Sep 5 2008 9:50AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |
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My colleague Sue Bady’s blog post the other day just got me to thinking about my new living arrangements. Starting next month I’m moving into a 2100 square-foot Tudor in another suburb—obviously I’ll leave behind my current apartment, something I like to refer to as a “750 square-foot Bachelor’s Special.” It’s a crowded little place, especially with two cats.

 

Now, thanks to a unique agreement with my future landlord, I get to make improvements to the house (and he’ll even pay for them). All I have to do is pitch the idea and show him my receipts. So, with all of the freedom in the world to make the pl...Read More

Sep 3 2008 10:25AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |
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Disclaimer: I have neither the political savvy nor the will to effectively argue for either wing gunning for the top office this year. I’m not a “Liberal” nor am I a “Conservative.” Both schools of thought are too exclusive and carry too much baggage for any truly rational person to ascribe to. I am, however, eternally hopeful Barack Obama, if elected, will be a great president. And I hope even more that if the election goes the other way, John McCain…well, won’t die (not to put too fine a point on it) because this Palin lady scares me.

Does anybody know where either of these politicos stand on the home building industry? How har...Read More

Aug 28 2008 3:28PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |
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Given the glut of bad news coming across my desk, I decided to dig a little deeper into the history of housing crisis' in the U.S. Long, convoluted story short: It's a lot of slumps and gluts.

What I’ve been able to pull out of my initial research is that there’s usually one city or region that absolutely booms when things start getting better. So, I thought to myself, what city/region will experience a boom this time?

 

According to Matt Woosley from Forbes.com, it just might be Albuquerque, N.M...Read More

Aug 26 2008 1:49PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |
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According to the latest multifamily survey from our good friends at the NAHB, more of our apartment- and condo builders and remodelers are greening up their practices. And renters—people who have no equity at stake and, like yours truly, are a bit cash-strapped—are willing to pay slightly more for green amenities.

Though I don’t necessarily agree with NAHB’s Multifamily Leadership Board Steve Patterson’s comment: "Apartments and condos are inherently green (I don’t think they’re inherently, but can be), because they offer more compact development to begin with," I do see multifamily and higher-density communities as an upward trend. It’s interesting to hear what’s happening on the other side of the industry.

...Read More

Aug 22 2008 10:22AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |
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Higher inflation, coupled with the financial woes we’ve already been dealing with, is definitely taking a toll on the economy and poses a great threat to our stability—this according to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Thank you, Captain Obvious.

He addressed a Jackson, Wyoming economic conference today with this: "Although we have seen improved functioning in some markets, the financial storm that reached gale force" around this time last year "has not yet subsided, and its effects on the broader economy are becoming apparent in the form of softening economic activity and rising unemployment," Bernanke said in a speech to a high-profile economics conference here....Read More