Real estate blog

Invest in roses

admin — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 07:05:35 +0000

People are always looking for a perfect business opportunity that would produce an oversized ROI and put a big greedy smile on their faces. I’m one of them. I do my daily routine of reading in quest for the tips and hints that would push me up the financial ladder. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I fail. In this constant chase I often forget what is really most important to me in life, my loved ones. I often forget my wife’s birthday; I never remember my wedding anniversary or the mother’s day. And suddenly this thought occurred to me: why don’t I start each day with thinking about my family? It will take a few minutes every day. After all, this entire struggle to succeed is for them. As I sip coffee in the morning I can think of the most important investment I can make, a rose for my mom at her birthday or a bunch of roses for my wife on our wedding anniversary…

What is the ROI on this one? Just little things, like happiness and smiles…

Markets

admin — Wed, 20 May 2009 17:43:28 +0000

Geographic industrialization patterns of the United States reflect the importance of markets. Initially, market oriented industries were concentrated in the Northeast and the Atlantic Seaboard. As the population center of the United States shifted westward, manufacturing followed.
It is important in industrial development efforts to distinguish between consumer markets and industrial markets. Consumer markets are generally related to population concentrations and income levels while industrial markets are related to centers of manufacturing a specific product. The variety of goods and services in consumer markets is extremely wide and competition for a share of the market of products is national or even international in scope. The producer of a particular product for this market must recognize this fact since it directly affects his volume of sales and product price. Many new plant locations in the Southwest that manufacture goods for consumer markets are branch plant operations of existing corporations seeking to serve that growing regional market.
The needs of industrial markets are generally more specific than consumer markets. Industrial development should not overlook the market potential arising from the needs of new or existing local industry that may be acquiring production inputs from distant areas. Often these needs can be met more efficiently by a local source.

Plant Location Factors

admin — Sat, 16 May 2009 17:43:14 +0000

A systematic analysis of plant location factors is generally made by firms that are searching for a new plant site. The number and types of factors affecting location vary in each case and they sometimes run into the hundreds. However, the breakdown of location factors examined usually includes the following:
Markets
Industrial Site
Labor
Utilities
Raw Materials
Financial Capital
Transportation
The importance of these factors varies widely from one industry to another. Moreover, with changing technology and economic conditions, their role will vary within a given industry and from one time period to another. They are interrelated and interdependent so that the desired location usually requires a compromise among factors. The important factors to a firm’s location decision may be attainable in several places. In these cases, personal factors enter into making the final decision and can be influenced directly by activities of the industrial development committee in promoting their community.

Overview of the Installment Contract

admin — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 14:36:06 +0000

The installment contract is a legal instrument that replaces both the usual promissory note and mortgage deed of a typical purchase mortgage transaction.
Instead of selling the property outright, the seller is essentially giving the buyer a conditional opportunity to own the property. The prospective buyer should be aware that these conditions can be formidable—but the potential rewards can be very positive.
Most installment contracts are extremely detailed. Because of the complex nature of this type of transaction, the interests of both parties need to be protected. The typical installment contract, however, will contain variations with the following elements:
1. Down payment requirement
2. Buyer use of the property
3. Schedule of payments
4. Defined (short) term
5. Seller responsibility
6. Completion of the purchase

Railroads

admin — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 09:26:55 +0000

Before the widespread advent of condominiums, one of the most prevalent application of air rights involved railroads. With the density of many metropolitan areas and the advent of stronger construction materials (particularly steel and concrete), many railroad companies made extra income by selling or leasing their air rights.
The most common, but overlooked, example of using air space above railroads is street overpasses above railroad tracks. When the local, state or federal government builds an overpass above train tracks, they first had to obtain the air rights over those tracks. A more discreet application has become more widespread in 20th-century cities, where land is so valuable. The Merchandise Mart and Central Post Office in Chicago, portions of the St. Louis downtown riverfront and the Park Avenue developments in New York are all examples of developments over railroad tracks. In each case, the railroads sold or leased the air rights above their tracks to allow developers to build above them. Of course, some of ground and sub-surface portions were also transferred so that columns and caissons could be built to support the developments above. Caissons are typically from the ground surface down to several feet below the surface; the columns would then rest atop the caissons.

Condominiums

admin — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 09:25:26 +0000

Air rights come into play with many condominiums. Often, the condominium owner only owns the air rights, while the homeowner association owns all the walls, ceilings and floors. The condo owner only owns the air space within his or her unit. Nevertheless, that air space has proven very valuable, as condominium development has exploded throughout the country.
Within the unit’s air space, the condominium owner enjoys the usual bundle of real property ownership rights, such as possession, control, enjoyment, exclusion and disposition. The homeowner’s association can and does impose restrictions on these ownership rights, but the unit owners are normally given wide latitude.

Saving on insurance

admin — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 13:11:23 +0000

If your lender tries to sell you (optional!) life insurance with the mortgage think it through and don’t let the lenders pretty talk convince you. Even in the hardest of times, such as we have these days, do not always justify buying a life insurance from your mortgage broker. And there are some simple reasons for that. First of all, in most cases the insurance your lender will try to sell you will be a lot more expensive that the regular, old-fashioned term life insurance. Also, any other mortgage protection should be looked upon with caution as it may turn out that it will be cheaper just to save money and attempt to pay your mortgage back faster.
Although you will most probably be asked to buy a homeowners insurance, or mortgage insurance (even though you may already have life insurance) remember that you are free to choose how much insurance you need and feel free to shop around and find the best rates for you. Again, this way you may save a few hundreds.

Your income

admin — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 13:10:46 +0000

If you are applying for a loan it is always good to ponder on your total monthly income prior to consulting a loan broker. Although you might think that ‚not showing off’ with some of your income may be desirable from the point of view of paying taxes, when it comes to mortgages the more the better. So if you have an ‚unofficial’ income it is good to make it official and thus make it count for the bank. This way you will be able to take a bigger loan, or for a longer period of time, which would, in turn, mean that you have a smaller monthly installment to give back. The bank will keenly take into consideration your self-employed income, as well as sales commissions, or disability income. Even if you have child support, or alimony (provided you have the court order mandating the payments and some proof that they are made) you can add that too. If you also happen to have any, long forgotten stocks options, assets, or even royalties from computer software you may be almost certain you will be a valuable client in the eyes of any bank.

Finding the best mortgage

admin — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 15:28:45 +0000

Getting a mortgage is most probably one of the most important decisions in your life as you will repay it for twenty to thirty years. Therefore, you should do whatever is possible to take the most suitable mortgage for you. So first of all, you should decide if what you need if a fixed-rate mortgage, or adjustable-rate mortgage – ARM. When you’ve decided whether fixed rate mortgage is more desirable to you or the adjustable rate mortgage use one of many mortgage calculator available on the internet to compare what different banks or lender have to offer. Then discuss your candidates with friends and family to check how dependable the banks are. It might seem natural to take the mortgage with the lowest interest rate as it will cost you the least. But take into consideration that some banks may add some unnecessary fees, or cause some troubles so you should make sure your lender is dependable. It is also advisable to make plans considering timing. Do not expect that your bank or lender will do everything according to your pre-planned schedule. You should remember that you’re talking about large sums of money and that the banks have their own schedules so take it easy.

Finding a good real estate agent

admin — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:56:08 +0000

Before you find the home of your dreams you have to find a real estate agent that will help you. Thus it would sem quite logical that you need the best real estate agent you can find to make your dream come true. There are at least a few things you can do to make sure you are working with people to whom your satisfaction with a house or a flat is almost as important as to you.
First of all you should make sure that the estate agent you decide to work with is a full-time agent and not someone who gets distracted by too many things. Such real estate agents are by definition more professional and, what is important, they usually have quite a big experience. Secondly, make sure that you work with buyer’s agent and not someone who also sells as such a person might tend to show you houses which he is trying to sell and which might not completely meet your expectations.
In order to find a good buyer’s agent it is always good to ask your family, friends, colleagues from work and any other trustworthy people. You can also use Google and search for real estate agents in the area you are interested in, but be sure to look for ‘exclusive buyer’s agents’.
When you think you’ve found an agent do not hesitate to aks a few questions, such as: ‘How long have you been working as an agent?’, ‘How many transactions have you closed in the last few months?’, Have the houses you recently sold been in my price range?’ and so on and so on.
One more important thing is to aks your real estate agent to accept a flat rate you can afford. If it is possible try to persuade your agent not to take the standard estate commission but to accept the flat rate and you might add that you will add another $100 for every $1,000 you spend under your target price. That way you still save some money and your agent is even more motivated to find you what you are looking for.