E-News Solutions Newsletter - Fall 2010 Edition

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October 2010

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Dear Real Estate Enthusiasts,

These are strange times we are in. The stock market has caught on fire but the dollar continues to shrink. Commodities are going through the roof - gold, silver, copper, wheat, etc. Did you know pennies minted before 1982 are now worth 3 cents? What about commercial real estate? We are seeing appraisals coming in at less than replacement costs to build. Ouch! A September 22 article in Retail Traffic magazine by Elaine Misonzhnik voiced encouraging facts about an uptick in the sale of retail investment properties. Quoting Co-Star, a Bethesda Maryland research firm, $22 billion of retail properties sold in the first 8 months of 2010. Only $12 billion sold during the entire 2009. Here is a link to the article if you are interested. Our call volume seems to be up; showing activity is also up. That should translate to more sales and leases. So keep the faith and we will keep working hard for you.Your referrals are always welcome and appreciated.

Sincerely,

Bruce Bossow

Bruce Bossow

Premier Welcomes!

Premier Commercial Realty would like to welcome Kris Pearson as the newest member of our team. Kris's experience includes property management, accounting, business management, public relations and marketing. Kris takes great pride in her customer relations, negotiations and getting the job done. Kris is personable, professional, diligent and thorough. Kris will be a great asset to our team.

Are Your Real Estate Taxes Too High?
What You Can Do About It - by Bruce Kaplan

With commercial real estate values down 30-40% in the last two years most property owners are not seeing a commensurate reduction in their assessed valuations on which property taxes are based. Although your local Township Assessor is responsible for pegging the assessed values on each property, there is no automatic formula used for "across the board" reductions tied to market conditions.

If you haven't already received a notice in the mail stating any change in the assessed value of your property, you should be looking for it. For some townships the time has already passed. You have 30 days from receipt of the notice to formally protest or petition the Tax Review Board at the County for a reduction. If, for example, your property is worth $800,000 and your post card shows a figure in excess of one third of that number (in this example $266,667) then you may be over assessed and destined to pay too much real estate tax. If you don't know what your property is worth, but you suspect you are being over assessed, you can enlist the assistance of a competent commercial real estate broker to prepare a supported opinion of value that cites taxes for other similar properties. Or you can hire a service that performs tax reduction work to help make your case. We know the names of some people who do this and the fees are quite reasonable.
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Keeping the Lights On . . .

We have recently become aware of a way for our clients to save money on their energy costs and wanted you to have access to this information. Between the ComEd rebates and the Federal Government rebates, the payback period for retrofitting lighting is less than a year in most cases. Please read this article by Jeff Bachemin of Sustainable Solutions, one of our Select Vendors.

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Fundraiser For Ailing Realtor

A couple of months ago, a fellow Realtor from Woodstock, R.B. McCallister, became stricken with acute transverse myelitis, which is a debilitating inflamation of the spinal cord. Groups of McCalister's friends have come up with some creative ways to help raise money to pay for his hospital and rehab expenses. R.B.'s 2009 Harley Davidson is being raffled with 3,000 $10 tickets to be sold. There is also a Bar Crawl on the Square scheduled for Nov. 6 and an art sale on Dec. 4. For details contact Harding Real Estate 815-338-3850 or just send a contribution of any amount you can afford to R.B. Benefit Trust, c/o Harding Real Estate, 1710 S. Eastwood, Woodstock, IL 60098.

Top 10 Jokes of the Day

A May 14th, 2009 | Author: Dave Jacobs
1. A bank worker calls a colleague.
"Hey, how's it been going?"
"Not so bad."

"Oh, sorry, I've definitely called the wrong number."
2. In the face of the financial crisis, I have bravely stood up and am marching forward! That's because ... I can't pay back my loans and the bank has repossessed my car.

3. A Trader: "This is worse than a divorce. I've lost half my money and I still have a wife."

4. What's the capital of Iceland? About $20.
5. The problem with Investment Bank balance sheets is that on the left side nothing is right, and on the right side, nothing is left.

6. There are 30 billion prime numbers below 700 billion. The rest are all subprime.
7. How do you define optimism? A banker who irons 5 shirts on a Sunday.
8. What's the difference between Investment Bankers and Pigeons? The Pigeons are still
capable of making deposits on new BMW's
9. A bank customer goes to their bank:
Bank Customer: Hi, I had this check returned to me. Could you help?
Teller: Sure let me see it. Ah, right here, it says "Insufficient Funds"
Bank Customer: "I know, I just wasn't sure if you were referring to me, or the bank."
10. An elderly lady receives an e-mail from the son of a deceased (but wealthy) African
general, asking whether he could transfer millions of dollars into her bank account in
return for a 20% cut. All the son needs is the sort code and account number. Not realizing
she is the victim of a Nigerian 419 fraud, she e-mails back the details. A couple of
minutes later she receives an e-mail back from the general's son: 'Citibank'! What is this,
some sort of scam?"