Ocean-front property is at a premium, mainly because there’s so little of it. Well, a finite amount of beach didn’t stop developers in Dubai, the capital of the oil-rich middle-eastern country of United Arab Emirates. They simply decided where they wanted to be, and created more beach — a lot more. Their development idea was to build up the land in the existing ocean by dumping millions of yards of sand, creating and island in the shape of a palm tree. Each branch of the palm has two rows of homes (back to back) each facing the ocean. The result is an island that will one day be home to an estimated one million people. To read the story, and see the photos of the island, click here.
Archive for the 'Construction' Category
Creating More Oceanfront Property
Published by 1 year, 3 months ago in Housing, Real Estate, Construction and Investments. 0 Comments
Last week I reported on appraisers and their role in the scheme of things. Based on comments we received from those in the profession, their role may not be as clearly defined as we all think it is (or should be.) This week I have to share an experience a little closer to home.
For the last several months I have been building a summer home in the mountains, in which I hope to live out my days in peace. I was talking to another gentleman who is building near where I am, and he asked if we were in the county or in the city. I told him we were in the county, and he began to lament how horrible the inspectors were in the county. How all they wanted to do is make your life miserable. (I have to admit to having similar thoughts after some of their visits.) He went on to tell me how his inspector (the city inspector) never looked at anything. As long as you had doughnuts, he just came in, shot the breeze for awhile, signed off on whatever was needing a signature, and left.
That’s what you want, right? Somebody who doesn’t hassle you at every turn. Somebody who lets you build whatever you want, without giving you a hard time. You’re the builder, right? Who knows better than you how it should be done? Listening to this guy talk, I have to admit I began to get caught up in how great it would be to shoot the breeze and not have some nit-picky guy scrutinize every little ticky-tacky detail.
But then I thought, wait a minute. This isn’t a spec. I’m going to live out my days in this house. Yes, I am an expert builder. Yes, I know the rules and codes. Yes, I know what constitutes good construction. But when it’s something as important as a several hundred thousand dollar investment, that you’re going to live the rest of your life in, do you really want someone to just come in and chat or do you want a second set of expert eyes ensuring that what you’ve got is the best it can be?
When that paradigm shift occurred for me, I have to say I looked forward to the inspectors visit with a whole new anticipation. When the house was done, I knew it was right and that it was as well built as it could be. I also know I didn’t accidentally miss anything. The inspector became a consultant and an insurance policy for me that I didn’t have to pay for. I guess the result is the same whether you like the nosy inspector or not. But the stress level is way different when you use him to your advantage.
I suppose it’s that way with everything. How you choose to look at things will determine how you feel about them. As in my case with the inspector, the nature of the thing hadn’t changed in the slightest. The only thing that had changed was me. I wonder how many other things there are in life that I’ve been bruising myself against that could be just like that. You can rest assured I’ll be looking at things in a different way from now on.
Mixed Forecast on RE Future
Published by 1 year, 4 months ago in Housing, Real Estate and Construction. 0 Comments
There’s one thing that’s perfectly clear… Nothing’s clear. You can always tell when the media don’t have a clue what’s going to happen. They take one small piece of the truth and report it as though it were the whole truth. Today is a great example of that. MSN is reporting that housing starts for April were up, and they are painting a pretty rosey picture of the future. CNN, on the other hand, is reporting gloom and doom. Housing: Still searching for a bottom. Reuters, in a story picked up by USA Today has taken the middle ground, reporting that starts for April were up, but that building permits (a key indicator of future growth) were way down. They’re like the weatherman who says, “It’s going to rain tomorrow, but it could be sunny.” That’s a great position to take, if you can get away with it. At any rate, things are in a state of flux nationally. There are some silver linings, but you can’t dispel a few dark clouds. My advice? Read these stories and see which one you think fits your local scenario and go with that.
Toll Brothers 1st Quarter Earnings Off 19%
Published by 1 year, 4 months ago in Real Estate and Construction. 0 Comments
According to a report in Businessweek.com, 1st quarter earnings for the luxury home builder were down 19% from the same period a year ago and lower than had been projected. CEO Robert Toll indicated they were facing significant challenges in most of their markets. Toll brothers is one of the nation’s largest builders, and their challenges are shared by large builders everywhere.
Toll brothers points to fallout from the sub-prime debacle as the leading reason things have slowed more than expected. While most of their customers don’t use sub-prime loans, the stricter standards have affected everyone. It will be interesting to see if that bears out in existing home sales as well. There’s no question easy money helped fuel the RE boon. It remains to be seen how much the tighter standards will affect the downturn.
This is an article worth reading, although it is more oriented to the person who invests in RE stocks, than the person who invests in RE.
When you think of a “green” house, what do you think of? Probably solar panels, smaller footprint, natural materials, recycled materials, passive solar, etc. What some people think of when they say green is literally green — meaning plants and shrubs where the shingles used to be.
That’s right, people are turning away from shingles and shakes in favor of grasses and leafy ground cover. Supposedly, it’s more environmentally friendly, it extends the life of the roof, and it lets everyone in the neighborhood know you are on board with the whole global warming thing.
To read more about how people are using nature to put a roof over their heads, click here.
