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Commentary

Commentary

The Health Care Bill and Real Estate Investors / Professionals

by Tom Koziol | November 6, 2009

At first blush, these two seem like polar opposites. After all, what does the proposed health care bill being ballyhooed have to do with real estate investing?
I will readily admit I haven’t read the 1900 plus page bill but I have a friend who did. I won’t tell you about the number and size of [...]

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Commentary

U.S. Commercial Real Estate At Death’s Door; Next Shoe Ready To Drop

by Charles Feldman | November 3, 2009
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If there really is an economic recovery underway–no matter how weak–one sure thing that would kill it is a devastating collapse of the commercial real estate market.
And, I’m afraid, that is exactly what appears to be shaping up in the not very distant future.
A survey by the Real Estate Roundtable (which sounds like something out [...]

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Commentary

Real Estate Fiasco Seems To Foreclose On Critical Thinking

by Charles Feldman | October 28, 2009
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Think.
That is one word I grant you. But, sadly, something fewer and fewer people seem to be doing when it comes to critical analysis of the near term prospects for the real estate market in the U.S. (And, yes, I know the real estate “market” is a patchwork of many markets dotted across the foreclosed [...]

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Commentary

A Quiz You Can’t Fail: How Will You Make Money in Real Estate

by Tom Koziol | October 23, 2009

As everyone knows, the real estate market is in the tank – at least that is the overall perception. On the other hand, we all have heard that there are people who are still making money in real estate. At least they say they are.

If it is true that people are making money, here is a quiz that should be a no brainer. By the way, this quiz won’t be graded. Not by me at least. You may decide to give yourself a grade just for grins.

The Setting

Lets say you live in a housing market that has been described by a national real estate forecast service as the country’s “weakest housing market.” It is projected to have the biggest decline in value in the next 12 months among all housing markets in the nation with a 12 percent median price dip for both new and existing single-family homes.

In making its determination, the forecast service looked at 260 metro areas using more than 50 variables, including housing supply, population trends, unemployment and inflation. And, speaking of unemployment, your area has just seen a full one percent spike upward.

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Commentary

Deja-Vu… All Over Again! This time in the Commercial Real Estate Market

by Peter Giardini | October 21, 2009

I was surprised by some of the comments regarding Dr. Doom AKA Nouriel Roubini and his predictions that we are not yet out of the economic woods, and we are most likely going to experience continued turmoil in our economy in general and real estate specifically.

To the point – it seems that everyone is now paying attention to the coming challenges with the commercial mortgage market.  And who can blame anyone for thinking that the commercial market is on the edge, and will likely go right over the side in the coming 2 – 3 years.

Using Old Valuations Can Lead to Disaster!

Making this situation worse is the fact that most lenders are valuing the underlying properties collateralizing their mortgages at their original values (just like what is happening with residential properties), further forestalling the pending crisis in bank defaults.  If banks revalued their portfolios to the real (current) values of their underlying collateral… it is possible the entire system would collapse. I found an interesting dialogon public radio amongst various experts regarding the pending (actually it has already started) commercial collapse that demonstrates that some people may have their head in the sand. 

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Commentary

Are You RICH or Are You POOR?

by J. Lamar Ferren | October 17, 2009

Are you RICH or are you POOR?

richbroke

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. ~ Proverbs 23:7

It’s a question that many people don’t think about that could truly shed some light on why people are  where they are in life. The answer isn’t as simple as it seems.

 Knowing if your RICH or POOR upfront is a direct reflection of your success in life.

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Commentary

Dolphins And Real Estate

by Tom Koziol | October 16, 2009

Let me pass along a story that has extreme relevance to our current real estate picture. It involves dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico and their feeding by well meaning – although some would say misguided – people called tourists.

This story was relayed to me by a friend who used to vacation in Mexico and enjoyed boating in the Gulf. He said that a few years ago dolphins would swim up beside the boat and almost leap in to get their free meal. It seems feeding the dolphins became the thing to do.

The last time he went out he noticed not a single dolphin would swim up to the boat. Being the curious type, he wondered what had changed.

When he pulled back onto shore, he asked the locals why the dolphins wouldn’t approach his boat. The answer totally stunned him. He was told the government had outlawed feeding dolphins and included a $10,000 fine for anyone caught feeding the dolphin.

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Commentary

Foreclosure Mitigation Deemed A Flop: Congressional Panel Tells It Like It Is; Administration Plan Fizzles; Foreclosures Rise; More Expected; Don’t Expect Much More Government Help; Forget About The Banks Bailing YOU Out; Don’t Bother Rationalization; Treasury Strategy Derided As Not Long Term Solution; Did I Leave Anything Out???; No, I Didn’t!!

by Charles Feldman | October 14, 2009

Let’s stop beating around the bush….or, in this case, the Obama. The dismal results are in and there is NO question that the efforts, such as they are, of the Obama administration to effectively deal with the nation’s growing foreclosure problem amount to a failure.

Says who? Well, me, for one. But don’t take my word for it, just read the most recent report from the Congressional Oversight Panel which is charged with overseeing the administration’s efforts to cope with the foreclosure emergency.

Called “An Assessment of Foreclosure Mitigation Efforts after Six Months“–the panel report laments the “limited scope and scale of the Making Home Affordable” program……

And, it goes on to raise serious questions about whether any of the programs now in place will actually lead to permanent mortgage modifications for most or even many disperate homeowners.

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Commentary

Do You Know Your Economic ABCs? Or Better, Your UVWs?

by Peter Giardini | October 13, 2009

Have you been paying attention to all of the talk about what type of recession we are in?  Well, actually if you listen to some people, we are in full blown depression!

But for those of us who realize that while times are tough… more then likely we are in a recession… not a nice one… but a recession non-the-less.

The talk of late is whether we are starting to climb out of this current recession.  All of the politicians and bureaucrats want us to believe that we are on our way back up and that this recession was a typical V shaped event. 

Are You Buying It?

Hey… why not?  The stock market is up.  Home sales are up.  Even home prices in some areas are on the increase.  But is this real?  Or an illusion driven by Government incentives and wishful thinking?

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Commentary

Redirected Dollars: Not a Bad Way to Start Investing

by Tom Koziol | October 9, 2009

I had a brainstorm the other day. Hopefully, it will catch on like wild fire and people all over this country will enjoy the prospective windfall benefit.

It all started when one of our clients said how tough it was for her to come up with her auto insurance premium every month. Nevada requires car owners to have a certain level of coverage. The state doesn’t give a darn how hard it is to come up with the premium. My idea solves this particular dilemma.

Just for the record, in Nevada, the minimum required coverage is 15/30/10. The minimum required coverage may be different in your jurisdiction. Regardless, the requirement is still there which means it has to paid for one way or another. Almost like a forced mortgage one could say.

Before you ask what does this have to do with real estate, indulge me and keep reading. It has a lot to do with putting your mitts on investable dollars.

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Commentary

First Time Home Owner Tax Credit Likely To Stay; But Current Homeowners Still Face Uncertain Future

by Charles Feldman | October 7, 2009

As the, so far, jobless recovery continues, the White House is reportedly hunkered down trying to figure out what to do next. Obama administration officials are taking note of programs that have worked and those that have not done as well.

Among the programs that apparently fall into the “success” column is the $8,000 tax credit for first time home buyers.

The tax credit for first timers was part of the $787 billion dollar stimulus program and is being credited with helping the real estate industry stage a modest comeback—at least among first time home buyers.

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Commentary

Attention Real Estate Investors: “Youth Magnet Cities” Are Pulling You In!!!

by Charles Feldman | October 1, 2009

Attention real estate investors: Want to know where the markets of tomorrow are? (And, who wouldn’t considering how terrible the markets of today are for the most part!)

Okay then….listen up: Follow the 20 something crowd!

Seems urban planners consider some cities to be “youth-magnet cities”-and these tend to change from one generation to the next.

The Wall Street Journal put together a panel of experts to come up with a list of the next youth-magnet towns and here is what they came up with:

Believe it or not, Washington, DC ranked number one!!!

If you guessed this might have something to do with Mr. Obama, you’d be right. Apparently, the experts feels that many 20 somethings will flock to D.C. because they think Obama is soooooooooooooooooo awesome, chill, cool, whatever—and also figure that there may actually be some jobs in government since there don’t seem to be many in the private sector.

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Commentary

Why You Need To Stop Acting Rich…

by Jason Hanson | September 30, 2009

Do you act rich? Do you flaunt your wealth, or pretend to be rich by driving a car you can’t afford?

Well, you need to stop. Thomas Stanley who’s the author of “The Millionaire Mind” (which was fantastic) has a new book out called “Stop Acting Rich and Start Living Like a Millionaire.” Now, I have not read this new book yet, but I do have some advice which could save you thousands of dollars in the long run.

Why Not To Buy A BMW

I started investing in real estate in college and was able to make some decent money in my early 20’s. Then again, any money in your early 20’s is decent. And I ended up wasting a lot of it by doing immature things. For example, I had a BMW. I only had it for a short time because I realized it wasn’t me and I felt stupid driving the car around. I’ve also wasted a good amount of money on going to Atlantic City and Las Vegas.

Yes, I certainly believe in having fun, but you need to be smart and save your money–at least 10 percent of it. However, I’m not writing to you to try to get you to save your money. That’s common sense. The reason I want you to stop acting rich is to protect your assets and keep yourself from being a target of fraudsters.

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Commentary

Drop that Extra Burden On Your Path to Success

by Justin Pierce | September 27, 2009

The Burden
There is a widely accepted but rarely named enemy that pervades our culture and handicaps our people. I hereby resolve to name it and identify it in defense of those with the capabilities which this enemy stifles. I want to give cover to all of you who have thought it but were afraid to speak it; to those who have muttered it but where silenced by the shrill cries of indignation. I will scream it in proud defiance atop the rock of natural law. Simple common sense and cause and effect will be my shield and my sword though I know they have proven useless against the squishy formless subversive weapons of the warriors of the enemy. I will be called greedy, heartless, and hateful by the merciless minions of the enemy but I will bare it as a patriot to the cause of productivity.

This enemy is guilt. Its weapon of choice: charity. Its result is the abdication of our free will to think, to speak, and to act in our own best interest. Guilt is the weapon that turns our strength against us. The more successful you are the more reward that natural law endows upon you and thus the more guilt you are expected to feel. In the end the most successful among us are left questioning their own rewards and sabotaging their own business by questioning whether they deserve to make so much money.

In turn the enemy is shameless. He comes with indignant scowl on his face with hand extended demanding his share of any profit. He grins and turns his back when a deal loses money as if saying, “That’s what you get.” Never would the enemy consider giving back a portion of what he took from the last deal. His interest seems to lie in taking from those who are successful and keeping down those who are in need.

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Commentary

The New Real Estate Niche

by Tom Koziol | September 25, 2009
Real Estate
Image by Thomas Hawk via Flickr

After you read this post you will realize the “new” is really the “old” but, in the end, who cares. At least according to me.

We’ve all seen headlines that read: Existing home sales dip in August or words to that effect. Truth is, those headlines aren’t news anymore. They used to be but used to be has become the norm or maybe I should say the numb.

To add more numb to this post, we all have read articles telling us real estate practitioners and investors are expressing frustration with what they consider slow action from banks. That is, banks aren’t releasing inventory fast to satisfy the demand.

My question boils down to what do they really expect from institutions that have moved, on a historical basis, extremely slow. It is merely business as usual.

On the other hand, given a red-hot market has poked its head out of the ground we should expect business not to be usual. We should demand those institutions with a home inventory to get off their duffs and start moving the product. A home is no different than any other retail product, other than the sales price. When demand flares up, release the inventory and satisfy the demand.

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