My Top 5 TLDR Real Estate Stories From This Past Week?

30k of you have been getting my weekly email sharing the top 5 stories in regards to money and real estate for a few years now... But the same people reading my emails may not be the same people reading my LinkedIn.

So here are the #TLDR top 5 stories from last week (let me know in the comments which story was your favorite)...

1. Most Expensive Cities For Property Tax ??
2. Malls Get A Rebirth ??
3. Goodbye Rent Hikes ??
4. The Fed Interest Rate Flatline ??
5. Billionaires Building Their Own City ??

Where Do People Pay the Most in Property Taxes? ??

Benjamin Franklin said it best, "in this world nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes." This is a perfect segway into this article about the states that pay the highest property taxes.?

Property taxes are the highest source of revenue for state and local governments with 72% of local tax collections coming through property taxes.

Local governments rely heavily on property taxes to fund schools, roads, police departments, fire and emergency medical services, and other services associated with residency and property ownership.

You can see here where your zip code ranks for the most expensive property taxes.?

Malls Get A Rebirth ??

Malls were dead before Covid, but now there might be a chance for a rebirth for many of these massive vacant buildings. The trick is creativity and?mixed-use redevelopment. The projects often include demolishing parts of the malls that are no longer usable, adding residential components, and moving existing parking. Under the redevelopment, the mall resembles more of a micro-city within the suburbs than the former enclosed shopping center.?

As a real estate investor, I am all on board, so long as they keep Panda Express in the food court and Bath & Body Works along with Yankee Candle on site to make everything smell so good.?

Goodbye Rent Hikes ??

Apartment rent growth has cooled to an annual rate of just 0.8% in July according to data from RealPage. Class B and C apartments saw the biggest slowdown to roughly .5% in the trailing 12 months.?

This is in stark contrast to the rent hikes that have been experienced throughout the US since the start of the pandemic.? In fact, since February of 2020 apartment rents have gone up 27% across America.?

The Fed Interest Rate Flatline ??

It was my birthday this week and the Fed gave me exactly what I wanted...

No increase to the interest rate!?

But the Fed isn't done yet. They did hint at one more hike before the end of the year and fewer cuts than previously indicated next year.

That final increase, if realized, would do it for this cycle, making it a full dozen hikes since the policy tightening began in March 2022.

Markets had fully priced in no move at this meeting, which kept the fed funds rate in a targeted range between 5.25%-5.5%, the highest in some 22 years.?

Why does this matter?

The rate fixes what banks charge each other for overnight lending but also?spills over into many forms of consumer debt.

Billionaires Building Their Own City ??

Solano County...

Have you ever heard of it?

It sits at the crossroads of Northern California. Nestled between Sacramento, San Francisco, and Napa Valley, Solano perfectly captures the diversity of California’s landscapes and its people. It is the home of agriculture and green energy, strong middle-class communities, and our nation’s busiest Air Force base.?

It is also the place where Tech Billionaires want to build their own city.?

So far these billionaires have already spent $800M on buying all the land and have launched this website explaining their goal of building?a new community, good paying local jobs, solar farms, and open space.

That's all for this week. Check back on Sunday for my weekly opinion piece.