Archive for August, 2009
Getting Attention: How To Buy In A Buyers Market
You’d think that a buyer’s market would mean that a buyer would have an easy time purchasing a new home. Unfortunately while a buyers market means there are lots of homes available it also means that everyone else is out there buying too.
Oftentimes you make an offer but it gets ignored because the buyer already has a couple of offers in that they are dealing with. How does your offer get the attention it needs to be accepted? The answer might surprise you.
Firstoff it isn’t always about money. While it is true that a nice high offer especially if it is the highest offer the seller has yet received will likely attract attention there are other ways of getting noticed. One of the main ones is to have few or no terms and conditions on the sale. Conditions can seriously delay the final sale adding extra expense to the seller in the way of repairs or extra inspections. Selling a home is a stressful process and many sellers want everything to be over with as soon as possible. A high offer that requires the seller to do a lot of stuff before closing might get attention at first but it probably will be seen as a hassle once the seller realizes the full consequences of the terms. Even if your offer isn’t the highest it may get attention if it is the quickest.
Another way to make your offer attractive is to be completely prequalified. I have heard so many horror stories of sellers committing to a sale with buyers who aren’t prequalified for a mortgage. They end up waiting months while those buyers shop around for a mortgage and sometimes the sale will even fall through because the sellers were unable to get a mortgage at all. This should never happen if you are using a professional agent as any selfrespecting agent wouldn’t let a seller get that far with someone who’s not prequalified. But it happens all the time in for sale by owner situations.
No matter what the situation getting yourself prequalified means a quicker sale and again this is attractive to sellers. It means you aren’t a financial risk and that there is less chance of unexpected surprises popping up that will delay the closing. So to be fair to the seller and to make your offer stand out be sure to be prequalified by a certified lender before you put an offer in on a home. Providing evidence of this prequalification will make your offer stand out even if it isn’t the highest.
Finally if the market is hot for buyers realize that any delays you cause could mean the seller accepting another offer. If you are involved in negotiations and you really want the home be prompt in responding to the seller or seller’s agent. Until you have a signed acceptance of your offer there is no deal and the home could be scooped up by someone who’s quicker on the draw.
Buying a home is exciting and fun but it is business. Knowing how to do it well is your key to success.
About the writer: Written on behalf of Virginia Wherland experienced Minneapolis real estate agent. Virginia and her team can help you find the St. Louis Park MN real estate you’re looking for.
Flu And Recessions: Fear And Reality Catalysts That Affect Commercial Real Estate
As I wrote in “Technology’s Effect on Commercial Real Estate in a Recession” the recession becomes a possible catalyst for more telecommuting and less use of office space. The point of that article was not just that technology is the enabler of a telecommuting trend but also that it sometimes takes a catalyst to bring on the complete consequences of an impending trend. In the last couple of days many around the world woke up to headlines about the possibility of a Swine Flu Pandemic and we found ourselves with yet another possible catalyst. With the fear be it an overreaction or not of a full pandemic looming the thought of going into an office with several hundred or even thousands of people does not seem very appealing let alone taking public transportation to get there. One would guess that anyone with telecommuting capabilities may have chosen to stay home within the last few days.
My position still stands on technology’s effect on certain commercial property types placed in that original article; and to extrapolate further it is important to understand what would happen if this does develop into a full pandemic. Not only would office space be affected as well as the retail spaces that are associated with them but it may reach further into the consumer supply chain. For example in some areas of North America online grocery shopping has taken off but not as much as many have expected. However to use Malcolm Gladwell’s terminology from his now famous book “The Tipping Point” it has not tipped into a fully fledged consumer trend or epidemic like say a Netflix or iTunes. However if the thought of going to the grocery store and catching a flu sounds too risky all of a sudden it may get new people to try out online grocery shopping for the first time. Once shoppers start ordering their groceries online would it then create the possibility of them continuing to do their shopping online even after the fear has passed? Also by shopping online and telling their friends and family they are doing so because of the fear of catching the flu would it also convince others into grocery shopping online as well?
Grocery stores are just one example but overall any place that is going to have a lot of people together in a closed off area is probably going to be avoided during a flu pandemic or the fear of one. That being said the mall would also be a place you would avoid and that could lead to new online shoppers. The point of all of this is that catalysts help make natural trends happen faster. I like many believe that the natural order of things will lead to more and more movement into cyberspace by both businesses and consumers. What makes a flu pandemic interesting is that it could start to hit the large retail properties. We are not talking about 2000 sq ft Blockbuster stores anymore; in this situation it would start to hit your 10000 sq ft superstores. That becomes extremely concerning not only for the superstores themselves but for all of the additional retailers that surround superstores and feed off of their business.
Before you go and start selling all of your commercial real estate realize that we are talking about extreme scenarios and not something that would happen overnight. Adjusting investments solely based on the probability of a full blown flu pandemic is about as strategic as hitting on 19 in blackjack. It does however force us to contemplate the fragility of current business models that depend on physical space. These stubborn models based on bricks and mortar attributes are being threatened by new models utilizing technologies that are cheaper faster and in this hypothetical case safer for the consumer. One example of new technology models taking over an old industry is the online company BasicFunerals.com. It looks to be the first fully online funeral and cremation service that doesn’t own a physical property. Without the large overhead they offer all the services of a funeral home at close to half the price. This is one example of an old model that nobody thought would change. This is not to say that all commercial real estate will suffer from a move to cyberspace; other types of commercial real estate could either thrive or see no effect. For instance a retail superstore like Costco depending on location could be more of a centrally located warehousing type facility to deliver products to consumer’s homes. In my opinion property types like multifamily and small mixeduse should also not be affected by this as people need a place to live and corner stores compared to malls are more practical for an increasingly home bound world. Also as discussed in the previous article “Technology’s Effect on Commercial Real Estate in a Recession” I spoke about office space in general being affected negatively by more telecommuting. However I do believe that medical office space could do very well especially with an aging population.
What is significant to consider is that it may just take the fear of something like a flu pandemic to be the catalyst without the actual event taking place. When the markets have fear selling off equities and a flight to alternative investments like gold and other precious metals is a common theme so fear based investing or divesting is not anything new. For that matter I believe like many others that we are likely headed for a double dip recession where inflation created out of government “overstimulus” would crush a fledgling recovery and start a much longer painful recession. Either way the businesses that have moved to telecommuting out of the need to cut costs while trying to maintain productivity will not be leasing new office space anytime soon. For that matter retail outfits that are in fear of a drawn out recession won’t be looking for new retail space either. The fear of a flu or the reality of a recession results in changing business models whether we like it or not. For more close minded individuals that feel a physical space for business is essential ask yourself and your friends if they have ever gone to a record store after downloading songs onto their iPods or the last time they went to a video store after using ON Demand or Netflix or if they still have a newspaper subscription. Change is only feared when one is not willing to adapt. Are you?
Copyright: Dominic Mazzone Regent Global Funds 2009
This article was written by Dominic Mazzone Managing Partner and Fund Manager of Regent Global Funds.
This article and other like it can be viewed at www.investingsymposium.com which is part of the Regent Global Funds Network.
Regent Global Funds is an alternative investment fund that offers its participating investors and asset backed investment through asset based lending.
The Fund Managers of Regent Global Funds have an expertise in commercial real estate lending and have created a successful alternative investment vehicle that is diversified through this structure. They separate themselves from other fund mangers by personally investing their own money sidebyside with their investors in the fund creating an absolute structure of accountability. Dominic Mazzone has written about the need for this type of accountability in an article titled “Fund Managers Need to be Accessible and Personally Invested.
About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;As a Managing Partner of Regent Global Funds a private equity and debt fund Dominic Mazzone brings a track record of success and innovation to his current position as a fund manager with his experience in the real estate and lending business. His experience in real estate led him to being responsible for maximizing revenue through strategic bestuse practices as well as property rehabilitation in a portfolio of investment properties within the U.S. Dominic has been involved with development projects throughout the U.S. including California Arizona Florida Kansas and Hawaii and is currently part of a consortium of investors in Scottsdale AZ developing an 80acre site for an exclusive enclave of luxury homes overlooking the Estancia Golf Course. Dominic had his start in the lending business underwriting loans in Canada on properties that were precluded from conventional financing. This led to similar lending opportunities in the U.S. and the eventual formation of Regent Global Funds in Chicago.Formal education includes Mesa College in San Diego and the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.Dominic is a general partner of Scottsdale Partners LLP which is involved in real estate development in Scottsdale AZ as well as Waikoloa Partners LLP a syndicate of real estate investors in Hawaii. Dominic sits on the advisory boards for the technology companies Voice Cloud and Nile Source Outsourcing.
Finding The Home Of Your Dreams
Finding your dream home is something that a lot of people dream about day in and day out.
It can be difficult but if you follow these tips you could be well on your way to finding that dream home.
After all who wouldn’t want to buy a home that meets all of their wants and needs?
While it may sound easy enough to do this the fact of the matter is that finding the home is not always the simplest thing to do.
There are many details that could pop up and quite a few problems that could occur.
Luckily there are some things that you can do to ensure that you get the home that is perfect for you and your family.
First and foremost you will never be able to find the perfect home if you do not put the proper amount of time into the shopping process.
In other words comparison shopping is an absolute must when it comes to buying a home.
This will allow you to find out what is available what you can afford and how to move forward in the process.
With so many homes to choose from you owe it to yourself to take the time to look at each and every one that may suit your needs.
Another way to find the perfect home is to get the help of a real estate agent. While this is far from mandatory it is something that you will want to consider. When you get the help of an agent you will be able to put a lot of the burden on them and in turn relax a bit more.
They will be able to do all of the leg work that goes into buying a new home such as finding what suits your needs setting up walk throughs and then actually negotiating on your behalf.
So many buyers have no idea that they can use a real estate agent when they are searching for a new home.
If you can do without the help of an agent good for you but if you feel that they could help you out a bit you should consider what they have to offer.
Overall finding the perfect home is not as hard as you may think. This is not to say that the buying process is going to be easy but if you take the time to check out several properties you should be well on your way to success. Remember there is no hurry when it comes to buying the home of your dreams!
About the writer: Daniel Marshell is senior real estate consultant associated with Better Homes India a leading real estate firm in Mumbai India. He has more than 25 years of first hand experience of working in Mumbai Real Estate Market. He deals in buying and selling of commercial and residential property in Mumbai along with long and short term rental in Mumbai and its suburbs. His firm Better Homes India also offers online real estate services in Mumbai. For more information please visit www.bhomes.com/india