The U.S. rental vacancy rate is now the highest it has ever been, at 11.1%. This is not at all what we expected when the housing market crashed and mortgage companies started going out of business in record numbers.
At that time, the prediction was that landlords would actually benefit, because people who weren’t able to [...]
A couple of years ago, I was talking to a customer for my property management software who was based in Ulan Bator, Mongolia. “Mongolia!” I said. “Holy cow! Why are you investing out there?”
Last week, I started looking into the 
Note to readers: I’ve been criticized for some blunt statements about real estate markets in the past. You can disagree with me, but I ask that you not doubt my integrity. I have no real estate interests outside New Hampshire and am not representing anyone.
Many landlords are attracted to markets with a large institutional presence because they offer stability. Hospitals, universities and government agencies rarely make major cuts in employment, and they very rarely close. That means your prospective tenants are not likely to leave.
A while back, I 
To start this game of let’s-pretend, take all the money out of your wallet except for $25. If you have less than $25, put in the additional cash to get to $25. If you don’t have the additional cash anywhere, skip to the end of this post – you don’t need to play this game.
Last year I had a gas bill for $1400. That was almost one-third of my entire rent for that property for the month. This year, however, I could get bills that are even higher. Meteorologists are predicting the coldest and snowiest winter for the Northeast in years.
I took a test once where I had to score 100% to pass. This was to become a licensed EMT, and there was a good reason for the 100% standard. Since I was being measured on my knowledge of lifesaving emergency medical care, they wanted to be sure I knew every subject on the syllabus perfectly.
Rising utility costs are one of the many challenges we multifamily landlords have been facing in this “perfect storm” economic climate. Landlords who traditionally paid for utilities are searching for ways to transfer those costs to tenants.
Joshua Dorkin
Charles Feldman
Ted Karsch.
Government America vs. “Real” America
by Brendan O'Brien | September 14, 2009In fact, the federal government is the biggest employer in the country, with about 1.8 million civilian employees. While times get tougher for those of us who don’t work for the government, life for those in government continues to be pretty peachy. In fact, things have gotten a lot better over the last ten years.
The growing discrepancy between the government economy and the “real” economy is causing many problems, but one is a growing disconnect between the government mindset and the private industry mindset.