All posts by Nathan Ruffing

All, Real Estate

Real Estate Summary, July 2018

Average Sale Price

  • $238,655, Jul 2018, 4.9% increase 1-yr, 37.2% increase 10-yr
  • $227,572, Jul 2017
  • $173,940, Jul 2008

The year-over-year increase in price for July 2018 compared with the YoY increase in July 2017 is less, so the increase has slowed. The YoY increase in July 2017 was 6.4%. From the MLS chart, the last time that the price increase was this slow was late 2014, so it appears by that measure the market has cooled off a bit, or is just a bit less hot. The price still increased don’t forget. That is good. The last time there was an overall YoY price decrease was 2011.

Source: http://www.columbusrealtors.com/stats/

Months Supply of Inventory

  • 1.9 months, Jul 2018
  • 11.2 months, Jul 2010 – highest for July in last 10 years.
  • 2.0 months, Jul 2017 – last year’s hot market

We are still in a historical seller’s market.

Source: http://www.columbusrealtors.com/stats/archives.aspx

Interest Rate, 30 Year Fixed-Rate Mortgage

  • 4.54%, 6 Sep 2018, most recent
  • 4.46%, 8 Mar 2018
  • 3.95%, 4 Jan 2018
  • 3.41%, 7 Jul 2016, 5-year low
  • 6.04%, 20 Nov 2008, the last time rate was over 6%

How much has the 30-year fixed rate gone up? It increased above 4% in January this year, reached 4.46% by March, and has held steady since then. The five year low was 3.41% in July 2016. Check out this interactive chart from Freddie Mac:

http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/

What To Do, Sellers

Hold tight. The demand is still there.

What To Do, Investors

  1. Do: Improve / develop what you already own, and get it performing.
  2. Do: take opportunity to start as a wholesaler / real estate agent / manager.
  3. Don’t: buy on a variable rate loan.

Source: Nate’s decision making model for real estate.

Click here for all real estate posts on this site.

All, Nate TV, WTW4 Historical Context

What to Watch 24: Energy of an Industrialized Society – How Many Joules 3

How Many Joules?

  • 2,000 food Calories = 8.4 million joules = approximate energy usage of the human body in one day
  • One Tesla Model S battery charge ~ 36x this amount
  • One 2017 Honda Civic gas tank ~ 177x this amount
  • Typical furnace (100,000 BTU / hr rating) operating for 1 hour ~ 12x this amount
  • US energy usage per day (referenced in my post here) ~ 33.5 billion x this amount, or ~ 102x the US population*
  • Global energy usage per day (referenced in my post here) ~ 129 billion x this amount, or ~ 17x the global population*

*Relating the energy consumption of the modern world per person to the energy consumption of just the human body by itself is ambiguous, I realize. However, it puts in context the massive numbers that are constantly thrown around in the media on this subject, and consolidates the hype and various units into one unit.

https://nathanruffing.com/nates-numbers-hub-january-2017/ 

Start at How Many Joules 1

https://www.unitjuggler.com/energy-conversion.html

http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/

All, Nate TV, WTW3 Current Events

What to Watch 23: The Tesla “Gigafactory” – How Many Joules 2

Tesla’s Introduction Speech to the Gigafactory in Nevada, Elon Musk, 4 September 2014

How Many Joules?

  • Tesla Model S with large battery pack, 265 mile range = 306 million joules
  • 2017 Honda Civic 12.4 gallon gas tank,  (2017 best selling car in US) = 1,490 million joules
  • Energy from 1 barrel of oil (BOE unit) = 5.86 billion joules
Go to How Many Joules 3
Start at How Many Joules 1
All, Nate TV, WTW2 Current Science and Tech

What to Watch 22: The Lithium-Ion Battery – How Many Joules 1

Intro to 18650 Li-ion Cells, by LDSreliance

How Many Joules?

  • 1 Food Calorie (the one on nutrition labels) = 4,180 joules
    • Note: 1 food Calorie defined as amount of energy to raise the temperature of 1Kg of water 1°C at sea level
  • Typical smartphone battery charge: 41,760 joules
  • One 18650 Li-ion cell: 43,074 joules
  • 1 kBTU = 1.06 million joules
    • Note: 1 BTU is defined as the energy required to raise the temperature of 1 pound of water 1°F. 1 kBTU = 1,000 BTU.
    • The rating system on appliances that we are familiar with that is shortened to “BTU” is actually BTU or kBTU per hour.
  • 1 Kilowatt-hour = 3.6 million joules
  • 2,000 food Calories = 8.4 million joules
  • 1 gallon of gas equivalent = 120 million joules
Go to How Many Joules 2
All, WTW1 Speeches

What to Watch 21: Bitcoin White Paper Satoshi Nakamoto

White Paper PDF at Bitcoin.org

Click here to search “cryptocurrency” on this site and see all crypto-related content.

Note, The Smallest Unit

In a post dated 12 November 2010, a BitcoinTalk user named “NewLibertyStandard” mentioned “satoshi” as the smallest unit of Bitcoin, defining it as 0.00000001 BTC (one hundred millionth of a Bitcoin).

Now in 2025 with Bitcoin valued ~$100,000, one satoshi is worth a tenth of a penny. For a satoshi to be worth a penny, Bitcoin will have to increase 10x relative to the dollar, to one million dollars per Bitcoin.

All, WTW8 Miscellaneous

What to Watch 20: Apocalypse Soundtrack – Apocalypse 3

Johnny Cash – The Man Comes Around

R.E.M. – It’s the End of the World as we Know It

Paulinho Moska – O Último Dia (The Last Day)

The song is in Portuguese, but the pictures tell the story.

My love, if you were given just one more day, what would you do? Would you…?

Click here for all apocalypse related posts.
Click here for all Nate TV.
Click here for all What to Watch.