Let’s commence the discussion today on axioms. An axiom is defined as that which is evident. Axioms are also an anchor or starting point on which to logically build. I had a land economics professor at Texas A&M (Dr. Ivan Schemedemann) whose primary axiom was… Read more

As the U.S. economy and housing markets recover, Americans are once again moving. An excellent proxy of where things are happening are the number of one-way truck rentals. U-Haul tallied 1.6 million one-way rentals in 2012. One-way truck rentals are indicative of people relocating, most… Read more

Where today can you make the best profits when flipping homes? To answer that, RealtyTrac, which offers a wealth of data in housing and mortgage markets, dug deep into housing sales across the country. Rising home prices continue to support flipping, when properties often resell… Read more

Following up from the previous post about the 10 worst jobs in the country, let’s talk the positive. And that posting for me was not pretty. Economists ranked 120 out of 200. Behind morticians, fork lift drivers—even accountants. Dang. So what are the best jobs?… Read more

There are certain jobs that most of us (at least those that have jobs) would not want to do. CareerCast.com’s annual jobs report analyzed specific jobs based on what they called core criteria. These included the work environment, stress, income and the hiring outlook. Data… Read more

Just a few years ago, U.S. housing markets in aggregate were overbuilt, and that was reflected in declining rents, home prices and home sales. What has happened in the interim has been a quicker than anticipated absorption of surplus property, and when viewed in today’s… Read more

There’s a real dilemma as an investor relations person when it comes to Wall Street and your company’s earnings performance. If you have a bad quarter and fail to meet expectations, the market will react negatively and essentially punish your stock price – sometimes literally… Read more

March existing home sales, as reported by the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) , showed good improvement compared to March 2012, with sales on a seasonally-adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) up 10.3 percent to 4.92 million, while median price jumped 11.8 percent to $184,300. These are… Read more

As an appraiser and investor, I have always stated that a residence, to be truly considered an investment, must rent for at least 1 percent of its market value each month.  I can recall in 1990 traveling in a shuttle van in Oahu, Hawaii, with… Read more

I promise this is the last blog posting (at least for this week) reviewing, examining and comparing income taxes.    While most Americans either file their taxes or an extension on or before April 15th,  their income tax obligation did not necessarily end with the IRS. … Read more