Friday, May 26, 2006

Tip of the Day:

Cheap + good + fast = Good Investing Practices

When it comes to selling investment properties, getting the best price is essential – just as with a primary residence. Properties generally appreciate over time, which is what makes them good investments. However, maintenance is the key. Keeping the investment property in good condition makes for appreciating value and less hassle (making repairs found during inspection, negoitating with the buyer for repair costs, etc....) when the time comes to sell and invest the capital elsewhere.

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Tuesday, May 23, 2006

It is a Vicious Cycle

Katrina (8/29/2005)

Courtesy of NOAA Evironmental Visualization Program


While hurricanes and other natural disasters decimate communities, fear of such disasters is also having a negative effect. According to Stephanie Singer, insurance companies are increasingly refusing to offer homeowners insurance to people in high risk areas. Without insurance there can be no mortgage so housing areas become further depressed and redevelopment efforts slowed.

In the article for Realtor.org Singer reports,

Admiral Loy stated “Fifty-seven percent of the American public lives in areas prone to natural disasters,” he said. “Hurricanes don’t just hit the Gulf states; in the past 100 years, 11 hurricanes have hit New England, and six have made landfall on Long Island.”

Since 2000 there have been 19 Billion-Dollar disasters on the continental United States according to the National Climatic Data Center. The list is pretty varied from drought, wildfires, flooding, hurricanes, and tornadoes. Most communities have difficulty recovering from billion-dollar disasters without homeowner insurance and even then government assistance may still be required.

With the hurricane season beginning next week, Atlantic City and Cape May are the most well-known areas in New Jersey that suffered from the effects of hurricanes travelling up the Atlantic Ocean; however, New Jersey has many smaller shoreline communities that have suffered hurricane effects. Though the coastal region is generally the area most affected by wind, rain, and surging sea, often inland areas can have problems with wind damage and flooding.

As the number of multi-billion dollar disasters rise, the need for swift and substantial federal assistance to the affected regions seems common sense. The need to spread the recovery costs over the entire country rather than expecting disaster affected areas to bear the weight alone is what one would expect from united states in theory, but whether that is what will actually happen is unclear. With Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Missouri clean-ups and recoveries after Katrina as litmus test areas one must wait and see.

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The Real Estate Professional Will Survive

I surfed the web and found my way to a website called BlogHer. It is a multi-author site that looks interesting. Anyway here's a link to my comments on the question of whether real estate professionals will become extinct.
Will Real Estate Agents go Six Feet Under?

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