All Forum Posts by: Nikki Yankowski

Thanks for sharing. I wanted to add that Huntsville has an airport for private travel as well. Ideal for the big business moving here. 

Are you doing anything special to change its image? My concern would be this motel will attract some of the cliche negative 'activities' associated with motels and it could effect your values.

One advantage you have right now is a lower rate and the competition is different. Realtors who were swooping up some houses last year don't have as much cash right now because they bought property, and they have to pay more in taxes this year than they did last year, because a lot of us made more than expected. A lot of my friends in real estate wont be able to enter the market cash strong again until summer. 

 I do think we will loose a lot of buyers from the lower income levels and new construction homes will become more of a luxury option. For example, buyers used to be able to take advantage of USDA loans for new construction but that rate yesterday was 5.5%.  Because there is a shortage of housing and my market is growing, with a lot of relocation, I think new homes here can maintain their prices. A lot of the population that moves to Huntsville comes from bigger cities where they had much more expensive properties.

I did not work through those times. However I represent a builder and my family works in the horizontal development. Building a house is only getting to be more expensive and harder. We are in a housing shortage and we are seeing fuel surcharges of about 10% from nearly all venders and subs in this past week. This will slow down the release of new inventory despite high demand. That being said, new home prices will increase which will support higher valued comps for properties around them. Many people will be priced out of purchasing and I suspect the renting population will grow, especially for single family homes. 

I am curious to see if our own defense budgets will be increased and this would cause areas focused on military defense to grow

I saw you said you are bartending. I bartended for a unionized hotel. I highly suggest looking into this. After working with them for a year they had a program that gave me 10k toward purchasing a home as well as full health insurance and dental on top of discounted booking rates when traveling. Not all hotels are unionized, but if you can get into one it is 100% worth it. 

I have found the MINT app very helpful. It breaks down your spending by category. 

There are the classic books, almost like an unwritten list that all real estate agents read. Rich Dad Pour Dad, Never Split the Difference, ect. However I wanted to touch on one constant in my life that I think helps me the most. 

I watch/ listen to Bloomberg all day. Having the financials of the world playing in the background of my life has been pivotal in my shaping my outlook on money management. Our subconscious is always collecting data.