Archive for December, 2008

2008 Statistics For The Real Estate Bloggers

Here are some stats for those who are interested in these things. (and also for me to find in the future.)
It was a good year.
823 Thousand Visitors
1.4 Million Page Views
Over 1100 RSS Readers
600 Plus Twitter Followers
2008 was a great year for The Real Estate Bloggers.
And I owe it all to you.
Thanks Readers!
(sitemeter)

31Dec2008 | Tom Royce | 3 comments | Continued

Consolidation in Upstate New York as Prudential and Hunt Real Estate Merge

After the rough couple of years for real estate agents and firms, is consolidation the name of the game for 2009? It is for agents and brokers at Prudential First Properties and Hunt Real Estate Corp in Upstate New York.

Hunt Real Estate has 85 agents affiliated with its two residential real estate offices in [...]

31Dec2008 | Tom Royce | 0 comments | Continued

Case Shiller Down 18 Percent For October 2008

The Case Shiller report for October, 2008 has been released and as expected the numbers look rough. With the credit crisis in full swing in October and the traditional housing selling season over, sellers that did sell took it on the chin in the 20 metro markets Case Shiller analyzes.
What is interesting to me [...]

30Dec2008 | Tom Royce | 4 comments | Continued

Tough Times For Retailers – And Shopping Center Owners

It looks like that there will be a great deal of downward pressure on retail landlords in the coming year. Combining a downturn in retail sales that is expected to see 73,000 stores closing in the first half of 2009 and the amount of shopping center inventory coming online rents are expected to be driven down [...]

30Dec2008 | Tom Royce | 1 comment | Continued

The Passive Home – No Heater Required

The idea that ones home needs to be a drafty place with a heater running all winter is being challenged in Germany with the advent of the Passive House. With no heater the home acts as a heat exchanger and keeps most of the heat that is generated in the home in the home.
I [...]

30Dec2008 | Tom Royce | 3 comments | Continued

Skateboarders Descend On Fresno To Use Foreclosure Pools As Skateparks

Nature abhors a vacuum. As foreclosures in central California multiply a new creature has moved in. Arriving with pumps they clean out the pools of homes that have been left empty and turn them into skateparks.
This is not so bad as one would think. In the past the problem with empty homes in the [...]

30Dec2008 | Tom Royce | 4 comments | Continued

Hope Now vs Hope For Homeowners – Another Government Failure

Hope Now – 2.2 million homeowners helped
Hope For Homeowners – 312 applications taken.
Guess which one is run privately and which one is a government boondoggle.
You are a winner.
The grand committee based, Congressionally negotiated program Hope For Homeowners has only taken 312 applications while have 300 billion dollars of taxpayer’s money at it’s disposal. I wonder [...]

29Dec2008 | Tom Royce | 5 comments | Continued

Are Property Tax Payments An Indicator Of The Housing Market?

Let’s face it, in tough times paying the mortgage is tough enough. But when property taxes are added to a tight budget things tend to break. Santa Cruz County in California is running into this issue. 1 in 10 households in the county are behind on their property taxes.
This is setting off warning signs [...]

29Dec2008 | Tom Royce | 1 comment | Continued

Talk About Rent Control, Fuggerei Has Not Seen A Rent Increase in 500 Years

New Yorkers eat your heart out when you are bragging about your rent controlled apartments, Fuggerei in Augsberg, Germany has you beat. Of course it takes a prayer (or 3 a day) to keep ones apartment for the annual $1.23 rent, but it well worth the price of admission.
The community was created as a penance by [...]

26Dec2008 | Tom Royce | 2 comments | Continued

Real Estate Agents Need To Be Trusted Advisors in 2009, Not Cheerleaders

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. I know I did as it was the first time I have spent the actual Christmas Day with my whole family in 15 years. Usually some of us got together a couple of days before and a couple of days after the actual holiday, but yesterday was the on [...]

26Dec2008 | Tom Royce | 8 comments | Continued