BloodhoundBlog

There’s always something to howl about.

Author: Sean M. Broderick, CCIM (page 1 of 1)

Commercial Real Estate Broker

November 25, 2009

The Fed’s lucky this app wasn’t available two years ago

by

Commercial Real Estate Broker

Author website

Hello Bloodhoundbloggers.. It’s been almost a year since my last post and I’m feeling a little out of touch with the pulse of the market, which is the heart of this site. Since my last post, I’ve been involved in cell tower development in Las Vegas as a build-to-suit vendor for a wireless carrier, having started my company almost a year ago this month (And you thought the residential market was tough). Things are progressing in a positive direction although there is still more work to be done, but what spurred my writing muse (you can have her Geno when I’m done here) was a little app I bought for my iPhone last week.

Normally, I’m more interested in the free apps geared towards saving me time in one way or another, but I must admit that I do enjoy playing NFL Madden 10 when I’m sitting in a zoning hearing. But as I found this one (www.zosh.com) – Video click here – I past over the $2.99 without a thought. Let me summarize what it does and how I use it:

I receive numerous proposals and eFax’es on my iPhone as a PDF file (the app only works with PDF files) that require my signature. Some of them are minor, but necessary documents that need my approval when I’m on the road, in an airport or at a hearing (I have a laptop but don’t always have access to a printer or WiFi).. then I found this app.. The document comes to my inbox on the iPhone.. I forward it to mydocs@zosh.com (after you setup an account on the iPhone – make sure that you use the email address that you have defaulted on your iPhone as your login – makes it easier) and the forwarded PDF file will show up in the list of files once you open the app.

Once Zosh is opened, find the file that you just emailed to zosh.com and open it. Now you can insert a signature, text or date. With the signature, you tap on the location of the document where you want to sign and a Read more

December 24, 2008

Holiday Greetings from the left coast

by

Commercial Real Estate Broker

Author website

A classic Holiday (er, winter solstice) Greeting from a friend in Lodi (hat tip to Rolff):

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit my best wishes 
for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, 
non-addictive, gender neutral celebration of the winter solstice 
holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the 
religious persuasion or secular practices of your choice, with 
respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of 
others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all;

PLUS

A fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically 
uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted 
calendar year, but not without due respect for the calendars of 
choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped 
make America great, (not to imply that America is necessarily greater 
than any other country or is the only “AMERICA” in the western 
hemisphere), and without regard to race, creed, color, age, physical 
ability, religious faith, or choice of computer platform.

(Disclaimer: By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these 
terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is 
freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It 
implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the 
wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by 
law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish 
is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of 
good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a 
subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is 
limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the 
sole discretion of the wisher who assumes no responsibility for any 
unintended emotional stress these greetings may bring to those not 
caught up in the holiday spirit.)

And you wonder why they can’t balance the budget in California.. Merry Christmas..

November 9, 2008

It’s my video.. you can have the audio!!

by

Commercial Real Estate Broker

Author website

Having spent the better part of a year on a project (which is done), I’ve been a faithful reader but apathetic contributor.. partly because I haven’t had anything catch my attention (other than $1.5T evaporating from the market – something for another post) long enough to spur those creative urges.. but honestly I’ve been fairly lazy.. 

With that.. UMG, Universal Music Group, is taking my “views” off of YouTube! They’re not asking, they’re telling (email below from yesterday)..

 

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself help center | e-mail options | report spam

Dear Sean, 

Your video “The Tree is Gone” has been identified by YouTube’s Content Identification program as containing copyrighted content which UMG claims is theirs.

Your video “The Tree is Gone” is still available because UMG does not object to this content appearing on YouTube at this time. As long as UMG has a claim on your video, they will receive public statistics about your video, such as number of views. Viewers may also see advertising on your video’s page.

Claim Details:

Copyright owner: UMG
Content claimed: Some or all of the audio content
Policy: Allow this content to remain on YouTube.       

  • Place advertisements on this video’s watch page.

Applies to these locations:
United States

UMG claimed this content as a part of the YouTube Content Identification program. YouTube allows partners to review YouTube videos for content to which they own the rights. Partners may use our automated video / audio matching system to identify their content, or they may manually review videos.

If you believe that this claim was made in error, or that you are otherwise authorized to use the content at issue, you can dispute this claim with UMG and view other options in the Video ID Matches section of your YouTube account. Please note that YouTube does not mediate copyright disputes between content owners. Learn more about video identification disputes.

Sincerely,

The YouTube Content Identification Team

Some time ago, I put together some family videos with background music for the “rents” in Florida, and one in particular was about a 100-yr old oak tree that died in the backyard of the in-laws and had to be cut down.. So I filmed the “execution” with my background Read more

February 9, 2008

Best Efforts

by

Commercial Real Estate Broker

Author website

Case law recognizes that a “best efforts” clause does not obligate the promisor to “spend itself into bankruptcy,” Bloor v. Falstaff Brewing Corp. But it seems like it when your clients find themselves in litigation, even if the claims against them seem ridiculous. I had an old football coach tell me, “Never argue with a fool, because an innocent bystander can’t tell the difference”, but I don’t think that saying applies to the courts.

It appears to me that the more the fool argues his case in front of a judge, throwing as much case law against the wall as possible hoping something sticks, the greater traction his ridiculous argument seems to gain with the court. After watching this practice in action, it appears to me that there is a professional courtesy among attorneys and judges, allowing those drowning in their own legal quicksand enough leeway to spew case law onto the court, like a lifeline they can use to extricate out of the mire, saving face with their clients.

If you’ve ever seen the episode of Man vs. Wild with Baer Grylls in which Baer voluntarily walks into a pit of quicksand, you’ll remember that it takes a certain skill, patience and effort to extricate oneself out of a “jam”. While remaining calm, one must get as much surface area on top of the quicksand without penetrating too deep. In my observations, it seems that the struggling attorney fights to gain “surface area” with the court without allowing any part of his case to penetrate too deeply into the mire, a practice which most judges will allow with some latitude.

Remembering my Physics 101 class (at least I think it’s Physics), every action has a reaction and every argument presented to the court has an appropriate response. Thus, every case law and ridiculous argument must be responded to preserving that your opponent remains mired in legal quicksand. These responses cost time and money, money that your clients must consider prior to entering into any litigation, if they have a choice.

One benefit to commercial litigation (if there is one) versus litigation in an emotionally Read more

December 19, 2007

Shift Happens

by

Commercial Real Estate Broker

Author website

First off, I am feeling a little guilty for not being able to keep up with Greg’s writing production, or Geno’s proclivity for the English language (I am, but a young “padawan” in master Yoda’s presence). That being said, we all have bills to pay and I have been painfully buried in required due diligence that a new listing demands in the midst of the end of the year holiday rush. I know I’m considered the commercial specialist in this forum and may have not been pulling my weight around here as far as my production is concerned, but it has become apparent (at least to me) that the recent slowdown in housing shall inevitably be felt by those businesses (and properties associated with those businesses) most closely tied to the residential markets, especially in the hardest hit residential areas, as referenced in today’s “town hall meeting” with Treasury Secretary Paulson and the Governator in Sacramento:Town Hall Meeting

At a town hall-style event in Van Buskirk Community Center here, Paulson and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger spent more than an hour listening as local officials, loan counselors, community members and borrowers described the troubles they were having getting help from their lenders.

“Unfortunately, there (are) all too many stories like yours in the country,” Paulson told one borrower who said she could no longer refinance her home and would almost certainly lose it. “This is why we’re trying to find solutions.”

What most of us know (but secretly sweep under the rugs in of our minds) is that there is a “spill over” effect from residential to commercial that we hope doesn’t affect our own checking accounts. We’re use to hearing the obvious verification of current events:

That plan came just weeks after Schwarzenegger announced a similar agreement with four lenders he said represented 25 percent of California’s subprime loans. On Tuesday, the governor said three more lenders have joined the voluntary pact, covering about one-third of the state’s most troubled loans.

California is home to the nation’s largest numbers of foreclosures – more than 52,000 so far this year, according to DataQuick.

Paulson promised to investigate the claim of Read more

November 10, 2007

Reasons Come First

by

Commercial Real Estate Broker

Author website

Imagine your 6 year old daughter playing with a Rubik’s Cube fresh out of the box on her birthday. She notices the six completed, colored sides in perfect visual harmony, whites across from yellows, reds from oranges, blues from greens. She rotates the cube, studies it, and then, slowly, begins to turn it, first the top counterclockwise, then the left side clockwise, then the right and bottom. She finds it fun to rotate and manipulate with her tiny hands, and it’s cool how she notices the changing patterns of colors on each side. You wonder if she’s recognizing how challenging the puzzle has become, because you notice as she begins to slow down. As she stops and looks at you, you realize that the fun “flashback” gift (given to her by someone in your family) will become your challenge for the next several hours or days, because she wants you to fix it.

FILO! (my new word around the kids, thanks Geno), now what? It’s my fault for not noticing what she was doing in the beginning. I can’t reverse the steps. And, I wasn’t one of those genius kids 20 years ago that could finish it blindfolded, with one arm behind my back, or in a taxi, as portrayed by Will Smith’s character in In the Pursuit of Happiness. You’re probably thinking, most 6 year olds can rationalize to some extent that you can’t fix it, so they get bored and move on. Then, you bury the cube in the toy box and hope they don’t find it again, at least when you’re not around. But, imagine this scenario and that your 6 year old daughter, as mine is, being afflicted with autism.

There is no rationalization, no cute distraction that moves her focus away from the problem at hand, right now. It’s now my problem. And, I can either, throw the damn thing away, endure the hours of endless tantrums and hope that she never sees another Rubik’s cube ever again in her life, or I can solve it. I recall the line from the original Die Hard movie, “I eat Read more

October 31, 2007

Real Estate Partnerships Under Attack in Congress

by

Commercial Real Estate Broker

Author website

For many of us that are involved in professional real estate designations (CCIM, CRB, SIOR, CRS, etc.), we’ve spent countless hours studying, networking and differentiating ourselves from the pack in order to better represent ourselves and our clients. Among the benefits is being alerted to the fact that someone in Washington is making a move that will impact our clients, their businesses and our livelihood without the aid of the WSJ, CNBC or the mainstream media’s focus on its impact to our profession. Below is an alert I received this evening that I wanted to pass along to the BHB:

CCIM INSTITUTE CALL TO ACTION: OPPOSE TAX INCREASE ON COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) is moving forward with legislation that would make major changes to the tax structure. The bill proposes a massive tax increase for real estate partnerships, raising the tax rate on “carried interest” from 15% to 35%. This legislation would significantly impact commercial real estate projects, most of which are organized in partnerships. Why this legislation is detrimental to real estate practitioners:

  • Drives investors to put their money elsewhere such as stocks with much more favorable tax treatment;
  • Diminishes the value and/or put many partnership out of business because the capital would not be there to facilitate them;
  • Creates a disincentive to investing in real estate since many would no longer earn a reasonable profit;
  • Stifles growth in a part of our economy which has become increasingly important over the last several years due to manufacturing, call centers, and other key industries moving offshore;
  • Punishes partners involved with prior arranged transactions by causing a totally different economic result than all partners agreed with in advance; and,
  • Fails to recognize that real estate investors are involved in their investments daily, while hedge fund managers are not involved daily in their investments.

Contact your U.S. Senators and Representative informing them of your concerns and urge them to oppose the carried interest provision. How to contact your legislators:

  1. Look up your Members of Congress and their contact information;
  2. Introduce yourself in a sentence or two. For instance: “I am Read more
October 24, 2007

Increasing Loan Limits for VA

by

Commercial Real Estate Broker

Author website

First off.. Well done to Brian, Kris and Jeff (good stuff).. I can only stand so much of the ‘canned’ news coverage of the situation in So Cal.. I used to work 2 1/2 yrs in San Juan Capistrano (yes, while commuting from Northern Cal) as the “real estate guy” for an East Coast Tower company.. I know the Fallbrook area very well and hope everyone will continue to stay safe..

I heard from my Broker (a close friend and honest lender) @ Pride Lending Group that select banks are raising their current maximum loan amount on VA loans as a result of Ginnie Mae eliminating the restriction on the size of mortgage loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on Oct. 24th. The increased VA loan limits are expected to expand the availability of $0 Down loans to Veterans (with valid certificates of eligibility) by raising their current maximum loan amount to $1,000,000 plus the VA Funding Fee (for a maximum total of $1,033,000).

I know that there are a couple of experts on the panel in this field (I haven’t been involved in the retail lending side of the business since the early 90’s), can we confirm this? Does the VA still comprise a relatively small percentage of the available buyers? I would assume that this is another attempt (albeit a good start) to get the government involved in addressing the ‘credit crunch’ and move this market in a positive direction. One of my calls today involved a private builder looking to offload hundreds of finished lots at any price. Any attempt (by the gov’t) to address market perception has to be positive at this point, doesn’t it?

October 16, 2007

The Goal of any Billionaire: Deflationary Abundance

by

Commercial Real Estate Broker

Author website

If you haven’t subscribed to TED Talks videos on YouTube, then you’re missing an advantage that some of the tech elite get months before we get a chance to see it online. So if you don’t view it on the internet (via YouTube or on the TED Talks website), then you don’t know what you’re missing. Chris Anderson, editor of WIRED Magazine, discusses the evolution of any viable technology and its four critical stages of evolution. I wanted to use this framework to discuss technology that has been introduced into the real estate industry and where it is in its evolution. As we’ve all heard “keep your friends close, but your enemies closer”. So where is the next real estate billionaire going to come from? Technology?

Stage One: Critical Price

The price of any new technology is stratospheric at first (the first DVD player was priced over $1,200 at first). Then, as the production increases and the acceptance from consumers takes hold, the price begins to decline to a “critical price” that opens the “flood gates” of demand. This critical price coincides with the efficiencies in production to meet the spike in demand for the product.

Stage Two: Critical Mass

The product was initially very costly to produce, but the increased demand has driven the production costs down to take advantage of economies of scale. The “critical mass” coincides with more efficient production avenues that help drive market share for the product.

Stage Three: Displacement

The product was originally conceived as an alternative to something else (something else that was too costly, too inefficient, too cumbersome, etc.) and that something else is losing market share to the new technology (product). The loss in market share will reach a point where the new product will “displace” the older, inefficient product in the minds (and hearts) of the consumer (i.e.: the DVD vs. the VHS).

Stage Four: Deflationary abundance

The product has displaced an older, inefficient product and its appeal has become ubiquitous throughout the market. The final stage of this “new” technology (product) is its mass appeal and the availability of cheap, mass production. The availability of the product will Read more

October 6, 2007

Technology… A Terrible Thing To Waste

by

Commercial Real Estate Broker

Author website

Hopefully as a new contributor to the forum I will be able to provide some insight on the commercial side of the business. Without going into the history of the Site To Do Business and its involvement with the CCIM Institute (I’ll save that one for a later date), I wanted to point out that one of the most helpful, most talked about (at least within the inner circles of the Institute) and worth every penny of this designee’s annual dues is the Site To Do Business (“STDBonline”) website.

Simply, STDBonline is an information resource site geared towards the commercial real estate professional with over 20,000 subscribers to date. It is offered as a subscription service for non-CCIM designees, but included as an exclusive membership “perk” once you become a CCIM candidate “on the way to the pin” ( another topic to be discussed later). For those in Silicon Valley and Bellevue pushing the residential side of the real estate technology chase (zillow.com, trulia.com, terabitz.com, et al.) in order to attract numerous eye balls searching for homes to justify venture capital dollars looking for advertising payback, the informational aspect of the commercial side of the technology chase is left to a select few (providers, that is). As a CCIM, this invaluable tool continues to add features and data that meet the demands of sophisticated owners, investors and potential clients. For many of my CCIM colleagues, STDBonline is always open in one browser on the taskbar.

For example, the October 2007 news blog on the STDBonline website highlights the following valuable data resources for its subscriber base:

  • Business Lists – Once you establish a project and create a study area, you are able to generate lists of businesses to use for market analysis, competitive analysis, marketing, or prospecting. Business lists are available on study areas using radii, donuts, and hand drawn shapes or a standard geography, which receives the closest 2,000 to your center point. Currently, there are 16,000,000 businesses in this database. After creating/selecting a qualifying study area you want to use to create a business list, go to the deck entitled “Choose Reports Read more

Inventing Real Estate 2.0

Welcome to BloodhoundBlog, the national real estate industry marketing and technology weblog written by, for and about real estate professionals. Better yet, welcome to the wired world of real estate. We are busily inventing Real Estate 2.0 – technology, marketing, service and salesmanship. Like all Bloodhounds, we are smart, frisky and fiercely independent. We've built a spot on the earth – beloved over all – where each one of us can be who we are, no matter who that might be. We are committed to an idea of excellence that will flush the bums, the con-men and the crybabies out of the real estate industry. If you yearn to have your failures excused, your moral lapses absolved or your boo-boos kissed, seek elsewhere. But if you are sick to death of mediocrity – welcome home. Read all about us, subscribe to our feed and steel yourself for the hunt. We work hard, we play hard, we learn everything we can – and we bow to no one.

Media Contacts