The ancient axiom about real estate, accurate (it seems) since the dawn of time, continues to hold true in the booming multifamily housing market: It’s a matter of location, location, location. That said, potential residents are seeking far more in the way of amenities from such properties. And high on the list are secure common [...]
The challenge facing the owners of rental properties was underscored by a man named Jimmy McMillan, who once ran for governor of New York on the-rent-is-too-(darn)-high platform. In fact, that was what he dubbed his party: The Rent Is Too (Darn) High. (Footnote: He was later evicted from his rent-controlled apartment in New York City [...]
The phrase “George Washington slept here,” a reference to a long-ago play and motion picture, has also been used, tongue-in-cheek style, in connection with any property that might have historical significance. But what if that is really the case? What if George Washington (or, for that matter, Gen. George Patton, or George Santayana) really did [...]
The images of Rust Belt cities haunt and amaze: frame after frame of homes and businesses and factories, hollowed out and abandoned -- some looking as if the occupants just stepped out for a minute. They leave one thinking of a bygone era, when business boomed and these places thrived. They backslid because of [...]
The Wrigley Building, one of Chicago’s iconic structures, dates back to the early 1920s, when William Wrigley Jr. settled on a site along Michigan Avenue, hard by the Chicago River, for the headquarters of his chewing-gum empire. It has loomed over the city’s skyline ever since, though it underwent a makeover after being purchased in [...]
At their best, neighborhood bars serve as the social hubs of their neighborhoods -- vibrant places that draw people in and draw them together. At their worst, they are nuisances, producing excessive noise, littering, vandalism, etc. The question, then, is this: What are the pros and cons of investing in real estate near such places? [...]
Strike out on one’s own, or stick with the status quo? That was the question facing Cobus Visser, a South African and self-described mental strength sports coach and master firewalker. For a very long time he wasn’t sure. He had moved on from the family business -- going on what he called a “hero’s journey” [...]
As I wrote in my 2007 book Purchase, Rehab and Reposition Commercial Investment Property, repositioning multifamily apartment buildings has long been my passion, and has proven to be a pathway to profitability. It’s hard work, as investments go, but it has always been worthwhile. Most of the success our company has seen comes from [...]
In the ultimate case of something old and something new, stadia (which date back to the 13th Century BC) and Starbucks (a coffee company dating back to 1971) can be indicators of neighborhoods that offer abundant opportunity for those looking to reposition real estate. There are more obvious signs to take into account, to be [...]
As with home-buying, the closing of any commercial real estate transaction brings with it an inch-thick pile of paper, even in this digital age. Pen in hand, we all must wade in and find our way out the other side. I’m here to tell you that it can be done, that you can keep your [...]