Education

Although signs are mainly positive for a commercial market recovery in 2011, overall numbers are still showing this recovery to be less than vigorous. Doubt in the commercial market sector is a major issue. The industry cannot fully recover unless and until owners, lenders, investors, developers, operators, and tenants begin to see strong signals that the economy and the industry have hit bottom and started to make their way back up.

One glaring factor preventing any obvious suggestion of a recov

     To gain real success in any business, we all should agree that we must give our clients what they want. How do we accomplish this in the remodeling industry, when our client’s wants are always evolving? We must learn to evolve, also.

     In all the research I’ve been doing lately, I’ve seen a steep drop in the demand for McMansions and large scale additions. I have also seen a decline in requests for high-end amenities that usually go with these types of construction.

     More so

   How do I say this without scaring everyone? Looming over us right now is a massive housing shortage. The Census Bureau, in 2008, released some of the most incredible projections for our population. Just read these numbers and see what I mean:

1. Our U.S. population will increase by about 135 million, 44%, by 2050.
2. This rise in population will call for an additional 52 million housing units.
3. Starting today, over 1.25 million housing units must be built each year, to keep up with this explosion in po

There are myriad business formations in which you can operate, with the most ordinary being the sole proprietorship, the corporation (including S corps), and limited liability company (LLC). There are some states which limit your many options; for example California does not allow LLC for contractors. When deciding the best structure suitable for you, there are several important issues you must consider; expense and regulation, liability (risk), control and permanence (ability to transfer), and

Though early this year some analysts predicted the housing recovery as soon as 2012, new data is showing this might have been premature. Thanks chiefly to the “robo-signing” scandal that rocked the lending and servicing industries, the current predictions are less optimistic.

A record three million homeowners will receive foreclosure notices in 2010, although only one million of these homes will be taken by the end of the year. This will be due to a holdup of processing while the lenders investi

1. Become Proactive – Stop Being Reactive!
   Re-write your marketing plan. Get it streamlined. Narrow its focus. This will create a huge improvement each step along your path. It will get you more phone calls resulting in more qualified leads. It wil

In my previous post, I put out some thoughts and observations of the current market and "Short Sales". As the overall Economy deteriorates (remember by one measure unemployment is 9.6% and when you throw in the under-employed,it's 17%+ ) the Banks are going to feel even more pressure with ever increasing defaults.The threats of Forclosure litigation against them is a huge problem. To absolve themselves,they would rather have the "Distressed Homeowner" deed the property to the buyer.This will get

I will give you my insights as someone involved in analyzing tens of thousands of "deals" and being involved in some fashion in the settlement process since 1994 from the view point of a principal partner of a formerly large Title Insurance Agency.in New Jersey My primary role was Vice President and Head Underwriter/Examiner besides my ancillary role as baby-sitter to a staff of 25+(back in the boom years). Even back in those days,flips were frowned upon, but tolerated if properly disclosed,coor

I bet the headline "Why Paying 50% after paying 10% more+ 0% is Better than Paying 15% after paying 9% less+6%" got you just a little bit confused. A lot of investors with little cash or credit rely on "Hard Money" lenders(HML) to fund their transactions.Let me illustrate a "hypothetical"scenerio using a typical investor formula;

ARV= $250K repairs=$50K. You have to buy at around 60%ARV if you could find a 65-70%ARV HML so you can pay the points and closing costs(or its coming out of your pocket)

Do you watch the News? You know the headlines and topics.

Real un-employment over 17%

Banks using Robo-Signers, Forclosures being challenged

Rates at all time lows,but no one is lending

Tight credit conditions,...Inflation...Deflation...Double Dip....it goes on and on...

Isn't it true that lots of people these days are either; broke,going broke or afraid of going broke? Ask the average person in Real Estate on the outlook of business, and they will give you a pessimistic answer.

What I find strange is

I mentioned thru blogs that I recently sold a property. As I was sitting at the closing congratulating the 1st time home-buyers,It reminded me about when I purchased my first property in 1996.It was a 2-Family REO in Union that needed major rehab.I purchased it for $94,000 with 15% down($14,000...all borrowed) and my mortgage was 12.5 % !!! I borrowed around $25,000, rehabbed it(2 new furnaces,roof,siding,gutters,2 kitchens,2bathrooms ect..)needless to say,I busted my rear for months doing a lot