Author: josh

In This Article This article is presented by Lennar Investor Marketplace. Once upon a spreadsheet, new construction homes were the fancy properties: shiny, flawless, and out of reach for the budget-conscious investor. But what most investors don’t know is that these new homes aren’t always more expensive today. In many markets right now, brand-new homes are going head-to-head with older resale properties on price. When you factor in the benefits of a new home (minimal maintenance, energy efficiency, loyal tenants, and builder perks), new builds come out ahead. For beginner and intermediate investors focusing on long-term rentals, investing in new…

Getting pre-approved is one of the most important first steps in the homebuying process—but many buyers hesitate because they’re worried it will hurt their credit. Whether you’re buying a house in Los Angeles, CA or Austin, TX, understanding how credit inquiries work can help you start your search with confidence.  The truth is that a mortgage pre-approval can affect your credit score, but usually only by a small amount and for a short period of time. In most cases, the benefits of being pre-approved far outweigh the minor, temporary credit dip. This Redfin article explains how pre-approval affects your credit…

A sweeping Reuters investigation has put a price tag on Meta’s tolerance for ad fraud: billions of dollars a year. For Rob Leathern, a former Meta executive who led the company’s business integrity operations until 2019, the findings expose a stark tension between revenue growth and consumer harm.The report, published Monday, found that Meta generated roughly $18 billion in advertising revenue from China in 2024, around 10% of its global revenue, even as internal documents showed that nearly one-fifth of that (about $3 billion) came from ads tied to scams, illegal gambling, pornography, and other prohibited activity. Meta internally labeled…

In This Article This article is presented by Express Capital Financing. If you spend enough time around real estate investors, you start to notice there are two types of people entering 2026. The first group is still whispering to itself that rates are “definitely” going back to 3%. They’re convinced the economic stars will align, Jerome Powell will have a spiritual breakthrough, and mortgages will magically become cheaper again. These are the same people who think Blockbuster might return if we all “manifest” hard enough. The second group? They’re building wealth regardless of what interest rates are doing. They’re refinancing,…

While most would stay, the share of real estate agents who say they would toss their Realtor membership if allowed is not small. Here’s how some brokerages are planning to respond, and what arguments agents might find convincing, according to Intel’s latest industry survey.

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, one of the top contenders to replace Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chair, downplayed any role that President Donald Trump’s opinion would have in setting interest rates.That’s despite Trump repeatedly insisting that he ought to have some say on monetary policy. Most recently, he said Friday his voice should be heard because “I’ve made a lot of money.”In an interview Sunday on CBS’ Face the Nation, Hassett said Trump has “very strong and well founded views” but pointed out that the Fed is independent, with the chairman tasked with driving consensus among other policymakers…

President Donald Trump said Saturday that “there will be very serious retaliation” after two U.S. service members and one American civilian were killed in an attack in Syria that the United States blames on the Islamic State group.“This was an ISIS attack against the U.S., and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria, that is not fully controlled by them,” he said in a social media post.The American president told reporters at the White House that Syria’s president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, was “devastated by what happened” and stressed that Syria was fighting alongside U.S. troops. Trump, in his post, said…

From Netflix’s Warner Bros takeover to Disney’s AI partnership with OpenAI, major platforms are signaling a shift away from growth at all costs and toward tighter control over distribution and access. As consolidation, regulation and automation reshape digital power, professionals who understand where leverage lives — and how quickly it can move — will be better positioned to adapt.

The recent flooding across Washington has disrupted daily life for many families and neighborhoods, particularly in parts of Skagit, Whatcom, Snohomish, and King counties, where rising rivers and heavy rainfall led to evacuations, road closures, and property damage. At Redfin, our hearts are with everyone impacted by the Washington state floods. Below, we’ve gathered trusted resources to help residents stay safe, access recovery and housing support, and find ways to support their communities through these times. Immediate safety: what to know right now Floodwaters can remain dangerous long after the storms pass, and conditions can change quickly as rivers recede,…

First Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to prison for his crypto crime. Now, it’s the turn of Do Kwon, who is widely regarded as crypto’s most infamous fraudster after Bankman-Fried. On Thursday, the 34 year-old was sentenced to 15 years in prison, after being charged with misleading investors and inflating the value of his company’s cryptocurrencies known as Terra and Luna. At his sentencing hearing in New York, the judge chastised Kwon, suggesting he had succumbed to the worst elements of an industry known for get-rich-quick swindles. “You have been bitten by the crypto bug and I don’t think that’s changed. You…