Never Be Overwhelmed Again

Being overwhelmed is a terrible state. It is essentially chronic panic. People in a panicked state don't think clearly and tend to make bad decisions. The thing about being overwhelmed is that it is by definition temporary. You can't spend your entire life, or ever more than a few days, overwhelmed. What is overwhelming usually passes [...]

By |2018-09-06T06:57:56-04:00September 6th, 2018|Attitude, Humor, Stress, Terminology|Comments Off on Never Be Overwhelmed Again

Let’s Try Plain English

Look, your business is complicated. You have to know a lot to do your work. But listen to yourself. When you are talking to a lay person, how much jargon do you use? How many initials or acronyms? How many [shudder] buzz words? You don't have to dumb it down, just use plain English. So [...]

By |2017-08-19T10:32:39-04:00August 19th, 2017|Buzzwords, Communication, Humor, Jargon, Terminology|Comments Off on Let’s Try Plain English

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

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.

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

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
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