Has Your Rent Gone Up In Value? We invest our money in various things.  Some more popular investments are stocks and bonds.  In the recent economy, many people have been suggesting gold as a very good investment. To us folks in the real estate business, we are very familiar with real estate as an investment. Real Estate Investments There are some who invest in real estate in a somewhat removed fashion similar to investing in stocks.  That would be through a Real Estate Investment Trust. Others invest more directly, whereby they like to manage rental properties.  They look for positive cash flow and long term appreciation. There are some who look for faster turnarounds who look for fixer upper properties.  This requires a few extra skills related to building construction and renovation. ... 03/05/2010

Do I Have To Care? There are certainly things about which I do care.  Most people would probably think that those things are reasonable and about what most people would care. For instance, most people might care about the following: Where will I and my family live?  How will we pay for it?  Will we have enough money for the utilities so that we can stay warm in the winter and preserve our food throughout the year?   Where will I work?  Will I make enough money to support my family and myself?   Will my children get a good education?  Will I be able to send them to a good college?  Can I adequately prepare them for life?   Will there be sufficient food to keep our family healthy?  Will there be sufficient clothing for all of the seasons?   If we need health care, will we be able to get i... 03/02/2010

Just a Few More Inches My neighbor just had his front yard re-landscaped, last year. Generally speaking it looks pretty nice, but there is one bush that was planted near the corner of his lot, which is, also, near the entrance, or exit, of my driveway. This plant is only a problem in that it partially blocks the view for anyone who is trying to pull their vehicle out of my driveway. During this winter, which had record breaking snowfalls, this blind spot was, also, a temporary problem as I inconspicuously put most of the shovel loads of snow from my driveway on this particular spot.  Just kidding; I would never do that. As it turns out, a new solution to this problem has presented itself. The horrific earthquake in Chile, apparently has had worldwide consequences.  Of particular note, i... 03/02/2010

Earth's Answer To Global Warming Global warming, global cooling, global Earth, has had enough. "So you think that I am getting hot, do you?  Not a problem, I can fix that." Yes, the mighty Earth has spoken. Earth had been quietly and patiently sitting there waiting for everyone to stop babbling about it, but the talk would not stop. "I'm right here; I can hear you." Finally, in one of Earth's most mightiful displays ever, it has shown that it will not sit idly by while people talk and talk without ever acknowledging Earth itself. "So you think that it is all about you man, do you?" "Rumble, rumble, rumble, . . . " An earthquake of staggering proportions hit the small country of Haiti.  Death and destruction ensued, but man was not phased.  Global warming, blah, blah, blah. "Extra rumble... 03/02/2010

From R & D to Viable Products COLLEGE PARK, MD. - The federal government can stimulate the creation of jobs and businesses by streamlining its policies for bringing new technologies to market, says a report from the Association of University Research Parks (AURP). The report offers a 10-point plan and would be especially beneficial for high-tech states like Maryland, according to its author. "This is not only about money - it's also a matter of adjusting the policies and regulations that too often deter entrepreneurial researchers in our universities and federal labs from commercializing their work," says report author, Brian Darmody, president of the AURP and University of Maryland associate vice president for research and economic development. "Job creation in the United States will l... 02/28/2010

That Smart FSBO Buyer: Part II The following post was re-blogged by another agent.  The agent suggested that the actions of this agent were in violation of the Realtor Code of Ethics and that he had "colluded" with the seller on price.  That agent chose not to make those remarks as comments to this blog, but in a separate blog, without informing the original blogger of the repost with its close to slanderous comments. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- That Smart FSBO Buyer That Smart FSBO Buyer I am working on a theory about the vulnerability of people. My house was on the market for sale.  When I had my business "For Sale" sign in front of the house, I got few calls.  I decided to try a "For Sale By Owner" (FSBO) sign and sure enough, in the fir... 02/26/2010

Parents Used To Complain About Trailer Classrooms A community would grow and soon the local schools could not accommodate all of the students.  The quick, easy, and relatively inexpensive solution was to add trailers to handle the growth.  Of course, this would get the parents out and complaining about their children going to class in trailers. But now, entire schools are being made out of trailers and getting "green awards".  Do not get alarmed.  If you were not told that it was made of trailers, then you would probably not know it. Check out the article: Williams Scotsman's Green Charter School Project Earns High Marks The sustainable school campus completed by Baltimore-based Williams Scotsmanin Chula Vista, California has earned LEED Gold certification with the U.S. Green Building C... 02/25/2010

Networking: Create a Sales Force There are several organizations which provide opportunities for professional business people to network. Many of these organizations are designed such that a group of business professionals from different businesses meet on a weekly basis to network.  The most effective groups contain from 12 to 25 individuals.  Anything smaller would not provide enough of a dynamic and anything larger would be unwieldy. There are keys to finding success within these types of groups: One must commit oneself to the group.  They should put the meeting time on their calendar and consider it to be a sales call.  If you need to schedule a meeting which is more directly related to your business, you should not haphazardly bump this meeting, but rather you should schedule aroun... 02/25/2010

FSBO: Call Me "Who was it, honey?" "It was another one of those darn real estate agents wanting to list our house." "If this keeps up, we're going to have the phone disconnected."   Apparently, Real Estate Agents have not been getting the word out to all people.  It seems that it is an unknown fact, among a group of people who try to sell their houses by themselves, that Real Estate Agents work with both Sellers and Buyers. Consider this particular logic: Owners of a house decide that they would like to sell their house;  Okay so far. They decide to take on the venture by themselves.  They figure that it can not be too difficult.  After all, they have had many a successful yard sale with lots of items, lots of prices, and lots of buyers.  So it should not be too hard to sell just one ho... 02/25/2010

FSBO: Saving Money? A homeowner wants to sell his or her house, but they decide that they would like to keep the costs low.  They decide that they will try to sell it on their own and save money by not having to pay a commission.  They go the route of the For Sale By Owner (FSBO). These homeowners have a misperception that the biggest cost in the transaction would be the real estate commission.  Here are some reasons why this is a fallacy: Often the FSBO is priced too low.  Obviously, the Sellers are losing the difference between their price and what they could have gotten.  This is usually more than the commission would have been.  The Seller does not easily have access to the data nor the training to evaluate the data to determine a reasonable price.   Often the FSBO is priced too hig... 02/25/2010

Panel of Experts Workshop Many real estate agents provide workshops.  They may be for home buying, repairing credit, first time Buyers, home selling, or a few other popular topics. Most Buyers and Sellers are not completely familiar with the real estate process, especially first time Buyers.  Even Buyers and Sellers on their second or third move may not be up to date on the latest happenings within the real estate industry or they may have forgotten much from their last transaction.  A purchase only happens every five to seven years on average. A real estate agent is an excellent person to provide an education session for these Buyers and Sellers, because agents are intimately involved with all factors of the real estate process. However, as closely associated with each portion of the i... 02/25/2010

That Smart FSBO Buyer I am working on a theory about the vulnerability of people. My house was on the market for sale.  When I had my business "For Sale" sign in front of the house, I got few calls.  I decided to try a "For Sale By Owner" (FSBO) sign and sure enough, in the first day I got five calls. A FSBO is what someone does to try to save money for themself, not for the buyer. I just listed a house for $595,000.  The comparable sales indicate that $495,000 would be more appropriate, but the owner, says that a FSBO just sold for $625,000 right up the street.  Some stupid buyer thought he was getting a good deal by going this route.  Fortunate for the $525K guy, he is a long time client of mine, so I am willing to work with him on an overpriced listing. I am thinking of putting FSBO ... 02/20/2010

Americanized, Almost I was working with a couple who was looking to buy a house.  The lender had approved them for a moderately priced home, not much, but certainly a good starter home level.  Some of the houses, which we viewed, I did not think were very good, but this family was from Mexico, so I figured anything above a cardboard box would seem like a palace, but no they had already been Americanized. They were a nice couple.  Each of them worked; they had nice children; and wanted to do things as Americans did them, including communicating in English. It seemed that they did deserve more than a dump type of home. After looking at one of the houses, Mario said to me, "Ron, is it okay if I don't have a job?"  I asked him what had happened.  He said, "I was not getting enough hours so ... 02/20/2010

Can't You Run Around The Block My daughter can not get enough of running. You would think there would be enough races in which to run locally, in Maryland, whether they be 3, 5, 10, 25, or whatever amount of miles.  But no, first it was to Florida and next it was Anchorage .............. That's right Alaska. I asked her if she was going to be in the Iditarod, that 1000+ mile trek where the most fit of dogs pull you and your sled through the rough and tough terrain of Alaska.  Well that race starts earlier in the year and she went in July, the time of year when it is always daytime (I thought maybe she would get a better rate on her room since it would be just one day).  She only ran a half marathon on that trip.  She is pretty fast, which may be important with all of those polar and gri... 02/20/2010

Snow On The Roof The record snowfalls have dumped tons of snow on the rooftops of our beautiful homes and at much potential peril. The homes and buildings with flat roofs have been hit the hardest as the excessive weight of the snow has been more than the roofs could support.  Roofs have been collapsing. The more pitched roofs have not seen as much of a problem, since one, they have not accumulated as much snow, and two, their construction allows for a heavier load.  These roofs are possibly experiencing leakage. As the snow, which is closest to the roof goes back and forth between melting and freezing, it is potentially seeping under the shingles and then leaking into the house. Even if the snow has stopped, the freezing temperatures are freezing the waters in the gutters and drain spo... 02/17/2010

Snow and Global Warming Large parts of the United States have seen heavier snowfall this year than in previous years.  This is especially true in the Mid-Atlantic region where snowfalls have almost doubled over previous record highs. This phenomenon does lead one to question the theories about global warming. Without getting into the politics, which are certainly a part of the global warming debate, the following basic assessment provides some insight into the record snowfalls. Perhaps not in the terminology of a meteorologist, but in words that most people would agree, snow needs two variables to be present.  One is a certain temperature range and two is moisture.  If there is no moisture, then there will be no snow. It should be agreed, that as water increases in temperature that it w... 02/16/2010

Price and Days on Market There is a direct correlation between price and days on market.  The higher a particular house is priced, then the longer the days on market will be and conversely, the lower a particular house is priced, then the shorter the days on market will be. Generally speaking, if the days on market starts to accumulate, then the house is probably over priced. A Reasonable Price Yields a Reasonable Days on Market Usually a reasonable price can be determined for a house, without experimenting by putting the house on the market.  This can be done by comparing the house to similar houses which have recently sold.  Real Estate agents frequently perform this function by doing Comparative Market Analysis and Broker Price Opinions and Appraisers do the same with detailed apprai... 02/16/2010

Too Much? The Mid-Atlantic region of the United States has been seeing incredible amounts of snowfall.  Records have easily been set for total snowfall for a season, for a year, for a month, for a storm, and for number of blizzards.  It does not stop there; more is predicted within the next few days and there is more than a month left of winter. Schools have been closed for the entire week, meaning the school year may need to be extended.  Businesses are trying to stay open in this already sluggish economy, but either the employees can not get through the snow or the local jurisdictions are putting bans on most travel.  Governments have far exceeded their budgets for snow removal and will need to borrow from other accounts at a time when government spending is already being fiercely con... 02/12/2010

Maryland: Smart, Green, and Growing There are numerous initiatives in place to make and to keep the State of Maryland a smart, green, and growing community. Below is a statement from Governor O'Malley regarding the Plant a Tree program. Plant and be counted!  Forests are our most strategically important natural resource. Trees protect water quality, clean our air and provide wildlife habitat. One large tree can eliminate 5,000 gallons of storm water runoff each year, and well placed trees can help reduce energy costs by 15 to 35 percent. Trees also enhance our quality of life, beautifying neighborhoods and highways, providing sound barriers and shade, and helping increase property values. Today the State of Maryland is partnering with businesses, communities and citizens like you to hel... 02/09/2010

Snow Removal Budget How much money is in the budget of the county or the state for the removal of snow for each year? There are two main costs incurred with snow and ice storms.  One is the cost of plowing and removing the snow, which includes the cost of the equipment and the labor cost for the drivers.  The second major cost is for the laying of tons of salt to help to prevent the freezing of the roadways. The Mid-Atlantic region is seeing record snowfalls for the season, for the year, and per storm so it is understandable if the budgeted amount for dealing with the snow is less than expected this time around. However, I can not remember a year, whether it had record breaking high amounts of snow and ice or record breaking low amounts of snow and ice, where there was not a concern exp... 02/09/2010