Click the title for the full message. Jobs, Jobs, Jobs- that’s how we will exit this recession/recovery! Unfortunately, the numbers from the East Bay Economic Development Alliance indicated a protracted stay in this recovery trench. The trend is headed in the wrong direction, thankfully, the total loss of jobs for the East Bay was only [...]

Operating costs for Apartment owners will predictably rise in the coming years. A recent San Francisco Business Times article indicates that PG&E is seeking regulatory approval to increase rates by 6+% over the 2010 rates. Seeking a more fluid rate system, PG&E has asked to charge customers based on changes in payroll, income or property [...]

More disappointing news from the SF Business Times. All three urban centers lost jobs lost jobs… Click here to read the full story here: bay-area-job-losses-continue-121809. To learn more about my background, visit Consult Pete. To learn more about my company services, visit Commercial MasterMinds. I can be reached via email at Pete@CommercialMasterMinds.com or just call [...]

Click the title for the full message. An interesting discussion by Todd Weaver, the 2010 Vice President for CCIM Region 2 and President of Synergy Commercial Real Estate, Inc. was enthusiastically received as he spoke about the commercial real estate market conditions. Todd used a simple relation between Net Operating Income, Capitalization Rates and Present [...]

Click the title for the full message. The Investor’s Marketing Forum (IMF) held it’s Holiday Luncheon and Marketing meeting at the Orinda Country Club today. It was a sold out event. Tapan Munroe was the guest speaker. Tapan is a past chief economist for PG&E. He served his post longer than any other chief economist. [...]

Click the title for the full message. Let me begin by saying- there is no such thing. I could think of a few oxymorons to go along with this idea; Larger half    Almost exactly    Genuine imitation     Unbiased opinion     Exact Estimate  LOL! Since this “jobless recovery” is tied to the rallying stock market and housing sector, [...]

Click the title for the full message. *** RED ALERT – SPLIT ROLL PROPERTY TAX INITIATIVES FILED *** The following message is from Rex S. Hime, President & CEO, California Business Properties Association- reprinted with permission. CBPA Board Members and Advisory Board Members Affiliate Member Leadership (ICSC, BOMA, NAIOP, IREM, CDA, RILA, CCIM) This is [...]

Click the title for the full message. Wow the market has really made a correction! Probably not what a property owner wants to hear- HOWEVER, if you are selling your property wouldn’t it be best to hear that early rather than later?! So why would a trained professional real estate agent consider taking an overpriced [...]

Click the title for the full message. At the October San Jose Aparment Brokers meeting, I ran into Matthew Leek, a financial planner with Ameriprise Financial in San Jose. Matthew shared this analogy with me and agreed that I could blog it as long as I mentioned his name- Thank you Matthew. Matthew can be [...]

Click the title for the full message. Recently, I have experienced on more than one occasion a property listed for sale and the listing agent is not sharing information because there is little or no fee to share. In most cases, the Seller is unaware that their property is being marketed to select individuals only- [...]

Click the title for the full message. The Northern California CCIM chapter meeting had its share of excellent speakers and presenters this month. Bob Kramer of Robert Kramer & Associates shared his 35 years of experience in representing bidders at Trustee’s Sale. Our attendees were sitting on every word that Bob spoke. Bob averages three [...]

Click the title for the full message. This month’s guest speaker at the Northern California CCIM chapter meeting was Terry Hird, founder of Negotiation International. His firm was created to provide individuals and organizations with the tools they need to obtain enhanced outcomes through the art of negotiation. Post Terry’s presentation I heard SUPER REVIEWS- [...]

Click the title for the full message. Today I attended two marketing meetings; The Investor’s Marketing Forum IMF and the Certified Commercial Investment Member CCIM meetings. A general discussion of the marketplace revealed that rents are soft but thankfully occupancy is holding steady. I specifically asked Joe Lawton of Castle Property Management (925) 328-1240 whether [...]

Click the title for the full message. A recently discovered article discusses the ramifications of foreclosing on mortgages that were split up into tiny fragments when sold on the Mortgage Backed Securities, MBS market. “There is no evidence before the court as to who is the present owner of the Note. The holder of the [...]

Click the title for the full message. Paul Chandler, CEO of Property Sciences, Paul.Chandler@PropSci.com master appraiser, hosted and presented this webinar. Thank you Paul for your valuable insight! Paul’s comments: Real Estate Cycles continue- Expect the economic situation to get worse before it gets better… Scott Monasch of Barry Slatt Mortgage Company ScottM@Slatt.com Who’s lending? [...]

Click the title for the full message. I had the opportunity to meet with Teresa Moss, Teresa.Moss@cdec1031.com of Chicago Deferred Exchange today. She discussed the 1031 Exchange rules and it was an excellent presentation for first time exchangers as well as seasoned veterans. Highlights of her presentation included: Chicago Deferred Exchange separates themselves from the [...]

In looking over the Affordable Housing Finance magazine, I was struck by the very informative article By Jerry Ascierto.  He points out “Acronyms like TARP, TALF, PPIP, and CAP litter today’s headlines, but exactly what these programs do-and how they do it-isn’t always easily digestible”. TARP and TALF – what are they? According to Apartment [...]

Christopher Lee, a real estate consultant with CEL & Associates, is a featured panelist at the 2009 NAA Education Conference & Exposition this week.  The National Apartment Association (NAA) website features his white paper on the future of apartment living which I thought particularly pertinent for these times. Lee states the future of apartment living [...]

With “green” being the operative word these days, I couldn’t help but notice the interesting courses listed by the National Apartment Association (NAA) on their site. In addition to the NEW Credential for Green Property Management (CGPM), the site explains such programs as the Fair Housing and Beyond Course, the Rental Owners Course (ROC) and [...]

Recently, at the Pacific Coast Builders Conference (PCBC), multifamily finance and operation fundamentals were discussed in depth. Chris Wood reported details in the Multifamily Executive on 6-16-09. In the opening session of the 2009 MultifamilyTrends Conference held in conjunction with the PCBC in San Francisco, Hessam Nadji, Managing Director of research services for Encino, CA-based [...]