The Great Recession began with great deception
A new term describing how Lehman converted securities and other assets into cash has entered the financial vocabulary: "Repo 105."
While Lehman's huge indebtedness and other mistakes have been well documented, the $30 million study...
Rev up the work engine
We all have days when we just don't feel energetic and with it. But when you've got work to do—whether in your job, building your own business or around the house—you can't simply go...
Revving a career while in neutral
"You don't have to be stuck," says Dory Hollander, a workplace psychologist and founder of WiseWorkplaces, a career coaching and executive-development firm based in Arlington, Va. "You can be an active player in shaping...
Working our way out
The inability of developers to access traditional capital markets remains a significant issue. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) estimates that the current historically-low level of multifamily starts—less than a third of the...
Is housing headed for another bust or boom?
Let's start with a quick history lesson. From 1978 until the end of 2007, the annual housing starts nationwide (single-family and multifamily units) averaged about 1,544,000 annually. In 2008, housing starts dropped below a...
Dangerous trends
The real precedent was set with the 1998 multi-state tobacco settlement of $365.5 billion. Tobacco is a legal substance. In the mafia, this is called a shake down. If the government can attack one...
Safe harbor
The mainly bi-coastal apartment REIT broke ground for two new apartment projects in Q4 2009. The 219-unit, $36 million second phase of Avalon Northborough, in a suburb about 22 miles west of Boston got...
Waiting to exhale
Yet, Congress has been consumed over the past year with those things at the bottom of Americans' priority list: reducing health care costs (57 percent), providing health insurance to the uninsured (49 percent) and...
MH Feeding frenzy
"With their stocks battered over the past several years, REITs could sell a building for a lot less on a yield basis then what they could turn around and buy their own stock for....
Deal-maker
The company has been taking advantage of weakness in the apartment market, buying recently constructed Class A apartment and condo product with more than 100 units in core locations and uncompleted busted condo properties,...
Growing the business
"Those were the areas of difficulty for Wallick," said Feusse, who began working as a consultant for the 44-year-old affordable multihousing company in May 2005.
Discipline and focus, along with the strong belief that a...
Back in the sweet spot
At least part of the explanation for the rise in real estate's standing in the 2010 survey is pretty obvious, thinks Mission Capital Advisors' David Tobin: the outlook today compared to a year ago,...
Make them stop
The most irritating or disruptive things about a job may have nothing to do with too much work or boring assignments. Sometimes what gets your goat is the annoying habits of the person at...
The Zen of work
The past year has brought layoffs, furloughs, pay freezes, increased health care costs and heavier workloads. And it's starting to eat at you.
You can't control these factors, but there are things you can do...
Renting: the new American dream
How does government support for home-ownership compare with government support for renting?
Cino: Federal home-ownership subsidies outnumber rental support 4 to 1 or about $230 billion to the renters' $60 billion. If subsidies were adjusted...
