Even the Fed Can't Predict a Recession

Here’s what you will find in today’s email:

• Quote: Even the Fed Chairman has no idea if we’re in a recession

• Tweet: An ingenious bang for your buck suggestion to improve your property

• Chart of the Week: Is it currently more expensive to rent or own?

• Deal of the Week - Meet the new king of NYC desserts

• Trend to Watch: The explosion of TikTok real estate Subscribe now

Hello friends,

Welcome to 2023.

Entering this new year, I’m going to be changing up my format.

Throughout the week, I’ll be sharing real estate stories, data, and analysis on my Linkedin and Twitter channels. This newsletter will provide a weekly review with some of the most interesting things I’ve been reading, writing and consuming.

This year, I’ve committed to growing and becoming more active on social media. By doing this, I’ll be able to test out content and ideas to see what sticks and turn this into a better mechanism for discovering and delivering content.

This will serve as a digestible resource to learn and explore what’s happening in the world of real estate.

Enjoy!

Quote

“I don’t think anyone knows whether we’re going to have a recession or not and, if we do, whether it’s going to be a deep one or not. It’s just, it’s not knowable”

- Jay Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve

Heading into 2023, one of the main things the real estate world is watching is the Fed and interest rates. This quote is a good reminder that no matter how much news and analysis you read regarding the economy and a looming (or possibly current?) recession, no one really knows anything.

Tweet of the Week

Bobby Fijan, known for his insights on interior layouts and floorplans, is a great Twitter follow.

When asked about the best bang for your buck addition to your property, Bobby had a great suggestion - taller elevator cabs! Sure enough, I checked with our elevator company, it’s an inexpensive upgrade and sure to provide a great value to tenants. Who knew??

Chart of the Week

This rent vs own chart provides a great visual on where we are in the market cycle. Right now, it’s incredibly expensive to own. Affordability is a huge factor impacting the market.

With mortgage rates doubling last year, we can expect that asset prices will need to come down to support new buyers.

Deal of the Week - 16 Handles Acquires DO, Cookie Dough Confections

Last year, 27 year old franchisee, Neil Hershman, and a Youtouber, Danny Duncan, acquired 16 Handles, NYC based frozen yogurt chain with 30 units.

Last week it was announced that 16 Handles was acquiring DO, the edible cookie dough brand!

This partnership will allow 16 Handles to integrate the cookie dough brand into their frozen yogurt brand as they expand their brand nationwide.

Hershman has been building up a mini dessert franchise empire in NYC, with the following franchises in his personal portfolio:

• 16 Handles - 5 locations

• Dippin’ Dots and Doc Popcorn - 3 locations

• Captain Cookie and the Milkman - 2 locations

Hershman and team will be fun to follow as they expand their dessert holdings across the country.

Trend to Watch

We all know that social media has become an important component of real estate and TikTok is the new behemoth of social.

This story profiles a film student and real estate TikTok consultant, Lizza Prigozhina. She’s been working with brokers from some of the biggest brokerages in real estate as they showcase their NYC properties on TikTok.

Does this strategy work?

While one video may not directly lead to a sale, there are other plenty of intangible benefits that come along with this exposure.

For instance, one of her clients, Alexander Zakharin, has grown his following to over 700k, with millions of views. This exposure and growth in network gives him more recognition and trust that attracts new clients and buyers.

Expect more agents to follow suit with real estate content.

That’s it for this week.

If you haven’t done so already, please subscribe!