Bluestone and Hockley Real Estate Services

UPDATED 2-FEB-2012

As we begin 2012, all real estate investors need to pay very close attention to the ever changing tax landscape. Particular attention needs to be paid to the significant tax increases slated to occur in 2013. Investors considering whether or not to sell and pay their taxes, or sell and 1031 Exchange, must consider the year-over-year tax implications. Real estate investors will have a much greater tax burden in 2013 than in 2012…[...]

UPDATED: 18-MAY-2011

I have just returned from a three week trip to Israel. I had many wonderful experiences, too many to chronicle, but I will try to summarize some of my key impressions here:

Residential Real Estate

What struck me the most about this visit (my fourth), was the amount of construction activity occurring. In one city close to Tel Aviv we counted eighteen (18) cranes building apartments (read condominiums). In Israel, the vast majority of construction is completed in rebar reinforced concrete (much like Mexico). In the large cities, due to land shortages, multistory buildings are being built to house the growing number of inhabitants…[...]

UPDATED: 26-Jan-2011

An uneasy political peace fell over the United States as the President and Congress navigated their lame duck session in December of 2010. The President was able to garner some level of bipartisan support that extended unemployment insurance in exchange for short term extensions of the Bush era tax breaks…[...]

UPDATED: 17-AUG-2010

The end of 2010 is bringing with it a new era of Federal tax rate changes, most of which are not favorable to those with higher incomes and/or capital gain situations. The changes to personal income tax rates along with lost or limited deductions and credits are too numerous and complicated for me to address in this brief article…[...]

UPDATED: 08-July-2010

As real estate investors, we know that every day brings a new challenge:

Tenants do not perform
Roofs leak
There is mold
The economy tanks

I believe that real estate investors (and their property managers of course) fight fires everyday and should be issued fire helmets and jackets to protect themselves and their assets…[...]

UPDATED: 01-JUN-2008

As the stock market attempts to work its way out of its funk, and the national economy slows down, we are faced with decisions involving the transfer of investment dollars from the stock market into real estate.[...]

UPDATED: 01-Jan-2006

Last week I had the honor of attending the national Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) Forecast breakfast. As luck would have it, the meeting was located here in Portland where I was fortunate to rub shoulders with 800 other real estate practitioners, attorneys, property managers and owners, and to get the latest scoop from the front lines. Now it’s not like our gut doesn’t already give us indicators (i.e. the phone rings less, or deals are harder to make), but it is nice to know that it is happening to everyone across markets. [...]

UPDATED: 01-JUNE-2002

Those of us that invest in real estate want to know how to get the most out of our investments. Here are a few tips.

Let’s start with the condition of a unit.[...]