Alejandra Rodriguez-Villamizar is a communications specialist, editor, and researcher based in Medellín, Colombia, with experience working at the intersection of investigative journalism, strategic communications, and multimedia storytelling. She is currently Editorial Consultant at KeyCrew, where she leads and refines editorial processes, and manages and mentors the editorial team. Before this role, Alejandra coordinated multimedia content production and designed impact metrics. She conducted in-depth research on organized crime across Latin American countries, contributing to investigative reports that inform public debate and policy discussions. Her career also includes work in digital strategy and audience engagement at University College London, where she supported the Anthropology Department’s outreach and career initiatives. Alejandra holds a BA in Communications and Journalism from Universidad EAFIT and an MSc in Politics, Violence and Crime from UCL, graduating with distinction. Her work is grounded in a people-centered approach that combines rigorous research, clear storytelling, and strategic thinking to generate social impact.
The days when scarce inventory alone justified a seller’s asking price in Naples, Florida, are fading. According to Michael Downer, founder and realtor with the Quintessential Naples Team at Downing-Frye Realty, Inc., buyers have shifted from competing on speed to competing on scrutiny. Sellers who haven’t documented their improvements are watching their listings sit. During ...
A low monthly HOA fee looks like savings. In practice, it often signals deferred maintenance. A large, unavoidable bill is heading toward the owners. Thomas Beattie is Co-Founder and CEO of Eli Report, an AI-powered condo and HOA document review platform based in Vancouver, Canada. Over more than six years, his team has reviewed the ...
One of the biggest reasons long-term California homeowners never sell is property taxes. After decades in the same house, their assessed value – and therefore their annual tax bill – sits far below what a new purchase would trigger. Moving means resetting to current market value, which in many Inland Empire communities means jumping from ...
The pitch sounds compelling: buy a condo near the ocean in South Florida, rent it out, and let tenants cover your costs while the property appreciates. But the math on South Florida condos as rental investments is broken at current price levels, according to Stuart Berger, Team Co-Lead of the Stu Berger and Ana Aizenstat ...
A decade ago, a real estate investor seeking a private bridge loan needed one thing: a property with enough equity. The building was the security, and that was sufficient. Today, private lenders who have absorbed years of defaults and litigation say they have inverted that priority. The borrower’s credit history, track record, and transparency now ...
In a state where some coastal markets are showing visible strain – rising inventory, price drops, sluggish sales – Brevard County on Florida’s Space Coast is holding steady. The market isn’t hot. It’s not setting records across the board. But it’s absorbing demand at a pace that looks more like a healthy norm than either ...
Families priced out of Los Angeles, San Diego, or Orange County are increasingly landing in the Coachella Valley, where a four-bedroom home with a pool can close for under $800,000. Vlada March is a Realtor and owner of Vlada March Real Estate Group with HomeSmart in Palm Desert, California. She says the value gap between ...
The housing slowdown in Southern California is not distributed evenly. In the corridor stretching from Temecula through North County San Diego, homes priced below city-specific thresholds are still drawing multiple offers in their first week. Luxury listings, meanwhile, sit with fewer showings and longer days on market. The result is two distinct markets operating side ...
Drive around Austin, Dallas, or several fast-growing Southern and Southwestern metros, and you’ll see apartment complexes on nearly every block. Rents have softened, and landlords are offering concessions, discounts like free months and waived fees, to fill units. For renters, the market feels generous. But large investors say this is temporary. A building boom already ...
A beautifully renovated home on a barrier island might seem like the safest bet in coastal Florida. But in Sarasota, buyers are learning that a home’s elevation relative to the base flood line matters far more than its kitchen counters or square footage. According to Tom Cail, Co-Founder of the Cail Grande Group at RE/MAX ...
The prevailing assumption in mid-2026 is that nobody refinances when mortgage rates sit in the mid-sixes (roughly 6.5 percent). According to Ron Vaimberg, president of Ron Vaimberg International, , that assumption is wrong, and it’s costing homeowners money. His mortgage coaching and training firm has worked with over 300,000 originators since 1997. Vaimberg points to ...
Automated valuation tools pull comparable sales data from nearby properties and produce confident estimates of what a house is worth. But in metros where housing stock spans more than a century, those estimates often fail to account for physical condition, structural age, and zoning designations that only a human can identify. According to one agency ...
A new home that costs 12 to 18 percent more than a conventional wood-framed house sounds like a hard sell. But Neil Prakash, an architect working in mass timber construction in British Columbia, argues that sticker price is the wrong number to focus on. He says the real cost of a home should be measured ...
Every quarter, mortgage rate forecasts change. Every quarter, buyers who delayed purchases based on those forecasts find themselves no closer to the conditions they were waiting for. According to Ron Vaimberg, president of Ron Vaimberg International, a mortgage training firm that has coached over 300,000 loan originators since 1997, the prediction track record is dismal: ...
In most housing markets, a small shift in mortgage rates changes a monthly payment by a manageable amount. In Orange County, California, where typical purchase prices run well above a million dollars, that same quarter-point shift moves payments by hundreds of dollars a month. According to Jordan Bennett, team lead of Jordan Bennett & Associates ...
