Tax Credits for home buyers
Two tax credtis for home buyers: $8,000 for first time and $6,500 for existig home owners! This is serious stimulus! Details here: http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/
Commercial Leasing Floor Relief
There is an Iowa program to help flooded commercial properties. The Iowa The Disaster Recovery Business Rental Assistance Program will reimburse 6 months of rent up to $50,000 for properties that have been flooded. Check: http://www.iowacityarea.com/News/Detail/Commercial_Rental_Assistance_Program_applications_available_now.aspx
Iowa City Real Estate Checkup for Fall of 2009 – Q & A
1) The Current Condition of Real Estate in Iowa City? The residential real estate market, and as a following indicator, the commercial real estate markets are currently guarded, but healthy. Historically, for the last 20 years, or so, homes have increased in value by about 4% per year, have sold in 90-120 days and have sold for about 98% of what they were listed …
Composting
Ok, composting is next in my effort to adopt a greener lifestyle at home. I read about composting, and as a child we composted all of our organic kitchen waste, although we never used the compost for anything. We had a serious amount of material when I finally left home and I never really found out what happened to it. My guess is that …
Taking Green Home
Ok. So we’re going green…for real. What’s next. We here’s what I think I can do, or at least try. New lights Composting Lower temperature Shorter showers Recycling Pay attention, buy local What I don’t think I can do, so far. After all, the things you buy don’t have the same personal impact as the things you do. Replace windows More insulation Solar, or …
Jeff’s Gone GREEN!
GREEN. There is a lot of talk about GREEN these days. Green building, green living, green speech, green cars…so much I started to wonder what it really means to be GREEN, or to go GREEN. I got an email about a Realtor class offering a green designation. Well, I needed the CEU’s so I signed up thinking that I might actually learn …
Virtual Tours: A new tool for commercial real estate
Virtual tours are not really new, but the technology has improved to the point where they can be really useful. They’re a time saver for anyone looking at property listings online. Virtual tours have been used in residential listings for a few years, but I have not seen many for commercial listings. The property descriptions can be interesting, photos very helpful, but a virtual …
Recession…Iowa City Style
Yes, we are in a recession and boy am I sick of hearing that. Believe me, I know there are real problems with this economy, but the self fulfilling prophecy aspect of talking about it is another problem altogether. Let’s see what a recession actually means in Iowa City. I have tracked home sales prices in Johnson County since 1981. My method is …
Real Estate Terminology 101
I talk daily with people interested in leasing property and have discovered that the way brokers price property for lease is not very helpful to the public. The small business owner, or start-up company, just wants to know what the rent is for a particular suite, but we in the industry price it by the foot per year on a triple net basis. Now, …