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There are mixed reports that we are on the cusp of an economic recovery, and I believe that what will get us over the edge is the strength of individual and collective leadership. Nowhere is this more evident than for women in commercial real estate. The economic circumstances today have created opportunities for women to make the field more diverse, but it will require fortitude, mentoring and a certain amount of “stepping up to the plate.” Working with our excellent partner, Studley, CREW Network has throughout the year been offering training to our members through the 2010 Leadership Series. The…

With the recent increased activity in the distressed asset market, I find myself thinking back to before 2007 and 2008 when the purchase of an asset was performed with little money down and was highly leveraged. There was little in the way of equity and purchases were made with the anticipation of a quick sale and profit. This changed in late 2007 and 2008 as borrower’s started to default and there was no interest to purchase these securities anymore, and lending all but dried up. Distressed Assets and the management of these assets were now the concern, as it was…

By: James Dumars We’ve not seen a recovery in the multi-family rental market but values have increased dramatically.  It’s easy to draw the positive correlation between lower interest rates and falling cap rates for multi-family.   Multifamily owners have a significant advantage over owners of all other types of commercial real estate as they can access government guaranteed debt from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.  As I understand it, the investors who buy this debt on the secondary market are rewarded with higher yields than standard US Treasuries but receive the government’s guaranty on the bonds.   Consequently, recent Freddie Mac securitizations…

Rental income has always been the touchstone for calculating real property values and is a key element in determining taxable value for ad valorem property taxes. Because it plays such a crucial role in the property tax valuation, paying attention to what rent includes can result in lower tax bills. Rental income for properties such as multi-family residential is closely associated with real estate usage and is easily capitalized into an indication of taxable value. That is not the case, however, for properties used by service-oriented businesses, such as full-service hotels or stores in high-end retail malls. In those situations,…

For those with children, depending on their age, the cry from the backseat “are we there yet?” can invoke either wonderful memories of years gone by or dread with your summer vacation nearing. However, most recently, this cry is not heard from children, but from some of the most intelligent and respected real estate industry experts and analysts, who are much more intelligent than I with respect to Capital Markets and rental numbers. With the national office vacancy rate edging up from 16.4% in the fourth quarter of 2009 to 16.7% in the first quarter of 2010, this rise in…

As President of CREW Network, I am honored to represent an organization whose goal is to advance the success of women in commercial real estate, but I am even more proud that our Network has led the way to pioneering research that not only helps to more tangibly monitor the trends we note anecdotally, but also to debunk the misperceptions that are so prevalent in the real estate workplace. The groundbreaking survey CREW Network conducted in 2005, “Women in Commercial Real Estate” was the first study of its kind to provide a true benchmark that answers industry questions which had…