Loan Forgiveness in Action!

                                                 

Dear colleagues, 

 

With just two months left to go until the end of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) limited waiver period on October 31st, the White House is calling on employers and others across the country to get the word out. So far, borrowers have gotten more than $10 billion forgiven through PSLF – could your colleagues be next? RSVP to the White House Day of Action here. 

 

Tomorrow, August 31st, we’re focusing on spreading the word about the PSLF limited waiver to educators, school personnel, administrators, professors and other employees at all education levels. This relief can make a meaningful difference in the lives of those who work tirelessly every day to educate and care for our nation’s students. Please join us by posting to social media, sending out an email to your educator networks, or otherwise help public servants to access this life-changing opportunity.  

 

Not sure where to start? We’ve drafted a set of materials for K-12 school district administrators and college leaders to share with educators on how to complete the PSLF application. In it, you can find draft newsletter blurbs, a template all-school email, social media samples, and more!  You can also visit our PSLF stakeholder resource page for additional relevant toolkits for other community sectors. 

• Real Estate
• Wenston DeSue is a realtor, organizational consultant, design, construct, build expert and developmental networker.  Real estate is the business of exchange and affects every person on the planet.  Real estate on all levels represents resources, access and ultimately, power.  Knowledge is power…

 

And They Say We Are “Woke”?

 NEWS & MEDIA

Ariel Skelley, Getty Images

AUGUST 22, 2022

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Baltimore Couple Suing Appraiser for Black Bias

By Stan Choe

Two Baltimore professors who wrote books on Jim Crow laws removed all evidence of their race from their home and a second appraisal came in $278K higher.

NEW YORK (AP) – How much does it pay to hide the photos of your family at your home, or anything else that shows your race? If you’re Black and trying to find out how much your house is worth, one family suggests it could be hundreds of thousands of dollars.

A couple in Baltimore is suing an appraiser and a mortgage lender, alleging their home was severely undervalued because they are Black, blocking them from refinancing their mortgage. The couple says a separate appraisal, done after “whitewashing” the place by removing family photos and having a white colleague stand in for them, pegged the home’s value higher by $278,000.

The two “were shocked at the appraisal and recognized that the low valuation was because of racial discrimination,” according to the suit filed earlier this week in U.S. District Court in Maryland.

Officials at the lender accused in the case, loanDepot, declined to discuss the allegations. But in a statement, the publicly traded company said it strongly opposes bias. “While appraisals are performed independently by outside expert appraisal firms, all participants in the home finance process must work to find ways to contribute to eradicating bias.”

The appraisal company in the case, 20/20 Valuations, could not be immediately reached for comment. Neither it nor the individual appraiser named in the suit has lawyers listed yet in the court filings.

The situation began last year, when two professors at Johns Hopkins University, Nathan Connolly and Shani Mott, wanted to do the same thing millions of others across the country were doing. They hoped to take advantage of low interest rates and refinance their mortgage and a home-equity loan.

The couple had bought their four-bedroom home in 2017 for $450,000 and had made several upgrades to it. They remodeled their club room for $35,000, for example. They also invested in a tankless water heater, recessed lighting and other improvements that the family’s lawyers say raised the value of the home.

That would be on top of the general rise that home prices enjoyed in the area and across the country between 2017 and 2021.

The couple applied in mid-2021 with loanDepot, which initially approved them for a 2.25% interest rate, pending an appraisal to ensure the home was worth enough in case of a default. A loanDepot lending officer told the family a “pretty conservative” estimate was $550,000, according to the suit.

But the appraiser from 20/20 Valuation, who was hired by loanDepot, said the home was worth only $472,000, according to the complaint. It pushed loanDepot to call to say it would not extend the loan, according to the complaint.

The suit alleges that while researching other homes to benchmark against the plaintiff’s home, the appraiser ignored nearby sales in majority-white areas, similar to the plaintiff’s, that had higher values. Instead, the complaint said he included lower-valued homes and ones in areas with more Black residents.

Later that year, the couple learned the government assessed the value of their home at $622,000. After that, they tried for another loan. This time, they conducted an experiment where they replaced family photos with ones borrowed from white friends and colleagues. They even brought in new artwork, including a vintage print featuring a “white pin-up model.” And they made sure not to be home during the appraisal, with a white colleague there instead to greet the appraiser.

After that, the home appraised for $750,000, or 59% more than the appraisal from less than seven months earlier.

“It’s shocking to a lot of people that a home should be an objective valuation, but when the appraiser appraises it believing it’s a Black-owned home, it gets one value, and suddenly it’s worth 50% more when the appraiser believes it’s a white-owned home,” said John Relman of the Relman Colfax law firm that’s representing the plaintiffs.

“You have two eminent professors at Johns Hopkins. They did everything they were told to do,” Relman said. But “appraisal discrimination is so nuanced and so pernicious that it literally follows them into this predominantly white neighborhood. And they, unlike their neighbors, can’t access the value that’s rising and that they should benefit from.”

The U.S. housing industry has a long history of racial discrimination, one that helped build the racial wealth gap and one that carries through today. Last year, on the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre, President Joe Biden said he was launching an interagency initiative to combat bias in home appraisals.

It’s a history with which the plaintiffs are well aware. Connolly has written a book about how property ownership helped set the terms of Jim Crow segregation between the early 1900s and the 1960s. Mott has written about African-American and American literature and history.

Real Estate

Wenston DeSue is a realtor, organizational consultant, design, construct, build expert and developmental networker.  Real estate is the business of exchange and affects every person on the planet.  Real estate on all levels represents resources, access and ultimately, power.  Knowledge is power…

National Push for Supply Chain!

 NEWS & MEDIA

Kevin Dodge / Getty Images

AUGUST 19, 2022

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Commercial Boosted by Supply Chain Expansion

By Stacey Moncrief

The pandemic uncovered weaknesses in U.S. manufacturing and a dependence on foreign nations, but a push to bring industry back home will help the commercial RE market.

WASHINGTON – U.S. companies are looking to bring operations home from overseas, which will open new opportunities for commercial brokers, speakers at the National Association of Realtors®’ (NAR) C5 Summit said.

Speakers discussed the nuances of onshoring, friendshoring, nearshoring and repatriating, but they agreed on this: U.S. companies are looking to bring operations home from overseas – or at least closer to home – in part to prevent future supply chain issues.

“COVID was a wake-up call,” CNBC commentator Ron Insana told conference attendees in a conversation with Nadeem Meghji, Blackstone’s head of Real Estate America. “We’re seeing companies move from a just-in-time model to a just-in-case model.” That means more opportunity for U.S. brokers, especially those in business-friendly environments.

Blackstone, which purchases companies as well as their underlying real estate assets, owns nearly $600 billion in property worldwide.

“One of the benefits of a global business is being able to see what works and what doesn’t,” Meghji said. “Broadly speaking, warehouse logistics has been a theme for us, not just in the U.S. but now also in Europe and Asia.”

Nearly 500 brokers, trade organizations and economic development professionals gathered for the C5 Summit in New York, the second year NAR has hosted the commercial real estate conference. The “5” in the event title stands for capital, connect, commerce, community, and commercial.

Meghji wasn’t the only speaker touting the strength of the warehouse sector. Other brokers and analysts speaking at the conference agreed that warehouses were expected to remain strong. Several speakers also mentioned life sciences, biotechnology and health care as sectors that will continue to perform well. With the growth of streaming content, Blackstone is investing in movie production facilities as well.

Self-storage facilities, which took off in 2019 and 2020, were cited by many speakers as a sector with staying power. NAR economist Lawrence Yun said one factor was the housing shortage and resulting high prices. People are doubling up to save money, moving in with parents or grandparents. “They need someplace to put all their stuff,” he said. “So I think self-storage will continue to have legs.”

Although the office market remains a question mark, 2021 was a phenomenal year for many commercial real estate sectors, and 2022 and 2023 are shaping up to see only a slight drop-off. Concerning factors include continued interest rate hikes and geopolitical conflict. But holding real estate in the right location and the right sectors is a great hedge.

“We’ve oriented our entire business around assets with cash-flow growth,” Meghji said.

Location is key. For example, Meghji says Blackstone isn’t looking at warehouse facilities or distribution centers in remote locations, but concentrating on locations near larger populations, where companies can meet the demands of last-mile delivery.

Throughout the conference, speakers touched on the importance of setting and meeting environmental, social and governance goals. Investors and tenants demand it, and governments are mandating and incentivizing it.

“And it’s the right thing to do for the planet,” Meghji said. “Real estate happens to be a pretty big greenhouse emitter.”

Blackstone has its sights set on being carbon neutral by 2025. It’s doing that not only by improving energy efficiency in its buildings but also by investing in renewable solutions, such as hydroelectric, wind and solar.

With the strength of the U.S. dollar, there was also a lot of talk at C5 about whether the U.S. would continue to be a target for foreign investment. The consensus was that it would, but other countries are competing. In a session on opportunities within Dubai, Shadi Bteddini, CEO of Century 21 United Arab Emirates and Century 21 India, said money is pouring into Dubai because the government has made the right moves to attract foreign investment. Bteddini is also CEO of Front Desk Real Estate, the international trustee of the Dubai Land Department, a role aimed at attracting global investors to Dubai.

Blackstone’s Meghji called India a growth market; the country is “producing hundreds of thousands of engineers” and moving from being a source of mostly low-level tech support to being an innovator. And the Indian government is finally taking steps to build needed infrastructure to support the demands of a growing middle class.

But both speakers said the U.S. continues to be a safe haven for investment. Bteddini said Dubai has $8 billion worth of assets under management in the U.S. and is looking to double that. 

Meghji said the U.S. is still the best place for investment. “I would not bet against this country and the opportunity we have right in front of us,” he said.

Source: National Association of Realtors® (NAR)

© 2022 Florida Realtors®

Real Estate

Wenston DeSue is a realtor, organizational consultant, design, construct, build expert and developmental networker.  Real estate is the business of exchange and affects every person on the planet.  Real estate on all levels represents resources, access and ultimately, power.  Knowledge is power…

FL Fix & Flip?

 NEWS & MEDIA

Zave Smith / Getty Images

AUGUST 12, 2022

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2 Fla. Cities in Top 10 for ‘Where to Buy a Fixer-Upper?’

By Terry Collins

A fixer-upper is ideal for buyers willing to invest sweat equity and live in less-than-ideal conditions. In Fla., Miami and Jacksonville rank high for fixer-uppers.

NEW YORK – Milwaukee. Philadelphia. Detroit. Memphis and Baltimore. These are just a handful of the top 10 cities in the U.S. with the lowest cost of “fixer-upper” homes, according to research from StorageCafe, a nationwide storage space marketplace.

What’s a fixer-upper? It’s a house that’s available to buy at a lower price because it usually requires major work. Think of it also as a labor of love – literally. Although buyers can likely still live in a fixer-upper, they will likely need to spend a lot of time and money on maintenance and upgrades.

10 best cities for fixer-upper houses

1. Milwaukee
2. Philadelphia
3. Detroit
4. Memphis, Tennessee
5. Baltimore
6. Jacksonville, Florida
7. Dallas
8. Louisville, Kentucky
9. Miami
10. Fresno, California

Source: StorageCafe

“Skyrocketing home prices, bidding wars, low inventories and record-high interest rates have put many prospective homebuyers on the sidelines. But there’s still more, and that’s fixer-uppers,” said Doug Ressler, a business intelligence manager for Yardi Matrix, which provides real estate analysis for investors and conducted StorageCafe’s survey.

“(Fixer-uppers) do require a consistent amount of work – and time – until they’re ready to be called ‘home,’ but they can be a real solution for budget-minded buyers.”

StorageCafe’s study analyzed 61,200 active single-family listings as the nation’s housing market is slightly cooling and as homebuyers are backing out of purchases at the highest rate since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to real-estate broker Redfin.

Brad Werner, who leads construction and real-estate practices for Wipfli, a Chicago-based accounting firm, said more homebuyers will gravitate to fixer-uppers because of a “deferred demand” due to a lack of housing that experts say range between 2-4 million homes.

“Whether there is a recession or a booming economy, everybody needs a place to live and wants housing that’s affordable,” Werner said. “With not enough new housing available, buyers are looking into the older stock.”

What is the median cost of a fixer-upper home?

The median cost of a fixer-upper home in the U.S. is around $225,000; that’s about 45% cheaper than turnkey homes in cities that are the same size, according to Porch, a home-improvement site connecting homeowners and contractors. The site also said a fixer-upper home this year is about 24% lower than last year’s estimated price of $280,000.

Buyers typically invest in a fixer-upper seeking more space, or to fix and flip the property for profit.

“This is not a simple market to get in,” said Mike Hardy, managing partner for Churchill Mortgage in Los Angeles. He is an active investor who currently has six fix-and-flips going in Southern California. “One of my mottos is simple: Is there room for a 10% profit once the house is complete and satisfied after the rehab?”

How much does it cost to renovate a home?

Home renovations and remodels average $47,803, with many projects ranging between $17,903 and $78,003, according to HomeAdvisor.com. However, keep in mind that some materials are scarce due to supply-chain issues, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

Most of the homes on StorageCafe’s list are dominated by blue-collar, working-class cities, and that’s not a coincidence, Ressler said. 

Mirela Mohan, a real-estate trends expert and the author of StorageCafe’s study, told USA TODAY that cities that came out on top are generally places where fixer-upper inventory (30%) and the fixer-upper discount (30%) are high – metrics that carry the most weight in the rankings.

Milwaukee ranks No. 1 in part because fixer-uppers represent 12% of the existing homes for sale, double the overall average for the cities included in StorageCafe’s study.

For example, the study said the asking price for a fixer-upper in Milwaukee is around $80,000, nearly 60% lower than prices for regular, non-fixer-upper homes of around $195,000.

In Philadelphia, the study said about 26% of active listings fall into the “needing a little TLC” category. And for an average price of about $145,000, a fixer-upper in Philadelphia would cost buyers about half the price of a home that’s move-in ready, the study said.

Mohan said another recent StorageCafe study on real-estate activity in the past decade exemplifies why Milwaukee and Philadelphia rank first and second.

“Milwaukee is the third-worst metro area in terms of new single-family permits, with barely 15,000 permits issued over the last decade,” Mohan said. “Philadelphia fares slightly better, with nearly 70,000 new single-family units permitted over the last decade, though much lower than other urban hubs.”

And in Detroit, the study said “with its large inventory of historic homes – many of them built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries – Detroit emerges as one of the best cities to find an old gem ready to be turned into a real haven.”

The study added that 22% of the available listings in Detroit are homes in need of repairs.

It was the most affordable city in the study.

“Whether you’re snagging a charming Queen Anne or Gilded Age home in Detroit, you’d end up paying $60,000 on average for a fixer-upper – almost half of the price of a turnkey listing – a very good deal by all current pricing standards,” the study said.

And, among the 50 biggest U.S. cities, StorageCafe’s study said fixer-uppers are 32% cheaper on average than standard homes, about $307,000 versus $448,000 leading to a median savings of about $155,000.

Also, 1 in 20 houses is a fixer-upper in the top most populous cities, the study said.

“Finding a home with good bones is not the easiest task, however, and it depends a lot on the location you’re looking to buy in,” Ressler said. “Some places make it much harder than others to turn your homebuying journey into a success story like those featured on the ‘Property Brothers’ or Chip and Joanna Gaines’ ‘Fixer Upper.’”

California costliest state for renovating, flipping fixer-uppers

Meanwhile, in California, the most expensive home market in the nation, cities with the highest fixer-upper prices include San Jose at nearly $1.3 million, San Francisco at $1 million, and Los Angeles at nearly $900,000.

Other California cities, such as Long Beach at $712,000 and San Diego at $600,000, are also in the top 10 with the most expensive fixer-uppers. The list also includes Boston; Seattle; New York; Washington; and Mesa, Arizona.

Hardy, the L.A.-based investor, said he averages about a dozen flips and fixes homes across the Southern California market through his investment companies. A real-estate fixture for more than 20 years, Hardy said he currently has projects in the cities of Riverside, Covina, West Covina, as well as areas of Orange County.

He said his flips take between three and four months to complete, and can prove profitable, with a return rate of 20-25%.

Hardy recalled aggressively buying about 100 properties in need of repair with two other partners during the 2008 recession and selling them. His strategy: Move quickly, buy at the right price and fix and flip fast.

“What’s important is to be as efficient and systematic as possible,” Hardy said. “From our standpoint, we look at it as, ‘how can we have our dollars at work that’s a good business model and maximize returns?’”

Real Estate

Wenston DeSue is a realtor, organizational consultant, design, construct, build expert and developmental networker.  Real estate is the business of exchange and affects every person on the planet.  Real estate on all levels represents resources, access and ultimately, power.  Knowledge is power…

End To SFH Zoning?????

 

Fla. Town Considers End to Single-Family Zoning

By John Henderson

Is single-family zoning good or bad? It’s a hot issue, but affordable-housing advocates say it’s one of the problems, and Gainesville might nix it altogether.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A split vote during the Gainesville City Commission meeting on Thursday has put the city on pace to become the first in the state to eliminate single-family zoning. It was the first of two needed votes that came in around midnight after a crowd of nearly 100 people showed up to oppose the zoning change, while only about a dozen supported it.

The 4-3 vote calls for small-scale, multi-family housing throughout the city, affecting up to 63% of Gainesville’s residential properties. The proposal replaces the single-family exclusionary zoning with a new “neighborhood residential” category that would allow residential structures of up to four units per parcel depending on the size of the lot.

Buildings can’t be more than two stories tall.

The motion to approve the change included a recommendation by commissioner Reina Saco that staff come back with the pros and cons of sunsetting the laws in three to five years to give the city time to study how the zoning change works in the real world.

A vote to postpone the vote until after the Nov. 8 election failed.

“My concern has been that we don’t have data,” said city commissioner Desmon Duncan-Walker, who proposed the delay. “My bigger concern is that we don’t have the will of the people. And I think we need that.”

Saco, Mayor Lauren Poe, and commissioners Adrian Hayes-Santos and David Arreola voted in support of the first of two required votes on the zoning and plan change. Commissioners Cynthia Chestnut, Duncan-Walker and Harvey Ward voted in dissent.

“The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago,” Poe said. “The second best time to plant a tree is today. The same is true for housing. The best time to build adequate housing, and abundant housing, was 20 years ago. The second best time is today.”

Poe said he wants people to be able to choose where they want to live and not be forced out of their neighborhoods. But he added that when there is a shortage of homes, wealthy people will gobble up those in more desirable neighborhoods.

“That is how displacement and gentrification works in every single city and town. It’s not unique to Gainesville,” he said.

The emotionally charged meeting at the packed City Hall lasted more than six and a half hours, with a crowd flowing into a conference room and out into the parking lot, where some elderly people complained about standing for hours in 90-degree heat.

Commissioners who support the zoning and plan change have said that allowing the slight increase in density in single-family neighborhoods could create more housing units and help with the affordable housing problem over time. They attribute the origins of the city’s zoning laws to racist policies set during the desegregation era.

But the vast majority of Black people who have spoken out are opposed to eliminating exclusionary zoning. Commissioner Chestnut said the situation was odd and had emboldened Gainesville’s Black community like never before.

“I have never in my life been in a situation where you have white people calling an issue ‘racist,’ and Black people saying, ‘No, it’s not racist,’” said Chestnut, adding that the issue should not be about race.

But some historically Black neighborhoods, like Porters and Fifth Avenue, won’t be directly affected by the zoning change, as those areas already allow multi-family units. If anything, some argue, the zoning change would alleviate pressure in neighborhoods by expanding similar multi-family homes around town, mostly in the northwest part of the city.

Pushback from community leaders

Local state legislators are trying to get the plan change held up at the state level.

State Rep. Chuck Clemons, R-Newberry, and Sen. Keith Perry, R-Gainesville, recently sent a letter to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, asking it to intervene and hold up the process until the Legislature meets next spring to possibly address the issue. That agency is now the one that must sign off on the comprehensive plan.

The commission made the decision over not only residents’ objections, but all of its advisory boards.

Earlier this week, the Alachua County Commission voted to recommend that the city not approve the change. The city’s Affordable Housing Advisory Committee on July 12 unanimously urged the commission not to move ahead with the zoning change. And the city’s Plan Board was not opposed to the new multi-family zoning category but recommended it not be implemented citywide.

Community feedback

Several speakers urged the commission to put the proposal on a ballot for voters to decide. Petitions were presented with more than a thousand signatures of residents opposed to the change.

Harry Shaw, a Suburban Heights resident, said the rezoning is “unproven radicalness,” adding that it would result in a “costly ill-conceived boondoggle for Gainesville” but a windfall for developers.

Some residents also said they fear allowing multi-family units in single-family neighborhoods would lower property values and encourage student rentals that are not affordable. They said the multi-family units would result in more noise and parking issues.

Several UF students were among those in the minority who urged the commission to get rid of the exclusionary single-family zoning, saying it is keeping home prices high.

“This is just allowing people the flexibility to build housing that meets their needs,” Joshua Ney said.

It’s not over

The vote does not mean the changes are law yet. It was the first of two required votes. In between each, the plan must also be approved by the state Department of Economic Opportunity.

Ward said he believes the plan will get held up for a while there, calling it “uncharted territory.”

Chestnut agreed on Friday, saying it could be delayed until new elected leaders take office in January.

If that happens, the plan and zoning change would not likely happen, she said, noting that one speaker polled commissioner candidates who overwhelmingly said they would attempt to reverse the change.

The state agency has 30 days to respond to the city’s proposed land plan change.

“They could ask for more time,” Chestnut said. “I think they could take a number of approaches … They could say, ‘You need to have more public input,’ which I fully expect them to say. And I think another very, very powerful piece here is the Black community. With the Black community unanimously saying ‘no,’ I don’t think the state is going to ignore that.”

GNVoices President Casey Fitzgerald, who heads the organization fighting the plan and zoning change, said they will first contact the state agency and point out that the city has not done enough studies to justify the plan change, which is required by law. He said this could hold the case up until the next commission is seated after January, which would likely mean the zoning and plan proposal would die.

If the state agency approves the plan, then GNVoices will file an administrative appeal to the state’s decision to allow the plan change, he said.

Real Estate

Wenston DeSue is a realtor, organizational consultant, design, construct, build expert and developmental networker.  Real estate is the business of exchange and affects every person on the planet.  Real estate on all levels represents resources, access and ultimately, power.  Knowledge is power…