February 2012
1 post
4 tags
Whose Brand Are You Promoting?
In many businesses brand awareness can make or break you. A strong brand name can get you in the door, but preconceived ideas about that company can limit your growth. While a little known brand, new to the market might not have any history or exceptions associated with it.
So I ask, whose brand are you promoting? And, how is it affecting your business? If you are an independent contractor,...
October 2011
1 post
6 tags
Broker Obsolescence? - The Growth of Auctions.
The new cry from constituents and customers alike is for transparency. No more backroom deals or preferred treatment. The White House is being held to a new standard of transparency, Wall Street is being dragged into an era of transparency (abet kicking and screaming) and in the age of Google and communication at the speed of light, why not?
Shouldn’t we all understand why something...
August 2011
2 posts
3 tags
The Landlord's New Nemesis - The Traveler
Tough times breed new levels of desperate behavior. Not that landlords need more to worry about, but I just heard about a new trend in theft called “Travelers.” If you haven’t heard about these folks, you might be quick to fall victim.
Spawned by the rash of people loosing homes to foreclosure and gutting the home of everything that isn’t nailed down (which for some...
July 2011
1 post
3 tags
In the Shadows: Is the Shadow Inventory a Threat?
Investors the world over were taught to exercise caution and use reasonable due diligence to discover threats to investments. Since the fall of Enron, AIG and so many other companies we’ve learned about “Off-book” threats. Also called Off book debt, counter-party risk, derivatives, and the shadow market. It seems that in a the age of transparency, bolstered...
June 2011
1 post
5 tags
Tighter Loan Qualifications Lead to Stronger...
The “Buzz” among the politically charged today is centered around the Frank-Dodd Financial reform act. Over 2,000 pages in length, it contains only instructions to the regulatory agencies to create the policy - its a work in process and this seems to scare everyone.
What is clear is that we will see Fannie/Freddie and the other GSE’s scaled down and eliminated. The new rules...
May 2011
2 posts
5 tags
I Think The Market is Turning..or, Have I Gotten...
So many things to talk about. There is so much happening lately that I’m trying to separate my thoughts. Jobless claims are up, but the Mid-west is being shredded by killer tornadoes. The Dow has recovered nearly all it’s losses from 2008, but the US has exhausted it’s credit line and we need to raise the debt ceiling. It seems that as bad as the bad news seems to be, we are...
5 tags
UK Cuts Public Housing Funding by 60%
I have been spending most of my spare time meeting with and talking to owners and developers. I’m happy to report that most of the market seems to feel the market is turning for the better. I’ll elaborate on this in my next blog post.
On another front, I read an article this past week about how the rest of the world is trimming their federal budgets. One startling bit of news was...
April 2011
4 posts
4 tags
The Burden of Housing Restrictions on Landlords...
I really do enjoy the conversations I have daily with owners, developers and managers in our business. The frustrations, challenges and successes they experience each day reminds me how far we have come in running our properties.
Today we have software systems (cloud based) that combine accounting, management, tenant records (contact management), documents and even maintenance records. No...
5 tags
Synergies in the Market
A friend told me that you never see the progress when you are knee deep in the process. I use this little pearl of wisdom to explain why some investors and owners are having a tough time seeing positive changes in the housing markets.
We look for signs of change and benchmarks that are measurable. I’ll share a few that have been shared with me:
- You know when the market has topped out...
8 tags
Death to the Light Bulb...What's next?
With rising energy costs and soon to follow, rising restrictions I expect to see a lot more legislation passed to save energy. Personally, I’m all for it. However, there is a cost to the conversion and with the budget fight in Washington, don’t expect the folks who pass the restrictions to help fund the conversions.
The last 100 watt light bulbs will be pulled from the shelves in...
5 tags
Nature vs. Nurture, What makes a good property?
Is there really such thing as a “Bad” property? Can a good operator make the difference? Every property has it’s unique location, construction and functional differences. How much weight do you assign to the operator vs. the building in determining if it will be a star property?
I have to admit I’ve sold some buildings with a long history of poor operations, through...
March 2011
7 posts
5 tags
Competing for In-Migration... The new Job Market
The study of Urban Planning has always interested me. Examining population growth and migration from the Fertile Crescent to the growth of European cities, to Manifest Destiny in the US. People have migrated and congregated based on factors specific to the era.
Since the industrial revolution we have seen a steady migration to the job centers. People have been following the jobs. It’s...
4 tags
The Butterfly Effect - How The Japanese Crisis...
I’ve often talked about how the costs of operations continue to creep up over time. Every line item in our operating budget has increased while income/rents have moved in the opposite direction. This is one of the reasons some owners who don’t reassess their budgets and projections annually will find they are losing income and can’t explain why.
What’s happening in...
Link to Local Economist - Elliot D. Pollack's... →
5 tags
Siphoning Dollars Off Our Tenants...
A long time developer/owner, friend of mine and I were talking yesterday afternoon about “Ah..Ha ” observations that changed his perception, influenced his course of action and saved him from a few mis-steps in the market.
We were discussing how important it is to visit your own properties without warning and at random. He told me he learned more about about his properties from his...
5 tags
Who Wants Your Own Place? It's Cool to Share.
Phoenix and for that matter, most of the southwest has been a population draw because of the lower costs of living. It’s no surprise that the primary reason for the lower cost of living has been cheaper, plentiful housing alternatives. For as long as I can remember Phoenix has ranked as an affordable city as compared to places like San Diego, Denver, Seattle, etc. The cost of housing cost in...
Rolling Stone Article - Why Isn't Wall Street in... →
3 tags
Some Diamonds in the Rough?
I’ve been reading a lot about the positive changes in our market lately and I’m encouraged by both the multifamily sales activity in metro-Phoenix and the reports of higher occupancy. Most notable is the recent sale of the partially completed Center-Pointe high rise development in Tempe.
The word from the buyers is that they will restart the construction by summer and intend to make...
February 2011
6 posts
6 tags
Is there an NOI in here somewhere?
I enjoy good debate. Not that I enjoy to argue, but rather I enjoy the opportunity to respectfully defend, dissect and explore a subject from all sides without getting emotionally attached to the argument. This past week I found myself in a discussion about simple methods investors use to evaluate a property.
In an age of complex modeling software, spreadsheets and apps for you phone we still use...
“Always acknowledge a fault. This will throw those in authority off their guard...”
6 tags
The New Development Cycle for Phoenix?
I enjoy hearing the one-liners, like folklore that grows out of each market. They are used to describe some lesson that we should have learned in the previous cycles.”The common sense lost” approach to teaching the next generation of buyers what the previous one learned. one such saying pokes fun at Phoenix and really sums it all up. It goes like this:
Question: What is the crop...
“It’s fear of the unknown. The unknown is what it is. And to be frightened...”
3 tags
Trying to find an economic reference point for...
I’m sure many of us try to use history to help us understand current events and to predict future trends. It’s human nature. We gain an understanding of what happened today by what happened before and it helps us prepare for what may happen in the future.
One of the reoccurring conversations I have with friends when the topic of the “Market” comes up. Is how useful it...
“What is opportunity to the man who can’t use it?”
George Eliot”
January 2011
6 posts
“I don’t understand it? I’ve cut it twice…and it’s still...”
– My old buddy George.
1 tag
Don't hide your marketing..
Several years ago, in an arguably stronger market, I was trying desperately to pull a stalled condo conversion project out of a nose dive. It was suggested I meet with several “Housing Consultants.”
Most of them were simply brokers who had seen success in a rising market and were offering me the general and somewhat predictable advice, followed by a suggestion that we hire them. But...
Maricopa county Website →
Where you can search ownership. Docs and trustee sales
“ It does not matter how slow you go so long as you do not stop”. Wisdom of...”
1 tag
Phoenix Falling?
Today started like most mornings. I poured a cup of coffee, ran out the door and grabbed the notices of trustee sales I printed the night before. Off to see what these places looked like.
I usually zig-zag through the neighborhoods on my route rather than take the direct route- it gives me a chance to see what’s happening with other buildings and a good idea what’s happening to the...
