Welch & LaBrecque Team, Compass

05/27/2026

DID YOU KNOW?
Elon Musk, speaking about cryptocurrencies. Some investors have been disappointed in crypto's performance as a safe-haven asset during wars/inflationary times when compared to gold. Bitcoin is down 39% off it's 1-year high. Gold is down 15%. The dollar is down 2.5%.....Solana is down 66%! Some MEME coins are down well over 90%! Unlike all other hedges against inflation, though, real estate is the only hedge you can actually live in! 🤣😉

05/16/2026

05/07/2026

DID YOU KNOW?
Taxpayer-funded New York's MTA is not alone: Privately owned Brightline in FLORIDA is facing severe financial distress and, as of May 2026, auditors have raised "substantial doubt" about its ability to avoid insolvency. Despite growing ridership, the company lacks sufficient cash to service over $2 billion in debt, scrambling to restructure payments to avoid potential bankruptcy. Brightline faces a June 15 deadline to settle deferred interest payments. The company lost over $233 million in 2025, even though revenue increased. Passenger trains are rarely profitable due to high fixed infrastructure costs (tracks, stations), massive maintenance needs, and intense competition from subsidized cars and air travel. Fare and toll evasion cost the MTA almost $1 billion in 2024, around 5% of its annual budget.

04/30/2026

DID YOU KNOW?

* Yesterday's FED meeting suggests interest rates will stay put - and potentially rise - if inflation does not cool from its 3% levels, 50% above target. Oil pricing is at levels seen during the prior 2022 global inflation surge, fueled by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

04/13/2026

What is your home worth? Spring is here! We would love and come and see you🏠❤️. Go to WLSells.com today‼️‼️

03/23/2026

DID YOU KNOW?
Fewer than 2% of Americans have a perfect credit score....850. Here is how you can improve yours.....
1. The most important factor in your credit score is as simple as paying your bills on time, and as agreed. Even one or two days late matters.
2. Up your credit limit and only use 30% or less of it. ie: If you have a $100,000 limit, only use $30,000 or less at a time. 5-10% is best.
3. Credit scores look at history, the longer the better. Building a good credit score takes time.
4. Every time you take on new credit, it impacts your score. Limit this or eliminate this.
5. A credit card is considered “revolving” credit, allowing you to borrow, repay and borrow again. A mortgage is “installment” credit, a fixed sum repaid in regular payments over a set period. Having both helps.

03/20/2026

Walking the neighborhood meeting all the neighbors introducing ourselves and inviting them to our open house this weekend! .com

03/17/2026

Congrats to our buyer clients on their purchase of this gorgeous, new home🏠 Welch & LaBrecque Team, Compass

01/08/2026

DID YOU KNOW?

* Will Congress allow the White House to ban large institutional investors from buying more single-family homes? This represents about 3% of single-family home inventory.....close to 600,000 homes. Blackstone started buying single-family homes in earnest around 2012, creating its Invitation Homes subsidiary to acquire foreclosed properties after the 2008 financial crisis, becoming a major player in the single-family rental market by purchasing tens of thousands of homes through 2016. The firm significantly re-entered the market in 2021 by acquiring Home Partners of America and later buying Tricon Residential in 2024. Would this compel institutional investors to sell homes they already own? Unlikely. (CNBC)

12/13/2025

Shocking🙄…get with it school systems!

In Denmark, empathy has been a fixed part of the school curriculum since the 1990s. Every week, students take time to openly talk about their own experiences, work through conflicts, and actively practice compassion. The goal goes far beyond teaching good manners. It is about deliberately strengthening the parts of the brain responsible for emotional regulation and perspective-taking, with research showing that this regular training creates measurable long-term effects.

The results are striking. Denmark now has the lowest bullying rates in Europe and is consistently ranked among the happiest countries in the world. Empathy education clearly proves that emotional intelligence is not a soft extra, but a core pillar of a healthy and well-functioning society.

12/13/2025

Fed’s Chief Powell:

• A tiny 0.25% rate cut isn’t going to make much difference.
• Inventory is still starving the market.
• Millions are locked into ultra-low pandemic mortgages.
• We haven’t built enough homes in decades — and it’s catching up fast. We need more housing!!!
• The Fed can move rates, but it can’t fix a structural housing shortage.

Bottom line for most of the country: This isn’t a rate problem. It’s an affordable housing supply problem.