Category: Editorial

Developments in 2017 Land Markets

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BY CHARLES E. GILLILAND, PH.D, TEXAS A&M REAL ESTATE CENTER
Reprint from Texas Rural Land Value Trens 2017/ Annual Outlook for Texas Land Markets

Rebounding activity in the oil patch reinvigorated the statewide land market. Posting a surprisingly strong year end result at $2,644 per acre, a 4.46 percent expansion from 2016 prices and the strongest growth since 2014. The 6,272 reported sales topped 2016 totals by 577 sales.

Driven in part by remarkable developments in energy-dominated areas, overall Texas statewide results continued to post price increases. However, market conditions in some regions varied where weak results pointed to market adjustments in three areas: the Panhandle and South Plains, West Texas, and Austin-Waco-Hill Country where prices ebbed for various reasons.

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Ray interviews Leven Rambin

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BY RAY HANKAMER
rhankamer@gmail.com

Note: Two months back, Ray’s Buzz interviewed Howard Rambin, who mentioned how he had helped his daughter, Leven, get her start acting by hiring professional show business agents/managers from the very start, and by validating her as a person and young professional. Here is my conversation with her:

Ray: Leven, we heard a couple of months back from your dad about his career. Now let us hear a little bit about yours! How did you get started in acting?

Leven: I started acting in plays at St. Francis Episcopal and my mom and dad were smart enough to enlist the guidance and help of a local acting teacher, Elyse Lester. My dad always encouraged me to work hard. Watching him run Moody Rambin with diligence and passion and relentlessness instilled in me a work ethic and boldness and inspired me to make him and myself proud.

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CCIM LUNCHEON

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BY RAY HANKAMER
rhankamer@gmail.com

SPEAKER – Stephen Reiter, Jones | Carter Engineers Management Issues Following Harvey

Takeaway: Mathematical calculations using more pinpointed data, plus on-the-ground observation following Hurricane Harvey, have resulted in modifications to tighten requirements affecting construction in the 100- and 500 year floodplains.

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Opportunity Zones and New Real Estate Opportunities

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BY: OMAR IZFAR, ATTORNEY, WILSON CRIBBS+GOREN

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 establishes a federal tax incentive for deferring andpartially exempting capital gains for investments made into a “Qualified Opportunity Fund” which may own business property within “Qualified Opportunity Zones.” In March, Governor Abbott designated 150 Opportunity Zones in the metro Houston area and 628 state-wide.

While the designated Opportunity Zones are supposed to be low-income communities as defined in the Internal Revenue Code, the designated areas include some prime areas for real estate investment, such as downtown Houston, parts of midtown, and much of east downtown, and many other potentially great places to park capital gains from a real estate sale. There are real tax incentives that give you 1) a deferred tax on your capital gains from the sale of real estate; 2) receive a stepped-up basis on those gains after some time, and 3) allow you to eventually take your appreciation tax-free from the sale of property held by your Qualified Opportunity Fund.

 

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O’Connor Apartment Forecast Luncheon

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BY RAY HANKAMER
rhankamer@gmail.com

Speakers – Stacy Hunt, Executive Director-Greystar; Ricardo Rivas, CEO-Allied Orion Group

Takeaway: Nationally and locally the multi-family (MF) segment is very healthy.

  • MF starts nationally are at a record of 300-350,000 units per year
  • Sales of single family homes are lagging as renters are renting longer and Millennials are choosing to rent instead of to buy
  • Fancy student housing projects ‘train’ college grads to look for the same amenities in their apartment projects
  • Between 2010 and 2017 tenant ‘turnover’ has fallen from 62% to 52% per annum, and the longer occupancy periods save money for MF operators nationwide as they pay fewer locator fees, renovate less often, and lose less revenue in the gaps between rentals
  • There is a lot of individual and institutional equity available for MF developers now, and quality of MF developments is getting higher nationwide on average

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Imminent eminent domain: How public projects are impacting Texas landowners

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BY BRANDI SMITH

From pipelines that cross the state to high-speed rail plans that cut Texas in half, massive projects are underway that have a significant impact on property owners all over the Lone Star State. REDNews touched base with eminent domain expert, David Showalter, to discuss the biggest implications.

Showalter, who got started in real estate law in 1977, has over 40 years of experience in real estate law. In addition to real estate development, he has handled hundreds of eminent domain cases in that time. His clients are a healthy mix of landowners, special-use properties, homeowners and business owners, large and small.

“This broad experience helps us because we see all facets of the process and how it affects different types of owners,” says Showalter. “We are more aware of, and sensitive to, the different ways that owners of property can be damaged and we can analyze each of those aspects in every case and make sure we’re covering all the ways they’ve been harmed so that they get full compensation along the way.”

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