U. S. Real Estate BuzzThis short overview of our current economic and real estate conditions is what I think, presented in a simplistic, broad-brush narrative of the affairs that lead us to where we are today with some realistic long term ideas to prosperity and solid economic recovery and growth.HistoryFirst, we know every industry is like the tide each with it’s own ebbs and flows. To be certain the real estate market is experiencing these changes, so in many respects this is very normal. The real estate industries ebb and flow is generally 10 to 12 years. The last time we hit bottom was at or around 1995-1997. What’s not normal is how dramatic this occurrence really is. The ripple effect is clearly worldwide, which illustrates this is not just a real estate problem but a financial one also. We did have a disastrous real estate market in the mid to late 1970′s, which, resembles much of what we’re going through today but it was more of a national problem than worldwide.CurrentThe current state of our economy is a direct result of several factors that have been building for many years. The main contributing factor in my estimation, which is usually the case, is government policies. What government does and or does not do effects all us in profound ways, such as raising taxes, creating regulations, and spending policies to name a few, and of course politics; in short this is social engineering. The courses of action our politicians adopt have a direct effect on how we live our lives, how we invest money and what we invest in. Investors invest in assets that will make them money or provide them the means to do so.For the past 5 to 6 years, the real estate market had been flooded with new home buyers previously renters, along with many “step-up” home buyers. Financing was very easy to get for most people, many of who perhaps should have never had it so easy. With that, poor spending habits ensued throughout the general population, in other word’s we were acquiring large amounts of debt without the income to match. Many businesses such as the financial institutions also had their fair share of shady dealings. Additionally, Governments at all levels were doing the same thing. They’ve never seen this kind of money come in at such a fast pace and of course with policies put in place years before you get an economic condition, i.e. government spending, regulations, taxes & fees that couldn’t be absorbed anymore by the general population, corporations and the financial institutions. A very serious unstable market had been created.Finally, if all the previous spending wasn’t enough, the government went on a monumental spending binged over the past 10 months dragging the economy further down. Now you may ask why is this so important? It’s because everything the government does, as I have said, has a profound effect on each and every one of us. Why? Investors and investments! It’s no accident that we have the most dynamic and advanced economy in the world. The United States embraced an open market place long ago where investors, influential people, empire builders and entrepreneurs alike have the freedom to invest their money, products and ideas into our system. No other place in the world can you do this quite the same way.
The problem is over the past 20 or so years corporate regulation and tax burdens are out of control, Influence on public employees to do favors has never been so far-reaching and nearly 50 % of the population doesn’t pay income taxes. The country has been changing in ways, which leads the Movers & Shakers to rethinking their investment strategies. Earning money has some how now become a bad thing politically. Be clear making money is a good thing and should never be frowned upon. Not withstanding unethical and illegal activities.The Investor class of people are very astute, and rests assure they are watching everything going on, and until they see clear skies ahead they will either remain on the sideline or invest elsewhere. Several things in the near term need to happen before we can see clear skies.Solutions
The financial markets need to finish cleaning-up their books with their bad debts, which will lead to improved lending.

Taxes in all forms including “pass-through taxes” such as the new Cap & Trade energy tax cannot go up and or be implemented as they are scheduled too. Congress must keep this from happening.

Congress must repeal the planned stimulus-spending bill, which will go into high gear just after the 2010 elections.

Commercial real estate, nationwide, is headed for huge loan defaults unless something allows the property owners a way to refinance without adding cash equity into the asset we will see more than 700 Billion dollars of loan defaults; this will be ugly.

Interest rates must remain low and balanced with possible inflation and deflation conditions.
Once the above happens and or moves in that direction businesses can once again begin their empire building, which leads to growth, which will spark employment, which will allow mom & pop investments to occur. Remember 80% of jobs are from small businesses. The employment market must be stabilized! Then the residential housing market can go into a full recovery swing that will promote a more stable economy. We believe residential real estate will lead commercial real estate out of this recession. Additionally, Multifamily will lead the way in the commercial market.Long term, we need to be concerned with public policy and the spending that comes with it. It is my opinion; we should embrace and employ a whole new breed of Entrepreneurship along with a core focus on Research & Development in all of our industries. This type of R&D spending will help ensure future growth of our economy. In order to have a strong real estate marketplace we need a strong economy. In order to have a strong economy we need good public representatives.
The people of this great country need to understand, we will be better served to plan the future many, many years ahead of time should we plan to continue to lead the way for the rest. We have a great economic system and therefore the promotion of such a system should be pursued.Bright Side

Loan defaults will spark a lot of buying with new money.

By 2010-11 we should be on our way to recovery and out of this mess by 2013 as long as government policies improve.

Interest rates should remain low for a little while.

Our country has always bounced back each time we’ve gone through recessionary periods.

Singapore abounds with experts in the property field. These professionals range from top ranking jobs like estate agents and lawyers to the very bottom but equally professional carpenters, who work together to produce a unique skyline for Singapore.The different property experts in SingaporeThe availability and variety of professionals in Singapore may be analogized to a 13 storey ‘condo’ building with carpenters occupying the first floor, other professionals the 3rd and 12th floors and the topmost level occupied by agents. There are approximately 13 professional classes in the Singapore real estate market.AgentsThe agent is the intermediary between sellers and buyers.The licensing of agents is now vested in the Council of Estate Agents or CEA.An estate agent is a person who assists people in selling or purchasing real estate.LawyersA lawyer is a qualified legal practitioner who becomes a member of the bar upon graduating and acceptance. A lawyer must register with the Justice Ministry.Functions:

Document and review purchases, leases, inspections and appraisals.

Assist in resolving insurance titles and environmental issues.

File and represent lawsuits in court in the event of a disagreement during real estate transactions.

Assist lenders and borrowers in foreclosure proceedings.
Mortgage brokersThere are no special requirements or licensing procedures but an aspiring broker must undergo a training course to qualify as an Accredited Mortgage Consultant.All mortgage brokers must be registered members of the Mortgage and Finance Association.All registered brokers must adhere to an industry Code of Practice which insists upon professionalism, ethical behavior and dedication to work in the interests of borrowers.ArchitectIn Singapore, as in other countries, the architect is an important figure in the pre-construction phase of a real estate project because they:

Provide expert advice on designs and drawings of buildings

Offer suggestions on the most suitable contractors for the job

Develop layout plans for real estate buildings

Inspects and oversees the construction work
BankerA banker must register and obtain a license to operate by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.Bankers do not normally engage with individual clients when dealing in real estate, but prefer to negotiate with licensed firms or aggregators who negotiate with mortgage brokers and submit loans through aggregators.Bankers provide funds to all parties engaged in the purchasing of real estate and also to estate developers and contractors.Surveyor The Singapore Institute of Surveyors and Evaluators represent the local land surveyors, evaluators, property managers, property consultants and real estate agents at the professional level.A surveyor:

Conducts or supervises survey operations

Makes calculations of the survey data

Analyses the data and produces the final production map, plans or charts

Offers recommendations for changes

Acts as a consultant in advising his clients on the best choice of survey schedules, logistics, methods, instrumentation, costs and other aspects of the project
InspectorAn inspector can obtain an operating license from the Ministry of Manpower.An inspector:

Carries out inspections on the structural, mechanical and electrical conditions of real estate

Provides information to the estate agent or buyer on how to identify of the more apparent major flaws that may exist in any given home, building or structure.

An inspection does not facilitate the detection of all flaws, problems or malfunctions that might exist in any given home.
Validation surveyorThe validation surveyor must be licensed by the Singapore Lands Authority.The validation surveyor:

Acts as the accountant for structural engineers, mechanical and electrical engineers and other expert consultants

Helps clients obtain value for their money

Evaluates or appraises interests of a specific nature in real estate at any point in time

The evaluation is based on correct evidence from the market
ContractorIn Singapore, the licensing authority for a contractor is the Singapore Lands Authority.In real estate, a contractor:

Is a person or company who has won a contract to engage in the building of a structure for a client

Engages in the actual construction work

Works with the surveyor and architect to construct and complete the project
DeveloperA developer in Singapore has to be registered with the Singapore Lands Authority.The developer:

Is a person or company that buys land in order to build a structure upon it

Must develop a housing project with more than 4 units

Needs to sources available real estate

Negotiates funds for the execution of a project
Financial AdvisorAll licenses connected with financial services are controlled by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.A financial advisor tries to help clients use their monetary resources in the most efficient manner.AccountantAn accountant is a financial expert whose services are also essential in real estate transactions.An accountant:

Possesses the right knowledge when making business decisions about real estate

Has the ability of assessing tax impacts, which is key to the success of a transaction

Spends a fair portion of time studying, researching, thinking and applying systems, financial measures and tax planning for investors
CarpenterA carpenter in Singapore is generally hired by the contractor and is usually licensed to carry out the actual construction work for a project. The carpenter:Constructs under the advice and supervision of the architect and contractorProperty managerA property manager is a qualified expert who is employed by owners of the real estate.Generally, the property manager:

Looks after real estate investment on behalf of the owners

Documents and evaluates potential tenants for occupying rentals

Collect rents paid by occupiers of rental premises

Negotiates contracts and rental terms on behalf of owners

Arranges for proper maintenance work of the owner’s premises, such as cleaning, plumbing and electrical systems

Congratulations, you’re a licensed real estate agent! You’ve completed 2-8 weeks of classwork with some testing and a final exam that went over pretty much everything you will never need or use again. If you were smart, you were collecting real estate leads even as you were taking your courses just by gathering a list of every single person you know by name or face.If you weren’t very smart, you simply focused on your courses and learning and figured the real estate leads would come later. You then searched for a real estate office to join and they most likely said “Well, you’re breathing, we’ll take a chance with you!” They showed you a cubicle, phone, coffee pot, bathroom and told you to have at it! No real estate leads yet.Now you’re scratching your head, watching a veteran agent next to you screaming beause he’s losing at Checkers on his computer while a group of agents are hanging out for hours reading the paper and STILL complaining about the Sixers trading Iverson to the Nuggets. You haven’t heard a word about realty or real estate leads yet. At this point, you cannot help but wonder, “Are these guys on salary and is this all I have to do to make money in real estate? The answer is a loud, resounding NO!Rory Wilfong, a successful agent himself and co-founder of GetMyHomesValue says, “I don’t care if you’ve been a licensed real estate agent for 2 days or 50 years, you probably never took the Real Estate Agents Pledge for real estate leads. If you expect to be successful with your real estate leads and with realty in general, you must take and live by the pledge.”The Pledge:I, (State your name), as a licensed real estate agent realize the importance of getting real estate leads, working leads and following up properly with my real estate leads. I also realize that everything I do from this point forward is for the sole purpose of lead generation. Some real estate leads may have some inaccurate information and I must be mature enough to look past that and not immediately proclaim them “bogus” and through a little research or help from others, I can get the information I need to proceed. My pipeline of real estate leads must never run dry because if it does, I will not have the ability to turn those real estate leads into clients and take those clients into settlement. As such, I will not be able to make money and I will begin to blame others for my failures.I accept the fact that most real estate leads from all of my lead generation efforts are not going to produce immediate results however exceptional my follow-up system is and my pipeline of real estate leads will take on a wide range of settlement time, anywhere from next month, 6 months, next year, 2 years or even 5 years from now. I also must continually contact a lead until I actually get an appointment to help them with their real estate needs. This contact process will involve several phone calls, several knocks on the lead’s door and several mailings in order to achieve my goal of getting the appointment.I will work with an Accountability Partner/Coach so I do not become LAZY with my real estate leads. I will learn to overcome my fear of rejection and knocking on doors so I will never become SCARED of my real estate leads. I will educate myself regularly through various means for betters sales, customer service and marketing techniques so I will never become STUPID with my real estate leads. I will exhaust every effort (within my means) to make myself memorable to as many people as possible for when they have a real estate needs. My real estate career is a business and I need to treat it as such and put all the correct business components in place to increase my chances of success. I realize that real estate leads are the lifeline of my business and without them I will fail… and failure is NOT an option!It’s recommended you read this pledge to work your real estate leads every morning before you start your day. Remember, failure is not an option!