Looking at the costs of re-tenanting should motivate you to try to keep tenants. In office and commercial buildings you have vacancy costs plus leasing commissions, tenant improvements as well as the challenges of the construction coordination that will affect other tenants. We know that you will not be able to keep every tenant. Some tenants don’t pay their rent or pay their rent late. Some tenants are just not the right fit. Just this last month we asked a tenant to move from a building because their clients were harassing other tenants in a building. But the landlord’s objective needs to be to keep every tenant they can.

This leads us to the concept of tenant mix. Many years ago before I knew better, I leased a large space to an office tenant in an industrial park. My client’s were very happy, the rent was low, and the location was great. Even the parking was good. They were happy until the new neighbor moved in. The new neighbor was a metal stamping operation. Their equipment went bang-bang all day long. My client’s employees were very frustrated. The walls and the floors were shaking with every stamp. Those people located within 20 feet of the wall they shared could not make phone calls anymore. We learned a big lesson then about how to combine tenants with similar uses, to keep them all happy. (more…)

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Selling a home is no easy task, and it’s even more difficult when you’re trying to sell in the dead of winter — when the weather is bad, the days are shorter and greenery is in short supply. There are good reasons for selling in the winter, however — namely, less competition. But you still have to work hard to attract the best customers. According to Bankrate.com, it’s all about staging. Here are Bankrate’s tips for presenting your home in the best way to snag those winter buyers. Keep walkways and driveways clear of snow and ice. You may not have to mow the lawn or trim the shrubs, but in the winter, consider this duty your “yard work.”

Present a warm and cozy home. Make sure the temperature is comfortable and not too cool for visitors coming in from the outside. Turn on gas fireplaces if you have them. Show during “high-daylight” hours and make your home as light as possible. Clean blinds and curtains and keep them open during daytime showings. Put the highest wattage bulbs in amps and fixtures, and turn the lights on when you show. And wash your windows — even a little bit of grime gives the impression that the home isn’t well cared for. Set the mood with a little soft background music and some pleasant smells. Light a few candles that give off a nice scent, such as vanilla. Just don’t overdo it — you don’t want people to think you’re trying to mask a bad smell. (more…)

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After several years of a booming real estate market - one that was decidedly to the seller’s advantage - the industry has taken a swing in the opposite direction in recent months. Higher interest rates and a greater inventory of houses is pushing the market in the buyer’s favor. This means that enterprising individuals ready to make a purchase may come away with more than just a good bargain.

To entice people to take out mortgages in spite of rising interest rates, some lenders and builders are offering special programs. Many home builders are using “buy-down” programs, in which they buy down a mortgage by two percentage points in year one and one point in year two. This can lead to substantial savings. But watch out for deals that offer flashy savings early on but sucker-punch you later during the loan term. Pre-payment penalties or early termination fees may be in store for those who don’t do their homework before signing on the dotted line. (more…)

search for : booming real estate market, Higher interest rates

Even a great design can be done in by the sort of unavoidable, nuts-and-bolts infrastructure items every building requires — visible pipes, wires, vents, flues, meters and what have you. As unsexy as they are, don’t fail to think through these kinds of details, don’t put them off to the last minute, and never, ever leave them up to installers to figure out as they go along.

Gas meters, electric meters, and electrical entrance panels — none of which are very lovely to look at — should be assigned to a spot that’s completely invisible from the street, ideally in a recessed or screened area. Never place these items on the front of the building. Since meters are increasingly read remotely, access is less of an issue than it used to be, but you should still check with your local utility for any restrictions on placement. (more…)

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Winter can be brutal on your home. Your homeowner’s insurance covers burst pipes and ice dams in your gutter. Ice dams are caused when ice forms on your home’s eaves, and water from melted snow flows from your roof, gets backed up behind the ice and flows under the shingles and into your home. You’re also covered (to a degree) if a tree hits your home. Remember, you’ll only be able to recoup the cost of removing the tree up to $500. But if a tree just falls in your backyard, you’re on your own.

If you live in colder areas prone to icing and heavy snowfall, you should have a strong de-icer on hand, like Calcium Chloride. It costs about 10 times more than rock salt, but it’s also much more powerful. If you live in more moderate climates that have occasional snowfall, you’re probably better off just stocking up on rock salt according to the Salt Industry. A 50 pound bag can costs just under $10. Whatever you do, make sure you don’t oversalt. Both rock salt and calcium chloride can be corrosive to concrete that has not been mixed or finished properly. If you have a driveway that is full of chinks and scars, be very cautious when using salt. To get the best results from salt de-icers, you’ll want to put it on the ground before the first flakes begin to form. (more…)

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Parts of the Northwest and Rocky Mountain regions were still digging out of four weeks of snow as temperatures iced California’s citrus crop. San Francisco Bay Area residents kept an eye out for the first snow flurries in years. Frigid air flowed into New England as wind chill factors pushed some temperatures in the upper states’ hinterlands to 35 below zero. Ocean-effect snow showers were forecast for Cape Cod. New Orleans shivered through 30 degree temperatures and Mother Nature put central and southern Texas into the deep freeze. The Deep South and Southern California held onto “heat waves” with temperatures in the 40s and 50s.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Comfort Institute, an indoor comfort research, training and consumer protection organization based in chilly Bellingham, WA, offer these tips to get your house in order for what’s likely to be a long, bleak winter even Punxsutawney Phil can’t stop.The DOE says the typical duct system loses 25 to 40 percent of the energy put out by the central furnace, heat pump or air conditioner. That puts a strain on your wallet as well as comfort levels in your home. Heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) contractors can diagnose and pinpoint duct leak locations and check the static pressure in your ducts and ventilation system. The exam is often part of an energy audit used to also examine insulation, air leaks and other energy inefficiencies in your home. (more…)

search for : U.S. Department of Energy, duct system, duct leak locations, insulation, energy inefficiencies

Mortgage fraud is being called the country’s fastest-growing white-collar crime. It costs lenders more than $1 billion a year and has turned increasing numbers of federal agents into experts on real estate paperwork. These days, they quickly crack cases that once took years to work, experts say.

Mortgage fraud occurs when somebody lies or misrepresents a fact on a statement that a lender uses to make a loan. Banks and mortgage lenders generally are the prime victims when loans are not repaid, but the fallout from a large-scale scam also can devastate individual investors, who sometimes must file for bankruptcy. Communities also suffer when swaths of properties sucked into a scheme go vacant and deteriorate as they fall into foreclosure. Estimates of mortgage fraud losses vary widely, but experts said trend lines pointed up. Although schemes can prosper during good times — such as the recent mid-decade boom when as much as $2.5 trillion in mortgage loans were made each year — they also can flower as the market cools. (more…)

search for : Mortgage fraud, mortgage lenders, mortgage fraud losses, mortgage loans