Cleveland Real Estate News » politics

Is Negotiation a Dead Art Form?

Carole Cohen — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 16:59:51 +0000

SB5 is a hot issue. Governor Kasich drew his line in the sand but now says (for whatever reason) he wants to sit down with the Union reps and talk out a plan. We just went through what seemed like universal public outrage at our elected officials in Congress because no one was willing to do serious work or negotiations. Do our elected officials just mirror private citizen behavior or way of thinking? Several reports about Union reps not being willing to sit in a room with the Governor and talk about SB5 and the budget issue in general. According to NewsNet5.com, the Union reps were a no show today. How do you feel about that? Me? I’m disappointed.

Not a fan of Governor Kasich. However, an opportunity to sit with someone who is threatening your paycheck should not be dismissed out of hand. Maybe no progress would be made. Maybe both would still draw their lines in the sand. But then another meeting could be set up and more discussion. Maybe enough discussion to get the issue off the ballot. Who knows. All I know is, it’s bad modeling for our children and just plain bad behavior for adults to not be willing to talk to resolve issues.

I come from a family of union people. My Dad spent his 30 year career with Ford and Local 1250. Let’s figure out a way to change our modes of thinking and start being willing to sit across the table from people we are fighting with – it would help us with our National budget and it would help us with the SB5 issue and it would help us teach our children that listening to another’s point of view is always the place to start.

Negotiations are key in my line of work. Real estate agents who operate from a position of respect (and that is most of them, in my experience) can help a buyer and seller come to terms both can accept and a house can get sold. What if listing agents yelled at buyer agents saying ‘ my sellers have a price listed, did you get your real estate license at KMart? Why are you allowing your clients to offer $5000 less on this house? ‘ Would you say that was a good way to get the house sold? I think not.

Peace Out – 3C

Boston Globe’s Derrick Jackson Weighs In On Passenger Rail

Carole Cohen — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 00:50:05 +0000

Passenger rail ridership IS at a five decade high, and his article, while focused on the eastern seabord to a point, shows why we really could boost our economy by spending money on something useful for a change, like high speed rail. I am praying our own efforts in Ohio don’t get derailed. Why don’t they see the value? Read Derrick Jackson’s post US needs to get on track for high-speed rail. We just need to keep on track for passenger rail!!! Peace Out – 3C

Did You Know Cuyahoga County Commissioners Hagan and Lawson Jones Might Have Their Jobs Even After New Charter Takes Effect?

Carole Cohen — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 01:15:47 +0000

County Recorder Lillian Greene is legally challenging the elimination of her job, since she is in the middle of her contract. WKSU points out that

Greene isn’t the only Cuyahoga office holder who will be affected if she wins. Two commissioners — Peter Lawson Jones and Tim Hagan — as well as the engineer, clerk of courts and treasurer all will be mid-term in January.

You can read the rest of the WKSU article (written by M.L. Schultze) HERE. What do you think???

Peace Out – 3C

Frontier Broadband Will Become Available in Ohio

Carole Cohen — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 11:38:27 +0000

Somewhere around the Fourth of July, I read that Verizon had joined forces with Frontier for broadband Internet services. I was wondering how things were progressing. Would it become available in Ohio? How is the service? It seemed like a good idea, based solely on the fact that there would be more competition for services in Ohio.

Apparently Frontier IS coming to Ohio. According to DSLreports.com, Ohio will become Frontier’s fifth largest market area. And our legislators approved the entry of Frontier into our fair state.

Here is an article I just found (written in June of this year) on the PD website talking about plans for the joint venture between Verizon and Frontier.

You can’t believe everything you read on the Internet right? But there are quite a few posts that seem to indicate that the FCC has approved this venture. At the time of the dslreports article, they said the FCC still had to approve it. There are some areas where Verizon must be the gorilla that ate the competition (W. VA?) just as Time Warner has here in Cleveland. I’ve read a bunch of reports on line complaining that Frontier’s DSL speed leaves a lot to be desired. And unions seem to be having issues with this deal. I don’t know if I will get their service; I’m just thinking it can’t hurt to have more competition here.

But (isn’t there always a but). Verizon’s website is touting FiOS (fiber optic) system like this:

There’s a reason we’re America’s top-rated Broadband service. FiOS Internet gives you the fastest upload speeds, flawless streaming video, and reliable service you can actually count on.

Some Frontier users are saying their speeds are very much slower than they should be. Is Frontier better than FiOS? If not, would it be prudent to switch (if you were Verizon) from the best, fastest, highest rated to a slower service? When I go to Frontier’s website, it tells me (based on my zip code) they have services for me, but not Internet. So I don’t think it’s available here yet. It’s a bit confusing to me.

What do you think? Peace Out – 3C

The Never Ending Political Ad Season: Are Their Facts True?

Carole Cohen — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 12:25:40 +0000

We have a primary coming up in September (7th) and then the general election in November, and I feel as if the political ads have been running since before Obama and Strickland got elected (yes, I overstate but it SEEMS that way). Most of you probably already know about Snopes.com, where you can check facts about almost anything. It’s broad scoped and has a reputation for being accurate. Hear a rumor? Check it on Snopes.

There is a National site called PolitiFact and now, Ohio joins with PolitiFactOhio. According to Politifact’s website, this is an up and coming trend because there were only five or six states listed as using this fact checker benefit. The Plain Dealer deserves a shout out for getting Politifact into our neck of the woods. The link takes you to Stephen Koff’s introduction of it to Ohio. The PD got it right this time.

Our TV airwaves are full of an ad talking about Strickland losing 400,000 jobs for Ohio since he took office. That is an oft repeated statement and it’s covered by PolitifactOhio and they say it’s a half truth. So if you have your own issues to check, check out the site! (sorry for the pun lol) Peace Out – 3C

More Than One Way To Skin a Cat ! FB Said No Note Posting Tonight, We Have A Headache. But Here is My Tea Party Email

Carole Cohen — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 03:35:56 +0000

So the Tea Party is jumping on the Free Internet bandwagon? That would be great, but, not so much. They are complaining that big brother (well, Obama) shut down 73,000 blogs ‘willy nilly.’ Again, not so much. My understanding is that these sites were all participating in piiracy of videos. You know, that pesky thing called copyright and royalties? Read the email below:

“…U.S. Authorities Shut Down WordPress Host With 73,000 Blogs. fter the U.S. Government took action against several sites connected to movie streaming recently, nerves are jangling over the possibility that this is just the beginning of a wider crackdown. Now it appears that a free blogging platform has been taken down by its hosting provider on orders from the U.S. authorities on grounds of “a history of abuse.” More than 73,000 blogs are out of action as a result.

Hot on the heels of recent threats from Vice President Joe Biden and Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator Victoria Espinel directed at sites offering unauthorized movies and music, last month U.S. authorities targeted several sites they claimed were connected to the streaming of infringing video material.

‘Operation In Our Sites’ targeted several sites including TVShack.net, Movies-Links.TV, FilesPump.com, Now-Movies.com, PlanetMoviez.com, ThePirateCity.org, ZML.com, NinjaVideo.net and NinjaThis.net. In almost unprecedented action, the domain names of 7 sites were seized and indications are that others – The Pirate Bay and MegaUpload – narrowly avoided the same fate.

It remain, however, that this action is only the beginning, and that more sites will be targeted as the months roll on. Indeed, TorrentFreak has already received information that other sites, so far unnamed in the media, are being monitored by the authorities on copyright grounds.

Now, according to the owner of a free WordPress platform which hosts more than 73,000 blogs, his network of sites has been completely shut down on the orders of the authorities.

Blogetery.com has been with host BurstNet for 7 months but on Friday July 9th the site disappeared…”

OK, not the entire email because I left out the footer asking for money. Peace Out 3C

Would You Be Surprised to Know How Many Out of Town Investors Now Own Property in NE Ohio?

Carole Cohen — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 02:32:38 +0000

I’m not surprised, but then again, I’m in the business. I know a pesky Utah investor, for example, who owns a lot of property here, keeps trying to buy my listings at outrageously low prices. I know of others, and you probably know of the foreclosed properties owned by large banks like Deutsche and Wells Fargo. There is more to the story. I just recently started blogging again, which means I recently started reading blogs again. Bill Callahan and his Callahan’s Diary is still diligent about foreclosures and housing issues. I’m bringing your attention to two. One is basically a google map that shows how many properties are owned by an investment company on the left coast. The next one includes a letter to Bill from that investment company.

There are lots of reasons why some of our neighborhoods face immense challenges in rejuvenation: low population, poverty, etc. I’ve heard the stereotypical phrase ‘absentee landlord’ all my life, but did you know just how ‘absentee’ a landlord can be? Read Bill’s posts and find out. Even though I knew about this, seeing that Google map of properties is still startling. These types of investors may have the best of intentions, but if you own a zillion homes somewhere, who is overseeing the properties? Ask Cleveland’s Housing Court (or go sit in on a day’s worth of cases there) and you could get an answer.

I don’t always agree with Bill’s solutions, and am admittedly anti political party this year, but I tip my hat to him for remaining vigilant on this issue. In some ways, I wish he had taken the CEO’s plane ticket and gone to California and talked and maybe taken Ray Pianka of the Housing Court with him. Or better yet, EZ homes execs need to come here for an extended period of time. They can always stay in one of their homes! Are these people doing this because they are part of a REIT investment program? Not sure how they can be making money on properties with no increase in investment possibilities unless they are fixed up. Any ideas? Peace Out – 3C

Here is a blog post from Slumlord Watch in Baltimore about EZ Access here and a lawsuit filed against them. Peace Out – 3C

A Perspective on County Government Reform From Pittsburgh

Carole Cohen — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 04:33:40 +0000

Take it with a grain of salt, like everything else we read, but still worth reading. It’s been 11 years since Allegheny County in Pittsburgh switched to a Co. Executive/Council form of government. If nothing else, Jim Nichols’ PD article interviews a cross section of people who were in the trenches in Pittsburgh when the system changed. I liked reading their perspectives. One suggestion from Pittsburgh sounded particularly good. Get a group of 500 people together, not a measly 15 or 30 person committee to review the implementation (I said measly, not the article). I love that idea. Let everyone work around the table, so to speak, and I know good ideas would present themselves.

The second thing I took away was not a new idea. Focusing on why some areas are experiencing growth because of a focus on attracting immigrants. For us (as it was for Pittsburgh) this a renewed effort, not a new one, as we know from our history. Here is a quote from the article:

Aim low, as well as high, with economic development. Pittsburgh and Cleveland must regain their lost status as giant magnets for poor but entrepreneurial immigrants, said Michael Madison, a University of Pittsburgh law professor who writes a civic-criticism blog called Pittsblog 2.0. Newcomers from the Far East and India are streaming to Milwaukee, Des Moines and Minneapolis-St. Paul, saving money in crummy jobs, then starting businesses, he said. The cultural diversity, in turn, makes a city even more appealing to the educated creative classes. Strong, united and welcoming leadership should actively court foreign laborers, Madison said.

Peace Out – 3C

The Rest of the Story: 2010 Home Buyers Tax Credit

Carole Cohen — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:15:51 +0000

Signed into law a few hours ago, there are now more financial incentives to keep up (or start) your home search, if this is a good time for you personally, to buy. Having good housing inventory to choose from is important too. To all who may have wanted to put their homes up for sale but figured the pool of buyers might have shrunk, there is good reason to believe it just increased exponentially. Because now it’s also available to people who own homes but feel it’s time to get a new place to live.

Highlights:

1. You have to purchase a home to live in (owner occupied). This means you can buy an investment property, but you also have to live there along with your tenants.

2. If you are a first time buyer, your credit is now available to you until April of 2010. Your tax credit is still $8000. You must not have owned a home for the past three years to qualify.

3. If you own a home but want a different one, you may qualify for a $6500 tax credit, also available through April 30th). And you must have owned your home for 5 years (they say five of the last 8 yrs). In reality, and in this market, buying a home when you will be selling one becomes a bit easier if you have owned it for at least 5 years…this provision makes sense to me.

4. There are income limits (in effect as of today). If you are single, you can earn up to $125,000 (it WAS $75,000). If married, the income level goes up now to $225,000.

5. They had some issues with fraud (IRS issues). No surprise since money was involved. Now you must attach proof of purchase (title?) to your tax returns in order to get your credit (does this mean they did not require it before? I don’t know.)

Technically, the ‘end’ date is a bit different than the last credit. Last time you had to own your home by Nov 30th. Period. Now they are allowing you to have it under contract by April 30th and you must take possession by July of 2010.

Hope this helps, any other questions, please feel free to email me or call me at 216-235-3719. Peace Out – 3C

Home Buyer’s Tax Credit Extension – Looks Like It’s Almost a Done Deal

Carole Cohen — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:49:32 +0000

My colleagues have been posting about this all week, but I wanted to wait until it seemed like there really was going to be an extension to the FTH Buyers Federal Tax Credit. Yesterday it passed in the Senate (and not one Senator voted against it, imagine that).

The House passed the Home-buyer Tax Credit extension and expansion this afternoon 403 in favor and 12 opposed. The final step is the President Obama’s signature. He is expected to sign the bill tomorrow.

Along with first time home buyers, the new Bill allows for ‘trade in’ home buyers, those who already own homes, to get a credit as well.

Once President Obama has signed the Bill, I’ll put all the details here.

No matter how you feel about bailouts and government spending our money, this tax credit seems to be the single portion of the Recovery Act that is working. (Well now the bill is part of an unemployment benefits extension too). With Chrysler working hard to put televisions in cars instead of something useful, I’d much rather money go towards home owners. How about you? Peace Out – 3C