[rescue] Gigabit Ethernet (Copper) Switch Advice SOught

[N.Miller]

On Thursday, August 21, 2003, at 04:35 PM, Patrick Giagnocavo 
+1.717.201.3366 wrote:

> A buddy of mine has been researching into real estate agents as part
> of a sales program he is doing.  He calls them "house tour guides",
> which is essentially what they do.

Exactly.  It is good to have RE agents if you are going to do
property investment--because more eyes are better when you are
looking for good deals.

> Why is real estate so expensive to buy and sell?  Because the laws are
> written that way.  It's called "rent-seeking"; the use of law to
> create a situation where big profits can be made that otherwise would
> not be.

If you mean by "expensive to buy and sell" the costs associated
with transferring property between people (i.e. transfer of title),
that goes directly back to what Lionel mentioned.  Escrow companies
and title companies are liable for making sure there are no unknown
liens on the title from other debt-holders, the IRS, local
governments, etc.  They also guarantee to the mortgager (i.e. the
entity issuing the new paper) that the value of the house is what
it is claimed to be and that the property meets all local regulations.

But some of the other costs (paying RE agents' commissions) are just
there because people don't want the hassle of doing things themselves.
You can cut out a *hell of a lot* of costs by making friends with
escrow and title people.

If you mean by "expensive to buy and sell" that RE is in general,
costly, I think that has more to do with the fact that many investors
(who have lots of money) use RE as a relatively risk-free vehicle
to invest in--because people believe it, it's true--so long as you
don't over extend yourself on credit to *buy* RE and get caught in
a declining market, it's very difficult to lose money in the RE
market.  RE is also one of the most flexible investments in terms
of structuring deals into which to invest, which also makes it
very attractive to investors.

=Nadine=