Disney World closes, ski resorts shut down, Hawaii quarantines all visitors , and travel comes to a screeching halt. What happens to the “sharing economy” when people stop sharing? What does this mean for Airbnb and companies like WeWork? For almost 60% of people...
I always love spring in the Rocky Mountains, to see the pull of the seasons with snow and flowers starting to bloom. Eventually spring always wins 🙂 If you read the news, it sounds like the world is crumbling with 22 million jobs lost and a predicted 30% GDP...
We are still lending in cash! It is amazing that the federal reserve has flooded the markets with cash enabling banks to borrower at historic rates. Furthermore, banks are considerably healthier today than they were in 2008. Unfortunately, this is not translating to...
We are still funding in cash! The 2020 summer Olympics in Tokyo have officially been rescheduled to 2021. As the world copes with the Coronavirus pandemic, cities and countries around the world have shut borders and ordered stay at home orders to stop the spread of...
Like many of you I had a “rocky” ride in the last real estate recession and successfully learned many “million-dollar” lessons that were very painful. One of the key takeaways from the last recession is that risks lurk in plain sight. Hindsight 20-20 it was...
The Coronavirus pandemic has thrown the economy off a cliff leaving many equity rich property owners with no cash flow. The pandemic has caused many residential and commercial tenants to defer or totally miss payments as the economy shuts down. Property owners are...
We are still lending as we fund and hold our loans in cash! If you have been watching the mortgage market, your head is likely spinning. Last week, a mortgage rates drop for 30-year fixed mortgages hit a record low of 3% less than a week later rates have...
First, I wanted to give a hats off to this guy for taking social distancing to the next level. He hiked out about a mile on thin ice to ensure he was doing his part 🙂 Coronavirus has caused the Federal Reserve to drastically cut rates to almost zero due to the...
With the labor market looking up, we decided to "hire" a new employee, Luna. She will be working out of our Colorado office and focusing on property inspections (and anything that has to do with snow). Please welcome her to the team 🙂 The Labor Department...
First, I hope everyone is doing okay with everything going on. As many banks and other lenders pull back thru the pandemic and the mortgage rate increase we are still funding. We fund and hold all of our loans in cash without leverage so we will continue to...
The picture above is a bit more relaxing to look at as opposed to the media barrage of the coronavirus and stock market (do you know where I took the pic, hint in CO, email me if you know). The Coronavirus has caused stock markets around the world to quickly sell off...
We are at an interesting crossroads in the economy. The Federal Reserve and economic data show that the economy is very strong with consumer spending and confidence at all-time highs. At the same time the bond market is portraying a different picture after a new...
Vail recently announced that skier visits through January 5th are down 7.8% across all its resort properties while lift ticket revenue was flat. With prices not increasing, how are visits down yet revenue still flat? What does this have to do with one ski resort in...
It is ski time in the Rocky Mountains with over 250 inches in many of the resort communities. Do you know where the picture was taken (hint it is a "Costco" resort, email me if you know)? Although there is plenty of snow and cold weather, mountain...
Looks like we should have smooth sailing in 2020, but the National Association of Business economists (NABE), the premier professional association for business economists counting Alan Greenspan as their past president, just released their business outlook predictions...
After years of increasing credit scores, FICO, the fico credit score used by the majority of lenders, has done an abrupt shift. FICO Score changes in how the most widely used credit score in the U.S. is calculated will make it harder for many Americans to get loans. ...
The ink was barely dry on Wall Street’s 2020 outlooks when the first case surfaced in China. A quick tally shows the coronavirus has wiped $1.5 trillion off the value of world stock markets since Jan. 20, when a slide in Hong Kong shares kicked off concerns among...
As the economy shrugs off recession fears with unemployment hovering near record lows and the stock market continuing to heat up there is one major byproduct that could be impacted, mortgage rates. There was a ton of bad news priced into the market last year that...
If you missed the article in the Wall Street Journal, you need to read it. The reporter demonstrated how he went dumpster diving and resold the items on Amazon. This is not a new concept and appears to be happening quite frequently to unsuspecting buyers. ...
Yes, it is hard to believe but you, along with me and millions of others, are actually making mortgage rates go down and therefore real estate relatively less expensive. How is this possible? How are your thoughts influencing long term rates and in turn real...
Realtors are typically an optimistic bunch so I was surprised at the recent forecast out of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) predicting a 2% decline in closings next year. Mortgage rates are at historic lows and should remain low through 2020 and wage...
Happy Holidays to you and your family. With 2019 coming to an end quickly it is time for my 2020 real estate market predictions. 2020 is shaping up to be considerably more exciting than 2019 economically speaking! The main economic drivers in 2020 will be consumer...
The jobs report last week was a welcome surprise beating expectations with 266k jobs created, almost 50% more than expectations. This is the lowest jobless rate since 1969 underpinning a strong consumer that continues to spend and drive the bull market. What does...
The two largest purchases by consumers are houses and cars. Cars are starting to look like the prior housing debacle. Some 33% of people who traded in cars to buy new ones in the first nine months of 2019 had negative equity, compared with 28% five years ago and 19%...
Disney World closes, ski resorts shut down, Hawaii quarantines all visitors , and travel comes to a screeching halt. What happens to the “sharing economy” when people stop sharing? What does this mean for Airbnb and companies like WeWork? For almost 60% of people...
I always love spring in the Rocky Mountains, to see the pull of the seasons with snow and flowers starting to bloom. Eventually spring always wins 🙂 If you read the news, it sounds like the world is crumbling with 22 million jobs lost and a predicted 30% GDP...
We are still lending in cash! It is amazing that the federal reserve has flooded the markets with cash enabling banks to borrower at historic rates. Furthermore, banks are considerably healthier today than they were in 2008. Unfortunately, this is not translating to...
We are still funding in cash! The 2020 summer Olympics in Tokyo have officially been rescheduled to 2021. As the world copes with the Coronavirus pandemic, cities and countries around the world have shut borders and ordered stay at home orders to stop the spread of...
Like many of you I had a “rocky” ride in the last real estate recession and successfully learned many “million-dollar” lessons that were very painful. One of the key takeaways from the last recession is that risks lurk in plain sight. Hindsight 20-20 it was...
The Coronavirus pandemic has thrown the economy off a cliff leaving many equity rich property owners with no cash flow. The pandemic has caused many residential and commercial tenants to defer or totally miss payments as the economy shuts down. Property owners are...
We are still lending as we fund and hold our loans in cash! If you have been watching the mortgage market, your head is likely spinning. Last week, a mortgage rates drop for 30-year fixed mortgages hit a record low of 3% less than a week later rates have...
First, I wanted to give a hats off to this guy for taking social distancing to the next level. He hiked out about a mile on thin ice to ensure he was doing his part 🙂 Coronavirus has caused the Federal Reserve to drastically cut rates to almost zero due to the...
With the labor market looking up, we decided to "hire" a new employee, Luna. She will be working out of our Colorado office and focusing on property inspections (and anything that has to do with snow). Please welcome her to the team 🙂 The Labor Department...
First, I hope everyone is doing okay with everything going on. As many banks and other lenders pull back thru the pandemic and the mortgage rate increase we are still funding. We fund and hold all of our loans in cash without leverage so we will continue to...
The picture above is a bit more relaxing to look at as opposed to the media barrage of the coronavirus and stock market (do you know where I took the pic, hint in CO, email me if you know). The Coronavirus has caused stock markets around the world to quickly sell off...
We are at an interesting crossroads in the economy. The Federal Reserve and economic data show that the economy is very strong with consumer spending and confidence at all-time highs. At the same time the bond market is portraying a different picture after a new...
Vail recently announced that skier visits through January 5th are down 7.8% across all its resort properties while lift ticket revenue was flat. With prices not increasing, how are visits down yet revenue still flat? What does this have to do with one ski resort in...
It is ski time in the Rocky Mountains with over 250 inches in many of the resort communities. Do you know where the picture was taken (hint it is a "Costco" resort, email me if you know)? Although there is plenty of snow and cold weather, mountain...
Looks like we should have smooth sailing in 2020, but the National Association of Business economists (NABE), the premier professional association for business economists counting Alan Greenspan as their past president, just released their business outlook predictions...
After years of increasing credit scores, FICO, the fico credit score used by the majority of lenders, has done an abrupt shift. FICO Score changes in how the most widely used credit score in the U.S. is calculated will make it harder for many Americans to get loans. ...
The ink was barely dry on Wall Street’s 2020 outlooks when the first case surfaced in China. A quick tally shows the coronavirus has wiped $1.5 trillion off the value of world stock markets since Jan. 20, when a slide in Hong Kong shares kicked off concerns among...
As the economy shrugs off recession fears with unemployment hovering near record lows and the stock market continuing to heat up there is one major byproduct that could be impacted, mortgage rates. There was a ton of bad news priced into the market last year that...
If you missed the article in the Wall Street Journal, you need to read it. The reporter demonstrated how he went dumpster diving and resold the items on Amazon. This is not a new concept and appears to be happening quite frequently to unsuspecting buyers. ...
Yes, it is hard to believe but you, along with me and millions of others, are actually making mortgage rates go down and therefore real estate relatively less expensive. How is this possible? How are your thoughts influencing long term rates and in turn real...
Realtors are typically an optimistic bunch so I was surprised at the recent forecast out of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) predicting a 2% decline in closings next year. Mortgage rates are at historic lows and should remain low through 2020 and wage...
Happy Holidays to you and your family. With 2019 coming to an end quickly it is time for my 2020 real estate market predictions. 2020 is shaping up to be considerably more exciting than 2019 economically speaking! The main economic drivers in 2020 will be consumer...
The jobs report last week was a welcome surprise beating expectations with 266k jobs created, almost 50% more than expectations. This is the lowest jobless rate since 1969 underpinning a strong consumer that continues to spend and drive the bull market. What does...
The two largest purchases by consumers are houses and cars. Cars are starting to look like the prior housing debacle. Some 33% of people who traded in cars to buy new ones in the first nine months of 2019 had negative equity, compared with 28% five years ago and 19%...
