Allman Brothers, Oasis, and Ozzy Osbourne. In 1997, I accepted a position as the Asian Head of Marketing for the Tower Records retail chain based out of their Tokyo office, working with all the Asian operations and franchisees in Asia. I spent my days traveling from Japan to Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines opening stores, creating marketing campaigns and managing the marketing teams in each country. It was an amazing two-year gig before I relocated to Sacramento in a similar role as VP of International Marketing for Tower’s international stores. The year 2000 was a big one for me. In February I got married and we purchased our first home, a new construction 3 bed, 2 bath home for $204,000. When Tower Records went under in 2006, we were in a tight spot but that house we bought? It doubled in value to over $400,000. The home ended up being our savior! Unemployed and with my wife on bedrest with a high-risk twin pregnancy I miraculously got recruited by NRPI, Inc. (National Recreational Properties, Inc) in Irvine, CA to be the VP of Marketing…right as the economy was slipping into the Great Recession. NRPI sold vacation properties and my job was to drive leads with infomercials featuring Erik Estrada and Chuck Woolery. I was also marketing another business for the same company called LandAuction.com, a nationwide ballroom auction company that sold land to various type of investors. Our first of three sets of twins (you read that right) were born in February 2007 and I was about to jump on the biggest rollercoaster of my career. The owners of NRPI and LandAuction.com wanted to re-launch a bank REO auction firm they put into hibernation after the early 1990s crash. That company was Real Estate Disposition Corporation or REDC, a company we launched with a 3-day auction of 305 homes in Southern California. We sold 290 of those homes for over $100 million at live ballroom auctions to both investors and homebuyers. We then added an online component for remote proxy bidding and started testing online-only auctions which led to a promotion to CMO. We launched REDC Commercial as an online-only commercial real estate marketplace and experimented with aviation auctions and UK residential home auctions. I rebranded REDC to Auction.com and Auction.com Commercial after we successfully acquired the Auction.com domain name for $1.7 million in an online auction in 2008. We had also expanded into builder auctions of unsold inventory and launched a reinvention of trustee/foreclosure sales. It was a wild ride finding new ways to auction real estate while layering technology and digital media into the process. The next decade, however, brought some normalcy. And by normalcy, I mean a multitude of new management, the move to 100% online auctions for REO and Commercial, a large expansion of the trustee/foreclosure auction business, the launch of Ten-X Commercial, Ten-X Residential, and then another sale, this time to T.H. Lee. During this period, I started investing in real estate so I could “walk the walk” to what I was promoting to investors across the country. I got hooked! By the start of 2020, my role at Auction.com wasn’t as clearly defined as it once was and an opportunity to join Altisource as the GM for Hubzu presented itself. Hubzu, already very well established, was my top competitor in the residential real estate auction business. I agreed to start in April 2020 just as the world was shutting down. Luckily, Altisource had a solid Business Continuity Plan to carry us through the first year of the pandemic. This gave us the opportunity to double-down on technology efforts creating a foreclosure sale app allowing investors to proxy-bid remotely (a game changer in foreclosure sales), revamping the Hubzu and Equator.com site with increased due-diligence for SFR investors and even launching a way for homebuyers and investors to buy real estate using cryptocurrency! With less default inventory, I was continually looking for ways to create revenue by selling all the inventory we did have and focusing on new initiatives with our Signature Seller™ program on the Hubzu.com marketplace and a sister-initiative, Signature Buyer™, on the Equator.com marketplace. The latter initiative assists hold and rent real estate investors to expand into other markets across the country with better prospects for SFR investment. Now, with an expanded role as the

A Family Partnership

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How the Wileys and McKennas Joined Forces for Success Jim and Jeanne Wiley were introduced to the HomeVestors® franchise opportunity back in 2004 after seeing “We Buy Ugly Houses®” billboards along the highways in Texas while traveling to visit Jeanne’s sister and her husband, Robin and Bill McKenna. Once back in New Jersey, the Wileys began to research franchise opportunities with HomeVestors. Tired of working in the corporate world, Jim in digital printing and traveling overseas for 20+ years and Jeanne as a product manager with Seiko, they decided to make the leap into becoming real estate entrepreneurs. With no real estate experience, they were confident that their backgrounds, coupled with the training and support provided by HomeVestors, would serve as a solid foundation for success. Jim and Jeanne Wiley The Beginnings Shortly after buying a HomeVestors franchise in New Jersey in 2007, Robin, Jeanne Wiley’s sister, and Bill McKenna joined Wiley Properties. Like the Wileys, the McKennas were tired of the “corporate life.” Bill had a very successful career in the aerospace industry and Robin worked as a commercial lender. “I was constantly traveling for work and I wanted the ability to be home and spend time with my family,” Bill said. The four partners soon learned the ropes and capitalized on one another’s strengths to grow their business. As a result, since the inception of their partnership, Wiley Properties has sold more than 300 properties in one of the country’s most expensive real estate markets. However, it was not always easy as the recession of 2008 was right around the corner. “We quickly learned cashflow is king, which is a big adjustment coming from a corporate job. We modified our business model to do more assignments and wholesales to generate cashflow,” Bill explained. As time went on, Wiley Properties began to invest in rental properties and entered the lending business. Bill and Robin McKenna Teamwork and Collaboration In 2010, the Wiley Properties team became Development Agents, supporting and mentoring other franchisees in the northeast. In 2017, they teamed up with two other Development Agents in the southeast and formed the Cornerstone Group which coaches investors along the East Coast. With over 175 franchisees under their mentorship, the Cornerstone Group is the largest Development Agent in the HomeVestors system. “We not only attract and bring franchisees on board, but we train and coach them on how to use the extensive tools and systems provided by HomeVestors and all aspects of their HomeVestors business,” Jim Wiley said. “We provide ongoing training and support to our franchisees over the life of their business.” What Does the Future Hold “When COVID hit, we were concerned that the market would react like it did in 2008/2009, and for most of our markets, it had the opposite effect,” Bill McKenna said. The exodus of people leaving New York City created a boom for surrounding markets. Prices quickly increased in the suburbs while prices decreased in New York City. In fact, although Wiley Properties has sold slightly fewer units this year, their overall revenue is up significantly. “Our enthusiasm for the HomeVestors business remains the same today as it was when we first started,” Jim Wiley said. “We have been able to earn a great living, spend quality time with our families, and create long-term wealth that our families will enjoy for years to come. And most importantly, we are able to help sellers out of ugly situations with their house.” Homevestors What exactly does it mean to be a HomeVestors® business owner? Owning a real estate business is life changing and naturally comes with risks! When you become a HomeVestors business owner, you get immediate access to motivated seller leads, financing resources for qualifying purchases and repairs, one-on-one coaching with your local Development Agent, proprietary software for analyzing properties and deals, and access to a nationwide network of coaches and peers. Your house-buying business is yours and you run it as your own venture with a focus toward your individual business goals. If you are interested in a franchise, call 855-454-4578. Each franchise office is independently owned and operated.

The Home Inspection Alternative for Property Investors

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Investors Need Due Diligence and Details, Details, Details By Kori Covrigaru When you are rapidly buying investment properties around the country, traditional home inspections can slow you down. Traditional inspections are not made for investors; they are made for homeowners who need assurances that their home will not turn into a money pit. Meanwhile, investors have different priorities: renovating, due diligence, and portfolio management. The issues property investors have with home inspections are: > No haste with long turnaround timelines > No location data > No room-by-room inspection scoring > No utility serial numbers > No floor plans Traditional home inspections focus on major defects and not the details that are important to investors. This type of inspection does not provide investors with enough information to make a sound acquisition decision. Property Insights solves the problems that so many investors have when managing their portfolios. When managing multiple properties, they need more than a one-time inspection to look for significant defects. They need regular due diligence. With a 48-hour turnaround, Property Insights gets you the information you need throughout the entire life cycle of your rental property. From purchasing the property to inspecting it after a renter moves out, Property Insights provides the data investors need. 1. Location When you are investing in a property, location matters. Property Insights looks at not only your property but also the surrounding neighborhood. It will detail any nearby vacant or boarded-up properties. It will also compare the property’s condition to the community, the driveway’s condition, the level of street traffic, and the condition of the nearby properties. As an investor, you know that the surrounding areas matter as much as the property itself. That is why Property Insights includes this data, while traditional home inspections do not. 2. Exterior While the roof and porch conditions are essential to the property’s structural integrity, so much more than just those elements make up the property’s curb appeal. Property Insights provides the condition of the home’s vegetation, siding, fence, and exterior perimeter measurements. 3. Beds/Baths/Living Spaces Having a room-by-room condition score, including the wall condition and floor condition, allows for efficient renovation decisions. Additionally, taking measurements of the ceiling height, ground surface, ground perimeter, and closet and storage spaces gives the investor a holistic view of the home. 4. Kitchen The condition and specifics of kitchens are a huge factor in the rentability of a property. Property Insights reviews the cabinets, counters and kitchen appliances. 5. Appliances Property Insights gathers the serial numbers for each appliance, giving you all the information you need to make repairs or buy replacements. 6. Visual References For investors, visual references are integral. With home inspections, you receive photos. With Property Insights, you receive an immersive 3D tour and floor plans. This is everything you need to make buying and renovation decisions for the property. 7. Regular Due Diligence Investors need regular inspections. You need to gather information about your property before you buy, during renovations, before renters move in and during turns. This is not a one-and-done situation. With Property Insights, you can schedule a complete report at any time, making it easier to manage your property from anywhere. Traditional home inspections work great for traditional home buyers. Investors and property managers need something different. You need to know about the location, renovation specifics, and rentability of a property. Property Insights is the alternative to traditional home inspections created specifically for property investors.