MAJOR DILEMMA: Economically We’re in Recovery; Mentally We’re Stuck in Recession.

Are We Stuck In a Moment In Time When We Expect the Worse? “Yes, but…” Say Investors

By Mark Heschmeyer
September 26, 2012

 

Despite improving job numbers, rising CRE and housing prices, declining vacancies and stabilizing rental rates, not to mention a new round of fed stimulus that will pump $40 billion a month into the mortgage markets, the prevailing sentiment in the commercial real estate industry still seems to be one of doom and gloom. And importantly that outlook is affecting which deals are getting done and which ones are not.

“Economically We’re in Recovery; Mentally We’re Stuck in Recession”

“We have noticed the trend as well and concur that a negative, or rather extremely conservative, mindset is prevalent with the investors in the market,” said Steve Timmel, senior vice president of Colliers International in Cincinnati. “Many investors are analyzing assets based on the ‘what-could-go-wrong’ view versus spending time focusing on ‘what-could-go-right’ and this has had an impact on pricing and deal velocity.”

“We appear to be in an extended period of uncertainty that is creating a tremendous amount of gridlock,” added Ron Riley, Timmel’s counterpart with Colliers in Memphis, TN. “As the economy grinds along, it will take really positive news to start moving it forward again in a sustained fashion.”

For now, at least, the mindset of investors seems to be one of caution while the economy staggers to its feet, ignoring the positive signs of returning growth and instead expecting another knockdown punch.

“Are we stuck in a moment in time when we expect the worse,” asks Randall Chrisman, principal of The Chrisman Co. in Carrolton, TX.

His answer is: “Yes, but…”

The income property: Your late-in-life retirement plan

By Amy Fontinelle | Investopedia.com – Thu, Sep 6, 2012 12:58 PM EDT

 

“Income property can be an important bridge to retirement for those without quite enough to retire in the traditional sense,” says J. Camarda, a real estate investor, Certified Financial Planner, and Chief Investment Officer of Jacksonville, Fla.-based Camarda Wealth Advisors. Because real estate is such an inefficient market, it’s possible to find awesome bargains with a very high return on investment, Camarda says. And if you can manage the property yourself, you can collect more income.

If you purchase the right property at the right price and on the right terms, he says, a rental property can produce significantly more income than traditional passive investments.

This article will describe how much you can expect to invest and earn, how to choose a location for your rental property, and problems that might derail your plans if you aren’t careful.

8 Ways to Trim Moving Costs

You can transport your stuff on the cheap with the right preparation.

By Daniel Bortz of U.S. News & World Report

The average professional household move costs a whopping $12,230, according to a 2010 report by Worldwide ERC, an association that tracks mobility costs. However, this cost is for a full-service professional move, in which the moving company packs up your belongings and essentially handles the entire move for you. While many people choose to hire professional movers, others opt to orchestrate the move themselves by renting a truck. This is a good option if you have the manpower to move by yourself, but if that’s not feasible, you may need to enlist the help of professional movers.

If you hire professionals, there are ways you can reduce expenses, such as through tax breaks, research and packing up small belongings before the movers arrive.

Approximately 16.7 million households move annually, according to the Census Bureau. People make moves year-round, but the most popular time for moving is summer, because most families want to move when their children are out of school, says Julie Reynolds, a spokeswoman for Moving.com, a website that connects consumers with professional moving companies.

You can save money if you move between October and April, because a summer move costs 25% more than moving during those months, says Phil Liu, co-founder of CityMove.com, a free website where consumers solicit bids from movers.

U.S. News spoke to moving experts for their best cost-saving tips when hiring movers.

You can transport your stuff on the cheap with the right preparation.

3 Hot Remodeling Trends: Garages, Laundry Rooms, Kitchens.

Kitchen islands are popular. A feature like a prep sink makes it easier for two cooks to work at the same time…

If you’re thinking of building or you’re planning a remodel — either for yourself or to make things more attractive for a potential buyer — the latest home trends can offer some valuable insights to help with your planning.

Architects and other home design experts gathered at the Pacific Coast Builders Conference this summer — which is always full of new products and ideas — to discuss what’s new and hot in home design trends. Some of the ideas are a bit of a departure from past years:

Five Home Improvement Projects To Tackle Now

Do you have a long list of home improvement projects?
Late summer might be the best time to check them off.

Summer is the time for backyard barbecues, road trips, and ball games, right? Well, later in the season, it’s also a great time for certain home improvement projects.

Why? Because the generally mild late-summer weather lends itself well to projects that could otherwise expose your home, new project, or yourself to bad weather, says Dean Herriges, National Association of the Remodeling Industry president.

That means that waiting to tackle your home improvement projects till winter—when damaging or dangerous storms can hit—could spell disaster for you and your project.

Late Summer: a great time for certain home improvement projects.

Check out these five home improvement projects you might want to squeeze in before the mild weather is over.

Should You Keep Your Inherited House? How to Assess the Costs

If you’re like most people who’ve just inherited a house, you’re probably struggling to decide what to do with the asset. Given the dismal state of the current housing market, it may be tempting to hold onto the property for a few years to give house prices a chance to recover, while potentially taking advantage of escalating rent prices in the meantime. Before you can justify taking this approach, however, you’ll need to have a clear idea of what it will cost to keep the home. Here are the items you should include in your calculation:

5 Things to Know About Buying REO

When it comes to selling REO (or “real estate owned”) properties, banks have one simple goal — they want to minimize their losses. This generally means that they want to close deals as quickly as possible, for the highest possible price, with the buyer assuming all of the risks.

5 Things to Know about Buying REO

Because banks are dealing with large inventories and thousands of deals at any given time, they have very little attachment to any single deal working out, and buyers have very little leverage when it comes to negotiating favorable terms. Potential investors, then, need to be prepared to act decisively in making attractive offers, while also having systems in place to protect themselves from disaster. With this in mind, here are five things you should be prepared to do when buying REO:

6 household pests you don’t want to know…

How did our ancestors from 200,000 years ago deal with pests that invaded their caves? “Probably much the same way we do,” says Steve Heydon, senior museum scientist at the University of California, Davis department of entomology. “They stomped on them.”

Heydon says not much has changed in the millenia since man used real rock for sheetrock walls. “We basically live in architecturally nicer caves now, but they’re still much like caves. They’re closed spaces that we hope protect us from nature and the elements and we’re shocked when some little creature is able to invade our home.”

Most of the pests we face around our homes are well known to us: house ants, mosquitoes, and cockroaches. But what about those weird creatures that look like they’ve dropped in from another universe, or at least from another continent? Here’s a list of six of the creepiest critters you may find on your property and what you can do about them:

 

1. Carpenter Ants

As their name implies, they’re ready to work on your wood and they don’t have a contractor’s license. Carpenter ants are found in many parts of the U.S. and Canada, and are especially attracted to moist, soft woods. Unlike termites though, they don’t actually eat wood. They just enjoy biting through it and creating channels through a beam or two. Once they’ve found a home, carpenter ants can be difficult to get rid of by yourself. Your best bet is to clear out any damp wood piles around your property line and, if in Florida, be careful. There’s a species there that can give you a painful bite.

 

“Sorry, Philly, you win ‘Most Bedbugs’ honor this year”

Here’s an East Coast honor that New York City will be happy to lose. After two years of being named the most bedbug-infested city in the U.S., the City That Never Sleeps can finally get some rest as Philadelphia nabs this year’s creepy crown.

Cincinnati scratches its way to second, while NYC drops to third. Newcomers to the top 15 include Cleveland, Miami, Houston, Indianapolis and New Haven, Conn.

Pest-control company Terminix, which compiled this nightmare ranking, suggests travelers can avoid the bloodsucking parasites when visiting infested regions by inspecting mattresses, headboards and box springs for bugs and (shudder) “bug exoskeletons and dark blood spots.”

 

Reference:  “Sorry, Philly, you win ‘Most Bedbugs’ honor this year ” <http://now.msn.com/living/0613-philadelphia-bed-bugs&gt;

 

Good News Ahead For US Apartment Market

Over the last few years the U.S. apartment market achieved notable success in a struggling economy. With the addition of “Echo Boomers” entering the workforce, the apartment sector looks to continue the positive market trend in the future. These were some of the observations shared by guests on a recent episode of the national talk radio station, the “Commercial Real Estate Show.” Occupancy rates, future development locations and rent growth were a few of the market topics discussed.

The national apartment occupancy rate last year was 93.5 percent and according to Ronald G. Johnsey, president of AxioMetrics Inc., the 2012 rate should reach 95 percent. Johnsey added that 2011 saw apartment rents grow by 4.1 percent and will be expected to hit 5.5 percent in 2012. Compared to Class A and B apartments, Class C apartments have not experienced the same growth rate, but this is expected to change. “This year we’re going to fill in Class C,” said Johnsey. “We’re going to see the occupancy rates in all classes get closer to 95 percent, and that’s going to create really strong pricing power.”

Echo Boomers refer to those born in the 1980s and early 1990s. Their addition to the rental pool is why Johnsey feels the road ahead for the apartment sector looks bright. Echo Boomers are currently getting married late and usually have quite a bit of college debt. These two factors alone diminish the possibility of home ownership, thus contributing to the rise of apartment rentals.

According to Doug Culkin, president of the National Apartment Association, 2013 and 2014 should see a noticeable increase in development. Apartment developers are looking for land on both the East and West Coasts, and even plan on targeting college towns where empty nesters seek a bit of culture. Ernie Eden, a senor vice president in Bull Realty Apartment Group says that developers have made “a real move to quality” regarding locations. “If you’ve got a great location, there’s all sorts of interest on the part of developers.”

Source: http://atlantarealestate.citybizlist.com/3/2012/2/6/CREShow-US-Apartment-Market-Continues-to-Roll.aspx