Unbelievable Magic Performance Leaves AGT 2025 Judges in Awe, Golden Buzzer Hit!
Simon Cowell Reveals He Visited With Liam Payne Last Year: ‘Just to Sit and Talk’
Simon Cowell recalled a special moment with Liam Payne that occurred a year before the former One Direction member’s death.
“You came to see me last year. Not for a meeting. Just to sit and talk. And we reminisced about all the fun times we had together. And how proud you were to be a dad,” Cowell, 65, wrote in his Instagram tribute on Friday, October 18. “After you left, I was reminded that you were still the sweet, kind boy I met all those years ago.”
Us Weekly confirmed on Wednesday, October 16, that Payne died at age 31 in Argentina following a fall from a third-floor hotel balcony. A preliminary autopsy revealed that he died from “internal and external” hemorrhages.
Continuing his statement, Cowell revealed that he has met Payne’s 7-year-old son, Bear, whom the late singer shared with ex-girlfriend Cheryl Cole.
‘The X Factor UK’ Honors ‘Immensely Talented’ Liam Payne After His Death at Age 31: ‘Heartbroken’
“He has your smile and that twinkle in his eyes you have,” Cowell added. “He will be so proud of everything you achieved. And how you achieved it.”
Advertisement
Cowell put Payne together with Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik to form One Direction during The X Factor UK season 7 in 2010. Cowell also remembered the band in his tribute.
“I always thought of the 5 of you in the band as brothers. And reading their messages today I believe you were,” he wrote. “And now Liam, I can see the effect you had on so many people. Because you left us too soon.”
Payne first auditioned for the singing competition show in 2008, and Cowell recalled turning him down.
Liam Payne Through the Years: Revisiting the One Direction Alum’s Life in Photos
“I had to tell you when you were 14 that this wasn’t your time. And we both made a promise that we would meet again,” the music producer wrote. “A lot of people would have given up. You didn’t. You came back and within months the whole world knew Liam.”
Cowell continued: “And you never forgot the fans. I watched you spending so much time with people who had wanted to meet you. You really cared.”
Following the news of Payne’s sudden passing, Cowell postponed the Britain’s Got Talent auditions on Thursday, October 17.
“Due to the tragic passing of Liam Payne, BGT has decided to postpone today’s auditions in Blackpool,” ApplauseStore, the show’s ticketing service, shared in a statement via X. “We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.”
“America’s Largest Landlord Adds $1 Billion For Its House Hunt” Why It Matters, And It Does!
Country’s Largest Rental-Home Owner Buying Up More Homes
The title of today’s blog was lifted directly from this WSJ article.
I blogged last week about why inventory levels are so low. One of the reasons was investors buying up properties en masse, and today’s WSJ article is case and point.
Per the WSJ: “Real-estate investors have a mountain of money looking for a home. Lately a lot of it is ending up in suburban single-family houses.”
Invitation Homes, the country’s largest rental-home owner, recently raised an additional $1 billion to buy up more homes. Invitation currently owns 80,000 houses and the additional cash will allow it to buy about 3,500 more.
Why This Matters
This matters because Invitation is not the only major fund buying up houses. There are now many huge landlords/funds doing the same because they believe that real estate and single-family homes in particular are now one of the most viable asset classes for investors.
This is for all the usual reasons: (1) the stock market is too volatile and overheated; (2) a mass movement to the suburbs; (3) the Fed throwing money at the economy like never before, pushing up asset prices; (4) very low interest rates; and (5) an acute housing inventory shortage, among other things.
There is also a trend towards renting in lieu of buying, as housing continues to get more expensive and out of reach of even affluent buyers. Per the WSJ, Invitation’s typical tenants are parents with kids, pets, and six-figure incomes.
Once again, this is great information to share with potential buyers who are nervous about a repeat of the 2008 meltdown.
(As an interesting aside, we had an appraiser come in under contract price last month in a very hot market because he was worried that “we might be on the cusp of another 2008…” He was not on our panel for the area, and we will make sure we won’t use any appraiser who will add that much subjectivity to appraising, but I was fascinated by the fact that a seasoned appraiser was so unaware of all the data I have been sharing about the housing market in general and why this is not 2008.)
Buyers should be very comforted by the fact that huge funds like this, with all of their resources, analyses, data, and sophistication, believe so strongly in residential real estate.
This is also great info to share with buyers who are wondering why it is so hard to find a house and/or who are wondering why their agent is asking them to bid so aggressively.
Please note that we cannot share entire WSJ articles with nonsubscribers because they are copyrighted, but we can share key excerpts, so feel free to request them from us.
