Commercial Real Estate Forecast 2008

    Whew!!  2007 – “That Was The Year That Was”.  That statement, the modified title of a 1970’s TV series, poignantly describes our past year in the world of Commercial Real Estate.  We saw a lot: frenzied buying, unbelievably low cap rates, non-recourse money, a lot of mezz debt and equity, 100% financing and THEN almost…

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      The Costs Of Going Green In Commercial Real Estate

      In the late seventies, General Motors introduced a revolutionary electric vehicle designed to address high oil prices and long gas lines.  Unfortunately, battery system problems prompted GM to abruptly scrap the program.  GM bought back vehicles from customers, cleared dealer lots and ran the fleet through the crusher. Thus ended the immediate promise of alternative…

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        Multi-family Property Management Update Q1 2008

        Fickling & Company’s Multifamily Division had an outstanding 2007.  Total Revenue increased by an average of 9% over 2006 operating results.  Overall occupancy increased by an average of 5%.  Our success was largely due to hiring and training highly professional and knowledgeable employees, effectively raising rents as availability dictated, closely monitoring expenses, maintaining a strong…

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          What Is A Short Sale?

          A Short Sale occurs when a bank allows an owner to sell property at a price that is less than the owner owes the bank.  In other words, the sales price is “short” of what is owed. This creates what is called a deficiency balance.  That is, even though the property has been sold to…

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            Industrial Real Estate Market Q1 2008

            During 2007, the warehouse/industrial market was very active as well as the other commercial categories. The 2008 commercial real estate market, as other service categories, will be difficult to predict.  There are just two many unstable variables that could swing it in either direction. In 2007, the Bibb County industrial market remained basically unchanged from…

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              Industrial Real Estate Market 2006, A Look Back

              As predicted, the Bibb County Industrial Market experienced a substantial vacancy increase in 2006 with the 2.2 million square foot Brown & Williamson Plant officially being added to the existing vacancy inventory of more than 2 million square feet of space. Total Industrial space in the Bibb County market increased to 16 million square feet in…

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