DID BOB DYLAN WRITE “ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER” ABOUT THE COMMERICAL REAL ESTATE MARKET?

August 28, 2008 on 8:30 am | In Fascinating Information, Uncategorized, WOW | 12 Comments

DID BOB DYLAN WRITE “ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER” ABOUT THE COMMERICAL REAL ESTATE MARKET?
 

bOB dYLAN - 1965.jpg
 As Bob Dylan prepares to play a concert at our very own Santa Monica Civic Center on September 3rd, we found this rather poignant analysis on Forbes.com paralleling the lyrics of “All Along the Watchtower” to the British Commercial Real Estate Market…
 

34th Annual Accadamy Awards -36. Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.bmp

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Bard Saw The Future And It Was Crunch
By Javier Espinoza
 

If you’ve never been able to figure out the meaning of Bob Dylan’s vaguely apocalyptic lyrics to the 1967 song All Along the Watchtower, a developer has a suggestion: they describe the current state of affairs in British real estate. In a bizarre interpretation, the chief executive of Brixton said Dylan “seemed to capture the beleaguered mindset of the U.K. commercial real estate market.”

Tim Wheeler went on to quote an entire verse of Dylan’s song in Brixton’s first-half earnings statement, which featured the four horsemen of the Apocalypse in the cover.
  ’There must be some way out of here
Said the joker to the thief
There’s too much confusion
I can’t get no relief
Businessmen they drink my wine
Ploughmen dig my earth
None of them along the line
Know what any of it is worth’
 

Bob Dylan

 

“As we anticipated, the commercial property market has become more challenging in response to the credit crunch and slowing economies. There is confusion – and an element of denial – over direct property pricing due to lack of transactions,” Brixton said in a press release.
  But it didn’t take any hippie musician for Brixton (other-otc: BXTOF - news - people ) to admit that first-half profit before tax fell to 192.3 million pounds ($358.1 million), down 18.8% from 236.7 million pounds ($474.1 million at the time) last year. Shares of Brixton fell almost 10.0% following the announcement, which contained the slogan: “The market may be in apocalyptic mood but there is some way out of here.”
 

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Gotta love
http://www.forbes.com/2008/08/21/bob-dylan-crisis-face-cx_je_0820autofacescan02.html?partner=alerts

 

 

 

 

 

THE NATIONAL TRUST TACKLES THE GREENING OF OLD BUIILDINGS

August 24, 2008 on 12:31 am | In Fascinating Information, Green, Historic Properties, Landmarks, Uncategorized | 11 Comments

THE NATIONAL TRUST TACKLES THE GREENING OF OLD BUIILDINGS

In these eco-friendly times, we have learned that buildings are a primary contributor to the accumulation of greenhouse gases that cause global warming. Studies by the U.S. Department of Energy have shown that buildings contribute up to 40 percent of carbon emissions, 30 percent of waste output, and 70 percent of electricity consumption. Yet most sustainable development is geared toward new buildings.

Kykuit

The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s launched their sustainability initiative in 2006 to promote the environmental benefits of historic preservation. The initiative emphasizes that sustainability is both intrinsic and achievable in existing structures. “Historic preservation is inherently a sustainable activity that should be widely embraced,” says Trust President Richard Moe. “We now have an opportunity to make the case more clearly and more effectively, in the context of the national discussion on global warming and carbon emissions.”

One of the National Trust’s first sustainability success stories is the Rockefeller estate known as Kykuit, located in Westchester County, New York, above the Hudson River in the Pocantico Hills.

 

To many, Kykuit may seem too old and ornate, its classical revival walls too historic, to accommodate cutting-edge sustainable technology. Yet the National Trust historic site has taken several steps to reduce its environmental impacts, including purchasing all of its electricity from wind power, switching to fluorescent lights, and using nontoxic paints. Future plans for the site could greatly reduce energy usage and carbon emissions.

Through this initiative, the National Trust and its partners are advocating for the continued use and sustainable restoration of older buildings to conserve materials and energy and prevent the environmental, social, and economic impacts of demolition. The initiative concentrates on four areas: public policy, focusing on including preservation in new green legislation and building standards; research on sustainability topics, such as embodied energy; education and outreach; and finally, incorporation of more energy-efficient practices at both the Trust’s headquarters and its 28 historic sites. “The prevailing perception is that green building is about new construction,” says Emily Wadhams, the Trust’s vice president for public policy. “But we can’t build ourselves out of this crisis.”

Falling Water is a study in sustainable design

http://www.nationaltrust.org/magazine/current/yourtrust.htm

Californians to Get Refunds From Kickback Suit

August 21, 2008 on 10:45 am | In Fascinating Information, Legal, Of Local Importance, Uncategorized, WOW | 9 Comments

Californians to Get Refunds From Kickback Suit

Hundreds of thousands of Californians are expected to share in a $35 million settlement of a lawsuit that accuses some of the nation’s largest real estate brokers of taking kickbacks.

A federal judge in Los Angeles still must sign the agreement.

The lawsuit accuses brokers from an array of major companies, including Coldwell Banker, Century 21, ERA and RE/MAX, of accepting kickbacks for referring business to Property I.D. Corp. Property I.D., is a Los Angeles-based company that provides fire, floods, earthquake, and landslide hazard reports.

The suit alleges that brokers received $25 for every client steered to straw companies set up to disguise the kickbacks.

Under the settlement terms announced Friday by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the firms denied wrongdoing but agreed to give customers who bought the reports from 1996 to 2006 a full refund – typically about $100.

Source: The Associated Press (8/09/08)

http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2008081101?OpenDocument

SOCAL REAL ESTATE ACTIVITY UP - DEALS TO BE HAD!

August 20, 2008 on 9:50 am | In For Your Purchasing Pleasure, Lights Camera Transaction, Statistics, Uncategorized, WOW, fUNNY...mONEY | 4 Comments

Southern California real estate sales hit the highest level in over a year, according to DataQuick real estate research company. Sales are up 13.8 percent year-over-year in July. The July sales count — 20,329 new and resale homes and condos sold in the six-county Southern California area — was the highest since March 2007, when 21,856 homes were sold. But the count was still 23 percent below average July sales since 1988, the first year of DataQuick statistics for the region. The median price for the region dropped 31.1 percent year-over-year in July, falling from $505,000 to $348,000.

 

 http://www.inman.com/news/2008/08/18/sales-rise-prices-tumble-in-southern-california

Solar Loans for Residential Systems

August 18, 2008 on 5:11 am | In Fascinating Information, Green, Loans, Market Trends, Of Local Importance, Problem Solving, Uncategorized, WOW, fUNNY...mONEY | 10 Comments

Solar Loans for Residential Systems

New Resource Bank has created five special solar loans that allow you to install a solar system with nothing down. They are based on the equity in your home, have a streamlined application and approval process, and no upfront fees, closing costs or points. The loan may adjust to reflect the savings being generated by the solar system, as the chart above demonstrates.As the homeowner and system owner, you can take advantage of rebates and tax credits. Today’s low interest rates (in the range of 5 1/2%) make this type of financing very attractive.

For information, contact Gary Groff at New Resource Bank, (415) 995-8134 or 1 (800) 772-8190.

DIDJA KNOW….L.A. IS THE 2ND MOST EXPENSIVE CITY IN THE U.S.

August 12, 2008 on 11:22 pm | In Fascinating Information, For Your Purchasing Pleasure, Of Local Importance, Uncategorized, WOW | 11 Comments

New York City topped a new list of America’s most expensive cities, with our lovely Los Angeles coming in second place, according to Forbes magazine’s study of the world’s most expensive cities.

Location has a lot to do with why New York and Los Angeles top the list. L.A. remains expensive in part because of people’s desire to live in the city’s warm, Mediterranean climate, and because of our long, expensive commutes.

Out of 253 major metropolises around the world surveyed, New York ranked 22,and L.A. ranked 55.

For the whole story go to:
http://www.forbes.com/home/2008/07/23/cities-america-expensive-forbeslife-cx_ls_0724expensive_us.html

 
Los_Angeles

FIGURING OUT LEED STANDARDS FOR OLD BUILDINGS

August 8, 2008 on 9:10 am | In Fascinating Information, Historic Properties, Landmarks, Market Trends, Problem Solving, Uncategorized | 18 Comments

FIGURING OUT LEED STANDARDS FOR OLD BUILDINGS

To figure out how to apply Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design - LEED – standards to historic buildings, the National Trust for Historic Preservation partnered with the American Institute of Architects, the Association for Preservation Technology International, the National Park Service, the General Services Administration, and the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers to work with U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)  to ensure that the LEED system promotes preservation. Falling Water an excellent example of Sustainable DesignThe National Trust and its partners have been developing preservation recommendations to inform future LEED rating systems. The criteria will likely include acknowledgment of the durability and long life cycle of existing buildings, as well as the social and economic capital to be gained in preserving community landmarks. Falling Water Windows

“The retention of existing buildings conserves the materials and the energy embodied in their construction,” says Rhonda Sincavage, a Trust public policy associate. “And in thinking about what you’re conserving, we also want you to think about the impacts that you’re avoiding by not demolishing your building.” The Trust is also tracking federal, state, and local measures that deal with preservation and green building.

Windows are a particular source of contention between sustainability designers and preservationists. Contrary to popular belief, replacing old windows does not always improve energy efficiency and also wastes the energy and resources that went into building them—and it requires the use of new materials for their replacements. “The vast majority of heat loss in homes is through the attic or uninsulated walls, not windows,” wrote preservation economist Donovan Rypkema in a paper he presented at the Trust’s 2005 annual conference. “Properly repaired historic windows have an R factor nearly indistinguishable from new, so-called ‘weatherized’ windows.”Kentuck Kob skylight design offers passive heatingHaving the statistics to back up such assertions is the focus of the initiative’s research component. Last fall, the Trust convened more than 30 academics and experts to discuss research priorities related to sustainable preservation. In addition, Patrice Frey, the Trust’s new director of sustainability research, has begun to quantify the value of preserving older buildings by gathering data on such topics as embodied energy and building life cycle analysis. She will also be studying the less-tangible cultural and social implications of preservation, which are more difficult to quantify in a credit-based rating system. Over the coming year, her findings will be posted on the National Trust’s website and blog and disseminated in a variety of other venues. “Our ultimate goal,” Frey says, “is to provide tools for preservationists to make the necessary calculations to see the environmental, social, and economic impacts of their work.” Kentuck Kob's noteworthy window + balcony work

Increasingly, the National Trust is also greening up its diverse portfolio of historic sites. At its Washington, D.C., headquarters—a former luxury apartment house built in 1915—the organization has begun conservation measures. President Lincoln’s Cottage in northwest Washington features a LEED-certified visitors center, the first Trust site to go for USGBC certification. Kykuit, administered by t.he Rockefeller Brothers Fund on behalf of the Trust, will implement equipment upgrades and other plans to achieve its ambitious goal of a 25 percent energy reduction within five years and a 50 percent emissions reduction by 2023. Not far away, staff at ?Lyndhurst, the Gothic revival mansion once owned by a succession of New York tycoons, has just formed its own sustainability committee.

http://www.nationaltrust.org/magazine/current/yourtrust.htm  

LOS ANGELES TIMES CANCELS SUNDAY REAL ESTATE SECTION

August 4, 2008 on 11:30 pm | In Fascinating Information, Market Trends, Of Local Importance, Uncategorized, WOW | 5 Comments

LOS ANGELES TIMES CANCELS SUNDAY REAL ESTATE SECTION
LA Times logo 
 Society keeps evolving, newspapers are moving the way of the telegraph as more efficient means of communication evolve. In a major sign of the times, the Los Angeles Times has ceased publication of its weekly real estate section — born more than a century ago — amid major staff cuts.
In mid-July, newspaper managers began to carry out the “largest staff and production cuts in the newspaper’s history,” according to an article in the Times [1], citing “a continuing slide in advertising revenue.” The newspaper has a circulation of more than 1 million and ranks among the largest newspapers in the nation.
The cutbacks initiated last month at the Los Angeles Times had initially targeted about 150 newsroom employees, or 17 percent of the company’s newspaper and Web site editorial staff, according to the Times article, with plans to cut 100 positions in other departments.
Times Publisher David D. Hiller resigned the day after the cutbacks began. Times Editor Russ Stanton announced on July 30 [2] that 135 newsroom employees were laid off, and content cuts have led to 14 percent fewer pages.
Editor Stanton announced that the newspaper’s “Home” section would move from Sundays to Saturdays and would combine with “Real Estate.” Other changes have the ”Book Review” section merged with “Arts & Books” section to become “Arts and Books,” for example, and the Times had earlier announced the termination of its weekly magazine, among other reductions in content.
Lauren Beale, real estate editor for the Los Angeles Times, wrote in a July 27 blog post [4] at the newspaper’s L.A. Land blog, “because of reductions in staff and space, the Sunday Real Estate section has printed its final edition.”
She noted that the newspaper would continue to publish real estate coverage throughout the week and a few regular features of the section would continue in the Saturday “Home” and Sunday “Business” sections.
Residential real estate agents and brokers are expected to spend about 25 percent of their ad budgets with newspapers this year, with 12.8 percent going to online sources and 24.2 percent toward television ads.
Meanwhile, residential real estate developers are projected to spend about 47.9 percent of their total ad budgets with newspapers and about 30.2 percent online; and mortgage providers are expected to spend about 8.9 percent of their ad budgets in newspapers and 22.1 percent online this year.
Details;
http://www.inman.com/news/2008/08/4/los-angeles-times-axes-real-estate-section
 [1] http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hiller15-2008jul15,0,2815645.story
[2] http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/readers/2008/07/colleagues-a–1.html
[3] http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/readers/2008/07/note-from-edito.html
[4] http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laland/2008/07/a-good-steady-m.html
[5] http://www.inman.com/buyers-sellers/columnists/helene-lesel

 

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