Changing Face of Real Estate

Changing Face of Real Estate

The good the bad and the ugly

In my last post I wrote about the fact that real estate in many areas of the United States is “ON SALE”. I have recently seen clients acquire unbelievable properties at even more unbelievable prices. One example is a 68,000 Square Foot building for $100,000.00. Yes that was One Hundred Thousand not One Million. This of course was not a high-rise in the heart of town. It was an industrial property with potential and a fantastic value. This kind of thing is playing out every day. Low interest rates and low prices make this the perfect buyer’s market. That’s the good news.

Now for the bad news - the Waxman-Markley comprehensive energy bill. Sounds good, right? A bill to support energy independence and reduce global warming? You’ve heard it before and it’s still true today. If it sounds too good to be true … it probably is.

Take a look at this video for an idea of the impact this bill will have on real estate.

http://www.brokeragentsocial.com/BrokerAgent/video/276

This video speaks to residential real estate, but the bill does not discriminate between residential and commercial properties. The result of this measure, if passed, would heap enormous costs on the back of sellers further reducing their net at closing. This at a time when many sellers find themselves having to bring a check to closing!

So, while opportunity abounds, let me offer this brief word of caution: this market is not a place for the uninformed.

According to an article in The Washington Post by Martin Feldstein, professor of economics at Harvard University, this legislation would do little to impact the global emissions issue anyway. Waxman states that only 25% of global CO2 production is attributed to the U.S. and it’s dropping. Meanwhile emissions in China and other developing nations continue to grow. Making the changes proposed in this bill will have a minimal impact of less than 4% reduction in global carbon emissions. However, the impact on U.S. property owners and businesses will be far greater than this blip.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/31/AR2009053102077.html

Costly and burdensome requirements for property owners are littered throughout the 1,200 pages of this bill. 1,200 pages that our representatives vote on without bothering to read. Shame on them and shame on us if we let this proceed without speaking up. Does this story worry you enough to contact your representative? It should and I did. Because if this passes without all of us speaking up and fighting for common sense, then we’ll have hit the trifecta of my title – the ugly.