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One thing you will find when you invest in real estate is that all markets are local.  While markets are definitely affected by what is happening nationally and internationally, take availability of credit and interest rates.  The greatest influence is exerted by the local area. 

Often areas are greatly influenced by the predominant industry.  Here in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, our main industry is tourism.  Tourism swells the summertime population and local businesses reap the benefit.  With very few hotels and motels, the majority of Outer Banks visitors stay in vacation rental homes. Often it is possible to forecast the coming season by how local property managers are doing. 

Initial estimates were very gloomy.  It seems now, that the numbers…

There are many concerns along the New Jersey shore, especially in towns that receive most of their funds from tourism like Avalon or Sea Isle City, about what this summer will bring.  A sucessful tourist season will help to keep the life in the Sea Isle City real estate market.  After all tourism is New Jersey's third largest industry. 

That may come as a shock to some with all the industries that New Jersey has, that tourism is the third largest.  One study done by the state showed that for every dollar the state invests in tourism - we get back $36 into New Jersey’s economy.  For many coastal towns in New Jersey tourism is the sole industry.  These towns especially are working to ensure the 2009 summer season at the Jersey Shore is a sucessful…

If you are sour on the United States real estate market, you will be interested in the finding by the Knowledge@Wharton Real Estate in Emerging Markets Forum.  The forum had good insight into countries like China, Brazil, India and Russia, to name a few.  The consensus from the forum was...look for countries with strong middle-class growth -- say, China or Brazil. Stick mainly to housing and retail. Focus on the long term. And don't attempt to do it without a local partner.

The consensus sounds simple but once you read through the entire article you realize how important it is to have a solid foundation and local partners.  The findings of the forum definitely provide some great insight into investing in foreign countries.  For those without the partners…

If you have listened to the news in the last sixty days.  The word bailout has dominated the news.  Every week there is another group lining up at the trough for some taxpayers money.  Without getting into the apparent moral hazards of these bailouts or realizing that all the money from the Treasury and government is looted from the taxpayers, the problem of how to "fix" the real estate market has been constantly debated.

The latest proposal has been to achieve a fixed mortgage rate of 4.5% in order to stimulate the housing market.  How this would take place is covered well here.  A number of other plans have also been floated around by both the NAR and NAHB.  Both plans offer different ways to stimulate the housing market.

Perhaps the best idea I have…

The month of September was a good month for Outer Banks real estate and it appears rather good for the rest of the country.  In some good news this week, the rate of existing home sales rose in its largest monthly increase since July 2003.  This is definitely some promising news.  The over 5% increase from August could be an indicator of the market turning in the right direction. As minimum it is an indicator that at current prices many homes are a becomming a bargain.  For many who were kept out during the housing boom, now is becoming the chance to pick up the home they wanted for a reasonable price.

Some negative news did come out late this week.  The prices paid for those homes in September fell by 9% from September a year ago.  This is not…

As was written on CNN, USA Today, and countless other publications.  The average 30 year fixed interest rate mortgage jumped to 6.74%.  This was over a .50% jump in the rate from the Wednesday prior.  This was the largest single week rise since April of 1987.  This could become a cause for alarm, for the US real estate market.  The higher the cost to borrow money the more expensive a house becomes.  A .50% increase on a $200,000 mortgage is about $70.  This is not a huge increase in a monthly payment but definitely something that could gradually add up.

Many experts attribute the rise in interest rates to the Fed's bailout.  In order to raise money the Fed has been forced to raise the interest rates on Treasury bills.  It is normally found the mortgage…

Personally I find it sad that perhaps the holiday that should be celebrated right along the 4th of July is delegated to having almost no role.  Could there be a correlation between our lack of reverance for the Constitution and our present state today?  I think it important we look at the most important part of the Constitution, The Preamble.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

The only thing you need to learn from the preamble is the first 7 words,  We the…

I recently came across this on The Register.  It seems Google is intending to build a navy.  No, it does not appear Google is going into defense contracting it seems they are attempting to build a floating navy of datacenters.  They recently filed for a patent to build these new datacenters.  They are also planning to power the datacenters using wave energy.  Free renewalable energy seems to have caught Google's interest.  Google also claims the datacenters will be extremely useful in times of natural disasters.  Check out the rest of the article.