Archive for the 'Think Big' Category
David Panagore and Downtown Hartford
On Monday, September 27th, Hartford Young Professionals and Entrepreneurs (HYPE) is hosting an event focused on Downtown Hartford, and featuring David Panagore, COO and Director of Development Services for the City of Hartford.
Mr. Panagore is a strong advocate for Hartford. He is leading the charge to encourage development in the capital city, and seems comfortable sharing information about projects that are under discussion, but by no means finalized. For example, just last week he was quoted in the Hartford Business Journal as saying the City is once again actively working on redeveloping both 101 and 111 Pearl Street. For much of the first half of 2010 he was prominently involved in the One City, One Plan effort to engage the community in the update of Hartford’s Plan of Conservation and Development.
Before coming to Hartford in late 2008, Mr. Panagore worked for Springfield, MA, and he has additional municipal experience from time in San Jose, Boston, and Chelsea, MA. Urban Compass, a local blog that covers both Hartford and Springfield, interviewed Mr. Panagore back in 2005 (Part 1, Part 2). It also covered the Hartford City Council’s session with Mr. Panagore before he was hired.
The goal of the HYPE event is to keep the session relatively low key, so that we can have an interesting and inclusive conversation about Downtown Hartford – both its current state and its future prospects. Although we’ll definitely get Mr. Panagore’s views on a variety of topics, we’ll also encourage attendees to share their ideas so that we can have a constructive conversation about where Hartford should be going.
If this sounds like it might be interesting to you, HYPE would love to see you there. It is free to both members and non-members, though registration is required, and seating is limited to 25. This is our opportunity to pick the brains of one of our City leaders in a positive and energetic environment.
HYPEd on Downtown Development
Monday, September 27, 2010
89 Arch
89 Arch Street, Hartford
5:30 – 8:00
Register on the HYPE Website
Comping Hartford: What is Hartford?
Pricing a house is all about using “comparable sales.” We always try to compare similar properties and the more similar the better. There is rarely a perfect match, but we can usually get pretty close.
It seems to me that in evaluating a city we should be using a similar approach. When comparing our area to others around the country, we need to be comparing like to like. The current dust-up about Hartford being a “dead city” is the most recent, but far from only, example of how inappropriate comparisons skew reality in one way or another.
A wonderfully positive example is Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine recognizing West Hartford as a town for the coming decade next to Austin and Seattle. The point isn’t that West Hartford is unworthy, or to minimize all the hard work of the town’s leadership, rather that comparing West Hartford and Washington DC (#3 on the list) as equals is not apples-to-apples.
We unfortunately can’t control how other people do their analysis, but we can draw our own conclusions so that we can decide on our own what truly matters and what doesn’t. Amy and I have lived in a few different parts of the country, but we’re going to need help from our readers to find appropriate cities to use as comps for Hartford.
But before we get to that, our first order of business is to define what we mean by “Hartford.”
The word “Hartford” can be used in a lot of different ways, and means different things to different people. In some of the most common uses the speaker means…
- The Downtown neighborhood where all the tall buildings are.
- Everything within the Hartford City limits.
- The general geographic area that is centered on the City of Hartford.
- The seat of the County and State governments.
Normally defining the city wouldn’t be a challenge, but boundary lines are drawn differently in Connecticut than in many other parts of the country. Is it appropriate to compare Hartford to Detroit? Hartford (as defined in the article) is strictly the City of Hartford, which is 17.3 square miles of land. Detroit, on the other hand is 138.8 square miles. In order to make a geographic area of comparable size, we would need to include Hartford, West Hartford, Wethersfield, Newington, Rocky Hill, Bloomfield, Windsor, and half of Windsor Locks. Would the conclusions be the same if the analysis included all of those towns?
I propose that we think of “Hartford” as the region – the general area centered on the City of Hartford, but including all the surrounding towns. There is no right answer, of course, but I think that taking a regional view is most appropriate because we have a regional economy with people frequently traveling between towns for work, to shop, and to have fun. Additionally, taking this view is the only practical way to compare Hartford to other cities since they are usually geographically much larger. The negative of looking regionally is that it will be very difficult to gather data on the Hartford region.
Going back to the article praising West Hartford, I think that Hartford (as a region) would still be worthy of inclusion as a best city for the coming decade. I’m no expert on Washington DC, but if Kiplinger is able to look past their challenges to see the potential, then they should be able to see past our challenges too.
I’d love to have folks weigh in with their take on how we should define “Hartford.” And if we can agree, then we can begin to look for other similar cities to which we can compare our current situation and future ambitions.
Vultures as Angels
There was an interesting article in last week’s Wall Street Journal about the success a hedge fund is having in modifying mortgages and keeping homeowners in their homes. The point of the article was to highlight a successful private market example of mortgage modifications, in this case a distressed investment fund, as compared to the highly publicized Federal programs like the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).
A key difference between the hedge fund’s strategy and HAMP seems to be the willingness to reduce the principal owed on the loans. The hedge fund forgives a portion of the principal in 90% of their modifications. Federally regulated banks subject to HAMP, according to the article, are more likely to lower interest rates, give homeowners time to catch up on late payments, and extend the length of the loan. They only forgive a portion of the principal in 2% of their modifications.
Despite the strong case that the article makes for the private market strategy over government involvement, it identifies two critical factors that limit the hedge fund’s effectiveness:
1. Many mortgages have thousands of owners. Because mortgages were packaged into securities for resale, the infamous Residential Mortgage Backed Securities (RMBS) that were part of the credit crisis, it is often impossible to buy (and therefore modify) individual mortgages – they have thousands of owners.
2. Banks don’t want to recognize losses. If a mortgage does have a single owner, like a bank, then that owner has to be willing to sell the loan at a steep discount in order for it to be attractive to the hedge fund. After all, they’re doing this to make money. The strategy banks currently employ of lowering rates and extending the term allows them to push any losses into the future.
In the end there is no suggested way forward, though presumably the author would hold up the private market model as the ideal. Reports from the government itself seem to show that the Federal programs are not working for everyone either. For many homeowners, the end result is likely to be foreclosure unless the economy and housing markets bounce back quickly.
Check out the full article for an interesting story, and by all accounts a successful mortgage modification strategy for certain homeowners.
Update: I'm Not At Home
Many people are using social media these days. Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and many others that aren’t even on my radar.
These applications are great for staying in touch with people near and far, people that you know personally and even some that you don’t but have found because of common interests. Depending on your online habits, you may use the applications differently. Some people feel the need to update others on every aspect of their life like “Today I ate oatmeal for breakfast, am wearing striped socks, and my dog just sneezed.” Others use their accounts more sparingly and post news items that are of interest to them or an occasional update on their life.
This summer I’ve noticed that lots of my friends on Facebook and those that I follow on Twitter are posting updates about trips that they’re taking. Some are going to the shore for a week or weekend. Others are visiting family across the country. And others are leaving the country for European excursions. Foursquare updates let me know that someone just checked in at Tapas on Ann or the Starbucks in West Hartford Center.
I’m glad people are out enjoying themselves; relaxing, traveling, supporting the economy. But what I’m concerned about in the back of my mind is that they are announcing that they are not at their home. That they are gone for a few days or a week or longer. Do we really have a good control over who views this information and can they use it in a bad way? Will the wrong person get this information and break-in into your home? Once you know someone’s name, it’s really easy to find out where they live thanks to the Internet.
Who views this information is only as good as your Privacy Settings on Facebook. Or how good you are at controlling who follows you on Twitter. And what if you’ve posted something on Twitter and then someone else re-Tweets it so that whoever follows them can see what you’re up to?
I understand the social nature of these websites, but I also see some information sharing as an unnecessary risk. Kyle and I recently went away for two days. I talked about that trip on Facebook when we got back. The only people that knew we were away were a few people in our neighborhood that I contacted privately through email.
I’m not trying to be the social media police here. You may just want to think about who really has access to all of the information you post online before you announce that you’re leaving for vacation.
I’m assuming that many of the people that follow this blog use some form of social media. Am I overreacting here or do you also think about these types of issues?
PS- I am at home, so don’t try to break-in to my house!
Being a Real Estate Agent: A Fresh Start
Kyle and I have a lot of fun as real estate agents. Meeting new and interesting people is a big part of it. And it’s also very rewarding to help buyers and sellers through a large and important transaction.
But real estate isn’t always as glamorous as it may seem. We not only have to find our clients, but we also have to demonstrate the expertise and provide the level of service that we advertise. Most agents work on their own. They have to follow the activity in the markets, keep track of numerous dates for each transaction, and make sure all their paperwork is in order. At the same time, they have to be available to show houses to buyers and market their listings. There’s a lot of grunt work involved to make the overall experience seem effortless.
We feel we have an advantage in working together, and think we’ve done a pretty good job building the operations of our business. However, it can always be better. This summer, Kyle and I are going to make a fresh start. We’re going to keep everything that is working well, and we’re going to improve everything else. Most of the changes will be behind-the-scenes, and not visible to our clients.
For example, one task is to make our home office workspace more efficient. Right now we’re a little cluttered with files and marketing materials that have built up over the years. Do we need folders for deals that closed three years ago next to our desk? No, they can move to the basement. Do we need 37 copies of a glossy marketing sheet from a sold listing? No, those can be recycled. What about all of these blank contracts and forms? Let’s go electronic and get rid of them all. We can get our workspace set up so that we have exactly what we need, and only what we need, close at hand. I know, yet another example of us being dorks. But the faster we can get our paperwork done, the more time we can spend with clients.
Another task is to take a close look at the expense side of the equation. Are we getting the support services we need for the best possible price? This leads to a change that will be visible to clients. As of today, July 1, we’ve switched to a different broker, RE/MAX Premier, REALTORS based in West Hartford Center. Because we think of ourselves as entrepreneurs, we end up doing a lot of things differently than other agents. We don’t rely on our broker in the same way that many agents do. RE/MAX is more supportive of the specific ways we run our business and a better fit for us.
Contrary to common perception, brokers work for agents, not the other way around. They provide office space in which we can work and hold meetings. They provide legal and business support so that we don’t have to launch and run our own company. They provide educational opportunities. They sometimes generate leads based on their brand. Some brokers offer more services than others. In all cases, the agents pay for these services.
By moving to a different broker, we’re getting only what we need and not paying for extras that we don’t use. We’ll still be providing the same level of service that we have since we started in the business. The change really doesn’t impact our buyer clients at all. And the only difference our seller clients will see is a different color sign in their front yard – our marketing program for listings does not change at all. It may seem like a big deal, but it’s really not.
The final phase of the Fresh Start is looking for new opportunities. As we go through the summer, we’re going to be searching for ways to work smarter and better. Are there new technologies or techniques to advertise our listings so that our seller clients get more offers and better offers? Are there different ways to communicate with our buyer clients so that they have a better understanding, and more confidence, in the search process? What can we do to improve this blog so that the general public understands more about the local residential real estate markets?
We’re going to wipe the slate clean and take a fresh look at how best to be a residential real estate agent in Greater Hartford. Every now and then it feels good to press the reset button.