S.E.C. Real Estate Observer

Welcome to the 2009 summer issue of the S.E.C. Observer. Tom Langel, S.E.C. President, ponders what might be “coming down the road” in the next couple of years and recommends the skills necessary for survival.

What will our economy look like in one to three years? Will our large national banks all be government-owned or will Wall Street figure out a way to sell stock to the public, which will bail out our government and return the banks to private ownership? Will the unemployment rate be 5% or 50%? Will our loans be forgiven? Perhaps the government will take over the non-performing loan portfolios and become the landlord of the millions who cannot afford housing. Will GM be 100% employee, union or government-owned? Or will all the plants be taken over by foreign manufacturers? I find it remarkable that between the date I began writing this article and today, this question has already been answered! I don’t believe that anybody knows where our businesses, or the economy for that matter, will be six months or thirty-six months from now. Frankly, I find it bothersome to speculate.

Many years ago I was returning from a real estate exchange marketing session in Acapulco, Mexico. An exchangor from San Jose California told me about a policy his firm had developed concerning new listings. Their listing agreement required the seller to provide their firm with a current Preliminary Title Report (Prelim) in many states called a Commitment To Insure, at the time they listed the property. This report shows any liens of encumbrances on a property, items which are vital to know about when marketing or transferring title to the subject property. Some of these items can affect the priority of a mortgage on the property as well. In California most title companies will honor the cost of a Prelim for up to two years and credit its cost against the premium paid later for the title policy.

Harry Hustler, as he had done countless mornings before, stirred a little sugar into his first cup of Starbucks “high test” and opened his Wall Street Journal to purvey the business happenings of the day. The news remained bleak. Bernie Madoff gets 150 years in the crowbar hotel. GM can’t quite figure if it is a car company or a political operative. Iran is suppressing the masses. Unemployment continues to rise. Real estate continues to take a hit. Harry read on, getting his morning elixir of the economic mess our politicos, bankers and Wall Street friends have showered upon all of us within the last couple of years. However, in the economic strife-torn malaise of doomsday prognostications, Harry has remained comfortable in his circumstance, but unsettled by the unrest.

For some of us old-timers it is déjà vu. The commercial real estate market is sliding or crashing, depending on your perspective. Many brokers have been through a few minor downturns but this could get really serious so what do we learn from those that experienced the 1980s? Here is what I learned from the 1980s crash in real estate values…

The TV ad for Priceline “pick your own price,” using humorist William Shatner of “Boston Legal,” encourages the consumer guy to “no, no, don’t settle, keep negotiating,” until the guy gets the $250.00 hotel room for $99.00 = “Now you’re negotiating!” …Probably the same advice is appropriate for today’s real estate market. What was a GREAT deal two years ago is not even close to a FAIR deal today. The few left with cash and credit are sitting on the sidelines and don’t know what to do, or they want both your daughters and your mistress or they won’t play.

Times like these create both challenges and opportunities. This is not only true in our chosen arena of Real Estate, but also in The Education Foundation’s efforts to expand The Society’s educational outreach. Today, more than any time in more than a decade, our method of conducting business provides solutions where others don’t.

The S.E.C. National Invitational Marketing Session will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel • State & Lodge Streets • Albany • New York • 1220.

The S.E.C. Education Foundation is pleased to announce that William Exeter will present an important “1031 Exchange Update” on Sunday, September 13, 2009, in Albany, New York. Bill is the President and Chief Executive Officer for Exeter 1031 Exchange Services, LLC and Exeter Fiduciary Services, LLC and their affiliate companies.

Bob Giniecki, S.E.C., CCIM, and the NYSCAR staff and officers have done it again. The NYSCAR (New York State Commercial Association of Realtors) conference has become an exceptional event. It is a three day affair that has been held every year for the last eight years in New York at the Turning Stone resort about 30 miles east of Syracuse.