There’s a story that’s been floating around for a while about a guy that’s had a jumbo red paper clip and wanted to “trade up” for something of value. He ran the whole thing from his blog. From CNN.com:
On Wednesday the quest is ending as envisioned: MacDonald is due to become the proud owner of a three-bedroom, 1,100-square-foot home provided by the town of Kipling, Saskatchewan.
It began when MacDonald, an aspiring writer, doer of odd jobs and apartment dweller, advertised in the barter section of the Craigslist Web site that he wanted something bigger or better for one red paper clip. He traded it for a fish-shaped pen, and posted on Craigslist again and again…
The guy who actually made it happen for MacDonald is Corbin Bernsen, Read more »
From Fin 24 via The Drudge Report: Everyone’s favorite Billionaire is building in Tel Aviv.
Jerusalem - Real estate tycoon Donald Trump said on Sunday he will build a “Trump Tower” in Tel Aviv, his first investment in Israel in what would be the largest building in the country.
Trump, along with US-based Crescent Heights Investments, will build the 70-storey tower of luxury apartments on the site of the current headquarters of food company Strauss-Elite, across from the Diamond Exchange, at a cost of about $300m, they said in a statement.
I haven’t watched more than one or two episodes of The Apprentice since its first season. From what I hear, all NBC has going on these days is My Name Is Earl and The Office, so I’m glad the whole “Real Estate Developer” thing is still working out for The Donald. There’s a lesson in that for all the John Stamos’s and Jason Priestlys of the world: If Hollywood dries up, there’s always a career in international real estate waiting for you.
I ran across this disturbing article on a Canadian website:
The “lurid call” of crack and the desperate search for a high were all laid out by Alan Steele in a personal essay for Vancouver magazine in April of 2003.
The aspiring writer left out one significant detail, however, about what happened during the depths of his addiction. Fourteen months before the award-winning article was published, Mr. Steele killed his friend, Cindy Kaplan, with two candlesticks during a crack-induced rage… Read more »
I got this article from Google News Alerts.
National Assembly deputies on Saturday discussed the draft of the Law on the Real Estate Business and the Law on HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control.
The report affirmed that specific regulations on forms of real estate business, including offering homes and buildings for sale and rent, real estate agencies, setting prices, property management services, and transparency of transaction information, would help enhance the real estate business and promote State administrative competence in the field.
Deputy Nguyen Hoang Anh from Hai Phong said that the law should only provide for an authorised State real estate appraisal office. The value of real estate in a transaction would be decided by buyers and sellers and not based on a price fixed by an authorised office, he argued.
I’d like to give a big round of free market applause to my favorite Deputy, Nguyen Hoang Anh, from Hai Phong. I couldn’t tell what their final decision was, as the state-run website wasn’t real thorough in their “investigative journalism”. This is what I do know; Put Vietnam on the “do not invest in this country” list, right under Mexico. In fact, I’d add Cuba and China to the list, as long as we’re avoiding “the red states“.
They’re definitely still communist over there, but I guess that doesn’t bother us these days. China’s pretty communist too, but they’re our best buds these days. Except when they’re kidnapping our Counter Terrorist Agents.
Today in the Daily News:
The sale this month of three industrial properties in southeast Memphis, whose more than 880,000 square feet were snapped up for $30 million, illustrates a peculiar truth about the local market…
…the sale by New York Life of its three properties to an arm of Colony Capital - an investment fund that also purchased Harrah’s Tunica and Bally’s Tunica in 2005 in a $1.24 billion deal - seems to reaffirm a singular truth: The Memphis market still is attractive, and investors are active.
It can be difficult to appreciate your local market, because it is, “your local market”. But we’re living where the real estate investment grass is greenest. Read more »
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the Mexico Real Estate market. Then this morning I saw this article in the L.A. Times.
…The couple’s serenity was shattered last fall when construction crews began dredging the bay in front of their property to reclaim land from the sea. A planned marina, hotel and high-rise condos now threaten to block their ocean view… Read more »
Mexico. Michael Allen of the Wall Street Journal wrote this about U.S. retirees moving to Mexico and causing a “land rush”. Unsuspecting retirees are getting duped by property “flippers”.
“Real estate prices have spiked so quickly - roughly doubling in the past five years - that unscrupulous promoters sometimes try to flip property they don’t even own.”
I don’t know much about Mexican land development laws, but I know this: God is saving a dark spot for the people who steal retirement money from the elderly. It’s right next to the place for people who hurt kids.
Will Hicks is an affiliate real estate broker licensed in the State of Tennessee. Prior to his career transition into real estate, Hicks was a SCUBA Instructor with the International ALERT Academy of Big Sandy, Texas and the National Academy of Police Diving, based in Miami, Florida.
Hicks says he’s been asked many times about the odd transition from SCUBA Instructor to Real Estate Agent. “Teaching people how to SCUBA dive was the most fun 10 years of my life. But you can’t eat fun.” You can’t pay the rent with it either.
You can reach Will Hicks in Memphis at (901) 758-5670 or (901) 828-9200.
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