Homeowners Unaware of Looming Insurance Hit

Home insurance costs are set to soar for people living in high-risk areas and residential real estate investors as climate change becomes more severe across the US, according to a whitepaper on the impact of global warming on property.

Titled ‘Weathering the Storm: Burgeoning Insurance Costs for Real Estate,’ the 14-page report by proptech firm SitusAMC outlines that people living in areas at high risk from natural disasters were largely unaware of rising home insurance costs.

The report highlighted that extreme weather events would impact the entire country and not just along vulnerable coastlines such as South Florida, warning that there was a “substantial disconnect between insurers and real estate market participants about the magnitude of these (insurance premium) increases”. Click to read more at www.mpamag.com.

The Newest Texans Are Not Who You Think They Are

What an attractive crowd!” cheered Fredrik Eklund, the Swedish-born celebrity real estate broker who stars on the hit Bravo reality show Million Dollar Listing. He stood on the patio of a newly built home in Tarrytown, the tony neighborhood that hugs the shores of Lake Austin, addressing the local brokers who were packed into the yard. It was the launch party for the Austin branch of Douglas Elliman, a brokerage famous in New York and California for selling luxury homes and high-rise condos.

Eklund, who wore a double-breasted navy linen jacket, snug-fitting white slacks, and sockless dress shoes, seemed a little surprised that the crowd had matched him ankle for stylish ankle, but he didn’t linger on it. Speeches had to be made, toasts given, and then he’d board a plane for Miami first thing in the morning, after fewer than 24 hours in the Texas capital. For the moment, his job was simply to be seen, to lend some sizzle to the occasion. Not only was Elliman moving in on Texas real estate, it had brought its biggest gun, Eklund, one of the country’s top real estate brokers, who also happens to be a bona fide TV star.

Not that Austin—or this house—needed any help in the sizzle category. The three-story brick-and-shingle mansion had sold in two days for considerably more than its $16.25 million asking price, to an out-of-town buyer whose identity was confidential (but who was rumored to be to an entrepreneur from Los Angeles). Click to read more at www.texasmonthly.com.

Texas Republicans Claim ‘Don’t California My Texas’ but Continue to Recruit California Businesses

AUSTIN — “Don’t California my Texas” has become a rallying cry for the state’s conservative officials but it’s those same leaders who tout triumph when California-based businesses and its residents relocate to the Lone Star state — to which many have.

The phrase first came about as a push against liberal ideals often associated with California. It is repeated enough that in 2018, Gov. Greg Abbott used the phrase in a petition as part of his re-election campaign.

At the same time, Texas is out-competing every state four to one in securing the headquarters of California-based businesses, many of which are all together relocating their headquarters to the state, according to a study by McKinney-based Spectrum Location Solutions and Stanford University’s Hoover Institution released in August.

The study found Texas gained at least 114 California businesses from Jan. 1, 2018 through June 30, 2021. Tennessee was next with 25 California-based businesses relocating to the Volunteer State, it said. Of those, 41 companies planted corporate flags in North Texas. The Austin area claimed 57, Houston got nine and the San Antonio area attracted six, the report said. Click to read more at www.palestineherald.com.

Key Title Group Austin Shows Record Growth in Booming Housing Market

HOUSTON, TEXAS –November 18, 2021 –As the Austin real estate market is booming, so is Key Title Group Austin. The boutique residential and commercial title company, which is under the Bspoke Title Holdings umbrella, is seeing record growth within the company. “We are investing in ourselves, recruiting and retaining the top veterans in the industry and custom tailoring our services to best serve our clients,” said Sarah Blackburn, CEO of Bspoke Title Holdings.

Key Title Group Austin’s office operates under the leadership of industry veteran Hil Stroup, President and Jennifer Phillips Beck, Chief Operating Officer . Offices are located at 900 S. Capital of Texas Hwy in Austin Texas.

Industry veteran John Magness serves as Chairman of Bspoke Title Holdings. Magness brings over 30 years of top executive title industry experience. Magness most recently served as an Executive Vice President at Fidelity National Financial, Group President at Stewart Title in charge of all U.S. direct operations, and as President of Old Republic Title Companies where he led all revenue producing efforts for direct and agency operations, commercial operations, technical service operations and all entities in the title group. John oversees all expansion, growth and acquisition opportunities for Bspoke Title Holdings across the U.S. “Key Title Group is an integral part of our company and their growth in the luxury housing market in Austin is due to their hard work, vast amount of experience and dedication to our loyal customers.” said John Magness

Bspoke Title Holdings manages and operates a successful brand of title agencies throughout the states of Texas, Florida and Arkansas. Bspoke provides a platform of synergies designed to support their family of companies with shared resources and a collaborative culture. The platform is managed by a team of title experts who oversee the daily escrow, sales and administrative operations of each agency.

“Our dedicated team of Escrow professionals are passionate about providing quality service to all parties in the real estate transaction – both residential and commercial. We work in unison with real estate professionals, lenders, and industry experts,” said Sarah Blackburn, who went on to say, “ We strive to deliver the best service to ensure each client walks away with confidence in their transaction.”

For more information on Key Title Group Austin, please visit our website at www.keytitlegroup.com

Build-for-Rent Portfolio in Texas Receives $15 Million in Financing via Walker & Dunlop

BETHESDA, Md., Nov. 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Walker & Dunlop, Inc. announced today that it structured $15,000,000 in financing for the Hamilton Park, Tully Trail, and Memory Village, a collection of build-for-rent neighborhoods located in Tyler, Texas.

Each of the build-for-rent (BFR) neighborhoods features contiguous, newly built single-family rental homes that are competitively priced. Each home is approximately 1,400 square feet, boasts three bedrooms and two bathrooms, and features fully maintained lawns and landscaping, a two-car garage, private fenced backyards, and open floorplans. Built between 1996 and 2021, the homes are in very high demand, with all 123 currently 100% occupied.

Stuart Wernick, SVP and Managing Director, and Drew Garrison, Director, led the Walker & Dunlop team in arranging the refinance for the sponsor, a regional custom home builder, a vertically integrated construction, development, and property management company. Utilizing their broad network of capital providers, the team partnered with a regional bank, which proved to be the most attractive lender for their client. The resulting financing was a non-recourse structured solution with a fixed rate in the low fours for a term of 30 years with flexible prepayment options. Click to read more at www.news-journal.com.

Black Friday 2021? Pandemic Still Slowing Holiday Sales

Black Friday? It wasn’t as busy as retailers might have hoped for this year, according to research from Sensormatic Solutions.

According to Sensormatic, visits to physical stores on Black Friday this year — the day after Thanksgiving — were down 28.3 percent when compared to 2019 levels. That’s an important comparison: Black Friday of 2019 was the last one before the COVID-19 pandemic became headline news.

In good news, though, Black Friday visits by shoppers this year were up a solid 47.5 percent when compared to 2020.

Sensormatic reported that shoppers might be more likely to visit stores in person this year because of the supply chain challenges that continue to hit the country.

“More shoppers felt comfortable visiting stores in person this Black Friday than in 2020,” said Brian Field, senior director of global retail consulting with Sensormatic Solutions, in a written statement. “One driver of this increased traffic could be ongoing supply chain challenges and shipping delays, which are resulting in consumers shopping earlier to ensure their gifts arrive on time.”

The rest of the 2021 holiday shopping season might be a strong one for physical retailers.

According to Sensormatic Solutions’ 2021 Holiday Consumer Sentiment Survey, 65 percent of U.S. consumers say they plan to shop in-store this holiday season for product-related reasons, like browsing for gift ideas or to see or touch products before buying.

Sensormatic Solutions predicts that the 10 busiest U.S. shopping days in 2021 will account for 40 percent of all holiday traffic. U.S. in-store traffic for this year’s holiday season is also expected to be down between 10% and 15% compared to 2019.