Plus or Minus

Real estate appraisers use the term "plus or minus" and symbols like +/- a lot. It's not that we don't have confidence in what we are doing. It's because we are reporting on and analyzing a market. A market in which every item is unique. It's artscience.

By |2017-12-11T09:43:09-05:00December 11th, 2017|Art, Creativity, Economics, Market, Real Estate, Skills, Value|Comments Off on Plus or Minus

Reframing Neighborhood

The real estate appraisal industry, like most industries, is stuck in old thinking. Perhaps the worst of this thinking is the term and concept of Neighborhood. Most people correctly understand neighborhood as a collection of homes and perhaps businesses near their homes. Google images of neighborhood and you get what most people imagine a neighborhood [...]

By |2017-10-24T09:12:21-04:00October 24th, 2017|Change, Industrial, Market, Office, Real Estate, Residential, Retail|Comments Off on Reframing Neighborhood

Path Dependence

Path Dependence is a fancy way of saying, "We have always done it this way." It is defined by the Business Dictionary as, "Tendency of a past or traditional practice or preference to continue even if better alternatives are available." Examples of Path Dependence include the QWERTY keyboard, Microsoft Word (if you are going to [...]

By |2017-08-30T09:44:45-04:00August 30th, 2017|Books, History, Jargon, Real Estate, The Human Condition|Comments Off on Path Dependence

Puzzles, meh

I really don't care for board games. I have no idea how to play Backgammon, Cribbage, Yahtzee or dominoes. I don't know how to play Spades, Rummy or Bridge and I am fuzzy about the rules of Poker. I kinda sorta understand Blackjack, but when it comes time to split hands I get lost. I have [...]

By |2017-07-27T10:20:30-04:00July 27th, 2017|Creativity, Hobby, Real Estate, Skills|Comments Off on Puzzles, meh

A Little Quiz

Picture this: Two side-by-side five-acre interior (not corner) lots with 500 feet of frontage. The lots are located on a major highway and are improved with two identical steel frame and masonry buildings, 100,000 square feet in size with 32 foot ceilings. One building is zoned for retail use, suitable for occupancy by a "big [...]

By |2017-07-18T09:17:48-04:00July 18th, 2017|Industrial, Real Estate, Retail, Value|Comments Off on A Little Quiz

A Lot of My Cases Settle. And I am Proud of It.

It simply means that I have done my job. My work (and hopefully the work of my adversary) is well researched, accurate and reasonable. There is little to argue about. Minds meet and everyone has a nice lunch. Trials are often a waste of time. Both sides make their case and the decision ends up [...]

By |2017-07-07T09:34:57-04:00July 8th, 2017|Law, Real Estate, Service, Success|Comments Off on A Lot of My Cases Settle. And I am Proud of It.

The Appraiser Prosperity Coalition is seeking to level the playing field. I think they should just change fields.

I recently received an email request for a donation to the Appraiser Prosperity Coalition. I was not familiar with the organization, but I took some time to read up on who they are and what they are trying to accomplish. What I found was a group of well meaning residential mortgage appraisers fighting their latest [...]

By |2016-01-07T10:46:29-05:00January 7th, 2016|Bubbles, Business, Creativity, Economics, Financing, Freedom, History, Professional Development, Professional Growth, Profitability, Real Estate, Residential, Risk, Skills, Small Business, Success, Value|Comments Off on The Appraiser Prosperity Coalition is seeking to level the playing field. I think they should just change fields.

Safe House

I was recently engaged for an assignment in a local beach town. A former resident is suing, well, everybody, for damage done to his home during Superstorm Sandy. It seems a boat rear-ended his house. Or failed to yield, or something like that. Let's call it a moving violation. My client requested that I analyze [...]

By |2015-03-12T09:52:22-04:00March 12th, 2015|Humor, Market, Real Estate, Value|Comments Off on Safe House

Reflections on Santa Claus

When we were kids in the 1970s our dad brought us out to lunch at the Rum Runner restaurant in Sea Bright on Christmas Eve Day. The Gagliano Family hosted the big Christmas Eve Dinner, so dad took us out to give mom a respite. We were a bit of a handful in those days. [...]

By |2014-12-18T09:11:40-05:00December 18th, 2014|Future, History, Humor, Real Estate, Redevelopment|Comments Off on Reflections on Santa Claus

Unbiased. And Unappreciated.

It all starts innocently enough. Telephone Call Number 1 is a pleasant exchange inquiring about our services. " I am thinking about selling my building and I am interested in getting an unbiased value before I list the property," says my prospective client. The proposal goes out, is executed, and comes back. I do an [...]

By |2014-12-11T10:53:23-05:00December 11th, 2014|Business, Communication, Customers, Fiction, Financing, Humor, Real Estate, Service, Skills, Small Business, Value|Comments Off on Unbiased. And Unappreciated.

Signs of Wealth

In my profession I have had the pleasure of touring some fabulous homes. Putting aside stunning views, Versaille-esque landscaping and simply massive structures, many of these homes also have incredible amenities. But what was once uber-luxurious has now become relatively commonplace in high end homes. Here some examples: Gourmet kitchens Bathrooms with every bedroom His [...]

By |2014-08-21T11:28:06-04:00August 21st, 2014|Humor, luxury, Real Estate, Value, Wealth|Comments Off on Signs of Wealth

Deconstructing Depreciation Part II

Last week we discussed physical depreciation. This week we will focus on the other components of depreciation: functional and external. Functional depreciation, sometimes called functional obsolescence, addresses inadequacies or superadequacies within the property. Here's an easy example. Compare a house built in 1914 to a house built in 2014. Here are some of the differences [...]

By |2014-08-14T11:50:32-04:00August 14th, 2014|Depreciation, Humor, Land, Real Estate, Terminology, Value|Comments Off on Deconstructing Depreciation Part II

Deconstructing Depreciation Part I

Depreciation is a widely misunderstood concept. Most people don't know, for example, that there are three kinds of depreciation: physical, functional and external. Today we will focus on physical depreciation. The concept of physical depreciation is pretty simple: things break down and wear out. As a gentlemen on the back nine of life (in fairness, [...]

By |2014-08-07T10:10:55-04:00August 7th, 2014|Depreciation, Economics, Real Estate|Comments Off on Deconstructing Depreciation Part I

An Open Letter to Real Estate Brokers

Hey Guys, I hope is well. Everybody had it tough during the Recession, but you guys had it tougher than most. Nobody was growing their business, so there weren't many new buyers or renters. People who needed to sell didn't want to sell at a loss. Or were just too stubborn to admit they made [...]

By |2014-05-27T12:52:41-04:00May 27th, 2014|Business, Communication, Financing, Humor, Real Estate, Service, Skills, Social Networking, Success, Trust|Comments Off on An Open Letter to Real Estate Brokers

Something Fishy This Way Comes

We were engaged to appraise small retail strip center. On the date of inspection the buyer (and our client), an ebullient young woman with an entourage of friends and family in tow, chattered about "all the possibilities." We were instructed to discuss the particulars of the property with the seller (a.k.a., not our client) who [...]

By |2014-10-10T18:23:23-04:00May 13th, 2014|Business, Customers, Humor, Negotiation, Real Estate, Value|1 Comment

Wisdom

There was a boatload of wisdom in Wilson Hall Monday night, words from three true leaders in New Jersey Real Estate at the Monmouth University Kislak School of Real Estate's Stephen B. Siegel Lecture Series. The featured speakers included: Ara K. Hovnanian, CEO and Chairman of Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc., a national homebuilder; Ronald S. Ladell, [...]

By |2014-04-29T10:34:38-04:00April 29th, 2014|Demographics, Economics, Multi-Family, Planning, Real Estate, REITs, Residential, Success, Value|Comments Off on Wisdom

No Pollyanna

For the record, I am no Pollyanna. Every day I post news items on LinkedIn and Twitter that I think are important. I am objective in my choice of articles. Cross my heart. But I can't ignore the cold, hard  facts: Sign of Spring on Pay: Real Wage Growth Spring Thaw Has Companies Hiring Again [...]

By |2014-04-08T12:26:14-04:00April 8th, 2014|Business, Economics, Future, Humor, News, Planning, Profitability, Real Estate, REITs, Success, Tech, Value|Comments Off on No Pollyanna

From Panama to Princeton

You have probably heard that the Panama Canal is being expanded. What you may not know is what that means to New Jersey. The Panama Canal now handles Panamax ships, meaning ships equal to the maximum capacity of the existing Panama Canal. After the expansion, the Canal will be able to handle Post Panamax ships [...]

By |2014-03-25T15:12:57-04:00March 25th, 2014|Business, Distribution, Humor, Industrial, News, Planning, Real Estate, Success, Transporation, Value, Waterfront|Comments Off on From Panama to Princeton

Naming Names

Bradevelt. The name popped into my mind, unbidden, while I was shoveling snow. This is unusual, because I usually spend my time inventing new curse words while I am shoveling snow. In New Jersey in general, but certainly on the Jersey Shore, place names have some unique history. From what I understand, at one time [...]

By |2014-02-11T16:06:16-05:00February 11th, 2014|History, Real Estate|Comments Off on Naming Names

The Small and Cheap are the Hard and Expensive

Why is your fee so high? It’s just a little pizza parlor. On a corner. In the middle of a residential neighborhood. It is only assessed for $125,000. Because it is very difficult to appraise. Often the small and the cheap are the hard and expensive. So let’s compare the pizza parlor to a 100,000 square [...]

By |2014-01-07T16:35:36-05:00January 7th, 2014|Business, Productivity, Profitability, Real Estate, Retail, Small Business, Value|Comments Off on The Small and Cheap are the Hard and Expensive

Rethinking Computing with a Chromebook

Working from home can be great. I roll out of bed, grab a cup of coffee and get to work. Two or three hours later I have the equivalent of a day’s worth of work done, and the rest of the day available to talk to clients and prospects. Years ago I discovered GoToMyPC and found that [...]

By |2013-12-12T13:27:40-05:00December 12th, 2013|Blog, Business, Creativity, Humor, Productivity, Profitability, Real Estate, Small Business, Time Management|Comments Off on Rethinking Computing with a Chromebook

McMansions are Back. And They Have Their Place.

Roughly three years after Trulia declared McMansions dead, the New York Times announced that they were back and bigger than ever. I never cared for the term McMansion for two reasons: (1) I really don't understand what it means and (2) the term wreaks of elitist snobbery. After all, why go right for the pejorative? Let's [...]

By |2013-12-04T07:20:26-05:00December 4th, 2013|Children, Real Estate, Residential, Terminology|Comments Off on McMansions are Back. And They Have Their Place.

Pitfalls

Go to any diner in New Jersey and order a salad. Odds are the salad will come with olives. Odds are those olives will have pits. Olives with pits are not a bad thing. In fact, I enjoy them. The issue is more of a social one. To eat the delicious olive, I must first [...]

By |2013-08-29T06:19:17-04:00August 29th, 2013|Business, Customers, Marketing, Real Estate, Service, Success|Comments Off on Pitfalls

The Art and Science of Making People Feel Special

I am endlessly fascinated by creativity in the real estate world. I had the opportunity to spend some time recently with John Sims, Chairman and CEO of Marketlogics, a firm that provides creative real estate market advisory services for residential home builders. John's personal philosophy is simple, "People want to feel special. We figure out how [...]

By |2013-12-02T14:07:45-05:00August 23rd, 2013|Art, Creativity, Customers, Demographics, Marketing, Niche, Real Estate, Residential, Skills, Success|Comments Off on The Art and Science of Making People Feel Special

Understanding Real Estate Rights

There a lot of ways one can hold rights in real estate. Here are some of the most common: Fee Simple You have probably heard the term fee simple before. Fee Simple is the highest possible ownership interest in real estate. If you own your home in fee simple, your ownership is only limited by: [...]

By |2013-08-06T15:04:39-04:00August 6th, 2013|Real Estate, Taxation, Terminology, Value|Comments Off on Understanding Real Estate Rights

Data Centers and their Cloudy Future

The concept of cloud computing has gained wide acceptance in the past several years. In order to meet the growing demand for server space, data centers have sprung up like weeds. Data centers are any building used to house a large number of internet servers. Certain minimum power levels and access to high speed internet [...]

By |2013-07-19T14:44:40-04:00July 18th, 2013|Real Estate, Tech|Comments Off on Data Centers and their Cloudy Future

DIY Tax Appeals Part II

Yesterday I discussed New Jersey taxation law, how to determine your true value and some basics of DIY tax appeal research. Today we tackle picking comparable sales and the mechanics of the tax appeal itself. Please note: this is in informal discussion of tips and tricks for DIY tax appeal filers. For more detail, please [...]

By |2013-07-16T06:38:07-04:00July 16th, 2013|Real Estate, Taxation, Terminology, Value|Comments Off on DIY Tax Appeals Part II

DIY Tax Appeals Part I

Like many professionals and their specialties, I sort of fell into one of mine. Because at one time I worked as a tax assessor I became an expert on property tax and tax appeals. Here in New Jersey we have some of the highest property taxes in the United State. There are two primary reasons for [...]

By |2013-07-15T08:59:03-04:00July 15th, 2013|Real Estate, Taxation, Terminology, Value|1 Comment

What Exactly are We Trying to Preserve?

Apropos of my recent post, A Better Way to Preserve Historic Properties, it came to my attention that many historic properties are donated. And that's good, right? Maybe not. While I don't doubt the generosity of the donors, most of these deals are burdensome in the long run, and probably should not be pursued by [...]

By |2013-07-08T09:03:28-04:00July 8th, 2013|Creativity, History, Preservation, Real Estate|Comments Off on What Exactly are We Trying to Preserve?

What is Mount Laurel Housing?

Mount Laurel Housing comes from the lead 1975 New Jersey Supreme Court case Southern Burlington County NAACP v. Mount Laurel Township which spawned what is now known as the Mount Laurel Doctrine. The plaintiffs challenged Mount Laurel's zoning ordinance (which favored large lot residential development) on the grounds that it excluded low- and moderate-income families. [...]

By |2013-12-02T14:09:34-05:00June 25th, 2013|Affordable Housing, Real Estate, Residential|Comments Off on What is Mount Laurel Housing?

What is Section 8?

I was talking to Joanne Dennison, a consultant friend of mine about my business. And I starting using jargon she didn't understand. She is a very smart person, so if my goal is to make real estate simpler and more accessible for people, this is bad, very bad. So we decided that I should create [...]

By |2013-06-18T06:33:34-04:00June 18th, 2013|Affordable Housing, Multi-Family, Public-Private Partnerships, Real Estate, Residential|Comments Off on What is Section 8?

A Better Way to Preserve Historic Properties

My hometown of Little Silver bought the Parker Homestead some years ago, just a few doors down from my house. The homestead consists of a house and several barns. Preserving the historic site, which dates back to the 17th Century, was a pet project of our late Mayor, Suzanne Castleman. She and her husband Don [...]

By |2013-06-17T09:39:34-04:00June 17th, 2013|History, Preservation, Real Estate|Comments Off on A Better Way to Preserve Historic Properties

The Hallmarks of the Value-Added Investor

In the lexicon of real estate investing there are three primary types of investments. In order of risk from he lowest to the highest they are Core (typically fully leased and cash-flowing), Value-Added (the real estate version of Streetcar’s Blanche Dubois, something of a a faded rose) and Opportunistic (visionary, big-picture thinking, but the bank [...]

By |2013-05-30T13:05:38-04:00May 30th, 2013|Profitability, Real Estate, Risk, Small Business|Comments Off on The Hallmarks of the Value-Added Investor

Big Artie and Little Artie and Cash on Cash Return

I had lunch with my pal Big Artie the other day. His son Little Artie, recently home from college, joined us. Big Artie has been investing in real estate lately and he wanted to tell me about his latest potential acquisition that he planned to do in partnership with Little Artie. "It's a two family [...]

By |2013-05-22T12:31:17-04:00May 22nd, 2013|Financing, Real Estate, Residential, Value|Comments Off on Big Artie and Little Artie and Cash on Cash Return

A Little Flexibility Could Go A Long Way

The concept of eminent domain contains two parts: public purpose and just compensation. Certainly the idea of public purpose has gotten fuzzy lately. In Kelo v. The City of New London apparently viable private property was condemned and turned over to a redeveloper. But most issues of public purpose are much more mundane and settled: the [...]

By |2013-05-17T15:18:23-04:00May 17th, 2013|Environment, News, Politics, Real Estate, Residential, Risk, Value, Waterfront|Comments Off on A Little Flexibility Could Go A Long Way

So Where Is Jersey Shore Real Estate Going After Sandy?

I have received a number of inquiries about appraising Jersey Shore properties that were damaged by Hurricane Sandy for casualty loss under Internal Revenue Service Rule 165. Thus far, I have not taken on any of these projects. I am not going to lie to you, this has ticked off some clients. Let's start from [...]

By |2023-10-18T15:39:26-04:00May 1st, 2013|Real Estate, Residential, Risk, Uncategorized, Value|Comments Off on So Where Is Jersey Shore Real Estate Going After Sandy?

In Real Estate, The Future Belongs to the Creative

I love it when people have greats ideas, especially when they create whole new uses for underused real estate. I like it even more when they make money doing it. It seems that in all the telecommuting frenzy people forgot that they would actually have to get together from time to time. Strategy, brainstorming and creating and [...]

By |2013-05-01T10:42:23-04:00April 29th, 2013|Business, Creativity, Real Estate, Social Networking|Comments Off on In Real Estate, The Future Belongs to the Creative

A Little Bit Different

"If the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail," according to Abraham Maslow. I think my appraiser brethren tend to look at things in this one-size-fits-all way. Not all, but sadly, most. Now, don't get me wrong, appraisal reports have their place and are the solution to many problems. Need [...]

By |2013-04-27T10:24:36-04:00April 27th, 2013|Business, Real Estate, Skills|Comments Off on A Little Bit Different

LEEDing the Way

I read an interesting article in the New York Times about the Bullitt Center, a 50,000 square foot office building in Seattle billed as the, "Greenest Commercial Building in the World."  In order to learn more, I interviewed Dr. Arbol Abrazo, Dean of Environmental Studies at Sequoia University in San Francisco, who worked on the project. PP: Dr. Abrazo, [...]

By |2013-04-17T18:49:53-04:00April 17th, 2013|Environment, Office, Real Estate|Comments Off on LEEDing the Way

Housing Prophecy

As more and more people are working from home, the effects on existing office space and office development are well-known: vacancy has increased and stayed stubbornly high and the rural corporate campus design has fallen out of favor. Desk- and job-sharing are now commonplace. But if all of these people are working from home, what are home [...]

By |2013-07-19T11:37:43-04:00April 12th, 2013|Creativity, Customers, Demographics, Office, Real Estate, Residential|Comments Off on Housing Prophecy

Another One for the Anecdote Piggybank

I was dubious about the reports of a tightening housing market, but this morning a friend of mine stopped me on the street. He asked, "do you know someone with a house for sale in Shrewsbury or Little Silver? I listed my house for $559,000 and got a contract for $555,000 in two weeks. These people want to [...]

By |2013-04-09T08:59:38-04:00April 9th, 2013|Real Estate, Residential, Value|Comments Off on Another One for the Anecdote Piggybank

The Efficient Market at Work

According to the Wall Street Journal, Hedge Fund Orange Capital, LLC is pressuring luxury hotel Real Estate Investment Trust Strategic Hotels & Resorts, Inc. to liquidate its holdings, which include four Four Seasons hotels, two Ritz-Carltons and the J.W. Marriott Essex House in Manhattan. Orange Capital believes that the hotels are worth more on the open [...]

By |2013-04-01T10:00:17-04:00April 1st, 2013|Capital, Hotel, Real Estate, REITs, Value|Comments Off on The Efficient Market at Work

Going Up!

The latest trend in New York City - Schools and Libraries in need of renovation are instead offering the land they sit on to developers. The developers bid on the land with the understanding that they can build a high-rise and lease or sell apartment units on the upper floors (consistent with zoning, of course), but the lower floors are to be [...]

By |2013-03-26T15:33:32-04:00March 26th, 2013|Creativity, Public-Private Partnerships, Real Estate, Redevelopment|Comments Off on Going Up!

There’s an Old Saying that Applies Here

And that old saying is, "Excess Profits Breed Ruinous Competition". I my last post I described a deal in which Arcadia Realty Trust recently sold 14 self-storage properties scattered across the New York metropolitan area to the Storage Post division of Heitman, LLC for $300 million. I did a little more digging and found the portfolio was [...]

By |2013-03-05T09:00:57-05:00March 5th, 2013|Real Estate, Self Storage, Value|Comments Off on There’s an Old Saying that Applies Here

Self Storage Self Respect

A recent story in the Wall Street Journal described insider's surprise at a recent self-storage property deal. It seems Arcadia Realty Trust recently sold 14 self-storage properties scattered across the New York metropolitan area for $300 million to the Storage Post division of Heitman, LLC. The surprise was the capitalization rate, which was approximately 5.5%. Capitalization rate [...]

By |2013-03-04T09:00:56-05:00March 4th, 2013|Real Estate, Self Storage, Value|Comments Off on Self Storage Self Respect
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