USA House Prices on Rise

I heard this morning on NPR that according to the NAR house prices in most major USA cities are on the rise. What does that mean? Does it mean that your house is worth more now? How would anyone know unless you try to sell it? Maybe it means that the average price of the homes sold has increased. That seems to be more measurable.

The only way to know if home prices are going up would be to compare similar houses sold and look at the price per square foot. Appraisers do this on an individual basis. If they did report the results in aggregate form, it would still not be very accurate or scientific.

Charlotte has been one of the cities hardest hit in this mess. Average sale prices here are still down 9%. That is probably due to our heavy dependence on the financial industry. The job losses, foreclosures and price drops here have appeared on every list of national “worsts”. What has been our strength in the past has become our weakness in the present. It should become our strength again in the future. This is a resilient city. I hope that our house prices go up and our vacancies go down.

The things I have been reading lately lead me to believe the bottom-fishers are starting to get into the market and the banks are holding onto troubled assets. This could be a really good sign that things are beginning to turn.

David Segrest is a REALTOR® in Charlotte NC. His website is http://www.segrestrealty.com His email is david@segrestrealty.com He is also a contributor on Argentina to: http://realestatebloginternational.com/

Roads For Progress

REALTORS® like roads. New roads mean new businesses. New businesses attract new housing demand and raise the price of existing homes. New roads also mean other things. Somehow new roads cause sprawl and congestion. I thought they were opposites. New roads spoil someone’s property and quality of life, while making opportunities for others.

NPR has been talking about a new road into the Peruvian Amazon Basin. Yesterday they talked about the road attracting illegal gold miners that are ruining the environment and polluting the rivers. They talked about the corruption in the mining areas and the gang style mentality that is pervasive there. Today they talked about Brazil nut farmers. (Yes they have Brazil nuts in Peru.) The damage and development from the road is driving the Farmer’s out of business.

It seems that new roads are similar to new laws. There are winners and losers. I have had the highway department take a very valuable piece of property from me and pay me very little. They built a road past another piece of ordinary property and made it very valuable.

David Segrest is a REALTOR® in Charlotte NC. His website is http://www.segrestrealty.com His email is david@segrestrealty.com He is also a contributor on Argentina to: http://realestatebloginternational.com/

What's Riding on Chinese Tires

According to NPR there are 4,400 people in the tire manufacturing industry in the USA. Many of those jobs actually depend on Chinese imports of tires. There are over a million people in the tire industry in China. Not all of those Jobs would be lost if the new 35% tariffs are imposed. What do you think would be best for the world economy? Some people say, “screw the world economy, what about American jobs?”

The steel tariffs of the Bush administration are a good example of what happens when the local picture takes precedence over the world view. To protect 200,000 jobs in the steel industry, millions of jobs in the steel using industries were driven overseas. This resulted in a drastic reduction in the size of the USA steel industry. Even the people in the tire industry are opposed to the new tariff.

Anything that slows the recovery in the rest of the world will slow the recovery here. Politicians need to spend more time doing their job and less time trying to keep their job. Narrow measures that benefit very small areas can be beneficial or harmful. Let us examine the results of each action carefully to see how much harm or good each action will produce.

David Segrest is a REALTOR® in Charlotte NC. His website is http://www.segrestrealty.com His email is david@segrestrealty.com He is also a contributor on Argentina to: http://realestatebloginternational.com/

Report on Charlotte CIPS Classes

The Charlotte “International Real Estate for Local Markets” came off quite well last week. There were only 5 students; but they were all from international backgrounds and the interaction and shared knowledge was awesome. There were 2 students from the UK, 1 from the British Virgin Islands, 1 from Shanghai and 1 whose wife is from the Dominican Republic.

It is regrettable that more people did not take advantage of this offering in a city that has so many international residents and businesses and so few international REALTORS®. In times like these it is a little hard to justify an expense like this. Even agents playing the “one more house” game may be afraid that there will not be enough “one more houses”. The CIPS program does not just give an opportunity for more houses. It broadens ones whole outlook on life, the world and the real estate business.

The finance class will be offered in Raleigh in October. I hope many of you will be there to share in the camaraderie and mind expansion that will take place.

David Segrest is a REALTOR® in Charlotte NC. His website is http://www.segrestrealty.com His email is david@segrestrealty.com He is also a contributor on Argentina to: http://realestatebloginternational.com/

Lost Chance/Last Chance

Monday Aug 31st, the CIPS Local Markets class is offered at the Mingle Institute in Charlotte, NC. Sign up has been so slow that the class may be cancelled. How many people have said, “When will this be offered here?” Where are you? This class is the pre-requisite for all of the CIPS classes.

For those people wanting to continue with the program, the Finance and Investment class is being offered in Raleigh in October. The registration on that class is small as well. Next time I am asked, “When will this be offered here?” I can just say, “Why do you care?” To sign up for the classes contact Mingle Institute in Charlotte. 704.372.0911 or Raleigh Regional Association of Realtors in Raleigh 919.654.5400. Please don’t let this last chance be a lost chance.

David Segrest is a REALTOR® in Charlotte NC. His website is http://www.segrestrealty.com His email is david@segrestrealty.com He is also a contributor on Argentina to: http://realestatebloginternational.com/

The World is your Oyster

Think about where you would go, what you would do if you could go and do anything you wish. You can you know. Sometimes we feel limited by money, time, relationships etc. These things may be a problem. They can be planned around. I remember asking my wife. Why don’t we live is South America (she is from Colombia). She said, “if I wanted to be there, I wouldn’t be here.” As much as I would like to be in South America, I would rather be with her. That is the choice I make.

The international real estate profession is the key to the world. I know that I can do this anywhere. I just have to be more willing to be away from the familiar. In the case of most things, I could leave tomorrow. In the case of my wife, I’ll stay here. The best thing about real estate is that in addition to being able to do it anywhere, it can also be done nowhere. No location is required. A homeless person could do it with a laptop and a cellphone. They might could go to Starbucks and use Skype.

What are the choices you will make?

David Segrest is a REALTOR® in Charlotte NC. His website is http://www.segrestrealty.com His email is david@segrestrealty.com He is also a contributor on Argentina to: http://realestatebloginternational.com/

Financial Tools for the Valuation of Real Estate

This book is published by Bienes Raices Ediciones and is available on their website at http://www.brediciones.com . The Author’s name is Mario Gomez. The book has many of the classic tools used by brokers and appraiser to put a value on property. The standard market, cost, and income approach methods are discussed. The fact that the book is written from an Argentine perspective gives a lot of extra insight.

Argentina has frequent ups and downs in the economy and in real estate prices. For that reason the approaches taken in this book are especially valuable for those of us who are currently experiencing a serious decline in values for the 1st time. The book also deals with risk analysis that few appraisal books in the USA include. There are multiple formulas for adjusting risk and yield concerns.

There is a section on special use properties such as post offices, dormitories and buildings that may be difficult to price. The book concludes with some really great case studies using the tools. I also recommend this book for anyone who has to teach or translate in Latin countries as it has terms commonly used to describe things that we find hard to translate.

David Segrest is a REALTOR® in Charlotte NC. His website is http://www.segrestrealty.com His email is david@segrestrealty.com He is also a contributor on Argentina to: http://realestatebloginternational.com/