Redfin says space in suburban homes was worth more than space in urban areas for the first time since they started tracking this data in 2018.  According to their report, a typical home in suburban neighborhoods nationwide was worth $206 per square foot at the end of September versus $205 in urban neighborhoods.  Basically,

“As home prices fall fastest in cities and mortgage rates rise, the value of a square foot in the suburbs has caught up with that of urban centers”

Click here to read the full report at Redfin.com.

Does Your “No Smoking” Policy Stink?

By Scot Aubrey

“What’s that smell?” might be one of the worst questions a potential tenant can ask you as a landlord.  In my experience, the showing of the property almost always goes downhill from there. Odors play a major role in our lives, with many of our most impactful memories tied to a specific smell, whether good or bad.  I mean who doesn’t love the smell of bacon, fresh baked bread (my mouth just started watering) or a campfire. 

Does Your “No Smoking” Policy Stink?

By Scot Aubrey

“What’s that smell?” might be one of the worst questions a potential tenant can ask you as a landlord.  In my experience, the showing of the property almost always goes downhill from there. Odors play a major role in our lives, with many of our most impactful memories tied to a specific smell, whether good or bad.  I mean who doesn’t love the smell of bacon, fresh baked bread (my mouth just started watering) or a campfire.  Those smells instantly transport us to a time or place; that’s the power they have over us. Knowing how powerful odors are should cause landlords to take a deep breath, preferably through the nose, and examine what their policy is regarding smells and obnoxious odors on their properties.

If you are like many landlords, this is probably something you have either overlooked or inadequately addressed with your current and future tenants.  While most of us are familiar with a “No Smoking” policy for our properties, with the invention of new types of inhalants and other innovations, it is time to take a deeper look at the three major things to consider as you develop a policy around scents and odors in and on your property.

Create a Rental Criteria- If you don’t already have one, now is the perfect time to start creating a criteria regarding scents and obnoxious odors.  You likely have a rule about smoking in the property, but how about even on the property?  If you’ve ever been in a public place that allows smoking, you are already familiar with how far and powerfully the smell associated with smoking can travel.  Does your criteria include a no vaping in or on the property component?  How about smoking of marijuana?  Although you would expect that a “no smoking” policy would cover all types of smoking, you are better off being very thorough and including specifics such as cigarettes, cigars, pipes, vaping and smoking or manufacturing of legal or illegal drugs. Don’t stop there though as other odor causing things like spices, incense, sprays and even candles can cause long-term damage to a property.  The more specific you are in your criteria, the better protected your property will be.

Advertise Your Criteria- Now that you have taken the time to develop a criteria, put it to work.  In your property advertisements, point out that the property has specific rules regarding scents and obnoxious odors. Then again at the time of showing reemphasize to your potential tenant that you have specific rules for your property and go over them in detail.  Lastly, always have a clause in your lease that addresses your rules.  Failure to do so can result in the property being damaged by your tenant, creating excessive expenses for you when you have to turn the property.  At a minimum you have to repaint, tear out the carpet and pad, clean out ductwork and perform a deep cleaning on all hard surfaces.  Eliminate the “I didn’t know” excuse by being specific and thorough in explaining and adhering to your property specific rules.

Know Your Neighbors-  As mentioned before, obnoxious odors travel well, including into your rental property’s neighbors’ homes and yards.  We always recommend knowing the neighbors of your investment properties as they can serve as an extra set of eyes, ears, and in this case a nose, since they are in daily contact with your property.  No one wants the peaceful enjoyment of their property to be destroyed by the offensive odors of a neighbor.  Share your contact information with the adjoining neighbors and enlist them in your efforts to maintain the value of your property.  At the least they will appreciate having someone to turn to if they see/hear/smell anything and at most they serve as a first line of defense if something that may impact the value of your property is taking place.

Rent Perfect has recently created a “Scent and Obnoxious Smells Clause” that can and should be added to your property lease.  This is available at no charge to you; just request it from [email protected] and we are happy to share.

By creating a rental criteria that addresses odors, advertising and emphasizing it to applicants, and engaging with the neighbors, you are taking the first critical steps to preventing damage to your property and protecting your investment.  That way the next time someone enters your property and asks, “what’s that smell?” it’s for the right reasons.  Smells like success to me.

Scot Aubrey is Vice-President of Rent Perfect, a private investigator, and fellow landlord who manages short-term rentals. Members of National REIA can take advantage of special pricing from RentPerfect; the solution for rental property owners and managers for screening & managing tenants.  Learn more by visiting www.rentperfect.com.

CNBC’s Diana Olick says that for the 10th straight month, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has reported that builder confidence was down as the housing market continues to weaken.  According to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, builder confidence dropped 8 points in October to 38 – half of what it was 6 months ago.

“This will be the first year since 2011 to see a decline for single-family starts…And given expectations for ongoing elevated interest rates due to actions by the Federal Reserve, 2023 is forecasted to see additional single-family building declines as the housing contraction continues. Said the NAHB’s Chief Economist Robert Dietz in a statement.

Click here to watch the full report at CNBC.com.

A new report form LendingTree found that while mobile homes are generally far less expensive than their single-family counterparts, their values appreciated as quickly as single-family homes.  They got their conclusion by analyzing data from the 2021 American Community Survey in which they compared the median value of mobile homes and single-family homes in each of the nation’s states (except Hawaii) from 2016-2021.

Some key findings:

Click here to read the full report at LendingTree.

Do you know your blood type or that of a close family member?  Statista says it might surprise you to learn that an awful lot of people have no idea, and even less know how compatible their blood type is with others if it were to come to an emergency. Today’s chart (using data from the American Society of Hematology) shows there can be very big differences in the number of blood types your body can give or receive in the case of a blood transfusion.  As always, stay safe and have a Happy Friday!

“Safe,

Do you know your blood type or that of a close family member?  Statista says it might surprise you to learn that an awful lot of people have no idea, and even less know how compatible their blood type is with others if it were to come to an emergency. Today’s chart (using data from the American Society of Hematology) shows there can be very big differences in the number of blood types your body can give or receive in the case of a blood transfusion.  As always, stay safe and have a Happy Friday!

“Safe, reliable source of blood is critical to providing effective blood products to recipients, blood banks are dependent on the altruistic voluntary donations of citizens. As a result, blood banks place great emphasis on making the donation process pleasant, convenient, and as safe as possible for donors.”

Hat tip to Statista.

A recent report from the NAHB’s Eye on Housing says the market value of owner-occupied real estate increased $1.5 trillion to $41.2 trillion in Q2, 2022, on a non-seasonally adjusted basis.  In addition they report that, while the current rate of growth has declined, last year saw the largest year-over-year percentage gain since 2001.

Click here to read the full report at the NAHB’s Eye on Housing.

A new report from RentCafe says the growing share of renters among American households have increased both the interest and use of storage space.  In fact, they point out that 21% of US renters are currently leasing a self storage unit while an additional 12% are planning to use the service in the future.  Interestingly, members of Generation X are the most likely to need extra space for their stuff, followed by baby boomers and millennials.

“As a service largely responding to life events, self storage is becoming increasingly popular. The recent need to carve out space at home for home offices or gyms, plus an increase in multigenerational living, have joined the traditional reasons for using self storage including growing families, living with roommates, moving and downsizing.”

Click here to read the full report at RentCafe.

According to the latest U.S. Home Flipping Report from ATTOM,

According to the latest U.S. Home Flipping Report from ATTOM, 115,198 single-family houses and condominiums were flipped in Q2, 2022 representing 8.2% of all home sales in Q2.  Interestingly, ATTOM points out that profit margins improved in Q2 as median resale price trends on flipped homes greatly improved.  Specifically, the typical resale price on flipped homes reached another all-time high in Q2 of $328k up 21.5% from the same period one year ago.

“The second quarter was another strong showing for fix-and-flip investors. The total number of properties flipped was the second-highest total we’ve recorded in the past 22 years, and the median sales price of a flipped property – $328,000 – was the highest ever…The big question is whether the fix-and-flip market will begin to lose steam as overall home sales have declined dramatically over the past few months, and the cost of financing has virtually doubled over the past year.”  said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of market intelligence for ATTOM.

Click here to read the full report at ATTOM.

FRED, the data-rich economic research site from the St. Louis Fed, says the housing market has been a hot topic of conversation over the past two years and their new “Hotness” score illustrates that point with the help of data from Realtor.com.  They say their new “hotness” index aims to reflect “fast moving supply and rising demand” conditions and does not necessarily represent high or rising housing prices.   The interactive, color-coded map below shows selected counties using a scale of cool blue-greens: darker equals hotter. As of the current data, two of the three hottest counties are less than an hour’s drive from each other in central Ohio.  Click on the map to make it interacive.

Click here to view the index on FRED.

The U.S. government is reporting that privately‐owned housing starts in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,575,000, which is 12.2% higher than July’s revised number and 0.1% lower than one year ago.  August’s rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 621k.  Privately‐owned housing units authorized by building permits in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,517,000, which is 10% lower than July’s revised number.  Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 571k in August.

Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

We saw recently how mortgage applications have taken a nosedive in the face of rising interest rates, intense competition and rising prices.  Today’s graphic from Statista illustrates how the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate has sharply risen to levels not seen since 2008…Stay safe and have a Happy Friday!

“For real estate markets, the rising costs of borrowing are further cooling demand for homes and deepening the affordability crisis,” George Ratiu, Senior Economist at

We saw recently how mortgage applications have taken a nosedive in the face of rising interest rates, intense competition and rising prices.  Today’s graphic from Statista illustrates how the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate has sharply risen to levels not seen since 2008…Stay safe and have a Happy Friday!

“For real estate markets, the rising costs of borrowing are further cooling demand for homes and deepening the affordability crisis,” George Ratiu, Senior Economist at Realtor.com said in a statement. “The buyer of a median-priced home is looking at a monthly payment of $2,100 at today’s mortgage rate, a 66% jump from last year…”

Hat tip to Statista.