A report from the New York Post. “Homeownership has been a monetary nightmare for this woman, and now she’s warning others. Internet creator Samantha Barker was in good financial standing before she bought her first house, but purchasing property ‘has ruined me financially,’ she shared in a viral video posted to her TikTok earlier this month. Since buying the house, in addition to paying her mortgage, she’s also had to spend $25,000 on new HVAC, $15,000 to get her foundation repaired ‘just so that I could use one of my bedrooms,’ and she’s had to take out a $10,000 personal loan to fix her porch and deck ‘because my house was not insurable without it,’ she adds. ‘So, yeah, went from being the most financially sound, good to go, had my retirement saved up to drowning in debt,’ she concludes.”
Business Insider. “On Wednesday, Gallup and the Lumina Foundation released a new report on the cost of college and how high education costs impact students’ decisions to stay in school and make major life choices. Specifically, 29% of them delayed buying a home, 28% of them delayed buying a car, 15% of them delayed having children, and 13% of them delayed getting married. One borrower told BI that he was unable to afford rent on top of his monthly student-loan payments, so he moved into a school bus to save money. ‘While college was a great way for me to figure some things out, it was a really expensive way for me to do that,’ he said. ‘I wouldn’t do that again. I would have gone into the trades. The student-loan debt is by far my biggest regret — it’s too much money to let somebody borrow at 18 years old.’”
From Fortune. “What happens when mortgage rates that were once at historical lows shoot up to 20-year highs? People stop selling their homes. And some stop buying. ‘It’s a mixed bag. But we know a lot of recent sellers wish they sold their homes sooner so they could have ‘taken advantage of a hotter housing market,’ Realtor.com’s senior economic research analyst wrote, referring to a new sellers survey. The study shows that 79% of respondents feel that way; home prices were their highest in the fourth quarter of 2022. Roughly 29% of ‘locked-in,’ would-be sellers need to sell soon for personal reasons (whether that be a need for more or less space; or a major life event such as, marriage, kids, divorce, or career-related things). But half are planning to wait for lower rates, the survey found.”
The San Francisco Chronicle in California. “Parkmerced, one of San Francisco’s biggest apartment complexes, is at risk of defaulting on its nearly $1.8 billion mortgage. Owner Maximus Real Estate Partners has requested the transfer of the mortgage to special servicing, a move that can lead to foreclosure, according to a report by Morningstar, a financial services firm. The massive loan was originated in 2019, when Maximus sought to start construction on its long-planned expansion of the property next to Stonestown mall from 3,221 apartments to 8,900 apartments. That never happened as the pandemic upended the housing market. The loan is due in December. In September, the occupancy rate was 83%, with cash flow ‘well below’ the level needed to cover debt payments, according to Morningstar.”
The Daily Free Press in Massachusetts. “A plan to develop Allston square, announced in February 2018, has not broken ground as it awaits funding from bank lenders. As part of the program, 342 housing units with 254 parking units would be constructed. Of the housing units, 234 units were proposed to be condominiums and 108 as rental units. But the Allston Square project has still not broken ground, one of many development projects contributing to a city-wide development slump amidst Boston’s housing crisis. Jacob Simmons, the vice president of product development for City Realty, said a ‘significant chunk of the funds’ are needed to complete the project. ‘It’s not very unique to these sites, it’s very much a Boston-wide problem,’ Simmons said. ‘We spend a lot of time on a weekly basis trying to find avenues to not be one of those stalled projects. It’s right now a pretty derelict … series of buildings.’”
KDVR in Colorado. “A massive homeless encampment at 8th Avenue and Navajo Street is now in the cleanup and move-out phase after both Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and neighbors in the area said it posed health and safety risks. ‘Here we are now stuck with nowhere to go. Nothing. We don’t know what to do,’ Antoinette Martin told FOX31’s Vicente Arenas. Neighbors living in homes near the encampment are worried since there is nowhere for the individuals to go, meaning they will just move into alleyways or other spots around the neighborhood. The encampment grew right next to Jerry DeLaCruz’s home of 20 years. ‘They started using our back fence as their toilet. There was nothing we could do about it. It was a constant struggle to prevent that from happening,’ DeLaCruz said.”
KOMO in Washington. “A growing encampment on a Seattle thoroughfare will not be removed by the city anytime soon, despite admissions from residents of fentanyl use on the public sidewalk that connects Seattle Center and South Lake Union. Brian Evans said he moved to the strip on Harrison Street about a month ago, with the intention of being seen by outreach workers. Evans, who said he’s been homeless for a decade, claimed it would give him a better chance of getting services, treatment, and housing. ‘We are the ones that got skipped over. We’re the ones that haven’t gotten housing,’ Evans said. ‘When you’re hidden, you can’t get any kind of help. We’re tired of it, we’re tired of hearing about all these millions of dollars and all these programs.’”
“He told KOMO News that he’s using fentanyl. ‘I only need a small amount to get through my day and I have plans to quit in the real near future,’ Evans said. ‘If I could get in an apartment, I could get a job, I have a driver’s license, I would be able to keep myself clean and shaved and make myself presentable. It would change my whole life. If I could get an apartment. Even a tiny home would at least put me indoors,’ he said, while also claiming the city has never given him that opportunity.’”
CTV News in Canada. “The founders of a Saskatoon real estate investment company that left investors with millions of dollars in losses have reached a settlement with Saskatchewan’s financial and consumer watchdog. Rochelle Laflamme and Alisa Thompson, the founders of the now-defunct company Epic Alliance, have agreed to pay fines totalling $300,000, and are restricted from selling and promoting investment products for 20 years. In 2022, a court-ordered investigation found that $211.9 million dollars invested in the company by multiple investors were mostly gone. The meltdown of Epic Alliance resulted in significant financial losses for more than 120 investors, mainly from British Columbia and Ontario.”
“The company offered a ‘hassle-free’ landlord program — offering to manage homes for out-of-province investors. The investor would take out the mortgage on the home and Epic Alliance would assume responsibility for finding tenants and maintaining the property. Many of the homes actually sat vacant as the company promised the investor a 15 per cent guaranteed rate of return on their investment. A Saskatoon attorney representing some of the investors told CTV News in 2022 the pair were ‘using new money to pay old money.’”
“In January 2022, Laflamme and Thompson hosted a Zoom meeting to inform investors of the company’s imminent demise. According to a transcript of the call included in a court filing, the company’s financial situation was described as a ‘s–t sandwich.’ ‘Unfortunately, anybody who had any unsecured debts … it’s all gone. Everything is gone. There is no business left and that’s what it is,’ the transcription said.”
The Daily Post. “A man used a friend to fraudulently apply for a mortgage to buy a house in Gwynedd. Jonathan Duggan was today branded an ‘accomplished fraudster’ by a judge. The 42-year-old had ‘exploited’ his friend Andrew Battye to get him to apply for a mortgage totalling £300,000 to purchase the property in Nebo, Mold Crown Court heard. Prosecutor Karl Scholtz said Duggan had had no credit rating so he pretended to the Halifax Bank of Scotland that the purchaser of the Nebo house was Battye. Trevor Parry Jones, defending Duggan, said Duggan, his wife and friend Battye came to North Wales to renovate a ‘run down old cottage’ in Nebo. The Duggan family lived in a shed. But the cottage became a ‘rather grand property.’ There were also numerous disputes over planning problems as the building was renovated, he said. His client had been ‘foolish and stupid.’ He placed his family’s home in jeopardy and has lost everything.”
From Swiss Info. “Multimillionaires around the world could see some bargain prices for luxury Alpine chalets in Switzerland this year, according to UBS bank. ‘Advertised properties are garnering less interest, and asking prices are being increasingly challenged by prospective buyers. If sellers are pressed for time, they may have to accept price reductions,’ says UBS real estate economist Katharina Hofer.”
The New Zealand Herald. “Property listings were well up in March according to a new Real Estate (REINZ) report, with five regions showing especially strong growth. ‘Listings increased substantially, up by 23.9 per cent nationally compared with March 2023, reinforcing a trend we have seen since the beginning of 2024 with more property coming to market,’ said REINZ chief executive Jen Baird. It was the second consecutive month where North Island regions recorded the highest year-on-year increases in listings, REINZ said. Some vendors might just be tired of waiting and were now willing to ‘meet the market’ with price expectations, REINZ said. The property report said high interest rates and uncertainty in the jobs market meant some buyers were still cautious, with prices still off their peaks from a few years ago.”