Archive for June, 2008

Schwarzenegger Sees California Real Estate Recovery in 2009

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California, thinks that his state will come out of the housing slowdown in 2009. The state has been one of the worst hit by foreclosures and subprime lending as speculators drove prices up to the [...]

30Jun2008 | Tom Royce | 1 comment | Continued

Top 10 States With Biggest Tax Revenue Shortfall

The days of money flowing in to state governments due to new construction, both residential and commercial, are coming to an end. The flow of impact fees, transfer fees, capital gains taxes, etc. have slowed the revenue stream for the state governments.
As we have talked about previously, state governments did not have any restraint during [...]

30Jun2008 | Tom Royce | 1 comment | Continued

Foreclosure Cycle Makes Renting More Difficult

One of the great problems with people going through foreclosure is the failure to address the issues they are facing. We have constantly recommended to families to be in contact with their lender and honestly appraise the situation.
One of the problem with Ostriches in foreclosure is that after the foreclosure happens, finding a new place [...]

28Jun2008 | Tom Royce | 0 comments | Continued

Florida “Save Our Homes” Helping Homeowners Lower Taxes

Florida’s lack of an income tax has placed a high burden on property taxes to cover the burden of running the state. Excemptions that keep increases on properties held long term have kept families rooted to their old homes instead of letting families expand or contract the size of their homes.
With the newly enacted [...]

28Jun2008 | Tom Royce | 0 comments | Continued

Book Review: The Inner Architect

The Inner Architect, How to Build The Life You Were Designed to Live by Susan Hanshaw is a primer on how to transition from a career that you are finished with to one that you love. Since few enter real estate as a first career, I thought the book would be a great read for many [...]

27Jun2008 | Tom Royce | 5 comments | Continued

One of the Best Quotes On Buying A Foreclosure - Buyer Be Smart

If I was an agent dealing with foreclosures regularly I would have this quote taped on my telephone.

“There’s so much inventory out there that the buyer can pick and choose,” said Susan Sirles Fidler, a Realtor at Re/Max 10, Oak Lawn. But she cautioned, “The stuff that’s almost free is almost free because it’s going [...]

27Jun2008 | Tom Royce | 1 comment | Continued

“Heads-We-Win-Tails-We-Win” Commercial Property Tax Fraud

While I do not promote the indiscriminate breaking of the law, for any of us living with some absolutely burdensome tax rates (ed. “You mean all of us…) this tax dodge is pretty funny.
A parking lot company in New York Cityfiled false documents to get their property taxes lowered. Due to a loophole in the [...]

27Jun2008 | Tom Royce | 1 comment | Continued

Sam Zell Returns To Roots, Looks To Maximize Value At Tribune Co Through Real Estate

The newspaper business is in a rough way. When Sam Zell bought the Tribune Company and took it private many were scratching their heads. But Zell is also a businessman who has cut his teeth in the ruthless world of commercial real estate.
A few months after the takeover we are starting to see some of [...]

26Jun2008 | Tom Royce | 1 comment | Continued

Canadian Government Requiring Real Estate Agent To Track Transaction Information

Ah, big brother is alive and well in Canada. In an effort to stem money laudering, real estate agents will be expected to maintain files on buyers and the transaction for 5 years and be ready to produce them to investigators from the Federal Government upon demand.
Yikes.
And if the agent does not keep proper records [...]

25Jun2008 | Tom Royce | 1 comment | Continued

Harvard Housing Study Predicts More Pain For Housing Markets

A Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies predicts the housing slump will be prolonged and that it is the worst since the Great Depression. The report expects that a weak job market will push homeowners on the edge into foreclosure and keep buyers away.
There are some good points to the study but I truly think [...]

25Jun2008 | Tom Royce | 2 comments | Continued