BCO Madrid 2013 Coming in May

Coming up in May, the 2013 BCO Annual Conference in Madrid offers a varied plenary and seminar program featuring world class industry professionals discussing special issues facing Spain and Europe in the coming months.

Slated to take place from May 15th through 17th at the Hotel Hotel Meliá Castilla, Madrid, the British  Council for Offices has put together a program to  allow delegates to learn more about Spain's challenges and how local developers banks, and office occupiers are coping. Of course a big part of the conference will be presenting Madrid and opportunities there.

The focus of this year's event is actually on seeing and understanding Madrid as the locals do. Madrid life revolves around a combination of work, parties and relaxation, and so the BCO conference will simulate this in securing great venues like the historic Casino de Madrid, for delegates to visit.

Key components of BCO 2013:

1. Carbon Neutral - This year the BCO has partnered with The CarbonNeutral Company to certify the Annual Conference as a CarbonNeutral event. This means that emissions associated with the conference have been reduced to net zero through the purchase of carbon credits.
2. Brave New World ' Chairman Neil Thompson, Great Portland Estates; Lord Norman Lamont, Former Chancellor of the Exchequer; Lord Paul Myners, Former Financial Services Minister in HM Treasury and former Chairman of Land Securities; and Sir Stuart Hampson, Chairman of The Crown Estate and former Chairman of John Lewis. These distinguished decision makers discuss the financial situation and what's next.
3. Transport and Offices ' Crisis, Delusion or the British Way? - Chairman Richard Kauntze, British Council for Offices
   Speakers: Lord Adonis, former Secretary of State for Transport; Dame Helen Alexander CBE, Chairman of United Business Media, and of the Port of London Authority; Professor David Begg, Director of the campaign for High Speed Rail ' these leaders discuss transportation as it relates to the future of Britain and growth
4. Various Madrid Excursions ' golf outings, special challenges, and an introduction to the Madrid way of doing business and pleasure are a big part of this year's conference. Expect events such as a three day cycling challenge from Bilbao to Madrid Sponsored by EC Harris, Brookfield Multiplex, Dome Consultants, Hilson Moran, ISG andJones Lang LaSalle

For delegate fees and more information readers should look here, or contact:

SAS Event Management on 01722 339811 or email bco@sasevents.co.uk

Five Ways to Stop Small Real Estate Site Suffering

We are living in a world where online and mobile content is more valuable than that which we see on the television or hear on the radio. Yet there are many small real estate companies that haven't seemed to grasp the concept 'digital', or even of the 21st century. As smart phones become more prevalent, it's fair to ask the question; 'why haven't these small companies realized the importance of creating a stronger digital presence?'

Here are some basic concepts real estate agents not yet involved in digital marketing and sales, may have missed in the shuffle. Make no mistake, in a very short while, if you're not mobile and digital, you're just simply 'not' at all where the property business is concerned.
One ' Listings - Although you may get a few results by using a listing agent, you could host the property listing yourself and remove the middle man. There are many ways you can make sure that your listings are easily found on the Internet. Keep your website active with content and your real estate business could see visitors from other states looking to buy into your properties.

Two ' SEO is No Joke - Search engine optimization is a very important aspect of keeping visitors coming to your website. Just because you attended a seminar about the importance of SEO in 2002, it doesn't mean you are an expert and know what you're doing. Methods for search have changed dramatically since then and keeping your website with current strategies will mean the difference between having quality renters in your properties or sending them to other locales.

Three ' Constant Content Activity - It's not simply enough to build the website and forget about it. Although you may have an influx of visitors for a short time, the traffic will begin to decline with the less activity you conduct on your site. Search engines are looking for regular and fresh content, not websites that pop-up overnight and never see another new posting for months.

Four ' Vigilance of Property Availability - Listing what properties you have on your website can give people an idea of what you have available. Constantly updating that information could help someone locate what they're looking for within your site. You should treat your website as an important extension of your business. It needs to be cultivated and developed just like your brick-and-mortar location for continued success.

Five ' Ideas - If you are having writer's block about what kind of content to write, then you need to think a little deeper. Real estate and property management have great possibilities for relevant content. You could write content based on home repair, greener living, ways to save money within the home, and far more. You could even include areas around your location that are great for tourist attractions which could generate a whole different level of interest in your real estate business.

Sites like Google and Bing are slowly making the phone books produced by Yellow Pages obsolete. As phone numbers and services are readily available on millions of smart phones all over the country, how often do these users even look at the 3-inch stack of recycled paper sitting on their porches? Creating an online presence is more than giving your customers a website to look at. It is a method to conduct business on a whole new level and could possibly increase your real estate company's portfolio.

Don't be one of those old fashion folk and believe that the Internet is 'just a fad.' Embrace the technology and increase your efficiency.

About the author: Ken Myers is the founder of  http://www.longhornleads.com/ & has learned over the years the importance of focusing on what the customer is looking for and literally serving it to them. He doesn't try to create a need, instead he tries to satisfy the existing demand for information on products and services.

Photo credit: Digital ' courtesy © violetkaipa ' Fotolia.com

Henderson Global Investors Announces New UK Industrial Fund

Henderson Global Investors (HGI) has announced the launch of an Industrial Income Fund in partnership Centurion Properties. According to the announcement they hope to raise £100 million from investors during the first three quarters of 2013.

Andy Schofield, Director of Research, at Henderson Property, offered this about the new fund:

'The industrial sector of the UK property market has typically attracted investors looking for sustainable income. The events of the last few years mean that many of the players that usually dominate the sector are hamstrung by a combination of legacy issues and the scarcity of bank debt. In short, there are very few viable buyers.'

Schofield goes on to suggest the opportunity that exists within this sector, and leveraging a disconnect investors have had with UK industrial  a niche he says will soon become Britain's most attractive investment market.

Meanwhile, Julian Rooth, CEO at Centurion Properties, had this to say about the news fund:

'This Fund represents an opportunity for investors to gain access to diversified multi-let industrial assets with sustainable high income streams. In the current low growth/low interest rate environment, investor attention is turning, and will continue to turn, towards income as the primary generator of total return. Over time, demand for assets that generate sustainable income will increase. The Henderson UK Industrial Income Fund will exploit this market trend.'

In other recent movement from HGI, the firm's German contingent announced plans to acquire as many as eight new properties in the German warehouse segment in the short term. Retail, office, and warehouse potential in France, management moves in Sweden retail space management, and even a US residential fund (PDF) highlight HGI news in other markets.

For more information we suggest interested readers connect with HGI at:

Henderson Global Investors    

HARP 2.0 Helping More Homeowners To Refinance

The foreclosure crisis played havoc with real estate markets across the nation, yet some markets were clearly worse hit than others. Now, those areas that suffered the most are leading the nation in refinancings as homeowners look to reduced their monthly mortgage payments and hold onto their homes.

© Piotr Marcinski

Thanks to an expansion of the government's Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) last year, thousands more underwater homeowners have been able to secure new deals with their banks, allowing them to keep on top of their home loans, reports Bloomberg.

Nevada is a prime example. The state saw home values plummet by more than 50% since the start of the recession, and now leads the country with the highest percentage of mortgage holders signing up for HARP. Nevada saw 68% of all its refinancings made under HARP, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Meanwhile, 58% of refinancers in Florida also used HARP.

In total, last year saw more than 1.1 million refinances made under HARP nationwide, twice as much as we saw in 2011.

'The biggest hurdle the housing market has to overcome to stay on its upward trajectory is keeping the foreclosure inventory down,' states economist Diane Swonk of Mesirow Financial.

'HARP refis are keeping people in their homes, especially in the states where property is severely underwater.'

The HARP program was first rolled out in 2009, but its first incarnation saw thousands of homeowners excluded as anyone more than 25% underwater was barred. However, this restriction was removed at the beginning of last year when a revamped 'HARP 2.0' was introduced. In addition, HARP 2.0 allows homeowners to approach any lender for refinancing, not just their existing one.

According to the FHFA, the impact of these changes is fairly significant, with over 25% of new refinancers qualifying after failing to meet the requirements of the original HARP program.

Deloitte Names Sheila Smith Head of Corporate Restructuring Americas

Yesterday Deloitte named Sheila T. Smith as the restructuring services leader for the Americas region. Smith, currently the co-leader of Deloitte FAS Corporate Restructuring Group in the U.S., now has expanded responsibilities, according to their press.

Smith, who was the first ever New York Institute of Credit (NYIC) Executive Woman of the Year, has received any number of industry awards for her management skills. About yesterday's announcement, Smith had this to offer:

'Our clients realize that huge cross-border opportunities exist in South America, but those opportunities can also present distinct and unexpected challenges. We help our clients navigate those challenges to first avoid and then correct the critical issues they face.  Our global depth and breadth of technical and industry experience allow us to bring the right resource to bear on a troubled company situation, tailored to the specific marketplace nuances, legal and regulatory frameworks where the company resides.'

A Boston resident, Smith earned her bachelor's and her master's degrees from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She also holds an MBA from Boston University. Readers interested in more information on the Deloitte news can read the original release here.

The Home of the Future ' It's Now

'Building Green', this has been the building battle cry in trends for some time now. Since 2009 there has been an average annual increase in so called 'green building' of over 30%. The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) home benefits the owner by fairly substantial tax deductions, and the obvious long term benefits include reduced heating expenditures and the resultant collective gain of communities, the nation, and the world.

The infographic below created by blu Homes reveals what once was termed 'the home of the future' existing right now in the form of super efficient housing. Take a look.

U.S. Home Price Appreciation by State [Infographic]

Did you ever wonder if buying a home in the last 10 years made any sense at all, as an investment I mean? With prices having gone from all time highs, to absolute rock bottom lows, has anyone made out where appreciation is concerned?

As suggested by the infographic courtesy 29doors and TurboMetrics below, it all depends on where you actually bought your home or investment. Some will weep over these metrics, and others can take solace.

Should Your American Dream Home Be New or Used? (Infographic]

When the time to buy into your American Dream comes, there will be loads more decisions to make before the dealing is done on your home buying experience. Not the least of the decisions you'll have to make, deciding on buying a new or used home has its share of pluses and minuses to consider.

By way of a little help in deciding, the infographic below lines up pros and cons you should consider. We hope the graphic is helpful in making your American Dream come true.

London Gets World's Biggest Urban Meadow

News from The Independent speaks of London giving back to the environment, and to her people. In the shadow of the Olympic stadium where Usain Bolt and other athletes thrilled the world last Summer, a swatch of concrete that consumes 55 acres will be a meadow soon.

The largest urban park inside London in over 100 years is being developed right next to the Westfield Stratford shopping centre. Inspired by Londoners and Olympic attendees warming to the meadow theme at London 2012, landscape project sponsor Phil Askew and the man responsible for The New York High Line, James Corner, are among a team intent on not only transforming this space, but many others around the UK.

The move builds on the wonderful work of Nigel Dunnett and Sarah Price who created the meadow theme for the games. But more significantly than the names, the ecological impact of a meadow in this urban landscape is what is inspiring. A meadow like that being described puts back a bit of what is lost in cities like London. Slated to be the world's largest sown perennial meadow, what starts as 50 acres will later become 100 hectares of flowers, grass, and some 4,000 trees and 127,000 shrubs ' a 24 hour-a-day paradise that will attract the birds and the coveted bees back to London. And therein lies the best part of the story. Bees are dying out everywhere, and the planners of this meadow have specifically taken their plight into consideration.

The Olympic park now ' courtesy The University of Sheffield

While the soil in this part of London is just not suited to growing much, it is perfect for wildflowers. These bits of nature's paintbrush attract bees like no other plants. And then there are those dainty cousins of bees, the butterflies. Insecticides and massive development have nearly wiped those colorful friends off the Earth too. Now East of London will be a Springtime and Summer home for not only fascinating insect inhabitants, but children, cyclists, retired people wanting some sunshine, lovers, young athletes, and the weary of the city out for some solace.

As a matter of fact large segments of this wonderful park already exist out of the development and landscaping for the Games of 2012. The land surrounding those Olympic venues was transformed from degraded land into a biodiverse park that would 'wow' the world as it arrived at London to see the Olympics. If you go here you'll find a developmental and lecture series by the University of Sheffield, Department of Landscape that tells a lot more of this fascinating development.

Those Brits, like other species they do a lot that's wrong in the world, but then they sure do shine at other things. What a nice story.

 

Pinterest Launches 'Pinterest Web Analytics'

Pinterest is one of the best social media platforms for real estate agents. Because its functionality revolves around theme-based image collections, all of your images of homes for sale, real estate interiors, real estate exteriors, different types of architecture, and numerous other real estate-related items are perfect for sharing on pinboards and getting other users to 'Like,' 'Comment,' or 'Repin' your images.

If you're a real estate agent who regularly uses Pinterest to post great real estate photos and drive traffic to your real estate website, you'll be very excited about the most recent release from the trendiest social media darling around. Just launched today (3/13/2013) is 'Pinterest Web Analytics' which now provides account owners the ability to check out in-depth data relating to how many people saw their pins, how many people clicked onto their website from Pinterest, and how many items on their site have been pinned most frequently and most recently.

Pinterest has also provided a video tour for users to learn about all the great features of Pinterest Web Analytics and guide you through how to maximize the use of this great new marketing tool. There's no denying that Pinterest was already among the hippest social media sites out there, but with the recent launch of Pinterest Analytics, it would also appear that Pinterest's owners are very serious about overtaking Facebook as the most mainstream social media site as well.

Just last November, Pinterest announced that businesses will have the opportunity to setup accounts on the site, which now seems to have been a precursor to launching Pinterest Web Analytics. For now, Pinterest doesn't have any revenue-generating advertising on the site, but as large-scale companies continue to use the site to promote products, and with the emergence of analytics tools that document the value of Pinterest accounts, one can only assume such money-making features are sure to come at some point.

In September of 2012, Pinterest edged out comScore's Top 50 Web Properties with an estimated 25.3 million visitors. But with the continued effort of Pinterest developers, you can bet that ranking will continue to climb over the coming months and years and Pinterest really will become one of the top social media sites in the world.

Joe Heath is a graduate of Indiana University and also holds a Graduate Certificate in Real Estate Development from Drexel University. After working as a Market Research Associate and writing published Market Snapshots for Hanley Wood Market Intelligence in Chicago, Joe now works as a Web Marketing Specialist and is a managing partner at Real Estate Web Creation, LLC.

Summit Industrial Income REIT Acquires More Properties

Summit Industrial Income REIT has just announced their acquisition of 15 industrial properties in the greater Toronto, Moncton, New Brunswick; and Edmonton, Alberta areas. The REIT adds some 2 million square feet of leasable space to their Summit II portfolio.

According to the news release, Summit adds over $107 million in new funding with an overall maturity some 6 years down the road. The REIT also announced having increased their revolving line of credit from $38 million to $55 million in order to take advantage of further growth possibilities. Paul Dykeman , Chief Executive Officer of Summit offered this via the release:

'With the completion of these key acquisitions, Summit II now has a platform with sufficient size and scale to generate stable and increasing long-term cash flows and on which we can grow significantly in the coming quarters. We were also pleased to have improved on the forecasted mortgage profile for the acquired properties, arranging longer-term funding at lower overall interest rates, improving our cost profile for the next few years.'

About Summit II
Summit II is an open-ended mutual fund trust focused on growing and managing a portfolio of light industrial properties across Canada. Summit II's units are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange and trade under the symbol SMU.UN. For more information, please visit our web site at www.summitIIreit.com.

Spain's Bright Shining Hope; Amid the Worst Despair Ever Known

If where you live has been hit hard by the recessive economy, just think about people in Spain for a spell. People there are preparing for yet another recession as six million Spaniards sit out of work with not even a ray of hope in sight. Accordingly, the property market in Spain is absolutely saturated with supply, and little or no demand.

While speculators and normal investors have rescued a part of the property sector in Spain, toxic assets owned by banks are virtually impossible to unload. While the government reels underneath the weight of criticisms over such issues as 57% of the youth of the country being jobless, the banking and business sector hurt even more clinically. As a sign of the business times in Spain right now, once profitable Bankia registered a record 19.2 billion euro loss for 2012.

In what is seen by some as a desperation fire sale of bonds, Spain's leadership is pretty much pulling out all stops trying to effect a reversal of fortunes. In increasing the maturity date for bond debt, this latest sale of Spanish potential does look better on the books, but down in the country, where the people live, despair is the flavor of every day. Over 26% of the working population stand in unemployment lines as I type this report.

And the misery people in Spain are feeling was in large part caused by a Wall Street ' like property bubble that saw prices climb 200% from 1996 to 2007. Then the same sort of hell America felt, was unleashed on a country far less capable of curing itself than the US. Fully one third of the houses built to satisfy the boom for property there are currently uninhabited ' red ink on the books of dozens of banks.

The situation in Spain actually resembles something from a Hollywood SciFi flick. Whole towns have become the Spanish equivalents of ghost towns of the American West. The reality of so called 'ghost airports' even exits where the speculation over the housing bubble led investors to actually begin construction of hubs like Ciudad Real Central Airport, which now sits like a '1.1 billion euro deserted albatross hanging about the neck of the country.

From the collection 'I call it home' (Yo lo llamo hogar) ' Courtesy César Astudillo

Then there's Castellón-Costa Azahar Airport, yet another lonely reminder of Spain's current plight. That airport even has a monument to misery, the $375,000, 24 meter tall statue of Carlos Fabra (top image). To add insult to injury there, Fabra is a politician under investigation for corruption and tax evasion.

The stresses caused by all this strife threaten to tear the country apart actually. Some suggest Catalonia would be far better off as a separate nation, for instance. The trend going forward from today, it just simply does not look positive.

All the economic folly of the last few years has hit Spain, perhaps hardest of all the EU countries, like a bolt from out of the blue. The loss of over 800,000 jobs in a country of only 47 million, the equivalent in the US would be losing almost 5 million additional jobs in the same span. And this with no funds to prop up the long term unemployed.

Good Notes to End On

Even still, crooked politician news to greedy speculator stories, incompetent banks, austere EU Commission and World Bank obtuseness, there's a factor in all this news even the world's greatest economist cannot fathom. Dead broke and SOL as they say, the heart of the Spanish people is something we can all admire. I leave you with a bright ray of sunshine, characteristic of that place in the Southwest of Europe. A little sweet serenade that took place at a Madrid unemployment office is captured in video below. I know, as sure as I am typing this, the sun will shine on Spain again ' probably not due to a banker though.

Trump Rio Tags Cushman & Wakefield to Manage Leasing

The people behind the development of Trump Towers Rio de Janeiro, MRP International, have just appointed Cushman & Wakefield as leasing agents for the property. The 38 story skyscraper, the largest ever office development within a BRIC country, will be opened in 2016.

Cushman & Wakefield are slated to be the sole leasing advisers to the property according to the news. The five stellar towers of the Trump development will offer almost 600,000 square feet of office space. The estimated cost of the project is said to be in the neighborhood of $2.6 billion.

Construction of the towers is scheduled to be completed in phases, the first two of five towers to be completed in advance of the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016. Interestingly, Cushman & Wakefield just won Cushman & Wakefield today won five of seven awards at the Boston Commercial Brokers Association (CBA) the other day.

Trump Rio conceptual ' courtesy MRP International

Saudi Real Estate Co. Eyeballing $1.3 Billion in Development

The CEO of Saudi Real Estate Co. (SRECO) told Bloomberg recently his firm is intent on building a housing development in Riyadh estimated to be worth $1.3 billion. According to reports from news outlets and the company, Saudi Real Estate is refocusing on middle-income buyers who can leverage a home shortage there.

Al Akaria Residences ' from the brochure

Seeking governmental approval of the construction of some 7,000 homes, Saudi Real Estate will also be committed to building the connective community elements of office, hotels, shopping, and other developments as well. Dr. Fahad A.M Al-Said, CEO of Saudi Real Estate Co. Al-Akaria, addressed the Future Housing Summit last week concerning issues facing his country where the availability of housing is concerned.

Finally, to cement the idea of Saudi Real Estate's leadership where jump starting the youth of Saudi Arabia is considered  their chairman's confidence in the young community there was highlighted late last year in an interview with Arab News, and I quote describing Saudi Arabia for the coming decades:

'I can describe the Kingdom using the words ' flourishing continuous development. I do have strong trust in Saudi youth. I can say that every student is more intelligent than the older student generation. Our future is for the youth, and I strongly have trust on them.'

Saudi Arabia is largely a youthful country possessed of a very well educated younger set. Clearly the focus of future investment there will be attuned to not only satisfying the needs of this population, but taking advantage of the pluses excellent and youthful contributions can foster. Fahad A.M Al-Said and his company are fairly notorious in their revamped focus toward Saudi's taking advantage of global job opportunities too.

Finally, the residential property market there in Saudi Arabia creates something of a demand vacuum not only for Saudi investment, but with the potential transformation of the country's bank regulations and foreign investment allowances of late, a potential investment boom for outside investors too. A growing population and other factors made the country a big target for speculation where investments go.

The Plaza development by Al Akaria

Loffs Bay Estates Launches Website & Opens Door to Development Opportunity

With the recent launch of the Loffs Bay Estates website, a unique development opportunity has now presented itself in one of America's fastest growing resort towns. Located in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, Loffs Bay Estates is a 40-acre parcel of scenic mountain property that has the potential to be a very lucrative development prospect and provide real estate developers with a very high return on such an investment.

There's no doubt that what makes residential development in Loffs Bay Estates so desirable is the rapid rate in which the Coeur d'Alene area is growing. What was once a small mining town in the northern panhandle of Idaho has now blossomed into the second largest metropolitan community in the state and arguably one of the 'go-to' cities to vacation or retire in the United States.

The substantial increase in the Coeur d'Alene tourism industry can be attributed to the numerous resorts in the area and the rise in golfing culture. The Coeur d'Alene Resort Golf Course is now considered to be one of the top courses in the entire United States and is actually home to the world's first and only movable floating island green. But golfing isn't the only outdoor recreational activity to do around Coeur d'Alene. Two major ski resorts are also located near the area and the expansive Lake Coeur d'Alene enables both tourists and residents alike to enjoy an array of water sports and boating activities.

Real estate developers interested in the Loffs Bay Estates property have the option to subdivide the land into separate lots with no more than 5 acres per lot, or use the land to build a dream family compound that provides plenty of acreage of some of the best mountain outlooks money can buy. Just some of the favorable aspects of the Loffs Bay Estates land for sale include its close proximity to the Loffs Bay boat launch and the fact that the land is utility ready for electricity and phone lines. In addition, the Loffs Bay Estates parcels are also well-water ready and conveniently located adjacent to state-owned wilderness preserves'ensuring the immediate surroundings will always retain the true natural beauty.

Recently, Money Magazine voted Coeur d'Alene as one of the 'Best Places to Retire Young,' with Barbara Walters referring to the area as 'a little slice of heaven.' As Coeur d'Alene continues to grow, development opportunities are becoming harder and harder to find, so anyone interested in developing Loffs Bay Estates should act fast.

According to census statistics, Coeur d'Alene's population grew by nearly 10,000 people from 2000 to 2010, while median home or condo values grew over $87,000 from 2000 to 2009.

For more information on the scenic mountain property for sale in Coeur d'Alene or to learn how you can invest in Loffs Bay Estates, contact Louise Study at (312) 981-2072.

Weakness of Sterling Means UK Investors Should Look outside EU

According to property investment firm Colordarcy, UK investors should look at property outside the European Union due to the current weakness of the pound sterling. Analysts at the firm have commented on the recent performance of sterling against the euro saying 'The knock-on effect of this lack of faith in the UK economy is beginning to show itself with the falling pound and it is likely to make borrowing even tougher with the money markets showing less confidence in the country than they were.'

© Pixelbliss ' Fotolia.com

The managing director of Colordarcy, Loxley McKenzie, added 'The UK had managed to avoid the fate of France and the US in being downgraded, however after months of speculation it now finally joins them in the sin bin. On a positive note, the US has managed to recover from its own downgrading with property in Florida growing in double digits in some areas, however the effect on the UK is less certain and credit downgrades certainly didn't to Spain and Italy any favors. It is also the case that if property investors purchase in pounds, then money is not going to stretch as far in Europe as it did back in the summer of 2012.'

The firm has outlined two main impacts the weakening of sterling all have on overseas property investors, which are a weakening of spending power, and less choice of properties. They've also pointed out that investors thinking of purchasing European property at the moment are likely to find it less appealing than they did a year earlier, regardless of whatever an agent says. Obviously this leaves investors with a problem, as they now have to decide whether to invest in property in the UK, or to look beyond Europe to protect their wealth.

McKenzie has pointed out that although the UK is currently experiencing an upturn in property prices, the medium-term outlook isn't certain as the recovery is still weak in many parts of the country, and the economy is struggling with falling exports and a falling pound. The worry is that the economy could grind to a halt as people struggle with the lack of any pay rise combined with the rising cost of living.

The answer could be to look at markets where the pound goes further, and where the potential returns outweigh the initial investment. These markets include Florida and Istanbul, as sterling hasn't lost so much value against the dollar and the Turkish lira.

Fannie Mae Survey: Optimism Over Housing Recovery

RealtyBizNews has been pretty optimistic about the housing market's outlook for some time now, and it would appear that we're not the only ones to feel that way, as a new survey shows that many consumers share our sentiments that things are looking up.

© Tomasz Zajda ' Fotolia.com

Fannie Mae's February 2013 National Housing Survey showed that 48% of the more than 1,000 US residents polled believe that home prices are set to rise in the next 12 months, compared to just 10% who predict prices to slide down even further. The survey is one of the clearest signs of optimism in the housing recovery yet seen among American consumers, although sadly this doesn't extend to the rest of the economy, which most believe is unlikely to improve much over the next year.

According to Doug Dunca, Chief Economist at Fannie Mae, sentiments towards housing are very robust and slowly gathering strength:

'We expect home prices to firm further amid a durable housing recovery, gradually reducing the population of underwater borrowers and helping to boost the share of consumers who say that now is a good time to sell.'

Even now, 25% of homeowners stated that they believe the time is right to sell a home ' the highest level since the survey began back in 2010 ' while almost 67% of respondents said that they would likely buy instead of rent if they were to move right now.

These are all good indicators, but this optimism isn't reflected in people's opinion of the economy and their household finances at large. According to the survey, only 38% of respondents believe that the economy is on the right track, while just 41% expect their personal financial situation to imporve in the next 12 months ' down from 43% the previous month. Moreover, just 21% of respondents stated that their household income was significantly higher now than it was 12 months ago, down from 23% who said the same thing last month.

For a more extensive look at the February 2013 National Housing Survey, visit the official housing survey section over at Fannie Mae.

The Cheapest Cities to Live [infographic]

Discovering which places to live are the most economical can be a fun adventure as the infographic below developed by Residential Land shows. As it turns out, there's a lot more expensive to living some place than one might imagine.

Enjoy the infographic and let us know if you find a cheaper place to live via the adventure. Comparing real estate markets was never so much fun.

The Cut Throat World of Real Estate: What's Next?

Let's face it, even in bright economic times business is just plain cutthroat anyhow. Still, learning of shady deals by real estate agents is not exactly good news for sellers, buyers, or their intermediaries. As news people we have a duty to report, but it pains us a bit to make the following report. With 75 percent or more of buyers looking online and via mobile before buying, the digital revolution is a double edge sword that will severely cut the unethical. You had better read this.

'Bait and switch', 'double ending', out and out lies, these are terms that essentially destroy consumer confidence in the professional real estate broker. But these and more happen every day, and apparently often. This article in Mail Online tells it like it is for real estate, an industry that has way more agents than contracts at the moment. That revealing article leads to still another resource, ABC's 20/20 where everyone interested can learn of the so called '7 Inside Secrets of Real Estate Agents', oh boy.  Just what every real estate professional needs right now, more horror stories.

If the real estate business has become some sort of primeval and deadly game for survival, how in the world can a buyer or seller trust that their hard earned trust is not betrayed somehow? The simple answer in most cases is, they can't Looking at such shady maneuvers as 'double ending', one has to realize just how crucial trust and credibility really are. Hiding a higher offer, so an agent can get ALL the commission from a sale? There should be jail time in there somewhere. We have to redefine what professionalism in real estate is:

''the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark aprofession or a professional person''

Before I go on, let me list the most common tricky real estate moves:

• Agent Doublespeak: This is basically false advertising by using misleading keywords to sell, words like cute, quant, and etc. to minimize the impact of what amounts to a tiny space. Not exactly illegal, you can see that 'smoothing over' some characteristics can actually be quite deceiving.
• Bait-and-switch: Agents put up fake listings, or either leave old listing up long after they've been sold. When clients ask about 'fake' listings, they are simply directed to other 'real' inventory.
• Shameless Self Promotion: This speaks of the ever popular 'Open House' ' a sideshow to basically brand an agent or agency
• Silence: Sometimes the biggest lies unspoken. Imagine an agent walking on top of floor joists being munched by termites.
• The Deadly Double End: As mentioned, concealing a higher offer in order to cut another agent out of the commission.

Not unlike the car business, or any sales oriented business for that matter, real estate us ever more subjected to the pressure of economics. In short, ethics tend to migrate South the more or less money is involved. Even still, we as consumers are right to expect the term 'professional' to see us into the clear. Fact is, it just does not happen in many cases. As top NY agent Ryan Serhant suggests in the ABC article by Jim Dubreuil:

'In New York City alone, there are 27,000 real estate agents,' he continued. 'Last year there were 12,598 contracts, right? That means a lot of real estate agents did not do deals.'

And there's your Darwinian struggle, as Dubreuil puts it. The Mail Online's Snejana Faberov goes a bit deeper to study a bit just how consumers have to hone their own skills in order not to be duped by unethical agents. What's more alarming, and in the end damaging here is the fact unethical dealing is not exactly dependent on a distressed economy, the problem is much more epidemic than that.

An article at SF Gate back in 2001 tells of exactly the same choleric profession back then. While a great many real estate professionals do adhere to the ethical standards set forth by organizations such as the  National Association of Realtors, the lack of teeth these organizations show predicates non-adherence for many. 

Being unprofessional has been around as long as there have been professions, so all this is nothing new. The problem now is the added pressure of massive foreclosures, rampant speculation, mistrust of banks and other institutions, and business' reputation in general. At stake? Nothing less than the reputation or even survival of the profession as a whole. That's right, there is a world in which buyers and sellers will not even need a real estate broker, it's called FSBO. But that's a nasty word to use on a real estate news site.

Take a look at this. Even the NAR can meet out misleading numbers. In this report it looks like FSBO sales garner far less than agent assisted sales. The 'teaser' report that leads to the expensive one makes things look like those idiotic home owners who choose to sell their own property, they look like they just can't cut it. I quote:

'FSBOs accounted for 10% of home sales in 2011. The typical FSBO home sold for $150,000 compared to $215,000 for agent-assisted home sales''.'

Now for $150, as an agent, you can buy the entire 2011 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers   . or if you want to learn how to leverage social media, you can even buy Facebook Marketing For Dummies (There, for $1o from Amazon with free shipping) from NAR for only $24.99, or over twice what the book costs at Amazon. Of course there are NAR member prices and deals on NAR specials like the 'Social Media for REALTORS® Series VIP 4 Pack' for only $42.95 for non-members. Uh hum.

My point here should be clear. The NAR is the most trusted organization associated with the profession in America. If I perceive of some carnival sales atmosphere going on, whether it was intended or not' You see the rub, I hope. There's room for lots of improvement wherever you look. Taking NAR's facts and figures on FSBO as a benchmark of a kind, this information is disseminated across a wide swath of the real estate landscape, I hope you realize. Good, bad, or indifferent where facts are concerned, any idea conveyed with so powerful a force needs scrutiny. That's the complicated way of saying; 'Hey, lots of people are believing and using this data, how accurate is it?'

Anyone with half a mind has to be asking; 'How valid are numbers based solely on a vested interest's say so?' NAR says one thing, such entities as Flat Fee MLS and a massive subset of factors are not revealed, and somehow we understand that only 10 percent of sales are via individuals? I am not saying NAR is trying to mislead exactly, but others may read things that way. Where it the transparency in a $150 dollar report? This is one good question. And, if half the homes in Quebec or other parts of Canada can be sold saving the owners commissions, then why not in the US?

Off NAR for now, just trusting the wrong agent can lose a seller or a buyer a lot more than a 6% commission. That's right, factor in 'double ending' for an instance. You really get an offer of say, $250,000 for that chic condo you want to unload. The agent is going to have to split $15,000 bucks with another agent, so that offer 'goes away' to be replaced by one for $235,000 say. The seller loses 15 grand, the broker makes $6600 more. Tell me this never happens. Enter the RICS.

Now I'm not pitting the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors against the NAR. Well, okay I am, and since I am it should be noted here that in the UK one of the least trusted professions is the person we call a broker. Maybe if we told the truth, American brokers have just largely slipped the bonds of being no better than used car salespersons. Whatever the case I can find free in depth data on just about anything at RICS. Take this report about the so called 'Pop Up Movement' ' the PDF you read here is indicative.

Let me end this part of an ethics discussion by showing how RICS as a so called 'self governing body' deals with the issue of standards and ethics. First of all, there is no end to the informational effort made by this body in attempting to quantify and qualify the ethics or professional behavior. Take a look at this 'free' resource for professionals so concerned. The decision making chart creates a sort of 'dummy's guide' to professional action here. Whether or not anyone makes use of such things as the RICS Ethics Training Modules or not, the professional nature and value exhibited are still there.

Another piece of the sales pie ' your home listed among millions

Last, but certainly not least along this 'ethics trail' we're on. Even venturing over toe FSBO.com we find just about anything and everything for sale that can actually be had for free elsewhere. In the case of this link? Figuring out how much your home is worth, that's what you get for the low, low price of $40. Then, looking at what FSBO sells by way of visibility, marketing, and listing, it looks like everybody from Zillow to Yahoo! and Realtor.com gets a piece of your $699 plus bucks. Is it just me or does this feel like 1995? Well here's the biggest problem for people who get commissions for their services. The listing below with the dark pictures and no image of the beach at Isle of Palms, SC ' this is what FSBO means by putting your listing in front of 2 million visitors a month. Dependent on your own marketing capability, you can guess how many people saw this.

The digital revolution is not just capable of transforming your real estate business, it's also capable of destroying it. The image you see below is from one of our advertisers, Qazzoo. You see the essences of sales in any form boils down to getting buyers. Trust, mistrust, all of our rhetoric takes us to the undeniable fact home sales are all about leads. So, if technology like a 'consumer search engine' can put buyers with sellers effectively. As you can see if the 'guaranteed lead' supplied by Qazzoo for a couple of bucks here comes through, this homeowner just saved $45,000 dollars minus $2.07 for the Qazzoo lead. I guess you could factor out the cost of the phone call or email too.

Are you with me now on ethics?

A lead purchased using Qazzoo for an Isle of Palms property. Name and info hidden

Other image credits: Good versus evil agent ' courtesy © DigitalGenetics ' Fotolia.com

Top 5 Pool Problems and Solutions

The idealized American dream home usually comes with a swimming pool in the backyard. Those that do have these recreational oases on their property get to enjoy weeks and even months aquatic fun and relaxation with friends and family. Of course, like any fun home amenity, pools require upkeep.

For most people, this upkeep involves hiring a pool professional to come and periodically check the water and add the necessary chemicals. But even well maintained pools can be susceptible to problems, and those who haven't retained the services of a professional are far more likely to experience issues with their pool over time.

That said, here are some pro tips to help any pool owner diagnose and solve some of the most common pool problems.

Algae

One of the most common issues pool owners complain about is that green gunk that can build up over time: algae. This stuff can cake on the surface of the water and make the idea of a dip in the pool a truly stomach-churning prospect. The good news is that algae buildup in a pool is often the simple result of a lack of chlorine, which is a quick fix. All the owner needs to do to combat this problem is add three times the normal dose of shock treatment to their pool as well as a strong algaecide.

Foam

Those who are experiencing foam accumulation on the surface of the pool have likely used too much algaecide while trying to remove algae. The cheaper algaecides don't have the 'non-foaming' label on the bottle, and the solution is to head right back to buy an anti-foam agent from the pool-supply store.

Murky water

Few want to dive into a pool that doesn't have a visible bottom. Unfortunately cloudy and murky pools are a common occurrence. There is a simple reason for this as well: improper pH levels. Also, rain can be factor as it is often highly acidic. The solution to this problem is to test the water levels with a common pool-test strip.

Those without a pool pro on hand can use smartphone apps to test their levels. Insta-LINK ($6.99) is a good option as is HowsMyWater ($5.99).

Pool stains

Occasionally, the pool owner may notice stains forming on the walls and floor. These stains are usually brown and are often the result of high mineral levels. Removal of such stains is best left to the professionals and any such problems should be presented to said professionals as soon as possible. Otherwise, the pool owner runs the risk of the stain setting for good.

Clogged filter

The good thing about a clogged filter is that it is a sure sign the filter is doing its job. The simple solution to this problem is to give the filter a good cleaning. Pros also recommend chemically cleaning pool filters at least once a year.

By following these simple tips, pool owners should be able to solve most problems that come their way. And as the solutions suggest, most of the above problems can be solved on the owner's own without calling in the cavalry.

About the author: Jenny Willis is a professional blogger that enjoys providing consumers with health and fitness advice. She writes for Royal Swimming Pools, a leading manufacturer of swimming pool equipment.

How To Know If A Web-Page is SEO'd

If you have a real estate website, following basic search engine optimization techniques is critical for generating traffic and attracting home buyers. While some aspects of search engine optimization are more complex, on-page keyword optimization is easy to understand and easily fixable, even to real estate agents with little web or SEO experience.

© cienpies ' Fotolia.com

But what is on-page optimization exactly? Simply put, on-page optimization refers to those aspects of a web page that can have a direct effect on its natural search engine results. Examples of these items include the page title, meta-description, filename, H1 tag, and the actual content within the page. Ensuring each published page on your real estate website has adequate on-page optimization will only benefit your overall web presence and drive more traffic.

In order to know whether or not your web pages have correct on-page optimization, simply follow these straightforward guidelines and you'll be well on your way to website success:

1)      Select a long-tail keyword phrase to use as your primary keyword for each page. For example, if you've created a page focused on condominiums for sale in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood, you may want your keyword phrase to be 'Chicago Gold Coast Condos For Sale.'

2)      Add your keyword phrase to the Page Title. Search engines generally consider page titles to be one of the most essential places to identify keywords and associate a web page with a specific topic or set of keywords, such as a long-tail keyword phrase.

3)      Use your keyword phrase as your H1 tag. A properly SEO'd webpage should only have one H1 tag, and with that, make sure this tag incorporates your keywords.

4)      Apply your keyword phrase within the content naturally. Depending on how much content a specific web page has, your keyword phrase should be used throughout the page between 3-4 times. Be careful not to overstuff your keywords, however, as too much keyword usage can harmfully impact your search engine rankings.

5)      Include your keyword phrase in the meta-description. A web page's meta-description is highly viable to users running a search and search engines will even bold matching search terms within the meta-description on the results page(s). But much like the content of a web page, be sure not to overuse keywords in the meta-description, as search engines will quickly associate your website with spamming and over-optimization should there be an excess of keywords.

6)      The filename (URL) of a web-page should match your long-tail keyword phrase. Ideally, your URL should be under 76 characters, so if your long-tail keyword phrase exceeds this limit, try to adjust the URL and include only your main keywords, however.

7)      Bold and italicize your keyword phrase. Although search engine weigh bold and italic keywords much less than in the past, it still doesn't hurt to incorporate this strategy into a web page's content.

 

Joe Heath is a graduate of Indiana University and also holds a Graduate Certificate in Real Estate Development from Drexel University. After working as a Market Research Associate and writing published Market Snapshots for Hanley Wood Market Intelligence in Chicago, Joe now works as a Web Marketing Specialist and is a managing partner at Real Estate Web Creation, LLC.

Trulia Suggest Gets Personal With Home Recommendations Just For You

Ever since online home search took over from newspaper classifieds as 'the' way to go about finding a home, it's been a pretty bog-standard affair. Lifestyle-focused and map-based, pretty much every property listings service looks and feels the same. But not anymore'

In order to try and gain an edge over its rivals in what is one of the internet's most ultra-competitive markets, listings giant Trulia has come up with something altogether different ' it's just launched 'Trulia Suggest', a personalized recommendation service that aims to customize home search according to buyer's wants and needs.

Until now, home search has been a very linear affair. You tell the search engine what your budget is, how many rooms you need and specify a general area where you want to live, and it throws up a random bunch of homes that fit those loose parameters. It works to an extent, but you'll still need to wade through dozens of properties that are clearly not what you're looking for.

Trulia Suggest promises to change that experience and do away with most of the 'spammy' home listings that pop up, delivering only those properties that closely match your personal tastes and interests.

It's an ambitious step by Trulia, and for now the service is only available in beta mode which means it probably won't be all that perfect, for now anyway. But that's kind of the point really, for Trulia Suggest runs on algorithms that 'learn' over time, meaning that the more it gets to know about you and your personal tastes, the better its recommendations will be.

To start getting suggestions from Trulia, you'll need to sign up for the service first of all. Once that's out of the way, Trulia will then start tracking your activity on its site, slowly building up a history of the things you like and dislike about the different properties you look at. Once Trulia Suggest thinks it knows enough about you, it'll begin offering up suggested properties that it believes are suited to your tastes.

At first, the some of the suggestions may be a little iffy, but whenever that happens there's the option to 'hide' those properties, which effectively tells it that you don't like that choice at all ' this being how the service slowly learns about your preferences.

Trulia Suggest's recommendations will automatically update in real-time as you browse through the site, taking note of specifics like your preferred location, budget range and so on.

It remains to be seen how much people will like Trulia Suggest, or how effective its recommendations will be, but the feature definitely helps to set it apart from the competition. If it does prove to be successful though, you can bet your house that sites like Zillow et al will follow up with something similar.

What To Do Before You Begin Your Home Search

Buying a home is one of the most important transactions you will ever make. And in today's competitive home-buying environment, you need to be ready to act immediately once you find that perfect home. That's why it's crucial to be prepared and organized, even before you begin your search. This will not only help you find the home of your dreams; it will also make the house hunting process much easier and more enjoyable. Here are some things to keep in mind before you start looking for houses.

What are the 'must haves' on your home wish list? © Szasz-Fabian Erika ' Fotolia.com

While there is a wealth of online resources available to home buyers who choose a 'do it yourself' approach, it's important to use an experienced real estate broker to help with your search. Real estate agents have unmatched expertise on what's happening in the housing market today. They also can give you a completely objective and professional opinion of the homes and neighborhoods you are considering.

Get Pre ' Approved For A Mortgage

In today's market, a mortgage pre-approval (or proof of funds for cash buyers) is essential. It lets you know exactly what you can afford to buy, and also demonstrates to a seller that you are a willing and able buyer. You should also use an online mortgage calculator to get a sense of your buying power and monthly mortgage payments. Remember that there are other expenses involved in buying a home, such as moving, decorating and remodeling, so it's always a good idea to consult with your accountant or financial advisor to assess your financial goals.

Create A Wish List

Before you begin your search, it's important to prioritize your wants and needs. There are many variables to think about depending on your lifestyle, budget and future plans, but some universal considerations include location, type of home, and features and amenities. Consider the factors that are most important to you, such as schools, restaurants, and shops in the area; construction-style, and more specific details like garage parking and outdoor space.

Once you have selected an agent, assessed your financial situation, and determined exactly what you are looking for, you are ready to begin your home search.

About the author: Peter Olesker is Executive Vice President of @properties, a Chicago real estate brokerage dedicated to providing expert, quality advice and service for all of your real estate transactions. Leaders in state-of-the-art technology and marketing, @properties offers a higher level of service and professionalism for clients. For more information visit: www.atproperties.com. 

Trust: A Professional's Only True Ally

Trust in any line of business is absolutely fundamental to long term success. Anyone who does business successfully, already knows this. Somehow though, our human frailties and other causes can condemn us to failure. A few stories from recent news illustrate this painfully. One in particular, a Daily Mail piece from today, shows all to clearly how negative and damaging frailty can be.

Abuses ' courtesy © greiss design ' Fotolia.com

A real estate agent caught on camera taking ladies' underwear from their Arlington, Virginia homes that he marketed is just plain wrong. Hidden camera footage clearly showed Stephen Brumme of Silver Spring, Maryland tossing homeowner chest of drawers and closets in search of panties. The video below tells the dastardly tale.

Imagine the homeowner's psyche where hiring and inviting a real estate agent or any other professional into their home is concerned. People who do these sorts of things ALWAYS make things difficult, not only for clients, but for the rest of us trying to uphold ethics.

Turning now to a resounding staccato of complaints against shady wheelers and dealers, the Orlando Sentinel has a series 'Ticked off! @rip offs, scams' ' where ordinary customers get the shaft from this sales person or that professional. One scam that really caught my attention being a victim of bait and switch marketing and sales. A resident tried to buy a nice frying pan, only to be offered a whole expensive set. Then, when the customer tried to just cancel the order, the sales peeps gave them the run around. In the end, the Orlando native receives a big box in the post with the whole set. Needless to say, the credit card died at the weight of the charges. How's that for the multitude of smaller crimes we all suffer?

Then, a story about the credibility aspect of short sales hit U-T San Diego the other day. According to that report price disputes appear to be effectively destroying the relationship in California between Fannie Mae, agents, and homeowners. According to the report the big questionable is; 'Is Fannie Mae overpricing homes there?' Not a lot more need be said actually, the perception is enough for trust to go down the drain. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac back over half the homes in the state, so what's the loss in credentials worth here?

Finally, news that corporate executives making an exodus to Switzerland to avoid taxes is all the international business news today. Imagine the dismay at both ends of the trust table when stockholders discover their decision makers are trying to cheat! According to this news bit, a new rule may allow shareholders to hold up exec pay and bonuses to curtail such deeds. The Swiss vote could derail many an attempt to offshore gains.

In our own business, as PR, marketing, and even consulting executives, we find every day an ever worsening climate of industry trust. Fact is, most people just plain distrust public relation or any business you can name, by default. An honest person has to climb a growing Mt. Everest to just show the truth of honest value. This is true across the spectrum of business really. Let us know your thoughts and your experiences along these lines.

York Chosen as Ideal Second-Home Destination in the UK

According to a recent poll in new homes portal whathouse.co.uk, York has become the most popular destination for a second home in the UK. The city was voted top by 66% of readers, followed by Devon with 9%, the Scottish Highlands with 7%, Bath and Cornwall tied at 5%, while my home town of Brighton could only manage a measly 4% of the vote.

© Derrick Neill ' Fotolia.com

It is easy to see why York is such an attractive destination as it's a walled medieval city with a long list of attractions that include the award-winning Jorvik Centre, York Minster and York City Walls. However the fact that it was rated significantly higher than other traditional favourites such as Cornwall and Devon was surprising to the assistant editor of whathouse.co.uk, Laurna Robertson:

'While York is a vibrant city with lots to offer residents and holidaymakers, coastal counties like Cornwall and Devon are traditionally considered to be more desirable areas for second homes. I wonder if the popularity of York may have to do with the more affordable homes for sale there in the current climate.'

Latest figures from the BBC showed the average house price in York is at £203,485which is significantly more affordable than Devon, Bath, Cornwall and Brighton and Hove. Only the Scottish Highlands was cheaper with an average price of £152,432.

Steve Woomble, sales director for Linden Homes said:

'It is wonderful to see York doing so well in opinion polls like this. It is a wonderful city that combines the historic so well with the vibrancy and general buzz about the place. Linden Homes recently launched our newest development in York-named 1877 to commemorate the golden age of railway. It is proving hugely popular with home buyers with a range of budgets and living requirements-further adding evidence that York is a much sought after location.'

Paul Newman, the managing director for Barratt David Wilson Yorkshire East, added:

'We have been successfully building in York for more than 40 years now and design developments which meet and hopefully exceed our buyer's expectations. We have one active site, Derwenthorpe that has achieved near sellout success in just 18 months with only three of the 64 properties remaining, and have several new exciting schemes opening in York in the near future which will be perfect for buyers looking for a first or second home.'

Whathouse.co.uk is the leading new homes portal, and has thousands of new homes and affordable new homes for sale in the UK. In addition it provides the latest property news, mortgage advice and valuation of homes and property.

Raising Private Money To Finance Your Property Deals

It really is possible to raise money from private individuals to fund the purchase of an investment property, or to buy a home to live in. The key is to make the right presentation, and that presentation should be constructed with your potential lender in mind.

© JJ'Studio ' Fotolia.com

Potential lenders come in all shapes and sizes. They may include anyone from your parents, friends, or an extended family member, to a professional hard money lender or a capital company. Pitching the idea of getting them to lend you the money you need revolves around a few key points.

If the lender is a family member, friend or other 'non-professional' person who does not lend money on a regular basis, they will most likely be concerned about issues such as your personal ability to pay them back, protection of their principal, and their anticipated rate of return. Your job is to answer those questions with a presentation that they can easily understand.

No matter who the lender may be, they will want to know how much money they will make if they lend to you. But family members and friends are probably not carrying a financial calculator around with them. Chances are they are not all that familiar with how the process would work and they may not be able to determine how much money they would make. When 'pitching' your loan request to them, it is important to give them something in a written form that shows how the transaction will work, how and when they get paid, and how much they will benefit financially. And you want to keep it simple.

For best results you should have a specific property in mind, preferably already under contract, subject-to getting the required financing. Then you can structure your loan proposal around the specifics of that property.

For example, let's say you found a nice three bedroom, two bath home in a good part of town and you want your uncle Bill to lend you the money to purchase this property. I'd take uncle Bill to view the property in person if possible. If that is not possible, I'd video or photograph the property and have photos or video ready for uncle Bill to look at.

I'd make sure that my negotiated buy price is below the appraised value, so that the Loan-To-Value ratio looks good to uncle Bill. If you find a property worth $100,000, but you only need $80,000 from uncle Bill, that would be an 80% LTV. This is a commonly held benchmark for a 'safe' LTV. Uncle Bill might be willing to lend you more than 80% of the value, but as a general rule, the lower the LTV, the easier it will be for you to find a willing private lender.

I'll plan to prepare a simple financial statement for uncle Bill, showing what rate of interest I am willing to pay, and how much the monthly payments would be. I'll use a mortgage amortization calculator to work up the payment amount along with the interest and principal break down. This way uncle Bill can see how much money he will make on this loan, as the years go by.

I want to make sure I cover all of the important details, including the loan amount, the interest rate, the total number of payments to be made, and the total interest that will be earned by uncle Bill. Even conservative family members are more willing to consider lending money to finance a home when they can clearly see how much they may earn. Chances are your loan will pay much better than what they are currently earning on bank CD's and other savings vehicles. You can tell uncle Bill that this loan is like creating an annuity for himself, secured by real property.

On the flip side, getting your loan from a private lender such as uncle Bill will likely be much cheaper than typical FHA or other types of government insured loans. Unlike FHA loans, which are costly, uncle Bill may be less likely to saddle you with loan origination fees and private mortgage insurance. This alone may save you tens of thousands of dollars over the life of your loan.

When dealing with more experienced private lenders that loan money on a regular basis, your own experience and track record may play an important role. No matter how much or how little experience you have, the key to success will be your ability to present an investment opportunity that makes sense for the experienced private lender.

I was once approached by a custom home builder who had a dream of creating a development in the mountains, in which he would develop and build out the entire property. He was seeking a million dollar loan to help him finance the project.

I arranged a meeting with a private investment group that was looking for such an investment opportunity. I told the builder to have a detailed presentation ready for the meeting that included such things as blueprints, surveys, maps, photos, cash flow projections, and so forth. After all, if you are seeking a million dollar loan, you need to look and sound like you know what you are doing, and you must be able to demonstrate how the loan will be paid back and what the time frame will be.

The builder showed up with the details 'in his head', and had not taken the time to put together a detailed presentation that would answer even the most basic questions that the lenders asked. The meeting was over the minute it became obvious that the builder had not prepared an adequate presentation.

Whether you are trying to raise private funds for your first house or a 50-story office building, the key is to have a clear presentation that provides all of the essential details about the property and shows the potential lender how the deal will benefit them. They are considering making the loan because they want to make money. It's up to you to show them how much they will make and when they can expect to make it. When you properly address lender expectations, it's not that difficult to find private money to finance a home or investment property.

 

Donna S. Robinson is a real estate investor and residential investment consultant located in Atlanta, GA. Follow her on twitter at donnaconsults, Facebook.com/RealtyBizConsulting and watch her videos on youtube. Her latest book, Basics of Real Estate Investing, is now available for Kindle on Amazon.com

Top Five Hottest Housing Markets For The Next Five Years

We've seen some vast improvements in pretty much every real estate market in the country over the past few months, but there's still a lot of ground to make up if prices are going to return to their pre-recession levels.

© Maimento ' Fotolia.com

Bearing that in mind, real estate watchers are keen to see which markets will display the strongest growth over the next few years, something that the experts at AOL Real Estate are also interested in. Recently, they ranked US cities based on the projected annualized change in home prices between now and 2017 to come up with a list of the best housing markets in the next five years. Many of the best-ranked cities have suffered huge price drops since the recession, so they're expected to go hell for leather in the next five years as they try to make up for lost values.

#1 Medford, Oregon

By far and away the biggest expected improvement will take place in the sleepy town of Medford, Oregon, where prices have fallen by 39.2% since their 2006 peak. AOL's experts are predicting an annualized growth rate of a whopping 9.7%, based on hopes of an improvement in the town's depressing job market, where unemployment currently hovers at 10%.

Image courtesy ZabMilenko at en.wikipedia

#2 Santa Fe, New Mexico

Santa Fe hasn't had such a bad time of things in comparison to other parts of the country, with prices dropping by a 'mere' 21.1% since their peak in Q4 of 2007. Even so, the experts are predicting a big upturn in fortunes for the city, which currently enjoys an unemployment rate that's 5% below the national average. The city's expected annualized growth rate is set to reach 9.1% throughout the next five years.

Image courtesy JHarrelson

#3 Panama City-Lynn Haven-Panama City Beach, Florida

Like most parts of Florida, the Panama City-Lynn Haven-Panama City Beach has been through a great deal of pain in recent years, with home prices sliding by a spectacular 41.9% from their 2006 peak. At present, the median price for a single-family home stands at just $143,000, yet it does appear that hope is on the horizon. Florida has been buoyed recently by an influx of foreign buyers, and as the backlog of foreclosures clear up we can finally expect things to pick up. According to AOL Real Estate, the city will see an annualized growth rate of 9.1% over the next five years.

Image courtesy JS Clark

#4 Sebastian-Vero Beach, Florida

Home prices in Sebastian and Vero Beach have suffered even more damage over the last eight years, falling by a whopping 50.5% from their peak in 2005. With median home prices of just $139,000 and an unemployment rate of 9.9%, this is a market that's absolutely hit rock bottom, with only way left to go ' and that's upwards. AOL expects Sebastian-Vero Beach to hit an annualized growth rate of 8.9%, making it one of the hottest markets to watch.

Image courtesy Ebyabe

#5 Carson City, Nevada

The nation's other big foreclosure hot-spot also gets a mention in the top five, suggesting that those who took the opportunity to invest in Nevada's misfortune can expect a tidy profit in the next few years. Carson City homes have lost 51% of their value since 2006, while unemployment has sky-rocketed to 10.2% ' a situation so bad that it can't possibly continue for much longer. Experts predict the city to see annualized growth of around 8.5% between now and 2017.

Quadrant Estates Ventures Heat Up UK Market

According to news from Quadrant Estates, venture partners CarVal Investors, Orion Capital Managers, and the City of London Corporation announced the appointment of Skanska as building contractor at 100 Cheapside, a prime office development in London (illustration below).

The 100,000 sq ft prime space, estimated to cost £28 million when completed in autumn 2014, is situated in the center of London, between the Bank of England and St Paul's on the corner of King Street.

According to the release from Quadrant, Tristram Gethin, Managing Director and founding Partner of Quadrant Estates, offered this comment on the news:

'We are right on track with the development of 100 Cheapside, which will occupy a prime site in the heart of the City.  It is one of the last pieces of Cheapside to be redeveloped.  The spectacular building will have stunning views from its ninth floor roof terrace and will attract occupiers looking for a high spec HQ building in a great location.'

In other news about Quadrant Estates, Property Week has reported Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) and Quadrant Estates discussing buying a portfolio of retail parks in Sunderland, Glasgow, and Oxford. The value of the proposed deal is suggested at £115 million for the portfolio.

Added to these recent developments, Quadrant also announced with Orion Capital Managers appointing  Morgan Sindall as  building contractor on Carmelite Riverside. That 135,000 sq ft prime riverside office development is to start construction immediately.

Established back in 1997 by co-founders Tristram Gethin and Christopher Daniel (image left), Quadrant Estates Limited develops commercial institutional properties in the UK. Their portfolio includes retail, office, residential, leisure, trade, and warehousing investments.