Week of December 8, 2025The Fed delivered its third rate cut of the year, but the message was anything but unified.

Doing proper research — looking at the chain of title and checking the NY court system — gives you an edge most first-time buyers don’t have.I actually maintain a Brooklyn Pre-Foreclosure dataset (updated Oct 2025) that pulls verified filings straight from the New York State Unified Court System, showing dates of default, mortgage balances, and more.

current balance: ~180k, estimated value: ~290k

My personal conclusion is that paying off mortgages with a small balance is the way to go.

I’ve completed a few flips over the past two years and have been a PM for a while, and I’m now focusing more on building a long-term rental portfolio.I’m currently trying to find the right balance between buying rentals strictly for cash flow versus pursuing BRRRR-style deals.

Currently putting ~$1,400 into cap ex and emergency fund each month with a ~$5,000 current balance.

One of the biggest benefit is that you can double your balance within 5-years using redeployment of balance and compound interest. 

How Top Commercial Real Estate Investors Build a Balanced PortfolioThe strongest commercial real estate investors don’t rely on a single property type or strategy.

The issue I saw for sellers with these 'silent HUD seconds' is they can't see the balance anywhere on their statement, so they legitimately forget about it.

There's not really a loan/principal balance, amortization, etc., and payments are required under a perpetual agreement and are CPI-adjusted each year.Has anyone seen anything like this?