Field notes for real-estate investors.
Deep dives on data, markets, and the craft of finding deals most people miss. Published daily.
43,000 Chicago Listings Vanished From Zillow. Nashville Goes Dark Today. Here's What Every Investor Needs to Know.
Starting June 1, Zillow loses listing feed access for Nashville and the entire Realtracs territory (Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia) — following a crisis where 43,000 Chicago listings vanished from the platform overnight. This article breaks down the MLS wars, which investor markets are affected, and how to use PropGPT's direct MLS data access to see the listings that Zillow can no longer show you.
Housing Inventory Just Flipped Negative Year-Over-Year. Investors: Your Negotiating Window Is Closing.
In the week of May 22–29, 2026, housing inventory tracked by HousingWire turned negative year-over-year for the first time since the rate-driven inventory surge began — even with mortgage rates at their 2026 peak of 6.77%. Redfin's April data shows prices up 2.4% and pending sales at the highest level since February 2023. This article breaks down what the data means for investors who have been counting on a buyer's market that is quietly ending.
$162 Billion in Apartment Loans Are Coming Due in 2026 — and 60% of It Hits This Summer. Here's the Investor's Playbook.
Over $162 billion in multifamily loans mature in 2026 — and 60% hit in the second half of the year. Operators who borrowed at 3-4% in 2021 can't refinance at today's 6.24% rates, creating a concentrated distressed-seller window in overbuilt Sun Belt markets. This article walks through the five-step playbook for sourcing, underwriting, and closing distressed apartment deals before the best opportunities are gone.
Mobile Home Parks in 2026: How to Find 8-10% Cap Rates While Institutions Pay 5%
Mobile home parks are running at 94% national occupancy with virtually no new supply coming, and institutional capital has noticed — and acted. Private investors who understand the value-add tier, under-managed communities trading at 8-10% cap rates, can still outmaneuver the big funds. Here's the data, the playbook, and the mistakes that will kill your deal.
Hartford, CT Just Beat Phoenix for Real Estate Returns. Here's What That Tells You About 2026.
The Sun Belt markets that dominated real estate investing from 2020 to 2023 have quietly collapsed in the rankings — Phoenix, Austin, and Dallas aren't even in the top 15 anymore. Hartford, CT just took the number one spot, driven by inventory running 63% below pre-pandemic levels and cap rates of 6-7% that actually make the math work at current mortgage rates. This piece breaks down the supply data behind the shift, why Sun Belt cap rates are now a negative-leverage trap, and exactly how to use PropGPT to evaluate deals in unfamiliar Northeast markets.
The $69B Apartment Merger Nobody's Talking About — And What It Means for Your Next Deal
AvalonBay and Equity Residential announced a $69 billion all-stock merger on May 21, 2026, creating the largest apartment landlord in US history with 180,000+ units concentrated in coastal high-barrier markets. We break down exactly what this institutional megadeal means for private investors — which markets to target, where the deal flow is coming from, and how to position before everyone else catches on.
Foreclosures Are Up 26%: The Distressed-Property Investor Playbook for 2026
ATTOM's Q1 2026 Foreclosure Market Report shows 118,727 U.S. properties with filings — up 26% year over year — with bank repossessions surging 45%. This article breaks down the three investor entry points (pre-foreclosure, auction, REO), puts the data in context (still 87% below 2010 peak), and shows exactly how to use PropGPT to underwrite deals, pull comps, and craft direct-mail outreach before the rest of the market catches on.
Opportunity Zones Just Went Permanent. Here's the 7-Month Strategy Window Investors Are Moving On.
Opportunity Zones just became a permanent program—and December 31, 2026 is a critical transition date. Learn the three investor positions, the tax math behind 10-year appreciation exclusion, and exactly how to use PropGPT to find and screen OZ investments before the window shifts.
Senior Housing Just Hit 90% Occupancy. New Construction Is at a 13-Year Low. Here's the Investor Playbook.
Baby boomers are turning 80 in 2026, pushing senior housing occupancy above 90% while new construction starts have plunged 77% from peak — a supply-demand mismatch that won't resolve for at least a decade. This piece breaks down the real investment opportunity (it's not the $5,500/month luxury assisted living everyone's chasing), the key metrics investors need right now, the four mistakes that get investors burned, and five PropGPT workflows to find undervalued facilities, underwrite cap rate compression, and get ahead of the 200,000-unit gap before institutional capital closes the door.
The No-Bank Playbook: How to Use Seller Financing to Close Deals That Conventional Lenders Won't Touch
$29.5 billion in seller-financed notes were created in 2025 — 87,212 transactions completed with no bank involved. This guide breaks down the five seller financing structures, a full deal model showing 7.5% cash-on-cash in Memphis without a conventional appraisal, the four mistakes that kill seller-carry deals, and five PropGPT prompts to find high-equity motivated sellers, run the underwriting, and draft the LOI before your next negotiation.
The Housing Market Just Split in Two: Where Smart Investors Are Putting Money in May 2026
The national housing market average is masking a 14-point performance gap: San Francisco up 10.7%, Detroit up 10.1%, Dallas down 3.8%, Seattle down 3.3%. We break down what's driving the structural split, which metros are worth buying in right now, and the four mistakes investors make when they rely on national headlines instead of city-level data.