City Market: F 1/2 Road Parkway

City Market is out of the ground on their 24 and F Road store. The above picture is a diagram of the proposed F 1/2 Road Parkway approved by the city in 2005. A portion is already complete from 24 Road north of the new 14-plex cinema to Market Street.

City Market built a culvert to provide access to their new store off 24 Rd, which will facilitate Redlands residents primarily. However, because the 24 Road access is only a ¾ intersection residents from the north will not be able to make a left turn into the parking lot. Instead they will have to gain access from Market Street. From Patterson Rd (F Rd) there will be numerous lights, making the location inconvenient. From 24 Rd a left turn will be required to F 1/2 Road then another right onto Market Street.

The simplest path to City Market for the majority of residents in the North Area will be realized when the F ½ Road Parkway between 24 ½ Road and 24 Road is built. It may still be easier to access the Horizon Dr. Safeway from the North.

I am interested in spearheading a public demand for the construction of the F 1/2 Road Parkway, in lieu of other frivolous city projects, such as spring clean-up. Please let me know if you are interested.

MBA - Marketing Strategy

The Marketing Strategy course for the MBA program opened my eyes to what is involved in effective marketing. It is a very in-depth and time intensive undertaking to create a marketing plan. The process helps clarify the current situation, goals and objectives, strategy, competitive advantages, implementation schedules, and evaluation controls. I'm going to begin applying what I've learned to the properties I have listed. Finding buyers in the current market has proven challenging and presents a good opportunity to get sophisticated in order to bring the best value to customers and clients.

Books About How to Sell Commercial Real Estate

The last four months I have been taking courses in accounting, marketing, finance, and management theory. All apply directly to what I can apply when selling commercial-investment real estate. However, finding a good book written by a practitioner about my line of work is rare to come by. I will share with you a rare gem of a book I found in my broker's office that satiates a long insatiable appetite, if you will write me a short note about your own search for such literature.

Motivation

What motivates a commercial broker? 1) They need loyalty and a promise that his or her time is going to be compensated for. 2) A driver which usually resides within a good broker and is closely tied to needs and incentives. 3) You will get more good work out of a broker if you are willing to offer an equal incentive for the amount of work that needs to be put into the task.

If you are a buyer or seller, in order to facilitate a successful exchange you will also have to be motivated. Ask yourself this question, "am I motivated, do I have a need, the drive and an incentive?" If the market value of your property is not motivating, are there other alternatives that would motivate you? If not then it may be a good reason not to sell until your motivation level increases.

Focus for 2010

It's now 2010 and I've developed a new marketing system which can be tailored to each individual property. I'm trying it on the properties I already have listed and am optomistic that the results will exceed expectations.

Advertising in the classifieds is very expensive and does not generate the right kinds of calls for a property. Defining the needs a particular property fills to derive a target market provides a good basis for developing a marketing system.

I've decided that I will continue to work with buyers in 2010, but must focus more attention on providing sophisticated marketing services for sellers in order to attract more listings. One reason is because all too often buyers don't pay, and I don't know many professionals who provide complicated services requiring high levels of skill without being hired do so. So in essence getting hired through listings will be my mainstay for 2010. I will focus on making sure that I will be paid for my services.

I appreciate any feedback from readers.

Tax Appeal Results

I appealed the taxes on properties that I manage as well as properties that I have an ownership interest in. The most successful appeal reduced the annual tax bill to the owners by over $30,000.

In this case the property is a vacant undeveloped land and the city requires the owner to dedicate 40 feet of ground to the city for a new proposed parkway. It was just a matter of stating the facts so the assessor can value the property accordingly.

The appeal for my residence was not quite so successful however. It was the most likely and perhaps the best supported appeal, but no reduction was granted. Denied.

All in all we faired well and I have since noticed a number of properties where the taxes were not appealed and wished I had been aware of them before to offer some assistance.

Median House Price in GJ

Out of curiosity I took a look at all stick built houses that sold in the City of Grand Junction from February 1st through July 13th this year and figured the median price per square foot, and it is....$131/sf. So if your house is 1,750 square feet then a median price for this type of house would be $229,250.

In the past three months the highest priced house per square foot sold for $175/sf, and it was under 1,500 sf.