General Condo Market News

How is the Gross Rent Multiplier Calculated?

Calculating the gross rent multiplier for a parcel of real estate is simple: market value divided by gross annual rent income. For example, if you have a million-dollar condo building that makes $150,000 a year, the GRM is 6 2/3. You should raise an eyebrow at any GRM above 12 or below 4.

Estimating Market Value

Usually, you'll be solving for fair market price. Multiply an average GRM for your target market by the amount of money you expect to earn in rent on a specific property, and you should get that property's estimated market value.

Comparing With Other Metrics

GRM is not the whole story. In fact, it's generally less reliable than capitalization rate — another popular investment property

The Capitalization Rate or "Cap Rate" is a quick-and-dirty way to check the financial outlook of a real-estate investment property. You probably wouldn't use it on your primary residence — there are much better ways of making that type of decision.

In fact, cap rate is a relatively volatile statistic when looking at any single-family or single-unit property. So when it does come in handy? Cap rate is often a useful tool when choosing a multi-unit property like a duplex, multifamily building, or a condo development which are all investments of similar risk levels.

Of course, you don't have to be a billion-dollar real estate investor to get a lot of useful, actionable information out of these rates.

Keep reading for further information and

You've likely heard some less familiar names coming up in discussions of hot real estate markets. San Francisco, New York, LA and Chicago are still amazing places to live. However, cities such as San Antonio and Nashville are making the news by becoming some of the biggest boomtowns of the year. These cities are experiencing some of the fastest population, economic, and job growth in the country. Here is the list of our top ten Highrises.com up-and-coming cities, 2019 edition.

1. Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta is pretty friendly to builders, but that isn't stopping people from buying up inventory faster than it comes on the market. Consider a pre-construction sale if you want to compete with the wave of buyers moving here. 

Essential

One of the most common questions we are asked is whether or not a condo is able to be used as a short term rental, for AirBnb. AirBnb can be a great investment opportunity but so can more stable long term investments. 

If you decide that AirBnb is for you, the path forward isn't always simple. You'll likely deal with competitors, opposition from community organizations that have an interest in exclusivity, long-term tenancy or other factors. The positives are, you will have support from companies like Airbnb and HomeAway that facilitate the brokerage of short term rentals (STRs), if you learn their systems. Real estate brokers, hotels, home-owners' associations, management companies, state governments, insurance companies, zoning boards —

Well that didn't take long... Only 8 days after KTVU reported that Millennium Tower in SF was sinking and leaning at an alarming rate the first resident has filed a lawsuit. John Eng has filed a $500M lawsuit in SF Superior Court against the developer and the Transbay Joint Powers Authority seeking damages from the "diminution of value" of all the condos at Millennium Tower. In fact we have seen several condos currently for sale at Millennium Tower drop their prices recently, something that rarely happens in the hot SF condo market.

What's to be done? According to a story in SFGate the HOA says they are focusing on the repairs that are appropriate and recovering those costs. That same story mentions there are cracks and water intrusion in the garage,

On February 1st a city ordinance went into effect allowing some residential properties to conduct short-term residential rentals of all or a portion of their units for a period of less than 30 nights . Permanent Residents (owners and tenants) will be able to apply to place their residential unit on the Planning Department’s Short-Term Residential Rental Registry. The fee for the initial application is $50.00. Your registration will remain valid for two years. To register your unit, you will need to make an appointment with the San Francisco Planning Department to meet with staff and submit your application.Visit the planning departments website to get more information and to get an application, http://www.sf-planning.org

You can also get more

Forbes Names “Where to Invest in 2015” 

Forbes came up with this data based on several factors including population, average home price, population growth, annual job growth, unemployment, annual price growth, over/under priced and home price/rent ratio.

To view available properties, click on the city name.

1. Austin, Texas
2. Provo, Utah
3. Houston, Texas
4. Orlando, Florida
5. Dallas, Texas
6. San Antonio, Texas
7. Denver, Colorado
8. Boise, Idaho
9. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
10. Fort Worth, Texas
11. Phoenix, Arizona
12. Salt Lake City, Utah
13. Atlanta, Georgia
14. North Port, Florida
15. West Palm Beach, Florida
16. Jacksonville, Florida
17. Twin Cities, Minnesota
18. Tacoma, Washington
19. Sacramento, California
20. Grand Rapids, Michigan

While many of our clients are veteran home buyers, just as many are first-timers, haven’t bought a home in many years, or haven’t bought property in Texas (and things do vary some from state to state). So today I thought I’d take a few minutes to outline how we go about it here in Austin.

Step One: SECURE FINANCING

Austin’s condo market is hotter than its August temperatures, so it’s important to show a Seller you mean business. Either a letter from your bank declaring assets sufficient for a CASH PURCHASE or a pre-qualification letter from a lender stating your eligibility for a MORTGAGE will be needed to get your foot in the door when presenting an offer.

The first step for non-cash Buyers, then, is to get pre-qualified for a mortgage. Different

No, we haven’t gone on a diet, but recent news from developer Constructive Ventures could have us breathing a little easier by 2018.

According to the Austin American Statesmen, plans for a mixed used development on the 1.7 acre block at Third Street and West Avenue, former home of the Austin Energy Control Center, will include up to 400 new condominium units. The project will be sited just north of the Seaholm Condominiums, currently under construction, and west of the popular 360, in walking distance of…well, just about everything!

Financing considerations will dictate the precise start date, but Constructive Ventures and partner developer Aspen Heights are aiming for the fourth quarter of 2015. Construction is estimated to take two and a half years.

Real estate continues to grow in strength in Southwest Florida as economic factors, combined with renewed interest from buyers, continue to help the market surge forward.

The Bonita Springs - Estero Association of REALTORS® (BEAR) released its latest report for April 2014. The report covers a broad array of real estate statistics that together paint a portrait of the local real estate market and ongoing trends.

Median Sales Price Decreases Monthly

One figure that stands out in the report is the area median sales price. In April 2013, the figure stood at $349,000. As of April of this year, that figure was 6.4 percent lower, at $326,500. This figure is also lower than the $353,500 reported in March 2014, but higher than the $308,500 reported in