Selling Home

Selling Your Home, Sell home, selling a house, selling house, sell your home - Home Services Mortgages Research Moving Zero Down Appraisals -- -- A Simple Guide for Selling a Home on Your Own Preface: Why sell yourself? Selling a home yourself, without an expensive real estate broker is easier than most people think. However, it will take some work on your part. You will be doing a lot of things that a real estate agent might normally do. Just follow the For Sale By Owner.com step-by-step selling guide below, and you'll not only save lots of money, but we'll make the house selling process as effortless as possible It's the money! Sellers save thousands of dollars not paying a 6% or 7% commission. For example, if your home can sell for $250,000, youd save $15,000 to $17,500 in commissions. Sell Your Home Fast. Because you are not paying an outrageous selling commission, you can afford to price your home more aggressively. The lower the price, the more likely it sells fast. You will still walk away with thousands in savings, but you'll just be doing it faster. It's so easy. Despite what a real estate broker may say, selling a house is not rocket science. They know that, and soon you will too. Just follow the simple selling steps below. And, if you have any questions, call us and one of our representatives will try to answer any questions you may have. You are not alone - For Sale By Owner.com will help you every step of the way. We are one of the largest and fastest growing real estate service companies in America. In fact, our web site is one of the top-five most visited real estate sites in America. Thousands of eager home buyers visit us everyday. Perhaps one of them is looking for a home just like yours. Over the past five years, we've helped sell thousands of homes, saving home owners millions of dollars. So let's get started. 8 Easy Steps to Selling a Home Yourself Step 1. Preparing your home to sell - make it look great Presentation is everything! Home buyers are attracted to clean, spacious and attractive houses. Your goal is to dazzle buyers. Brighten-up the house and remove all clutter from counter tops, tables and rooms. Scrub-down your house from top to bottom. Make it sparkle. Simple aesthetic improvements such as trimming trees, planting flowers, fixing squeaking steps, broken tiles, shampooing rugs and even re-painting a faded bedroom will greatly enhance the appeal of your house. Also, make sure your house smells good. That's right, clean out the cat box and light mildly scented candles. Invite a neighbor over to walk through your house like a buyer would. Get their opinion on how it "shows." The stuffed donkey in the family room may have to go to your in-laws for a while. Step 2. Pricing your home effectively Do not over price your home. Over-pricing when you sell a home reduces buyer interest, makes competing homes look like better values, and can lead to mortgage rejections once the appraisal is in. Over-pricing when selling a home is the single biggest reason why many "for sale by owner" home sellers don't sell their homes successfully. Remember: the home selling market dictates the price (not what you think it should be worth). One of the best ways to correctly price your house when selling is to find out how much other homes, similar to your own, recently sold for in your neighborhood. Talk to home sellers, buyers and check out the real estate listings in your local newspaper. Typically, if you set the price of your home at 5 to 10 percent above the market price, you are likely to end up with an offer close to your home's true value. Also, you may try calculating the cost per square foot of your home compared to the house selling prices in your area (divide list price by square footage of livable space). If your house has more features or other desirable qualities, you may want to set a slightly higher house selling price. The easiest way to accurately price your home is to contact your local home appraiser . Finally, set your house selling price just under a whole number, such as $169,900 rather than $170,000. Step 3. Get a real estate lawyer Even though it's an additional expense, it may be wise to hire a lawyer who will protect your interests throughout the entire transaction. An experienced real estate lawyer can help you evaluate complicated offers (those with a variety of conditions), act as an escrow agent to hold the down payment, evaluate complex mortgages and/or leases with options to buy, review contracts and handle your home's closing process. They can also tell you what things, by law, you must disclose to buyers prior to a sale and can also help you avoid inadvertently discriminating against any potential buyers. In some areas, title companies will handle all aspects of the transaction and have in-house legal departments that can assist you with legal issues that may arise. To locate a title company in your area, click here . Unless you're significantly experienced in the home selling process, having a real estate lawyer at your side provides peace-of-mind. You know you've got someone looking out for your interests, not just the buyers. To locate a lawyer in your area, click here Step 4. Marketing your home Exposure, exposure, exposure. That's how sellers sell their home fast. For Sale By Owner.com provides extensive home exposure because over 700,000 unique visitors come to the web site each month (that's Internet-speak for new people). In fact, For Sale By Owner.com is one of the top-five most visited real estate web sites in the U.S. getting literally millions of visitors looking to buy or sell a home. We spend tens of thousands of dollars a month to assure that For Sale By Owner.com is prominently placed on Internet search engines so buyers can easily find our site throughout process of selling your home. If your home is in a market where For Sale By Owner.com has a mass-distributed magazine, your home's exposure will be even greater because they can be found at thousands of locations frequented by buyers that include grocery stores, shopping centers, convenience stores and restaurants (the magazine is in over 40 markets nationwide). Writing your sell ad While For Sale By Owner.com allows you a 3,000 word description of your house (try to afford that in a newspaper ad), your advertising copy should be thorough yet short, simple and to-the-point. Long, flowery prose will not make your house sound more appealing. It will simply make it harder for the home buyer to read. Make sure to provide the critical facts buyers are looking for such as the house's number of bathrooms, a re-modeled kitchen, etc. Most home buyers quickly scan ads, so it is important that your house stands out. For example, you may want to add a theme-line such as "Priced below market" or "Great schools." Stay away from industry jargon and use language that makes home buyers comfortable. Survey our web site and see how others have written their ads. You will quickly see which are "buyer friendly." Copy their approach for your ad. Home Photos: Yes, a picture is worth a thousand words If you are taking a photo of your home, be sure that the home's yard/driveway is uncluttered. Remove bikes, garbage cans and parked cars. The same applies for interior shots. People are looking to buy your house, not your possessions. Think of furniture as props and the room a stage. Move things around if you have to. Also, take lots of house photos. Film is cheap...your home deserves quality. The more you shoot, the better the odds are that you'll get a few really good shots. Lawn signs Lawn signs are one the most important marketing tools for home sellers. They attract attention to your home. Professionally-produced signs (like the ones we can send to you) telegraph to home buyers a "quality" image of your house. Directional signs also help drive buyers to your property, especially if you do not live on a busy street. Open houses Open houses are sometimes a good way to attract buyers to your home. Typically, real estate agents conduct open houses for two reasons; 1. Clients expect them 2. They are a good way to attract buyers, not just for the open house but for all houses for sale in the Real Estate Agent's area (yes, your competition). The fact is that very few houses sell due to a open house itself. Home Brochures/Information sheets It is a good idea to create an information sheet (with a photo) about your home to give potential buyers. Consider printing copies of your ad from For Sale By Owner.com to give to people who visit your home. The MLS The MLS or Multiple Listing Service can also help market your home, particularly to real estate agents who may know of buyers seeking a property like yours. The MLS is a directory used by real estate agents to announce to other agents that they have a home for sale. In many selling markets, For Sale By Owner.com can put your house on the MLS (for an additional fee). However, if a real estate agent finds you a buyer after seeing your home on the MLS, you must usually pay that agent a 2.5% to 3% commission (the law states that all commissions are negotiable, however). You are your home's best salesman As every salesman knows, to be effective you have to really know your product. And who knows your home better than you? Certainly not a real estate agent, who, in all likelihood, has spent only a few moments in your house before showing it to prospective buyers. Sell your neighborhood as well as your house. Show enthusiasm, but don't get caught-up talking too much about how "your daughter spent the best years of her life in this very room." Step 5. Negotiating an offer on your home When a home buyer makes an offer (this is often presented to you directly from the buyer or through their lawyer), you should consult with your attorney. Buyers and sellers have an Attorney Review Period, which is usually three days, to cancel or amend the offer. The offer becomes a contract at the end of the Attorney Review Period, and is binding. Many of your home's offers can be complicated and contain special clauses that favor the buyer. Purchase price isn't everything. Carefully consider the purchase contract's other terms and conditions. Too many contingencies can leave loopholes and cause a deal to collapse. Especially avoid contingencies that favor the house's buyer, such as linking the escrow closing date to the buyer's sale of their current home. If the buyer insists on such terms, include a so-called kick-out clause in the contract that will allow you to consider other offers if the buyer isn't able to sell within a certain period of time. Assess your buyer's financial qualifications Is the buyer pre-approved? How much of a loan is the buyer seeking? Unless you are in an active market, lenders tend to shy away from underwriting a deal in which the purchase price is higher than the nearest comparable sale and the buyer is putting less than 10% down. If this is the case, your buyer may not be able to obtain financing. Know the home selling market How you judge an offer also can depend on market conditions. If the selling market is slow, you may feel vulnerable, especially if circumstances are pressing you to sell. Make sure any offer you accept does not keep you in escrow longer than 30 days. In a hot market where multiple offers are likely, be wary of countering more than one offer at a time (you could end up in legal trouble if two buyers both accept your counter offer). Also be wary of offers that promise more money but contain poor contract terms (long escrow, multiple contingencies, etc.). If you feel the home's offer is insufficient, make a counter offer. Rarely is a first offer the buyer's absolute highest price they are willing to pay. Negotiating is part of the home selling process. Again, your lawyer should review the details of all offers. Step 6. Home inspections All standard real estate contracts are going to give the prospective home buyer the right to inspect your property - so be prepared. Under a general inspection you are obligated to make major repairs to appliances, plumbing, septic, electrical and heating systems - or the buyer may cancel the offer. The inspection will also include your property's roof, as well as a termite inspection (in some states, house sellers must provide proof that the home is termite free). If you are concerned about how your home will fair when inspected, you may want to visit your local inspector . They can conduct an inspection for you before a potential buyer has one done. This way, you can address the problems before a buyer stumbles upon them. Once the inspections are complete, the buyer makes an application to a mortgage lender. Step 7. Buyer appraisals and other details The mortgage lender will order an appraisal of your home to make sure they are not paying more than the house is worth. They may also order a surveyor to make sure that the property boundaries are properly laid out. They will also order a title search to determine if there are any liens against your property. These tasks are all the responsibility of the buyer and/or their attorney. At this point too, the mortgage company will issue a commitment . Again, the buyer (and their attorney) must complete all conditions listed on the mortgage commitment. Prior to closing, you should notify your lender that you will be paying off your mortgage. After a closing date has been agreed to, you should contact your utility providers and advise them of your final billing date. Step 8. Closing The day of the closing , the home's buyer will do a "walk through" of the property to make sure all agreed repairs are completed and that the home is in the same condition as when the buyer made their offer. If problems arise that this point, the closing can still take place with funds held in escrow to remedy the problem. Closings usually occur 30 - 45 days after you have signed the sales contract. Depending on what state you reside in, you may close with an attorney, or with a title company. At the closing, all monies will be collected, any existing loans or liens will be paid, the deed will be transferred, and insurance will be issued insuring a free and clear title. The home seller will receive the proceeds of their home in one to two business days after the closing. Conclusion This step-by-step home selling guide is a general overview of the process when selling a home. Each state has slightly different laws and customs as they relate to the transaction process. Selling a home yourself can be time consuming, but the financial rewards can be tremendous. With help from For Sale By Owner.com , we try to make the process of home selling on your own as easy as possible. For Sale By Owner.com Your experts in selling a home on your own. -- Privacy & Disclaimer Partner With Us Career Opportunities Press Room Contact Us Buying A Home Your Credit Report Terms and Conditions Home Selling Tips Selling Your Home © 1997-2005 For Sale By Owner.com Your source for selling a home on your own. We make the home selling process a cinch. Sell real estate, sell a home, and sell your house, fsbo. Real estate selling, home selling, house selling. Site Map Home

Denver real estate and

Colorado real estate; relocation - real estate services Colorado real estate Find Real Estate in other areas: Alabama Alaska Arkansas Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Masschusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming International Links Enjoy these real estate links Colorado Denver lofts, condos and high rises - Larry D. McGee, CRB, CRS Explore alternative living styles in downtown Denver. Also serving the areas of Lodo, Riverfront, Golden Triangle Silver Square, Ball Park, Capitol Hill, Washington Park, Cherry Creek, Hill Top, Congress Park and most Denver city areas. For relocation package go to Denver relocation kit Custer and Fremont Real Estate - John G. Johnson Southern Colorado including Custer County, Fremont County, Pueblo County, Westcliffe, Silver Cliff, Caon City, Penrose, Florence, Wetmore, Cotopaxi and Texas Creek, Pueblo and Pueblo West Denver real estate and relocation to Colorado Full service broker offering relocation advice on the major metro areas surrounding Denver, including Douglas County, Arapahoe County, Denver County, Jefferson County, Broomfield County, Adams County. click here for Denver Relocation Package Homes for sale in Denver The process of buying a home in Colorado Denver real estate and relocation information Serving the Denver metro area, providing access to the Denver MLS via e-mail Colorado Real Estate Colorado Mountain Real Estate for sale in Breckenridge, Keystone, Silverthorne, Frisco, Dillon and all of Summit County Colorado. Breckenridge Real Estate - Ted Amenda For Summit County Colorado real estate, Summit County MLS access, and more. Summit County includes Breckenridge, Keystone, Blue River, Frisco, Silverthorne, Dillon, Copper Mountain, and Wildernest. Colorado Springs Custom Homes - Monument New Homes - El Paso County Luxury Homes Custom and luxury homes for sale in Colorado Springs, Monument, Black Forest, Broadmoor, Kissing Camels, Kings Deer, High Forest Ranch, Cherry Creek Crossing, and El Paso County. View custom homes and find quality construction info! A Denver Real Estate Company The Berkshire Group, Realtors specializes in residential real estate, featuring full real estate services to the Denver metro area, including Greenwood Village, The Denver Tech Center (DTC), Highlands Ranch, Englewood, Castle Rock, Castle Pines, Parker Littleton, Aurora, Denver, Westminster, Broomfield, Arvada, Evergreen, Conifer, Lakewood, Golden, Brighton and Thornton. Call toll free for relocation assistance at 800-250-4725. Dillon Colorado Real Estate Lake Dillon offers a beautiful mountain setting for Colorado real estate. Dillon Colorado real estate listings for sale featured by Exclusively Real Estate, Inc. Kristal Kraft , ABR, CIPS, CRS Licensed real estate broker selling Colorado Since 1984 The Berkshire Group Realtors, Inc. 3801 E. Florida Ave, Suite 502, Denver, Colorado U.S.A. 80210 800-319-7738 toll free | 303-589-2022 direct | 720-554-7961 fax E-mail: Kristal Kraft, Realtor 1998-2005, © Reflective Motion Inc. | Privacy Policy | Site Credits | Disclaimer | Site Map ~2 ~3 ~4 Denver Relocation | Buy a Home In Denver | Sell a Home in Denver | Denver Map | Denver Neighborhood Profiles | Denver Sales Statistics | International Real Estate | A Bio | My Favorite Places | Real Estate Resources Denver Loft Homes | The Berkshire Group | Buy and Sell Denver | We Sell Denver | Denver Colorado Real Estate | Denver Blog

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National Real Estate Investor - commercial real estate investing and development About Us | Contact Us | Advertising | For Search Partners | Privacy Policy Sort by Date Relevancy Resources and Services Capital Markets Center Retail Tenant Directory Best of the Best Industry News Developer News Broker News Area Reviews Executive Q&A Office Multifamily Retail Industrial Hotel Net Lease/1031 Exchanges REIT Updates Investors Capital Markets Property Management Corporate Real Estate Technology Tax Issues First Word Financing Today Money & Real Estate Tax Notes Washington Wire Last Word Retail Traffic Industry Associations Data Points Home -- Kelo Verdict Bolsters Private Development As Public Use -- TIME TO SELL? New research from National Real Estate Investor and Retail Traffic , and sponsored by Hutensky Capital Partners, provides insights on the climate for shopping center sales. Click here to download . December's Cover Story Forecast 2006: Five trends driving the industry Dec 1, 2005 12:00 PM While mounting pressures may produce cracks in the economic recovery in 2006, the nation is on track to close out 2005 on a resilient note. Real GDP growth... More -- FEATURED DOWNLOAD 100 Ways to Save Costs in your Retail Operation Supplement For ways to save on day-to-day operational products and services, be sureto to download a copy of our 100+ Ways to Save including a complete listing ofSimon Preferred Vendors and Service Providers. Clickhere to download . News Articles GE/Arden Deal Caps Big M&A Year Dec 28, 2005 3:32 AM When General Electric agreed to buy office real estate investment trust (REIT) Arden Realty last Thursday, the $3.2 billion deal capped a heady year for REIT mergers. Not only is the southern California-based office landlord the eighth publicly-traded REIT to change hands this year in roughly $20 billion worth of deals, but its also further evidence that institutional capital still has a voracious appetite for real estate. And December proved to be an especially active month for REIT mergers: Centerpoint Properties Trust was sold to a joint venture earlier this month for $2.4 billion.... More -- Ground Zero Waiting Game Dec 21, 2005 1:49 PM Four years after the 9-11 attacks, lower Manhattans office market is on the mend. But 7 World Trade Center, one of the first towers to rise along Ground Zero, is lagging behind the recovery with just 40,000 sq. ft. of its entire 1.7 million sq. ft. leased as of late December. The problem, say brokerage sources, are the above-market rents at 7 World Trade Center, which is being developed by Silverstein Properties and is slated for occupancy in March. ... More -- D.C. Hotel Property Sold Dec 21, 2005 10:57 AM LaSalle Hotel Properties has bought a downtown Washington, D.C. hotel for $44.6 million. The hotel REIT also plans to invest another $21 million into the Holiday Inn Downtown. ... More -- GE Buys Swedish Office Tower Dec 21, 2005 10:55 AM GE Commercial Finance Real Estate has bought the leasehold to Gta Ark, an office building located in downtown Stockholm. The purchase price amounts to roughly $57 million (U.S.). Approximately 28% of the property is leased to the Local Authority of Stockholm. This is the second office property that GE Commercial Finance Real Estate has acquired in Stockholm since last summer. ... More -- GE Lends To Investment Fund Operator Dec 21, 2005 10:54 AM GE Commercial Finance Real Estate has closed a $28.7 million transaction with HEI Hospitality for the HEI acquisition of the 250-room, full service Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Airport. ... More -- Hoteliers Eye Booming 2006: Report Dec 16, 2005 11:48 AM The U.S. hotel industry should post record profits in 2006, based on a recent report by PricewaterhouseCoopers hospitality practice. Not only is 2006 likely to bring record profits but also the industry should expect two more years of solid growth. ... More -- No Worries On Non-Core Industrial Development Spike Dec 14, 2005 1:34 PM Planned development activity in secondary and tertiary industrial markets set a blistering pace in the third quarter with 38.5 million sq. ft. of new construction starts, reports CB Richard Ellis. That was up from only 16 million sq. ft. in the second quarter. Whats more interesting, however, is that a full third of that third quarter activity was initiated in secondary and tertiary industrial markets rather than the major shipping hubs on the west and east coast. ... More -- Property Fund Launched Dec 9, 2005 4:24 PM Henderson Global Investors has launched an open-ended, commingled real estate fund that will invest in a range property classes. The fund will chiefly buy apartment, retail, industrial and office properties located in select U.S. markets. Henderson Global Investors manages more than $10.1 billion in assets. ... More -- CB Richard Ellis and Trammell Crow Agree… The top 2 U.S. asset managers -- CB Richard Ellis and Trammell Crow -- have all moved to the Realm PAY Platform for Paper-Free A/P. Click here to discover why. The Best of the Best 2005 Oct 20, 2005 1:55 PM National Real Estate Investor presents its annual rankings of the leading commerical real estate companies. Intent on shedding its image as a highly fragmented industry, commercial real estate continues to experience a wave of consolidation. For industry veterans, it's like watching a game of PacMan. The giants of the industry are gobbling up smaller players and each other at a healthy clip.... More -- IN PRINT Current issue Hurricane Winds Blow Through Condo Market Dec 1, 2005 12:00 PM The condo market in Miami-Dade County, which is bursting at the seams with new construction and intense investor demand, took an unexpected hit in October... More -- Unlocking Building Value Through Repositioning Dec 1, 2005 12:00 PM One of the most striking buildings on Chicago's skyline is CNA Center. Since it was built in 1972, the 1.3 million sq. ft. red tower has operated as a... More -- Why Public REITs Are Going Private Dec 1, 2005 12:00 PM During the early 1990s, private real estate companies with large portfolios rushed to become public real estate investment trusts. Now the pendulum has... More -- Magazine Subscriptions Email Newsletter Advertiser Information Online Marketplace Back to Top © 2005 Primedia Business Magazines and Media. 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real estate prices in

Pondering Real Estate Pondering Real Estate Adam Hamilton August 23, 2002 2913 Most Americans' largest asset is their home. With chaotic and turbulent economic times upon us, how will residential real estate perform in the coming years. Some thoughts... One of the greatest blessings of writing publicly is the continual stream of feedback I am offered from folks around the world. They let me know when I am wrong, help shape my worldviews and opinions, and offer dazzling new ideas that are often absolutely brilliant. Without everyone who graciously writes in to help deepen my own understanding, my own thought processes would rapidly stagnate. I am always grateful for feedback, positive, neutral, or negative. The people who take the time to write really augment the crucial foundational base off which my thoughts articulated in these essays are formed and polished. One of the most common questions people have, especially those writing from the States, regards real estate. For Americans, real estate, in the form of their primary family home, is often the largest asset they command. The value of real estate, especially the price trend, is very important to countless folks across our great nation. Many Americans I hear from, especially those with a contrarian investor mindset, wonder what will happen to residential real estate prices in the United States. The question is a very complex and difficult one, for a whole myriad of reasons. I have been pondering this matter since the US equity bubbles burst and am finally ready to commit some tentative thoughts to paper on this vexing issue. A massive caveat is in order however. I am approaching this question about real estate price trends from the perspective of a speculator. Not having a background in real estate, these ideas may be completely worthless, so please dont act on anything in this essay without at least first discussing these concepts with a real estate professional you personally trust with decades of experience. I hope this essay will simply spur further thoughts and discussions. The primary issue that I have been wrestling with in my mind regarding residential real estate price trends in the coming years concerns inflation and deflation. Inflation and deflation are simply opposing monetary phenomena, but both seem to be attacking our fragile post-bust economy in the US with great fury from opposite sides. For some background on these two titanic forces, please see my Inflation or Deflation? essay published last December. Inflation is spawned by the hooligans at the Federal Reserve printing too much paper (or electronic) money, which they have been doing in spades in recent years in a vain and fruitless attempt to stop the normal post-bubble bust process from running its full course. In the last 12 months, the various US money supply measures have exploded up with astounding violence. The absolute year-over-year M1 inflation is 5.2%, MZM 12.7%, M2 7.9%, and M3 7.4%. These numbers are downright frightening in light of historical inflationary precedent! In an inflationary environment, relatively more money chases after relatively fewer goods, services, and real estate. If the amount of money in circulation is rising faster than available real estate in the areas in which people want to live, residential real estate prices should rise. Realtors use this inflation idea to convince their customers that land prices should perpetually rise because land is scarce. Unfortunately, thats not the whole story. While real estate professionals constantly bombard us with marketing propaganda claiming that land is scarce and no more is being made, that is a myth. One example why is evident in multi-story buildings. A 10-story structure, for example, has about 10x the usable space as a single story structure, but has the same footprint in raw land terms. Land itself is not scarce, just land in locations where people want to live. For example, the sparsely-populated state of Montana has about 147,000 square miles of area, or roughly 94m acres. Assuming that only 2/3 of Montanas land is useable (the rest might be mountains or lakes, or streets in cities), that leaves 63m acres. If the entire US population is 287m people, they could all move to Montana and each live in modest estates of almost 1/4 acre, or 9,500 square feet. If their houses took up 1/3 of their plots, and each had a basement and two aboveground stories, every American could live in Montana in individual 9,500 square feet mini-mansions! Land is not scarce in general. I have seen land sell in the North Dakota Badlands for $25 per acre. I have heard of deals involving vast tracts of land in northern Australia going for under $1 per acre. Land is relatively scarce in small areas in which lots of people want or need to live however, such as New York Citys Manhattan Island. Monetary inflation should indeed bode well for real estate prices, but where will it strike? If US monetary inflation bids on barren lands in the Western states for example, residential real estate in the big Eastern cities might not benefit. Just because the general economic environment in the US is highly inflationary thanks to the Feds obnoxious and practically criminal monetary growth, that doesnt necessarily mean real estate in a given small corner of the US will do well. And then we must consider deflation! Deflation is caused by relatively less money chasing relatively more goods, services, and real estate. In deflationary environments money supplies shrink and prices drop. As long as the American people allow the private Federal Reserve bank to continue its tyranny of inflationary theft, there will never be less money in the US economy than there is today. But, muddying the waters even further, the historical line between money and credit is now exceedingly blurry. Because Americans love going into debt, they insist on buying their houses on time, with borrowed money at high interest rates, rather than working hard, saving the funds themselves, and paying cash when they can afford to buy a house outright. While deflation in the US money supplies is probably impossible with the Fed around, deflation in debt, or credit, is already happening. With Americans not actually buying houses outright but really in effect borrowing them from banks, any contraction in available debt will leave less credit available to chase houses. With less credit chasing residential real estate, prices will be forced to fall. But, just as with inflation, it is difficult or impossible to predict how the contraction in general credit available to buy houses will affect real estate in any given small area of the United States. Confused yet? Me too. There are both titanic inflationary and monstrous deflationary forces barreling down on the United States. But, residential real estate markets are all local and many will be affected differently. Deflationary forces could win out in New York City for instance, causing home values to plummet while at the same time inflationary forces win out in Wyoming causing house prices to rise. Real estate is all local. In the stock markets, it is meaningless whether you buy a share of a publicly-traded company in New York or California. In real estate where you buy your house is everything! Location, location, location. Since all real estate markets are really local, perhaps there are some warning signs that you can watch for in your little corner of America to warn of impending real estate price drops. While national generalizations about monetary inflation or debt/credit deflation regarding real estate are tough to make, zooming in to the local level for analysis has a much higher probability of success. Stock speculators throughout history have learned to carefully monitor equity markets for danger signs of maturing bubbles. All markets, including real estate, move in great cycles throughout history, marked by rampant euphoria at the tops and popular indifference at the bottoms. Perhaps applying some common bubble warning signs in equity markets to your local real estate market will yield some interesting fruit. Three common warning signs for equity bubbles are parabolic price rises, excessive valuations, and overwhelming euphoria. In real estate, parabolic price rises happen when a local market witnesses prices rocketing up by 15%+ per year, for years in a row. If you go to your local library and look at old newspaper classified ads, or else secure local data from your hometown real estate professional, you can easily graph it in Excel. If prices of comparable homes across time are shooting up on a long-term zeroed-chart like a ballistic missile, like the bubbles in the NASDAQ 2000 and DJIA 1929, you are most likely in the belly of the beast, a local unsustainable real estate bubble. Check out bubble growth graphed, it sticks out like a central banker at a rock concert! This graph shows values indexed to 100, but you can just as easily think of them in terms of dollars, starting out at $100k. Imagine you bought a house 25 years ago for $100k, a lot of money back then. If your house price appreciated by 5% per year compounded annually, it would now be worth $339k, which is totally plausible and makes sense. On the other hand, if your house had appreciated by 15% each year, it would now be worth $3,292k, or $3.3m! This is a massive increase in price, and it ought to throw up big red warning flags all across your cranium. Does it make sense for a $100k house to become a $3.3m house in only 25 years? Absolutely not, that is just silly! As the graph above shows, abnormally high growth rates make for parabolic charts, bubbles that look just like the stock market variety. If your local real estate market is ascending parabolically like the NASDAQ of 1997-2000, you are in a bubble. History unambiguously shows that no financial trend continues in the same direction forever and all bubbles ultimately pop. Unrealistic annual growth rates are a key bubble warning sign. For a deeper discussion of unrealistic growth rates over the long-term, please see my essay The Elusive Long-Term from last August. Another warning sign of equity bubbles is excessive valuations. In the stock markets, valuations are most commonly measured by the formidable yet often scorned price-to-earnings ratio. The historical average P/E ratio for US equity markets is 13.5x earnings. We can also apply this concept to real estate holdings. While most people buy a house simply to live in, it is also possible to buy a house to use as a rental property. In a residential house used as a single-family rental, there is a price, the cash paid for the house, and an earnings stream, the rent the family pays to the owner. With a real estate P and E, we can compute a rough real estate valuation multiple. If a rental property costs $100k to buy, and rents for $1000 per month, or $12k per year, its P/E ratio is 8.3. Even though most families dont own a separate rental property, with a little legwork you can check your local newspapers and calculate some rough P/E proxies for your area. Find houses for sale similar to yours to get price data points. Find houses for rent similar to yours to get earnings data points. Divide the P by the E, and you have a rough valuation estimate. I dont know what a reasonable average long-term residential real-estate P/E is. I suspect it is probably in the 10-20 range though, as that implies a 5% to 10% return on the owners capital, which is in line with historical returns available across a broad market spectrum. If you find that houses in your area are renting for implied P/Es of under 20 or so, that is a good sign that house prices may be fair. Conversely, if you find houses in your area renting for implied P/Es of over 20, valuations are probably too high and you should be wary of a potential real estate bubble. Another common warning sign of equity bubbles is rampant and unbridled widespread euphoria. Remember the NASDAQ in 1999 and early 2000? It was unreal! All anyone ever talked about was the NASDAQ, how boring. As a hard-traveling consulting road warrior at the time, I remember even the shoeshine boys at airports were talking about their tech stock investments as they polished shoes. It was just crazy, just as brilliant historians like Charles Mackay of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds fame (written in 1841) warned us it would be. It is difficult to empirically quantify euphoria, but there is no mistaking it if you keep your ears open and pay attention to what folks are talking about in your social circles. If you find yourself in a local situation where the preferred topic of conversation at every social get-together is always residential real estate and the great wealth to be made in home ownership, chances are euphoria is setting in and you should proceed with great caution. Just as parabolic price rises, excessive valuations, and overwhelming euphoria are danger signs of bubble tops in the stock markets, they are also equally valid danger signs in local real estate markets. It is probably a wise idea to periodically monitor these three fronts. In addition to stock market-like traits, there are also other factors that affect local real estate prices. These include net local migration patterns, income trends, and interest rates. One of the most important local factors in house prices is migration. If you live in or near a community that is growing as more people move in each year, that increases the pool of potential bidders competing for local houses. Prices are far more likely to rise in an environment of net in-migration. On the other hand, if your community is shrinking, both the number of people and amount of capital available to throw at residential real estate dwindles. This is a bad omen for future real estate prices in your area. Typically cities grow and rural areas shrink as people seek the jobs available in cities. This is not always the case though. As the Information Age continues to evolve, a new population of workers is growing, the information worker. Info workers deal purely in information, like a software programmer. It is often not important where they live, as they rely on the Internet to work remotely with their colleagues and clients. Info workers often earn high salaries and have the means to bid up home prices. Zeal LLC , my company, is an example of an Information Age venture. My partners and I can research, consult, trade, and write from anywhere on Earth. It makes absolutely no difference to you whether I penned this essay in Alaska, Australia, Argentina, or the Azores. Info workers, whose ranks will grow dramatically in the coming decade, are very blessed to be able to live and work from anywhere. So, if you live in an area of exceptional natural beauty and very high quality of life, prime rural areas, an influx of urban information refugees from the decaying carcasses of the megalopoli will probably help support real estate prices in your location even through tough economic times. It may make sense to buy real estate in elite communities like the Colorado or California mountain resort towns even if the US economy faces very turbulent times ahead. The Information Age will probably totally alter the dynamics of rural real estate in prized areas. Another factor to consider is income trends in your area. Ultimately, real estate prices in a given location can never increase faster than income over the long-term. Even for the vast majority who choose to go into debt to live in a house, the level of debt service they can afford is totally dependent on their income. If general income trends in your community are rising, that is a great sign and is bullish for real estate prices. On the other hand, if general income is falling, for any reason, that suggests real estate prices will have to correct downward to adjust for the loss of debt-servicing ability necessary for folks to borrow money and buy residential real estate. Interest rate levels are also intimately tied into this whole debt service capability. As all those burdened with a mortgage know, for many years most of the monthly payments are almost totally interest. It takes a long time and a huge amount of money dumped down the mortgage black hole, into bankers pockets, before the amortization starts taking good-sized bites out of principal each month. Amazingly, in the first 2/3 of a typical 30-year mortgages lifespan, the interest portion of each monthly payment exceeds the principal portion. So, if interest rates are heading higher due to Greenspans promiscuous inflation as I have discussed in past essays including Bond Anomalies Abound , it will severely retard debt-financed residential real estate purchases nationwide. Although interest rates havent turned north yet, history suggests they will be forced higher sooner or later as the bubble excesses are painfully squeezed out of the US economy. In summary, attempting to divine real estate price trends is very difficult in a macro sense. There are a great deal of diverse variables that affect real estate prices. In addition, unlike the stock market, there is no national real estate market. All real estate is local, so national trends must be examined for your particular situation in light of the local realities in your community. Nevertheless, if you do your own due diligence and integrate local real estate data you uncover into national post-bubble trends, you should be able to emerge with a fairly good idea of where your local residential real estate prices might be heading. Adam Hamilton, CPA August 23, 2002 Do you enjoy these essays? Please subscribe to our acclaimed private Zeal Intelligence newsletter today to see the good stuff each month, including our specific stock and options trades based on our research! For more information ... Zeal Intelligence For a FREE sample ... FREE Samples! To subscribe ... 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Texas Land and Wildlife

Information Resources for Texas Conservation David Bezanson 5 236 2004-08-04T20:52:00Z 2004-08-05T01:16:00Z 2 231 1321 TCONR 11 2 1622 9.6926 Information Resources For Texas Conservation TCONR works with other organizations, public and private, to promote conservation and efficient use of natural resources in Texas. This page contains links to fact sheets, white papers, and other information sources that have been compiled by TCONR members or are provided at other external websites. Check back routinely for updated information. Conserving Texas Land and Wildlife The Texas Environmental Profiles website jointly maintained by Environmental Defense and the TexasCenter for Policy Studies includes comprehensive information from many sources about wildlife and land conservation topics such as the status of Texas lands , threatenedspecies and habitat types . The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department conservation page includes links to descriptions of native and endangered species , informationabout opportunities for landowners interested in wildlife and nature tourism, and an introduction to the Texas Master Naturalist Program which has trained hundreds of volunteers to be better land and wildlife managers. Natural Vegetation Types and Their Representation in Conservation Areas . Thesis by David Bezanson lists plant communities that occur in Texas and examines the extent they are conserved in state parks, wildlife areas, and other public and private lands. A summary form, Conservation Priorities for Texas , by David Bezanson and David Wolfe was published in 2001 with a grant from the Magnolia Charitable Trust. The Audubon Society, Texas chapter promotesconservation of birds, other wildlife and their habitat. The Big Thicket Association is an advocacy organization which continues to work to conserve areas of the Big Thicket, one of Texas' most biologically diverse areas. State parks or outdoor links Texas Parks and Rec Many Texans have donated property or conservation easements to a land trust. The Texas Land Trust Council web page contains a guide to this growing movement. Land trusts in Texas include the Conservation Fund andtwo organizations founded by TCONR's Ned Fritz, the Nature Conservancy of Texas and Natural Area Preservation Association , which have conserved more than a million acres of wildlife habitat. The Texas Section Society for Range Management promotes rangeland conservation and research to support responsible grazing management. Native Prairies Association of Texas is a land trust that owns and manages native prairies and provides information about restoring prairies of Texas . The Texas Legacy Project website maintained by the Conservation History Association of Texas is an archive of interviews with individuals, past and present, who have contributed to natural resource conservation in Texas. Texas Water Use and Conservation The Texas Environmental Profiles website jointly maintained by Environmental Defense and the TexasCenter for Policy Studies is a resource for information on water quality , water use and other environmental concerns. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's Texas: The Stateof Water page contains news articles about water rights and water conservation, designated significant streams, and links to economic analyses of outdoor recreation. For more information about water development and planning, visit the Texas LivingWaters Initiative website, a collaborative project of the National Wildlife Federation , Environmental Defense, and Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter to inform the public about the effects of reservoirs and the importance of water conservation. For specificinformation about Marvin Nichols Reservoir and regional water planning, visit Stop Marvin Nichols . The San Marcos River Foundation is a nonprofit organizationwhich advocates purchase of water rights to protect instream flows in Texas rivers. TCONR's Janice Bezanson and Gina Donovan serve with other volunteers on the Texas River Conservation Advisory Board to provide citizen input on theimportance of natural waters for recreation and the environment. Texas Facts, Figures, and Images Images of Texas natural areas for public use. Back to Home