Strong Wi-Fi Boosts Building Values

Strong Wi-Fi Boosts Building Values

Only about 2 percent of commercial buildings have dedicated technology in place that offers a strong, reliable mobile coverage and capacity indoors, a new study finds. The buildings that do offer strong mobile coverage are seeing property values increase because of it, a new study by CommScope, a global network infrastructure company, suggests.

“People are obsessed with their mobile phones and see indoor wireless coverage as important as having access to water and electricity,” says Ispran Kandasamy with Building Solutions and CommScope. “The time has come for building professionals to step forward and take ownership for connecting their tenants to mobile networks.”

Indoor wireless coverage in commercial buildings stands to increase a property’s value by 28 percent, on average. That means a $2.5 million office building could be worth $700,000 more with a dedicated indoor cellular system, according to the survey of professionals building managers, facilities managers, real estate managers, and architects.

What’s more, survey respondents even linked a strong signal to an increase in workforce productivity (77%), helping in the recruitment of more talented individuals (46%), and attracting more visitors (39%). Also, two-thirds of survey respondents rated indoor wireless connectivity as “essential” for employees, the survey found.

However, delivering mobile coverage in large, complex buildings could prove to be a financial hurdle for many buildings. Thirty-five percent of respondents cited the costs as the main roadblock.

“While there are clearly concerns around the cost and complexity of the technology, building owners must acknowledge that ignoring this issue could result in more costly work in the future,” Kandasamy says. “Engaging with architects, facilities managers and enterprises at an early stage will ultimately save money – as well as providing an enhanced user experience. Only by taking the lead will building owners be able to provide much needed connectivity in their properties.”

Source: CommScope

Design Mistakes to Avoid With New Homes

Design Mistakes to Avoid With New Homes

When building new, home buyers may be overwhelmed at the abundant choices and then suddenly find themselves in a designer role for their new home. Denver interior designers Lita Dirks and Tony Crasi, Akron, Ohio–based custom builders, offer up some of the biggest mistakes new buyers make as they design their new home.

Granite: Granite counter tops may not be the “wow” factor with all buyers as they once were, the article notes. After all, even some apartments now come with granite. To up the “wow” factor, Dirks and Crasi recommend more uniform surfaces like quartz or quartzite.

Over-the-top ceilings: Ceiling details can be a nice touch but can also quickly become “overkill” if there’s too much, the designers say.

Cramped laundry and mud rooms: These spaces are often found right off the garage and are becoming a priority for buyers. But they can be too small. The larger they are, the more comfortable they’ll seem, and buyers will appreciate the storage.

Oversized islands: The island doesn’t need to take up the entire kitchen, dwarfing all else. If it does, the kitchen may need its layout tweaked or have the extra square footage go to somewhere else in the house.

Pantry doors: The doors often look like any other standard door in the house. “Don’t let it look like a bathroom; let it be part of the kitchen,” Crasi suggests. Try coordinating them with the cabinetry and using a different door for the pantry from the rest of the home.

Source: “Avoid These Seven Design Don’ts,” BUILDER (Jan. 26, 2016)

Bank of America Rolls Out 3% Loans

Bank of America Rolls Out 3% Loans

Bank of America announced a new loan program to help low- and moderate- income borrowers qualify for a mortgage with down payments as low as 3 percent of the purchase price. The loans have financing available up to $417,000.

Eligible borrowers must not earn more than the median income for the area and are required to have a credit score of at least 660. The home the borrower is looking to purchase must also be their primary residence. Applicants must also have a debt-to-income ratio of no more than 43 percent.

Bank of America announced it will also consider non-traditional forms of credit, such as daycare expenses, health club memberships, and rental history in determining credit history.

“There are creditworthy borrowers — people who have shown good experience paying off debts who fit income restrictions — and except for the fact that they don’t have the money for a down payment, they would be good home owners,” says Terry Francisco, a spokesman for the bank.

Low down-payment mortgages are becoming more common. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae announced last year that they would start backing loans with down payments as little as 3 percent. The Federal Housing Administration also offers low-down payment loans, but FHA also requires borrowers to pay monthly insurance premiums with the mortgage payments.

Bank of America officials say its 3 percent loans will have a less expensive mortgage rate than FHA loans. Rates, however, will be set by a borrower’s creditworthiness and credit score.

The average down payment for home buyers with a conventional 30-year mortgage in the fourth quarter of 2015 was 17.5 percent, reports LendingTree.

Source: “Bank of America Will Offer Mortgages for 3% Down,” CNNMoney (Feb. 22, 2016)

Your New Buyer: The Landlord Parent

Your New Buyer: The Landlord Parent

Parents are increasingly helping their adult children financially purchase a home, finding themselves in a new role going from parent to landlord.

College graduates struggling to pay rent or save up for a down payment in high-cost metros are turning to their parents for help. Parents are buying up property and then renting it out to their children, often for an amount that’s well-below market value.

A graphic designer was paying $2,150 for a one-bedroom rental on the Upper East Side in New York City. Now, with his parents as landlords, he’s paying $1,021 a month on a one-bedroom apartment his parents purchased for him last year.

“I’m definitely living in a place that’s better than I could afford,” Brian Landisman told The New York Times. “At first, I might have been a little concerned. Anyone would be a little hesitant about making deals with family members, but nothing has changed at all, except that I live in a better place. … I think, psychologically, it’s better that I don’t pay my parents directly; I pay the managing agent. If I were paying them, it wouldn’t feel like my place.”

Contracts aren’t necessary for parent-to-child landlord arrangements, but some parents are formalizing the arrangement that way. In New York, a father has his daughter pay a monthly rent of $1,100 as well as quarterly taxes. He also required his daughter get a roommate who would pay $1,350.

“Over the last three or four years, we’ve been seeing more pied-à-terre purchases that involve parents buying a small unit as a home for a child with a first job in the city, and also as an investment,” Jonathan J. Miller, the president of the real estate appraisal firm Miller Samuel, told The New York Times. “They’re adding an asset to their portfolio that they hope will appreciate over time. Meanwhile, that asset is solving a housing problem for their children, and if the parents can defray costs along the way or make a little something, so much the better.”

Source: “My Parents, My Landlord,” The New York Times (Feb. 19, 2016)

When Retouching Listing Photos Goes Too Far

When Retouching Listing Photos Goes Too Far

An Australian real estate agent made headlines after recently posting photos of a home in Sydney under a blue sky backdrop and that was notably missing the giant water tower that hovers over the property.

The photos raised questions over how much is too much when retouching photos of properties for sale.

Con Economos, the principal agent of Ray White in Rockdale, New South Wales, told the Daily Mail Australia that the photo in question had not been altered. He said the photo was just “taken at an angle.” But some questioned how such an angle could be achieved, given the large size of the water tower directly behind it. The agency has been ordered to remove the photos by the Office of NSW Fair Trading after potential home buyers who saw the property complained that the photos were misleading, according to the Daily Mail’s report.

Omitting a major landmark or significant photoshopping is going too far, says Matt Liss, a Chicago real estate broker at Mark Allen Realty. That said, real estate professionals want to make sure photographs of a home do capture it from the best angles.

“You don’t want to show that you’re right next door to a gas station,” Liss told realtor.com®. A photo might stop at the edge of the home in that case.

Realtor.com® also notes that the absence of photos can help in these cases too. You don’t have to photograph the eyesores of a home. If the traits are significant enough, you could include notes attached to the listings.

“I don’t want to make anyone angry for driving out to a home without knowing what is around it,” says Dee Evans, a real estate professional at Ebby Halliday REALTORS® in Dallas. “That’s setting everybody up for a loss. … Try to present the house in the best way … without ever photoshopping anything.”

Source: “Sure, You Can Retouch Your Listing Photos – But How Much Is Too Much?” realtor.com® (Feb. 17, 2016) and “‘It’s Not Photoshopped, It’s Just the Angle,’” DailyMail.com (Feb. 15, 2016)