Don Baker is a full-time staff reporter for RealtyWire, where he covers residential real estate, commercial real estate, multifamily housing, market trends, finance, construction, rental data, and regulatory issues affecting the real estate industry.
Before joining RealtyWire, Don worked as an investor relations director for a multifamily private equity fund, where he wrote investor updates and reporting materials on the performance, operations, and outlook of investment properties. That role gave him hands-on experience analyzing real estate trends, rental statistics, construction activity, financing issues, multifamily operations, compliance matters, and the legal and regulatory factors that shape property ownership and investment.
Don brings a broad understanding of both residential and commercial real estate to his reporting, with a particular focus on helping readers understand how market data, policy changes, capital markets, and local property trends affect buyers, sellers, investors, brokers, developers, and property owners.
He earned a Bachelor of Science in Business from Southern Illinois University and currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
Don Baker 
A home on the Gulf beach, a newly finished home in a small South Tampa enclave and a boater’s home on a St. Petersburg canal led a week dominated by waterfront living.
A gated lakefront compound, a designer-built Mediterranean home in Winter Park, a golf-course home in Isleworth, a custom build in Oakland and a Lake Nona South home with conservation views made up the week’s top sales.
Three new condominiums in one Gulf-front building in Sarasota led the week, ahead of a bayfront home in Osprey and a single-story estate in Lakewood Ranch.
A home a block from the beach in Olde Naples led a week that also took in two Bay Colony addresses, a high-rise on the bay and a canal-front home on Marco Island.
Water ran through nearly every sale on the list, from a bayfront island property to an oceanfront condominium and two brand-new Fort Lauderdale homes built for boats.
An oceanfront contemporary on Amelia Island, a riverfront estate on the St. Johns, a brand-new home on the marsh and a furnished oceanfront condominium were among the week’s biggest closings.
Three waterfront homes and two mountain properties, from Six Mile and Sunset to Greenville and Marietta, made up the week’s top sales.
All five of the week’s top sales were in Walton County, and the two highest came from Alys Beach.
A brand-new Daniel Island build and a Victorian Charleston single in Ansonborough bracketed the week’s top sales, with an Old Village home at the head of the list and stops on Isle of Palms and Kiawah Island along the way.
Two country estates with pasture in Fayetteville and Milton led the week, ahead of three homes in Roswell, Marietta and Atlanta.
Realtor.com’s Market Clock moved to 4 o’clock as seller’s markets fell to 27 of 99 metros, with Florida leading the buyer’s side and the Midwest still favoring sellers.
Inflation rose to 3.7%, mortgage rates held at 7.40%, September home sales ticked up while contracts fell everywhere, and Washington moved on FHA, HUD staffing and portal practices.
Founded by former Starwood and Morgan Stanley lenders, CarbonAI says its agents underwrite, draft memos and monitor CRE loans after closing. Greystone is a named customer.
Stand, which simulates how individual homes perform in wildfires and storms, raised a $70 million Series C led by Saga Ventures and says it now insures more than $10 billion of property.
Better named Linda Yaccarino an independent director after Vishal Garg’s consent solicitation ousted five directors and left the lender out of compliance with Nasdaq board rules.
Brookdale Senior Living agreed to acquire the real estate under 30 communities it leases from Welltower for $290 million, cutting about $17.8 million from its 2027 rent and extending a separate 39-community lease to 2036.
Prices for the five ran from $835,000 to $1,300,000, and every one of the homes is in Charlotte County.
A brick traditional in Lakewood, a pool home in Saraland and a farmhouse on wooded acreage in Semmes were among the week’s top sales.
Docks, boat lifts and screened pools run through a week of top sales in Auburndale, Lakeland and Winter Haven, from a 1985 contemporary to a home finished this year.
Five single-family homes in Madison and Limestone counties led the week, the priciest of them in Owens Cross Roads.
Two beachfront condominiums, a canal-front home on the Intracoastal, a lakeside new build and an English-style cottage on horse land made up the week’s top sales.
A full-floor penthouse above Little Lagoon led a week of coastal sales that also included a Gulf-front condo, two boaters’ homes and a new cottage.
Lexington accounted for three of the week’s five highest-priced sales, including the top one, and Columbia for the other two, with prices from $355,000 to $600,000.
A mountaintop home in Soddy Daisy led a week that also brought sales of a lake home in Monteagle, a townhome in downtown Chattanooga and homes in Black Creek and Ringgold.
The Washington, D.C., fractional single-family rental platform closed a Series A led by Draper Associates at 55 percent above target, saying it was already cash-flow positive and manages more than 150 houses with four people on supply.
Discount-rate minutes released Oct. 13 show four Reserve bank boards requesting a higher rate by early September, and directors in most districts reporting that AI and data-center work was bidding up skilled labor and competing for supplies.
A century-old home in Augusta’s Summerville neighborhood led the week, followed by an 1890s bungalow with horse barns in downtown Aiken and three newer homes in golf course communities.
Two high-rise condominiums on Pensacola Beach and three single-family homes in Navarre, one of them still to be built, made up the week’s top sales.
A riverfront estate led the week, and marsh, lagoon and golf course settings ran through the rest of the list.
A condominium led the week, followed by three single-family homes and a lakeside townhouse, with sales stretching from Greenville to Simpsonville and Sunset.
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