Apartment loans by agencies creating bubble
Multifamily loans issued by government-sponsored agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are buoying the price of apartment buildings to the point that buyers may not be able to refinance once interest rates rise, according...
Bank of America faces hurdles in rentals
To help struggling homeowners, Bank of America recently launched a test initiative that will give some a chance to rent the very homes they risk losing. The Charlotte, N.C.-based bank began sending letters accompanied...
The long view on unemployment
In an interview with ABC News, Bernanke said in March that he is sleeping better these days because the U.S. financial system looks stronger, and threats from Europe's debt crisis look less worrisome. He...
Want to improve customer service? Treat your employees better.
On the one hand, moments of tear-your-hair-out frustration are commonplace—from shopping in stores where sales associates are nowhere to be found, to dealing with salespeople unable to help locate a sought-after item, to encountering...
Where magic is made
As the leasing and marketing manager of the 734-unit Crestview Apartment Homes located in metropolitan Atlanta, daily, I often consider Borden's four Ps of marketing: product, price, place, and promotion. Interestingly, there are yet new...
Stressed out! How to navigate one or more life-changing events
After undergoing a mastectomy and chemotherapy, and relieved to be cancerfree, she received another devastating blow: losing her job as managing director of a Wall Street firm, as well as the insurance that came...
Work related stress in America
But there are ways to reduce its impact on human lives and companies' bottom line, even though stress is a daunting, pervasive problem, experts say. A recent survey of 2,500 employees by ComPsych, a...
An eye for detail
Manhole covers have to be one of the most generic, standardized building products one can buy. I suspect that it is a highly competitive market, probably relatively regional, that achieves low cost because almost...
Turning off, tuning out
Welcome to the new world of work, where 5:30 p.m. is far from the end of the day. It is a world in which smartphones and laptop computers—devices that ostensibly enable us to work...
Keeping pace
Prospective residents no longer have to physically visit a community to get a feel for the apartment or community. Leasing offices now get prospects and residents communicating from all directions: office visits, landline calls...
Make an impression in 30 seconds. Go.
Most of us are not in the business of making TV commercials, but in conversations there is almost always a 30-second moment that can make the meeting memorable. Malcolm Gladwell touches on this phenomenon in...
The march toward multihousing continues
One reason for the boom in multifamily construction is that rents have risen, making new rental projects more attractive to investors. Obviously rents can't get too high or people will be turned off. In...
Americans stay put; instead accessorize
Of those looking to move, some 44 percent expect to buy, while 42 percent are looking to rent, according to the latest American Express Spending & Saving Tracker survey released in March. (The questions...
Household landscape 2012
A new study by the Center for Housing Policy confirms that falling home prices have not solved the housing affordability problems of the nation's working households. In fact, the Center's Housing Landscape 2012 report...
