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‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: How to Appeal to Different Groups of Renters (And Why You Should Want To)
This past weekend my husband and I went down to D.C. to visit some friends, and they took us to a Nationals game. I’m not a fan of baseball, but I don’t like to cause waves, so I went. Plus, they were my ride. Anyway, after the game and after all the players left the field, stadium workers began wheeling out a portable stage, and soon after we all got to watch a free Wallflowers concert. (I’ve said it before: The ’90s are totally back.) Now, I love concerts. Love them. (You probably wouldn’t be able to tell by looking…
‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: How To Get That Tiny Apartment Rented
It’s a common joke that if people want to move to Manhattan, or some other large city, they’d only be able to afford something the size of a shoebox. (OK, so maybe that’s not the funniest joke out there. Picture I said it with Steve Martin’s arrow on my head. Wakka wakka.) But according to an article on Yahoo, it turns out, that’s sometimes true. Well, not literally true. You’d have to be some sort of contortionist or Barbie doll to live in a shoebox. But the couple featured in that article lives in an apartment that’s 240 square feet….
‘Gimme Shelter’ with Daniel Gehman: Ambivalence
Today I was gently dressed down for being a “highly educated, articulate, upper middle class white person” who “didn’t pay taxes to support L.A.’s crumbling infrastructure.” Huh? I guess I earned the epithet, but let me explain. For some time now, California has allowed certain vehicles to drive in the car pool lanes with a single occupant if they met a certain environmental standard, which typically required super low emissions and high mileage. Both the Prius and the Honda Civic hybrid qualified. This program came to an end in California about a year ago, and all the folks with the…
‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: Reasons Millennials DO Want to Buy
Oh, no they didn’t. I am an avid reader of the RENTCafe Blog, which has all sorts of interesting entries about apartment living. And recently I read a blog on their site called “Why We Rather Rent Than Buy,” which posed the idea that members of Gen Y would rather rent then buy, citing reasons such as more mobility, the unstable job market and the fact that people are marrying and starting families later in life. Fair enough, and all good reasons. But I beg to differ. If Millennials had the money, they totally would buy. And if constant checks to…
‘The Accidental Economist’ with Jack Kern: Forecasting in an Age of Uncertainty
“The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.” (c) John Kenneth Galbraith, noted writer and economist I recently had the pleasure of meeting with the Dallas Fort Worth Real Estate Research Forum and presenting some thoughts on being a real estate forecasting practitioner. In some ways, it’s a lot like being a weatherman in the middle of storm where everyone knows it’s raining and all you can talk about is how long it’s going to come down. In some sense, whether you’re concerned about Basel III or the change in cap rates on apartments or other…
‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: How Tom Cruise Can Help Bring New Life to Your Apartment
I had pretty much written off Tom Cruise. Sure, in the ’80s he was amazing. I mean, whenever you are home alone, you are almost required by law to put on Ray Bans and play air guitar in your underwear to “Old Time Rock and Roll” (or do the Home Alone scream, but that doesn’t really help my example). And, I guess you can throw in Top Gun as another example of good vintage Tom Cruise, although I’m doing that kicking and screaming because I think I’m literally the only person on the planet who does not like that movie….
‘The Accidental Economist’ with Jack Kern: What Women Really Want
“I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational creatures. None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives.” (c)― Jane Austen, Persuasion There has been a lot of press about Gen Y and the media has declared this group of young people the darlings of the future. With one pronouncement after another, this cluster has been seen as the coming savior of everything from retail boutiques, to shopping online to apartment rents. Up until now, most of the judgment coming out of the business press has been…
‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: A Modest Proposal to Get Rid of Additional Apartment Fees
My husband and I frequently go through a number of real estate “phases” where we get really crazed about an idea, and then sort of let it go. Sometimes we think we should buy while the buying is hot and get a condo in Jersey. Then we think, “Is adding half an hour and an additional mode of transportation to our commutes really worth it just to live in the state where Bruce Springsteen is from?” Then, maybe after watching too many episodes of Sex and the City and I get a hankering for trendy bars, over-priced cupcakes and men…
‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: How to Treat a Doorman (And How to Act as One)
According to a recent article in The New York Times, people don’t always know how to act around their doormen, or know what to ask/expect of them. I know, I know. First-world problems. It’s like, “Gracious, I bought so much caviar that my guests are going to be too full to enjoy their filet mignon.” Or “Oh, dear me, I shan’t be able to make it to the polo match because I have that sailing regatta the same day.” (Seriously, though, that’s too bad. I know how much you were looking forward to that.) Or, I don’t know, something about not…
‘The Accidental Economist’ with Jack Kern: Property Prices and Fly Fishing
Sometimes I wonder if it says “kick me” on the back of my suit. I’ve been following property prices and talking to a number of colleagues about trends in apartment, retail and industrial and for some reason on at least two occasions the conversation turned to fly-fishing. I don’t know anything about fly-fishing. In fact, the only time I tried it, it took a while to pick the flies (the hook kind, not the buzzing kind) out of my lucky fishing shirt. (All real estate people have lucky fishing shirts. Go on, just ask them). Inevitably there seems to be…