Making hay while the sun shines
"The economy appears to be on a path of sustainable growth. U.S. businesses have healthy balance sheets and plenty of liquidity-consumer debt has declined to levels not seen since the early 90s," said AvalonBay...
West coast story
“It’s a great time to own apartments on the West Coast,” said Essex President and CEO Michael Schall during his company’s presentation at the Citiglobal Property CEO conference held this March in Hollywood, Fla.,...
A human being is a deciding being
Like those before me and, perhaps, those beyond my view, I want the whole field advantage. It's a view that assures the tension of new and the vigor of limitless context. But mostly, it...
Ending the American malaise
She was sweet and sovereign, and had the divine ability to cause me to snap into accordance with a single glance. With all her ecclesiastical presence, Sister Timothy bestowed upon me the social power...
The life of a bug
In the old-school novella, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (1915), the main character, Gregor, does just that.
It's not so much that he bizarrely transforms from salesman to giant bug in the first paragraph of...
The case for space
Personally, I’m a big fan of markets, but I’m not much of a city guy. I’ve lived in urban areas before, and to me the benefits just don’t outweigh the cost of the hustle...
Great Scott!
It also may have been planned perfectly that MRI Software, headquartered in Solon, Ohio, concluded its International Users Conference on October 21, 2015, a fitting end to a dynamic event for this 44-year-old company...
What if they opened the office and nobody came?
For months, corporate hegemons, real estate brokers and their media acolytes have been insisted that a return to “normalcy,” that is, to the office, was imminent. Some companies threatened to reduce the incomes of...
The monsters are due on Maple Street
"The monsters are due on Maple Street," (1960) was a classic. I recall it every time I read divisive tales about some one or group, or ill-defined boogie man, who has singlehandedly turned out...
Why Americans accept wealth inequality: individual choice
People who approve of this distribution in wealth typically argue that the wealthiest Americans have earned their money through hard work and individual effort and that their business practices, spending patterns, and investments ultimately...
Essex spends big to defeat rent control measure
Essex generates 84 percent of its net operating income in California, far more than any other large apartment REIT. That explains why Essex has contributed more to defeat the measure than any other public...
Materials scarce. Prices high.
As the construction industry struggles under the burden of material cost increases, supply chain disruptions and labor shortages, demand for single and multifamily homes remains strong. A confluence of conflicting trends that intensified during...
Suburban rise
Desperate landlords now offer as much as three months free rent to potential renters at new, Manhattan apartment towers.
“There is a considerable amount of pain—20 to 25 percent declines in effective rents,” according to...
Another great moment in history: NAHB Multifamily Pillar’s awards
It doesn’t get bigger than this. The National Association of Home Builders, one of the largest and most influential trade associations in the country, has grown alongside the nation and its housing providers for...
The Home Act
Maryland's HOME Act is legislation that would prohibit landlords and other property owners from declining Section 8 vouchers, deeming it discrimination based on "source of income." While proponents believe the Act will eliminate high...
