John T. Reed’s news blog

Shiller Home Price Index increased from 19.2% in the year ended January 2021. . Did I know that would happen? No. . But I DID tell readers here and on Reddit who were fed up and abandoning trying to buy a home because the market was nuts and insane and ridiculous and all that that they were making a big mistake. They were going to sit out the market until the evil market learned how to behave and make them feel comfortable. . I said I made that mistake in 1977-79 in CA. I refused to pay $80K for a...

I continue to think the flood across the border is probably a net good thing. American women are having too few babies. The average age of Americans is too old (around 38). We need about a million families of five per year. We need young new Americans. The southern border migrants are generally young men and young families, precisely what we need. . GOP fears they are “undocumented Democrats” as Cruz calls them. Trump suggests they are criminals or welfare. Some are. Some of the people already here are criminals and on welfare. Trump says we get too many from...

Biden is again talking about a wealth tax. If your net worth exceeds $100M, a percentage of it belongs to him. . They were talking about that before with BBB. . I think it is unconstitutional. The Constitution mentions federal tax at three places: . A. Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States B. Article I,...

I had lunch with a long-time fellow HBS real estate guy yesterday. He told me about a new way to make money in real estate that I had not thought of. . I was talking about reducing the load factor—converting existing space on a property that is not being rented into rented space. Load factor is generally an office or hotel term. It refers to space that you must have but that you cannot rent like lobbies, hallways, store rooms, stairs, elevators, and so on. You generally cannot eliminate it, but you can often reduce it. . Like I once...

60 Minutes Lesley Stahl just did a common story of our time. Corporations are buying houses and renting them out for high rents. Tenants are powerless to stop them and the American Dream of owning a home is gone. . She let the corporate guy point out that only 2% of US homes are owned by corporations . She moved on. Bull! If it’s only 2% they hardly have a monopoly that lets them overcharge rents. . I just wrote a book on this American dream. https://johntreed.com/.../an-american-principal-residence... . Regarding current prices, it says to go where you can afford to...