Real Estate Guides

Posted on Tuesday, 21st June 2011 by Blake James

Courtesy of Apple

We have identified the phenomenon of “complacency” as is one of the potential vulnerabilities of market leaders who have outdistanced their closest competitors by a considerable margin.  There is tendency to coast on their momentum instead of continuously reinvest in staying sharp.  They tend to “rest on their laurels”, relying on the recognition of their previous achievements to stay on top. As a luxu

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Tags: Apple, Apple What’s
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Posted on Monday, 20th June 2011 by Blake James

U.S. homeownership rates have declined and will undoubtedly go lower. This is a bad thing for the individuals and neighborhoods involved; but is it bad for the country as a whole? This is a difficult question. A good part of its difficulty resides in the fact that many of our attitudes have been shaped by beliefs that are not wholly accurate.

In April of this year, Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist for the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), reported that home ownership had declined in the first quarter to 66.5%. That marked a “broad continuing decline since the peak bubble year in 2005, when 69 percent of households were homeowners. Th

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Tags: Bad, Homeownership Rate
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Posted on Monday, 20th June 2011 by Stella Ransom

The National Institute of Building Sciences will hold a hearing July 18 in Washington, D.C., open to all parties, in which they’ll share observations on commercial building related data. The hearing, explained NIBS, is in response to recent news that the Energy Information Administration (EIA) will not release the results of its 2007 Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey or complete the 2011 Survey.

The institute is seeking to gather input from building industry participants about their commercial building data needs. Participants are invited to submit written or oral testimony, or both. Three Institute representatives will preside over the hearing proceedings.

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Tags: Building, Building Industry
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Posted on Sunday, 19th June 2011 by Charles Melvin

By Bruce Keith

There is a popular television program called . With a rather misleading title, it focuses on a very powerful legal firm and all the dynamics surrounding the business and personal lives of the characters. In a recent episode, one of the clients said to her lawyer, “I thought you were on my side, you’re supposed to be representing me!” This evoked a very simple yet pragmatic response from the attorney. “The best way for me to be on your side is to know how the other side thinks.”

That approach makes a lot of sense and certainly applies to the negotiations that go on every day in the sales business. Great sal

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Posted on Saturday, 18th June 2011 by Blake James

Building Homes for Heroes built a home for wounded warrior SPC Brendan Marrocco.

Two years after losing all four limbs in a bomb explosion in Iraq, a Staten Island soldier was finally given the keys to his new, state-of-the-art home yesterday.

And he could not stop smiling.

Brendan Marrocco beamed with pride as he crossed the threshold into his new abode in Prince’s Bay, which has been tailor-made to suit his every need.

“It’s very overwhelming. The house is amazing,” the 24-year-old said.

“I can finally just try to live my life like everybody else.

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Tags: Gets Stateoftheart, Home
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Posted on Sunday, 12th June 2011 by Stella Ransom

Rarely has questioning been so continuous and persistent. “What are your predictions for the Australasian housing markets?”

It’s constant. It’s now three years after the onslaught of the GFC – surely this should no longer be a question of concern for our communities. Surely the worst has passed!

Forecasters have been busy. Looking back on their recent unambiguous predictions make them look foolish in the extreme. Whatever, it is becoming clearer that our communities are discounting “evergreen” assumptions that a home is a sure fire investment, promising consistent capital value increases.

A new trend is occurring in this debate – forecasters are attempting to align the US and European market experiences with trends in Australia and New Zealand.

Recent data that US prices are still floating downwards now gets more attention than previously. Prominent real

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Tags: Markets, Markets May
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