November 2024 – Page 4

Redfin Reports 28% of Houses For Sale Are Newly Built, the Lowest Share in 3 Years

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New-construction homes are making up a smaller portion of total inventory as builders back off and more homeowners list their houses for sale Newly built homes made up 28% of single-family homes for sale nationwide in the third quarter, the lowest level in three years, according to a new report from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage. That’s down from 30.5% a year earlier and a record-high 34.4% at the start of 2022. The share of houses for sale that are newly built has dropped from its peak for several reasons: Still, newly built homes make up a significantly higher portion of for-sale inventory than before the pandemic. That’s because the share shot up so much during the pandemic, going from roughly 17% in 2019 to nearly 30% by the end of 2021. Newly built homes have made up an outsized portion of homes for sale in the last four years because the supply of new-construction homes soared in 2022 and 2023, while the supply of existing homes dwindled. Inventory of existing homes fell over that period as mortgage rates rose and the lock-in effect took hold. The surge in newly built homes, meanwhile, was caused by builders responding to robust homebuying demand brought on by ultra-low mortgage rates and remote work. While building has since slowed, builders are still completing projects they started in the past few years. Looking forward, the share of inventory made up of newly built homes may fall slightly further as permits dwindle. But the share should remain higher than pre-pandemic levels because mortgage rates are likely to remain elevated, keeping the supply of existing homes from surging. To view the full report, including a chart, please visit: https://www.redfin.com/news/q3-2024-new-construction-homes/ Contacts Contact RedfinRedfin Journalist Services:Isabelle Novakpress@redfin.com

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New Zillow survey data finds many buyers are securing lower mortgage rates from home builders, sellers, or borrowing from friends or family members Almost half of recent home buyers with a mortgage secured a rate below 5%, a recent Zillow® survey shows. Current mortgage rates are hovering near 7%, yet many home buyers who purchased a home in the past year thought outside the box to unlock homeownership. Mortgage rates surged from historic lows of 2.65% in 2021 to decade-long highs of 7.79% by the fall of 2023. This directly impacted home shoppers’ buying power. The typical mortgage payment rose 115% from pre-pandemic times to a recent peak in May 2024. The unpredictable mortgage-rate landscape presents hurdles for home buyers, restricting their choices and, in some cases, preventing them from entering the housing market altogether. Despite these challenges, determined buyers are finding creative ways to afford their dream of homeownership. Among recent buyers, 45% managed to secure a rate below 5%, Zillow’s survey data shows. More than one-third (35%) of these recent buyers could get a lower rate because the seller or home builder offered them special financing. About one-quarter either made their offer contingent on a rate buydown (26%), refinanced to a lower rate after buying (25%), or borrowed from a friend or family member (23%). “This surprising finding really underscores the creativity of both buyers and sellers navigating today’s dynamic real estate market,” said Amanda Pendleton, Zillow’s home trends expert. “Buyers are finding innovative ways to secure a lower mortgage rate, but sellers are also coming up with financing solutions to make their property more attractive to a potential buyer. Prospective home buyers should explore all the ways they can reduce their monthly payment to bring homeownership within reach.” Here are a few ways to secure a lower mortgage rate: Focus on credit score. A higher credit score often leads to a lower interest rate. Buyers should prioritize boosting their credit score and maintaining it all the way through closing by refraining from opening new lines of credit or making large purchases. One way to build credit is through Zillow’s rent reporting service. It allows renters who pay their rent on Zillow to build their credit when they make on-time rent payments. Additionally, Zillow Home Loans’s BuyAbilitySM tool offers buyers a personalized assessment of suitable home prices and monthly payments that align with their financial capabilities. By considering factors like the buyer’s credit score, income and down payment, and by using current mortgage rates, this tool provides home shoppers with a comprehensive understanding of their purchasing potential. Look into rate buydowns and mortgage points. Consider mortgage rate buydowns or purchasing mortgage points to lower interest costs on your loan. A rate buydown involves an initial payment for reduced rates in the early loan years, while buying points results in ongoing savings on monthly payments throughout the term of the loan. When buying a new-construction home, the builder may cover these costs as incentives. If this is not the case, negotiating with the seller or builder is always an option. It’s crucial for home buyers to evaluate the break-even timeline — the point at which the savings from these strategies equal the associated costs. For personalized guidance, buyers should seek advice from a trusted loan officer. Put more money down. Increasing the down payment decreases the loan size and the risk for the lender, which may mean they can offer a lower mortgage rate. However, saving for a down payment to even qualify for a loan can be a significant challenge for home buyers — 44% of first-time buyers used either a gift or loan from family or friends. But resources are available to alleviate the burden. By answering a few simple questions, buyers can see the available down payment assistance programs they may qualify for on Zillow listings. Among recent first-time buyers who used a mortgage, 60% received some sort of down payment assistance. Consider house hacking. If it aligns with a buyer’s lifestyle, renting out rooms in their home to produce rental income can reduce their mortgage rate. Recent mortgage buyers who included projected rental income in their application were more likely to secure a mortgage rate below 5% than those who did not. Check out nontraditional loan types. A 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage is the most common loan type, but there are others. An adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) features an initial lower interest rate that can change to the market rate after a fixed period, typically three, five, seven or 10 years. The primary risk of an ARM is that rates could be higher when the initial period ends, leading to higher payments. Another option for home buyers to explore is a shorter loan term, such as a 15-year mortgage. These shorter loans come with much higher monthly payments, because the loan is being paid off more quickly, but markedly lower interest rates, meaning less of a homeowner’s monthly payment is going toward interest. To assess affordability and determine the best course of action, consulting a loan officer is recommended to make a well-informed decision tailored to a borrower’s personalized monthly budget. MortgageRate Share ofRecentMortgageBuyers* Share ofRecentMortgageBuyers WhoReceivedDownPaymentAssistance* Share ofRecentMortgageBuyers WhoFinanced Withan ARM* Share ofRecentMortgageBuyers With aLoan TermShorter Than30 Years* Share ofRecentMortgageBuyers WithProjectedRentalIncome* < 2% 2 % 4 % 4 % 2 % 3 % 2%–2.99% 4 % 6 % 4 % 7 % 6 % 3%–3.99% 16 % 24 % 21 % 23 % 22 % 4%–4.99% 22 % 29 % 28 % 33 % 28 % 5%–5.99% 20 % 19 % 22 % 21 % 20 % 6%–6.99% 24 % 12 % 16 % 10 % 14 % 7% + 12 % 6 % 6 % 5 % 7 % NET: < 5% 45 % 63 % 57 % 65 % 59 % NET 5% + 55 % 37 % 43 % 35 % 41 % *Source: Zillow Consumer Housing Trends Report 2024 SOURCE Zillow, Inc.

Property Shield

by Carole VanSickle Ellis
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Data Security Firm is Changing the Face of Fraud Protection by Carole VanSickle Ellis Property Shield is, by any definition, “new to the scene” of data security. In fact, the company launched in February of last year. However, said the company’s co-founder and CEO Alex Fahsel, the data security firm hit the ground running by tackling emerging issues around fraud, data security, cyber security, and even artificial intelligence. “As much as we love all this technology, it can be used for all sorts of nefarious things,” Fahsel said. “Property Shield specializes in using this technology for good and to stay ahead of scammers and fraud. Cybersecurity has historically been a ‘cat-and-mouse’ game where the good actors have always been a few steps behind. We started Property Shield to give those good actors the opportunity to stay ahead.” “We are basically the data police,” explained Luke Lind, co-founder and CTO of the company. “Our system is constantly monitoring the web for potential fraudulent listings, and whenever it finds one, we immediately notify whichever client owns the data.” At the same time as the notification is going out, Property Shield tackles the process of having the fraudulent listing removed from consumer access as soon as possible. “The combination of these two workflows helps reduce illegal activity at the physical property level,” Lind continued. “Because our system is able to identify and remove fraud listings within hours, we can effectively cut down on the threat they pose to the property.” That threat is growing exponentially larger every day as cyber criminals, already frighteningly internet savvy, add psychological manipulation to their roster of skills. According to the Boston Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), rental scams increased 64% between 2020 and 2021. Cumulative losses exceeded $350 million in 2021 alone. “The actual losses are most likely much higher,” the bureau added, “because many people are hesitant to report they were scammed.” “These are very sophisticated crime syndicates that push these scams and frauds,” Fahsel said. He explained that large syndicates of cyber criminals based in countries with low or no regulation on this behavior may run hundreds of variations on dozens of distinctly “stamped” scams, from romance scams to employment scams to rental fraud. When one strategy begins to work particularly well, the lessons from that strategy may then be applied across the board. There is a great deal of intense analytics involved. “Cyber criminals look closely for certain criteria to indicate if a certain geographical region or market is ripe for real estate scams,” Fahsel said. “When they home in on a market, they will check net domestic migration patterns, for example, to determine where a large volume of people is moving. Then, they tailor the scam to fit the mindset of the people moving into or out of those areas.” Because an individual moving into a new area may not have a clear idea about the nature of the rental landscape, they are particularly prone to falling for what Fahsel calls “too-good-to-be-true” offers. “Scammers compile data about properties, rental prices, images, and listings, then hire virtual assistants or even college students looking for part-time jobs to put together these offers and facilitate the exchange of security deposits, rent, or other funds,” he explained. This makes the entire process even muddier for law enforcement because there are often innocent parties involved in the middle of the process between the victim and the cybercriminal. “The ‘employees’ get scammed too, because they frequently never get paid,” Fahsel noted. The “salaries” for these positions are also often too good to be true; the Federal Trade Commission estimates in 2022, job seekers lost $68 million in labor, lost income, and fraudulent fees associated with fake jobs. Cutting Off Fraud at the Source Because most real estate scams are carried out by large syndicates running multiple scams and multiple variations on these scams in multiple locations around the country, identifying trends early and acting preemptively to identify and eliminate fraud related to an investment portfolio is one of the few ways to make a significant dent in the potential money, time, and opportunity lost when a real estate scam succeeds. There are multiple victims at every point in the scam, from the property owner to the “employees” and “interns” working unwittingly for the scammer to the renter hoping to establish a household in the property shown by the fraudulent listing. According to Georgia Legal Aid, an organization based in Atlanta, Georgia, which is currently a hotbed of rental fraud, the two primary types of rental listing scams actively deployed at present included renting properties that the scammer is not authorized to rent and creating property listings for properties that do not exist and soliciting deposits or application fees using those listings. However, this simple explanation barely scratches the surface when it comes to the ingenuity and brainpower cybercrime syndicates dedicate to this type of fraud, Fahsel said. “These are teams of people who wake up every day and think, ‘How do we scam these people? How can we hack the system and take advantage of it?’ If they put half the effort they do into pushing these scams into a legitimate business that would help people, they could do really well,” Fahsel explained. “Sadly, that is not the route they take, so Property Shield spends every waking moment thinking about how to stop them.” Lind added, “Our system stands out from other fraud-prevention platforms because we are using the same tools that the scammers are using to fight them. Machine learning is a critical component of our system, and we have been ‘training’ our models for a long time.” To “train” a machine learning model, the algorithm is “fed” data from which it can learn. The more training the model receives, the better it becomes at identifying threats and classifying them as such. Lind noted, “Our model is also multi-modal, meaning it can process multiple mediums of data, including text and images.” This enables Property

Orlando, Florida

by Carole VanSickle Ellis
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Florida’s “City Beautiful” Endures a Statewide Market Shift by Carole VanSickle Ellis The third-most-visited city in the United States could see a shift in the next few years as formerly happy pandemic-era homebuyers put their properties back on the market and flee inland once more…or the market could “correct” in one of the gentlest “softening” events in the country. Analysts can make compelling arguments in both directions. “Florida’s real estate market has a split personality,” wrote Realtor.com data journalist Evan Wyloge in August 2024. The same is arguably true on an individual level for at least some of the state’s markets, including Orlando. After weathering multiple named storms in 2024 alone, including Hurricanes Helene and Milton, many Orlando residents say they are considering listing their properties and relocating closer to their pre-pandemic stomping grounds. Given how prices have risen over the past four years, many expect to liquidate to great effect and, furthermore, they have high hopes of an expedited experience thanks to rising demand for housing around the country. The sales process, however, may not go as smoothly as many expect. “We could see some price deterioration in some areas,” warned Florida Realtors chief economist Brad O’Connor in an interview with the Wall Street Journal in early October of this year. He added, “[There has] definitely been a sizable increase over the last couple of years in inventory.” The combination could spell bad news for Florida homeowners who purchased at peak pandemic pricing and are now hoping to sell quickly for top dollar and make an exit. While Orlando has not been hit as hard as much of the Gulf Coast of Florida this year, the city did experience tangential economic impact from the rough weather associated with Hurricane Helene. The storm made landfall in northwest Florida but created a preemptive economic impact as Orlando’s theme parks and other tourist attractions and services shut down or cancelled certain seasonal events. Orlando experienced more direct damage from Hurricane Milton’s flooding and extremely high winds, which caused damage in the Orlando area as well as throughout much of the state. Investors should note Orlando may be classified as an “inland market,” but this does not exempt it from looming threats associated with the departure of property insurers and rising rates associated with inland flooding and other natural disasters. Unfortunately, the classification often causes property owners to forego flood insurance if they are not located in an officially designated flood plain. Some insurance companies in the Orlando area will not insure properties once they reach a certain value unless the owner also takes out flood insurance even if the property is not in a flood plain. These storms and others are causing property insurance premiums to skyrocket across the state, including in Orlando. Katherine Frattarola, an insurance agent at a firm catering to high-net-worth clients, noted earlier this fall that many of her clients are reconsidering waterfront Florida property acquisitions in response to these premiums. “People are making different choices as a result of the rise in insurance costs,” Frattarola told WSJ. According to a report from the Florida Policy Project, Florida homeowners saw rates rise 45% between 2017 and 2022. Since 2022, areas hit by hurricanes have posted insurance premium spikes as high as 400%, according to Moody’s Analytics. Moody’s also predicted rates would rise still higher in areas affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Although state legislators have attempted to insulate property owners from instability in the insurance market by creating a $1 billion “reinsurance fund,” disincentivizing “frivolous lawsuits,” and establishing stringent deadlines for the claims process, it appears unlikely that such measures will hold in the face of homeowner discontent and increasingly strong hurricanes and rainstorms. Florida governor Ron DeSantis noted more than one in 10 Florida homeowners do not have property insurance (vs. about one in 20 nationally) and expressed hope that the bill would keep the state’s residents insured at affordable (or at least only gradually rising) rates. Critics of the bill said it would not stop rate increases or cancellations; investors should note ten insurance companies had left the state due to “choice or insolvency,” as the Insurance Information Institute described it, as of August 2024. Florida’s “Split Personality” Could Make Orlando Investing Complicated As the state of Florida experiences volatility in the housing market, markets like Orlando are divided not only by the extent to which they are affected by extreme weather but also by housing sectors. For example, insurance premiums and fees play an outsized role throughout the state, but particularly in prime landfall locations on the coast. On the other hand, state regulations on condominium assessments and related regulations have softened up the condo market substantially in the past few years, including in the condo-flush Orlando market. At present, about one-third of all listings in Orlando are for condo properties. “Nobody can afford the association fees anymore,” realtor Jennifer Levin told Realtor.com in mid-August of this year. She cited legislation enacted in the wake of the tragic collapse of the Miami Surfside condominium building in 2021 as a significant component of the softening condo market. “The big pullback in the market is in the condo market because of rising insurance costs and new laws that require buildings to have full reserves by next year,” Levin said. Realtor.com reported condo prices have fallen about 12% since 2022, while single-family homes have held steady or risen in value in most markets. In Orlando, single-family home median values were up slightly year-over-year in August 2024, reported Bankrate, posting gains of 9.3% year-over-year but falling slightly from a July 2024 peak of $412,000 to $399,000 in August. Readers should note the state of Florida remains one of the most attractive states in the country for new residents and gained a net of nearly 250,000 new residents in 2022 alone according to the most recent available data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford metro area holds steady in the top three most-popular Florida metro areas and

Dissecting the Data

by Mitchell Zagrodnik
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What a Year’s Worth of Investor Input Tells Us About the Future by Mitchell Zagrodnik RCN Capital and CJ Patrick Company’s Investor Sentiment Survey, which launched initially in Spring 2023, gauges real estate investors’ views on market conditions. The survey features a static set of questions that allow data to be compared and analyzed for trends over time. Periodically, more topical questions will also be included in the survey. With this being an election year, the Fall 2024 iteration included questions about the presidential candidates, and how investors see the market performing depending on which nominee is victorious. The Fall 2024 Survey results showed that fix-and-flip investors had an overall more positive outlook about market conditions than long-term rental investors. Where 80% of flippers believe that market conditions have improved over the past year, only 47% of rental property investors believe that today’s market is better than last year’s. As we dive into the overall sentiment from the participants in the most recent survey, the contrast between flippers and rental investors is a notable theme throughout this piece. And now with over a year’s worth of data from these reports, we can compare survey responses year-over-year. Overall Investor Sentiment As of Fall 2024, investor optimism was the highest recorded in the six quarters of the survey’s existence. When asked if market conditions are better today than they were a year ago, 68% of participants responded yes, and over 71% believed that conditions would continue to improve in the following months. Declining financing costs, increased inventory, and a gradual slowdown in price appreciation are contributing factors to that optimism. The three biggest challenges facing real estate investors are listed below, and we were able to compare the responses to the same question during the Spring 2023 survey: » High Cost of Financing // 62.88% in Fall 2024 compared to 72.70% in Spring 2023 » Competition from Institutional Investors // 43.56% in Fall 2024 compared to 33.88% in Spring 2023 » Lack of Inventory // 39.57% in Fall 2024 compared to 47.70% in Spring of 2023 The shift towards a more optimistic outlook for the real estate investment space is increasingly apparent after seeing this year-over-year change in responses. A majority of real estate investors utilize some form of financing in order to secure properties, so the nearly 10% drop in the responses year-over-year is telling. It is also notable that concern over a lack of inventory has dropped by about 8% year-over-year. Low housing inventory has been a consistent obstacle facing homebuyers over the past several years. This issue is being addressed with an increased number of new residential construction projects, specifically single-family homes, hitting the market. According to data provided by the Department of Housing and Urban Development in September 2024, the total recorded house completions in August 2024 was 1,788,000. This is the highest number on record in the month of August within the last five years. These numbers should give people confidence that this problem is being addressed. Insurance Costs Proving to be an Ongoing Issue Insurance is a crucial factor in the homebuying process, and lately this necessary step has become a consistent deal killer. When asked if rising insurance costs or the inability to insure properties factored into the decision to invest in real estate, 80% of survey participants in the Fall 2024 iteration responded “yes.” For fix-and-flip investors, 82.9% felt that cost and availability of insurance was a deciding factor in their real estate investments, whereas only 69.4% of rental investors felt that way. Based on the responses provided by the survey, insurance issues have caused more flippers to miss out on a deal than rental investors by a difference of 73.3% for flippers versus 45% for rental investors. That stark contrast emphasizes the problems that flippers are facing when it comes to insurance, and these issues appear to be even more apparent in certain areas of the country. The issue of insurance coverage is especially prevalent in states that are susceptible to extreme weather events, with California and Florida garnering the most attention. Florida has recently experienced devastating hurricanes, which in general, are unfortunately common in the southern region of the United States. California has been susceptible to large-scale wildfires. These natural events have caused insurance rates to skyrocket, and even some insurance companies to leave these states entirely. In California, 97% of investors have experienced issues with insurance cost and availability, and in Florida that number is at 93%. The breakdown of each state based on investment strategy is below: California-based Investors’ likelihood of missing out on a deal due to insurance: » Fix-and-Flip: 87.5% » Rental Investors: 50% Florida-based Investors’ likelihood of missing out on a deal due to insurance: » Fix-and-Flip: 60% » Rental Investors: 60% The breakdown shows it has been more of an issue for flippers compared to rental investors in California, but in Florida the numbers are relatively similar by investmenttype. It will be fascinating to see if this continues to be a problem over the next 12 months. Presidential Election Factors Of the participants in the Fall 2024 survey, 51.4% are backing Kamala Harris versus 40.5% for Donald Trump. Harris is also seen as the candidate who will lead to a better investment environment. 47.22% believe that, while 39.20% see a Trump presidency as more beneficial to investors. What is interesting is how flippers and rental investors differ in which candidate will lead to a better investing environment. Fix-and-flip investors lean towards Harris with 56.9% believing she will create a better investment market, whereas 32.6% favor Trump in that regard. The opposite is the case for rental investors. 45% of the respondents believe Trump will create a more favorable investing environment, versus 39.6% believing Harris will. Some of the major talking points of the Harris campaign are policies aimed directly at long-term rental investors, like the controversial topic of rent control. Based on that, it makes sense for investors that primarily own rentals to favor Trump.

Brandywine Cares: A New Future for Renters in Atlanta

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Investing in People — Investing in Communities Brandywine Cares, a nonprofit organization, is on a mission to transform the future for renters in Atlanta. Through initiatives in career coaching, financial education, and the power of planning, the organization strives to ensure that individuals not only establish and meet their career goals but thrive as a result of being stronger and more resilient financially. In 2024 alone, 166 participants have received coaching, with 48 people gaining employment, leading to an average salary increase of $22,000. These efforts have resulted in a total community impact of $1.1 million this year, with 280 total participants across all programs. Lafayette RE: Building the Foundation for Brandywine Cares The foundation of Brandywine Cares was laid with the support of Lafayette RE, a private equity firm managing over $1 billion in assets and 5,000 homes across the Southeast part of the United States. Recognizing the challenges renters face, Lafayette RE, led by CEO Thibault Adrien, made an investment beyond property management. “Everything started from the realization that our responsibility to communities goes beyond managing assets — we needed to create opportunities for people to understand and reach their potential,” says Thibault. With this vision, Lafayette funded Brandywine Cares’ first year, focusing primarily on career coaching as a means to address the gaps in opportunity and financial stability that have long persisted in underserved neighborhoods, affecting housing and food security, among other things. A Vision for Lasting Change The mission of Brandywine Cares is driven by Heidi Coppola, the organization’s President. With extensive experience in nonprofit leadership, Heidi is passionate about addressing the systemic barriers that prevent many Atlanta residents from finding well-paying, sustainable employment and opportunities for personal, career, and financial growth. Her dedication has been instrumental in bridging the income and opportunity gaps in underrepresented communities. For Heidi, Brandywine Cares is a vehicle to create a lasting impact on individuals’ lives and the communities in which we all live and work. “Our goal is to create pathways to stability and opportunity, so people aren’t just surviving—they’re thriving,” says Heidi. Under her guidance, Brandywine Cares has launched initiatives that provide practical skills, career coaching, and financial literacy tools. These efforts are not just about temporary relief; they are about planning and executing on the plan, laying the groundwork for long-term success and prosperity. Empowering Communities, One Story at a Time One of the many lives touched by Brandywine Cares is Keianne Hardy, who was passionate about transitioning from a career in the education field to technology. Through Brandywine Cares, Keianne received one-on-one coaching and a revamped résumé that helped her shift into a higher-paying role in the education sector, giving her room to explore additional credentials and the transition to the technology sector. She joined CareerProsper, Brandywine Cares’ six-week program designed for those transitioning into new fields, and then secured a job with a technology company, also being accepted into a technology training program through a Brandywine Cares partner. Today, Keianne has not only increased her salary but has fulfilled her dream of transitioning into a new field that offers her opportunities for personal, professional, and financial growth. As part of its comprehensive programming, Brandywine Cares offers small business bootcamps. Aleisha Kelly, a graduate from the Spring bootcamp, credits this program with helping her find the self-confidence to tell her story in an entrepreneurship elevator pitch competition, where she took first prize with a substantial cash award, reinforcing her belief in setting and achieving high goals for herself. A Ground-Level Commitment to Change While Heidi’s strategic vision shapes Brandywine Cares’ direction, Brandywine Cares’ participants benefit from the very high-quality work of its Director of Workforce Development, Tamara Allen, who leads career coaching and program development. Additional support comes from individuals like Jackie Lee, CEO of Brandywine Homes. Jackie joined the Fundraising Committee to help organize the nonprofit’s upcoming event, leveraging her deep connections in Atlanta to bring together sponsors and donors. As someone who sees firsthand the challenges renters face, Jackie is passionate about making a difference. Her efforts reflect her belief that the real estate industry has a role to play in creating a more equitable community. “Every day, I see families working hard to make ends meet yet struggling to keep up with rent and rising costs. We have to use our resources to give them a fair shot at stability and opportunity,” says Jackie. “This is a subject that matters deeply to me because I believe in the potential of our residents and the communities we serve.” For Jackie, this work is not about her vision — it is about lending her support to the cause during her free time, ensuring that Brandywine Cares achieves the impact of which it is capable. Bridging the Gap in Atlanta’s Real Estate Market Brandywine Cares’ work is particularly significant in Atlanta, where rental and home purchase prices and limited affordable housing have created hurdles for many families. As the city grows, so does the divide between those who can afford the cost of living and those left struggling to keep up. Heidi and the Brandywine Cares team understand that these challenges require more than just providing housing; they require creating opportunities for financial independence and growth. Their programs are designed to equip participants with the skills and knowledge needed to find careers, not just jobs, advance in their careers, manage their finances, and continue on the path to prosperity. This holistic approach ensures that more Atlanta families can afford safe, quality housing without being displaced from their neighborhoods. Looking Ahead: A Call to Action The upcoming fundraiser on November 21st at the Trolley Barn in Inman Park, Atlanta, marks a pivotal moment for Brandywine Cares. This event will bring together industry leaders, community advocates, and supporters united by a vision of a more inclusive future. The funds raised will enable the nonprofit to expand its programs, reach more individuals like Keianne and Aleisha, and continue creating opportunities for those who need them most. The event