Helping Good Investors Make Better Decisions
We have an article written by the team in this month’s Multifamily Emerging Market Report, our multifamily emerging market newsletter due out this week, looking at the potential changes in personal tax structure that might be on tap given the rhetoric expressed thus far by the presidential candidates. We’ve dressed the analogy up in a […]
Last Thursday’s WSJ featured an article penned by David Wessel titled “Ten Days That Changed Capitalism”. We agree with Mr. Wessel that several things have happened of late that are perhaps not earth shattering (on the scale of FDR level intervention per Wessel), but it appears that a pocket full of the old rules were […]
“Lord, grant that I may always desire more than I can accomplish.” – Michelangelo
[My family watched an inspiring movie featuring Michelangelo over the weekend – The Agony and the Ecstasy - well worth your time if you’ve not seen Charlton Heston as the master artist] Technorati Tags: real estate investor quote of the day
For the first time in several years, developers / builders / rehabbers are seeing declines in the costs of at least some of the materials used in multifamily and single family residential construction. An article in the March 2008 issue of Multifamily Executive details some of the specifics.
Lumber costs overall are down 3.8% December 2006 […]
Seven National Crimes:
1. I Don’t Think.
2. I Don’t Know.
3. I Don’t Care.
4. I am too busy.
5. I leave well enough alone.
6. I have no time to read and find out.
7. I am not interested.
–William J. Boetcker
Technorati Tags: real estate investor quote of the day
There’s been an increasing volume of discussion in the financial media regarding CMBS, their role in the credit woes we’re seeing now, and the recovery of the CMBS market. Securities have in the recent past been priced at levels that appear to imply that default rates could reach 80% to 100% (which would appear to be […]
There was a very thoughtful op-ed written by Ethan Penner in Tuesday’s (25 Mar) WSJ – titled “Of Markets and Mortgages”. Fair disclosure right off the bat requires noting that Penner helped pioneer the application of securitization technology to real estate finance during his earlier days.
Penner makes several compelling points in his discussion – the […]
We plan to occasionally “take a break” from the ins and outs of discussing real estate issues and talk about another topic - health related today, and often these will be fun and otherwise diverting forays.
In the current issue of the medical journal Neurology (25 March 2008), lead study author Rachel Whitmer of Kaiser Permanente […]
“The problem isn’t educating the uneducated but rather uneducating the educated.” — G.K. Chesterton
Technorati Tags: real estate investor quote of the day
The California Association of Realtors reports in the LA times today that statewide median home sales prices fell 26% February 2007 to February 2008. Prices were down 27.2% in the inland Empire east of LA, 30.9% in Sacramento, and 39.1% in Santa Barbara County.
This drop has been equated to a loss of $2788 per week […]
We received several emails yesterday for the most part agreeing with us in our veiled criticism of the media’s interpretation of the S&P’s Case-Shiller data released yesterday. Several news sites mentioned the OFHEO index data also, as did several of those commenting on our post.
We’d strongly suggest that following both of these indices is critical […]
The Commerce Department has released data today detailing that sales of new single family homes declined 1.8% in February. Interestingly the seasonally adjusted annual sales number in February was calculated to be 590,000, the lowest level since February 1995.
Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that new home sales this February were 29.8% lower than […]
“You need to figure out a way to make money while you sleep”. — Dr. Stan Makman
Technorati Tags: real estate investor quote of the day
The Conference Board has released several indices reflecting consumer sentiments today – all are being discussed rather vociferously in the media as we pen these comments.
The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index is down sharply for the second month in row, now registering at 64.5. This survey of 5000 US households (completed for the CB by […]
Standard and Poor’s has released their latest S&P/Case-Shiller Indices data and the main stream media is once again painting the picture of a cratering single family home market. What’s all the hubbub about? The 10 City Composite Index delclined 11.4%, and the 20 City Composite Index 10.7% (annualized data). The dubious title of the worst […]
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