All Posts Tagged With: "local"
Why Retail Real Estate Is In Trouble
Mortgages, foreclosures and lagging home sales dominate much of our real estate discussions these days, but have you noticed the large number of empty stores near your home? Have you seen the vacancies and noticed more parking at shopping malls? Randyl Drummer with CoStar writes that commercial rents have fallen 10 percent since 2008. Given [...]
1Aug2011 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Up or Down — How To Measure Your Local Real Estate Market
The past year has seen a slowdown in real estate markets across the country — and an outright slump in many. But such terms as “slowdown” and “slump” are relative and should be used with care — as should “boom” and “hot”. Given the localized nature of real estate, it pays to ask if there [...]
20Sep2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
How Investment Discrimination Powers Real Estate Taxes
For the past several years real estate prices in my community, like many, have risen with a speed and certainty that has been a delight to behold. Now the government is getting even with vast assessment increases that will lead to steeply-higher property taxes. What’s interesting about the projected tax rises is that they are [...]
17Sep2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Should We End State-Wide Real Estate Licensing?
By it’s nature real estate is a localized commodity. If you’ve ever heard someone say, “my home would be worth $400,000 more if only it was located elsewhere” you can see the issue: Location is crucial. The home isn’t located elsewhere, it’s located where it is and that’s one reason it’s not worth an additional [...]
16Sep2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Smart Growth Equals More Congestion, Bigger Tax Bills
“Smart Growth” is here, a collection of proposals, guidelines, and goals that will ultimately make homebuying less feasible and commuting more difficult. And that’s the good news. The essential idea behind various “Smart Growth” initiatives is to move zoning decisions from local communities to Washington. This is necessary, it’s alleged, because we have too much [...]
4Sep2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Can I Get A Real Estate Sale Agreement Online Or From A Hardware Store?
The opinion here is that standardized (national) buy/sell forms should not be used. Okay, the use of such forms is a bad idea. The reason is that sale agreement forms often require local content; without such content they may be void or voidable OR they might not reflect your interests. For instance, in one community [...]
28Aug2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Is it ever better to rent than to own?
There are at least several cases where renting may be more attractive than ownership. ___ You will be in an area for a short period of time, say five years or less. ___ The local economy is bad and getting worse, employment levels are dropping. ___ Better returns with equal risk are available elsewhere. ___ [...]
27Aug2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
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