https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/real-estate-959

The 2024 housing market isn’t turning out how most of us thought. At the beginning of the year, real estate investors were hopeful that mortgage rates would fall, affordability would return, and home prices would have a chance to stabilize before going back up. But none of those things happened. Rates are still high, affordability is at a forty-year low, and home prices are slowly rising even with diminished demand. Why is this happening, and what’s causing these market moves? All that and more, with VP of Market Intelligence at BiggerPockets, Dave Meyer, in this BiggerNews episode.

We’re giving you an entire wrap-up of the 2024 housing market (so far) on today’s episode as Dave goes through the data behind affordability, home prices, inventory, sales, and which real estate markets are faring the best. With more and more homeowners “locked in,” the US as a whole is still experiencing low housing inventory—HALF the amount of inventory from just a few years ago. This puts buyers in a tough spot. Should they buy now with limited choices and high rates or wait for mortgage rates to drop? And if they do decide to wait, what happens to rent prices?

Dave answers it all plus shares the region-by-region differences affecting each corner of the US housing market. From high inventory in the Southeast to the often overlooked real estate regions with massive demand, we’ll get into where money is moving and which states you should be most concerned about investing in. All that, and much more, in this BiggerNews housing market update!

BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast

BiggerNews: 2024 Housing Market Update and Why Prices Are Still Rising

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/real-estate-1011

Housing affordability is at a forty-year low, and we bet you can feel it. Buying a house seems impossibly far away for first-time homebuyers, rent prices are still far past pre-pandemic levels, and mortgage payments are through the roof. This can’t last forever, and some new government policies are trying to ensure it doesn’t. In this week’s BiggerNews, we’re talking to Dennis Shea, Executive Director at the J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, about what policies could benefit the country and whether or not they’ll actually pass.

We’re also getting into Vice President Harris’ housing plan and former President Trump’s housing plan to see what each candidate believes could bring more affordable housing to the market. With President Biden’s recent rent control proposal, many real estate investors are worried their rents could be capped. But will this nationwide rent control proposal go through?

Plus, what effect does affordability have on current homeowners and investors? Low supply means more demand and higher home prices, but could it come at the cost of your local economy, as renters and would-be homebuyers struggle to afford a home? We’re answering it all in this episode of BiggerNews!

BiggerNews: How Harris/Trump’s Housing Policies Could Impact Affordability

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/rookie-451

You know real estate investing is a great way to build wealth, but maybe you fear you don’t have the resources to start. Well, there’s a way to create cash flow without money OR rentals—rental arbitrage! This low-risk, rookie-friendly strategy could be your gateway into the world of real estate. In today’s episode, we’ll cover the pros and cons of this strategy and whether it still works in 2024!

Welcome back to another Rookie Reply! If you’re a homeowner looking to buy your first rental property, tapping into your home equity gives you an enormous advantage. We’ll show you how to quickly build and scale a real estate portfolio through the BRRRR method (buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat), and you’ll also learn when to use a cash-out refinance or get a home equity line of credit (HELOC) instead. Finally, inheriting tenants puts you in a difficult spot. How should you introduce yourself to tenants? What’s the best way to raise rents on long-term tenants? Stick around to find out!

Looking to invest? Need answers? Ask your question on the BiggerPockets Forums!

Rookie Reply: Rental Arbitrage 101 and How to Invest Your Home Equity

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/real-estate-1012

Rent-to-own real estate can make you more cash flow, with less risk and fewer expenses, all while helping tenants become homeowners. But if it’s so good, why isn’t everyone doing it? Simply put, most investors have no idea that rent-to-own real estate is even possible! So today, we’re talking to an investor, sharing the ins and outs of this lucrative strategy, and showing you how she scaled from zero to over fifty units, half of which are thanks to this strategy.

Maura McGraw and her husband quickly realized that being active-duty military members wouldn’t lead to the stable family life they dreamed of. They needed a way out while still making enough money to provide. So, they pivoted and began formally studying real estate. After a first deal left them with a $30,000 loss, Maura did what most wouldn’t and got back out there searching for another deal. After dozens of flips and numerous rentals, she stumbled upon rent-to-own investing—a strategy that would fuel her real estate portfolio’s growth.

Imagine getting monthly rent checks without repair and maintenance expenses or insurance costs. That’s what rent-to-own can provide! We’ll talk about analyzing a market, screening tenants/buyers, profit margins, and how YOU can start investing in rent-to-own real estate in your market!

High Cash Flow and Low Risk by Turning Tenants into Homeowners (Rent-to-Own)

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/rookie-452

Choosing where to invest can be overwhelming. With thousands of real estate markets and endless data to wade through, it’s no wonder that so many rookies trip up on this step before they ever get started. Well, we’ve got a brand-new tool that’s about to make your job a whole lot easier!

Welcome back to the Real Estate Rookie podcast! Dave Meyer, Head of Real Estate Investing at BiggerPockets, has developed a market research tool to help more investors find their market. And today, we’re putting it to the test! Join Ashley, Tony, and Dave as they walk you through the process of choosing an investing strategy, building a buy box, and picking a market that aligns with your long-term investing goals. As they dive into the data, you’ll find out where each of them might invest if they were starting over today!

But that’s not all. In this episode, you’ll also learn how using ChatGPT can accelerate real estate market analysis and why it’s so important to niche down to zip codes. Finally, you’ll learn to avoid overanalyzing a market by sticking to a few data points that fit your investing needs!

The Rookie’s Cheat Sheet for Market Research (Find Where to Invest in 2024)

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/real-estate-1013

Real estate risk can make you wealthy or cause your portfolio to come crashing down. Like any type of investing, real estate can be risky. However, the amount of risk you take changes depending on the deal. Today, we’re helping YOU figure out how much risk YOU should be taking based on your goals and then share some expert risk management tactics so you can be prepared even if a “black swan” event throws your entire real estate investing plan out the window.

Ashley Wilson started investing in real estate at a risky time. It was 2009—nobody knew if the housing market would face another significant downturn and crash again. Thankfully, due to determination (and a bit of helpful ignorance), she invested at a time that turned out to be one of the best in history. Now, running massive multifamily real estate deals, Ashley has not only survived but thrived through high interest rates, a pandemic, falling rents, and economic uncertainty.

What does she do differently than most investors? She faces her real estate risks BEFORE they happen, and today, she’s showing you how to do the same. We’re talking with Ashley about risk management, how much risk you should take based on your goals, the “buckets” of risk and what you CAN control, and what to do NOW to limit your risk of loss.

Real Estate Risk: How to Dodge It, When to Take It, and Using It to Build Wealth

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/real-estate-1015

Are high interest rates and large down payments stopping you from investing in real estate? If so, creative finance might be precisely what you need. It’s what today’s guest, Ankit Lodha, used to go from zero rental properties to THIRTY in just a couple of years. Sounds risky? What if we told you Ankit was walking into equity when he bought these deals, keeping him from being overleveraged and helping him build wealth faster?

After saving up for over a decade to buy his first property, Ankit quickly realized that building wealth would be a slow grind if he didn’t solve his down payment problem. He was working hard as a data scientist by day, looking for real estate deals by night, and needed a solution to help him creatively buy real estate WITHOUT putting twenty-five percent down on every property. After finding a sweet spot in his local housing market, where he made substantially more rent than other landlords, he knew he needed more properties.

Today, Ankit talks about how he scaled from zero to thirty properties using creative financing, seller financing, and traditional mortgages. He’ll talk about how he dodged the high mortgage rates most investors were forced to accept, how he built a team and runs his properties remotely, and the ingenious ways he buys houses for very little down with high cash flow.

The “Creative” Framework for Low-Down, High-Return Rentals

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/rookie-455

Can real estate investing still propel you to financial independence in 2024? Despite starting with very little money or know-how, this investor found creative ways to build a real estate portfolio of five rental properties and reach his financial goals!

Kadeem Leslie was just fifteen years old when he learned about FIRE (financial independence retire early) and set a lofty goal of retiring by thirty. He knew that real estate would need to be part of his journey, but like many new investors, he had very little money to start. So, he used the Airbnb arbitrage strategy, sleeping on his couch while guests rented his bedroom. In the first month, he covered his rent, and by the third month, he had already doubled his rental income. With proof of concept, Kadeem started renting out virtually any space he could find—from podcast studios to parking spaces—giving him money to buy his own rentals!

Today, Kadeem is financially free, but he has used several strategies and side hustles to get there. In this episode, you’ll learn how to combine real estate investing and other revenue streams to fast-track your portfolio. You’ll also learn why the one-percent rule is still possible in today’s housing market and why finding a top real estate agent is the key to uncovering a great deal!

Looking to invest? Need answers? Ask your question on the BiggerPockets Forums!

Reaching Financial Independence with 5 Properties & Multiple Income Streams

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-562

Achieving your FI number in just four years? If you want to do it too, you must try something different. This couple found a niche within a niche, allowing them to hit the coveted “1% rule” in real estate, skyrocketing their cash flow and passive income and allowing them to make more than almost any other landlord in their area. So, how did they do it, and what was the investment that got them there?

David and Morgan Stanhope weren’t real estate investors five years ago. They didn’t come from investor families and had zero real estate investing experience. One day, at his job as a New York State Police Investigator, David met a mentor who would change how he thought about money, financial freedom, and passive income. This was perfect because David and Morgan were already in a great place to invest—Upstate New York. But David chose NOT to invest in his home market, and for good reason.

They went south to a state known for higher home prices and crushingly high insurance costs. There, they found a creative rental property investing strategy, allowing them to make much more cash flow than regular rentals. Four years later, they’ve surpassed their $10,000/month FI goal. Now, they’re on track to hit an even bigger achievement: $70,000 per MONTH. Today, we’re talking to them about exactly how they’re getting there with investment properties you’ve probably never heard (or thought) about.

Why Your Small Town Is (Probably) the Best Place to Buy Rentals

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/on-the-market-251

No matter who wins your vote during the presidential debates, odds are, the housing market will still have its problems. We’ve got high building costs, low inventory, and slow bureaucratic procedures that stop homes from being built or renovated. So, what would WE do if we were in charge of the country’s economic policies, and how would we use them to make a better housing market?

Welcome to the 2024 On the Market debates, where Dave, Henry, James, and Kathy duke it out over who has the best housing policy, economic plan, and…presidential slogan. We’re putting our plans out in the open for you to vote on. Dave is focusing on construction prices, Henry wants to “Make Housing Affordable Again,” Kathy is rallying to reduce government spending, and James wants to fast-track building and renovations so housing inventory can grow.

Who has the best housing market policy, and are there any you’d personally want to see on the ballot come the next election? Leave a review and let us know your thoughts, or give your take over on our YouTube channel!

Would You Vote for Any of These Market-Changing Economic Policies?

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-563

Has BiggerPockets Money become too focused on FIRE (financial independence, retire early)? For the past seven years, we’ve been bringing you shows highlighting the journeys of those who left their jobs to enjoy early retirement. Some of these guests did it faster than others by making more money, increasing their frugality, investing smart, or building a business. But the question many of our listeners are wondering is: Is this even possible for the average, “normal” person?

Today, we’re taking a hard look at the show’s future and asking ourselves whether or not focusing on FIRE is still the right path forward. Should we shift topics to help the everyday American get a financial leg up, or is continuing the FIRE-focused path the best way to help YOU, our listener? This isn’t a rhetorical question; we genuinely want to know!

After this episode, join the BiggerPockets Money Facebook group thread, and let us know which stories YOU want to hear the most!

Why Aren’t More “Normal” People Achieving FIRE?

BiggerPockets’ goal is to make 1 Million Millionaires by sharing the power of investing in Real Estate to create financial freedom in your life. 

Join our hosts and guest to become part of the growing community taking control of their financial journey on our largest and longest-running podcast that breaks down real estate investing strategies that work today—from deep-dive interviews to coaching calls, news analysis, and more. 

Make your next real estate investing move with confidence…tune in to the #1 real estate investing podcast.

BiggerNews: 2024 Housing Market Update and Why Prices Are Still Rising

BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast

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