PolicyMap Offers Tons Of Info For Investors And Developers

PolicyMap is a new online service that was created by The Reinvestment Fund, a non-profit organization that funds neighborhood redevelopment. I read about PolicyMap on Future of Real Estate Marketing blog and thought it sounded like an interesting service. When I went to check it out, I was astonished by the amount of information and customization they offered.

Real estate investors or developers who need to do extensive demographic research should definitely check this site out. They offer more than 4,000 different demographic variables for which you can customize maps and reports. They cover the standard ones such as crime, income and so on, but they also have powerful ones you can’t find anywhere else, such as an estimation of a neighborhood's population in the year 2012 and many others I just don’t have space to mention.

All of this information does not come cheap, however.

They offer limited data and customization for free upon registration, but for the real goodies you have to be prepared to ante up. Their standard subscription starts at $200 a month, and they don’t even publish their premium subscription price. If you are a developer or real estate investor who does a significant amount of deals, though, I think their service is well worth the price. This is especially true if you have to put together presentations for money partners or others as part of your investments. PolicyMap offers data that would make your presentation much better, in addition to tools that should make gathering the data and putting into presentable format much easier.

Baghdad: Mirage Of A Real Estate Market?

These days, the word Baghdad conjures up ugly pictures in most Americans' minds: War. Terrorism. Heat. Desert. Bombings. Real estate.

Excuse me? Did you say real estate?

Coverage within the past month about Baghdad’s real estate market–a result of Iraqis' mass exodus from the city–has investors worldwide buzzing. Rents and home prices dropped significantly as Iraqis fled the city in search of more stable living conditions.

With supply declining, Iraqis are stuck between a rock and a hard place, many searching for homes that simply do not exist. In the face of over 46,000 Iraqis returning to Baghdad from places like Syria, demand is high and supply is null.

What does this mean for U.S. investors?

Some may argue nothing and say that investors willing to risk buying in such a volatile market may as well invest in San Diego, or Seattle, for that matter, and call it good.

The market contains everything from small homes which sell quickly, often after bidding wars, to larger multi-million dollar homes.

Others say Baghdad's real estate market is significant. Rising population and real estate prices in any city equal more development, more development means more jobs and more jobs mean…well, you get the point.

But why the sudden interest in real estate in this war-torn city?

Many of the larger homes have inflated prices because buyers, who have made money off government contracts, corruption and looting, are willing to pay 10 to 15 percent more than the home's value.

Some homes are dropping in value–owners desperate to unload properties in less-than-safe neighborhoods. Those homes sell, too–and fast. Both factors are resulting in serious opportunities for investors willing to take the risk.

As an investor, would you consider Baghdad?

I’m quick to say no–but stopping to think twice.

Need House; Will Write

I may have been living under a rock, but the idea of writing an essay to win a home is a new one to me. And apparently, luck has nothing to do with it.

This practice, involving one essay, one entry fee (normally less than $150) and a tenacious attitude has been around since our ancestors in New England have had a need to disperse property.

Two modern–day examples:

In 2004, Claudia Johnsen, a 79-year-old resident of Alexandria, Va., offered to give away several plots of land and pre-existing homes in Virginia to essay contest winners. The prizes? Two condominiums in Alexandria, a waterfront strip in Stafford County, a vacation house near Hot Springs, Va., and one-third interest in a Temple Hills apartment complex.

One day, while watching Oprah, Johnsen witnessed a guest telling a story quite similar to hers, except the guest had profited from selling an inn. She thought it was a fascinating idea, and contacted Oprah's guest. She bought the contest rules for $750 and after making a few small changes to the policy, she organized her own online raffle.

Contestants would have to submit a $100 entrance fee along with an essay of 75 words or fewer explaining why they wanted to own one of the estates.

Example 2:

Wesley Ludlow and his wife, J.J. Rodgers, were unable to sell their 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom house because of the dormant real estate market in their hometown of Red Feather Lakes, Colo., the Washington Post reported.

They decided they needed a solution to the problem of having a second mortgage, and wanted to sell the home that had been sitting by its lonesome since they built a newer home closer to town. They chose to try and raise $200,000 by asking for essays of 500 words or fewer and a $100 entry fee.

They determined that if they could not get over 2,000 entries they’d return to selling their home the traditional way.

Why is this interesting--aside from the oddity of it all?

At first glance, while this may look like a gamble, the end result is in the hands of the seller. They stand to profit from the entry fees at a price far beyond what many of these homes could originally appraise for. Of course, the risk lies in how the contest is marketed. Websites have been established to market and advertise these contests, but many are out of date and don’t target the right types of people.

In the end, Johnsen could earn several million dollars more than it’s appraised value for her estate as a result of her marketing efforts. The estate has been appraised at $3.7 million.

Johnsen is unsure how much money she will make at the end of the deal because overhead costs are often unpredictable. State Government determines the maximum number of entries that can be accepted, but Johnsen determined the minimum and holds the power to cancel the contest if she chooses.

The jury is still out for Ludlow and Rogers, who have not yet chosen an essay winner. If they meet their requirement of 2,000 essay submissions, they plan to put the surplus money towards their children’s' college educations.

The clear benefit for investors is the ability to simply settle their estate issues and potentially profit from selling real estate in an otherwise fairly stagnant market without picking up the phone to call a real estate agent.

The question? Who's keeping Uncle Fred from winning the house?

How Do You Say Rococo In Arabic?

I’ve been lucky in the past few years of my life to travel the world. The places I’ve seen, the people I’ve met, and the experiences I've lived all hold a very special place in my life.

I’ve also been lucky enough to spend several years studying French. So, I guess you could say that I am interested in (nay, obsessed with) any proposed perversion of their culture.

Buti Saeed al-Ghandi, a developer with head of Emivest, an investment and development group in Dubai has just returned from a romantic getaway to Lyon, France with his wife. Imagine his memories! The streets, the food, the culture, the…romance. He was sold. He also had an idea: to plant a mini-Lyon inside of Dubai – complete with designs inspired by architecture in modern-day Lyon.

Why does this matter to you?

He has just signed a memorandum of understanding with Lyon’s mayor, Gérard Collomb, and anticipates sealing the deal on his next visit to the city.

I know, right? “Choc! Horreur! Quelle parodie!” Screams my inner Francophile.

Ghandi’s plans include a university, museums, restaurants, shops, pedestrian streets, courtyards, and a town square – all replicating Lyon. His time spent inside the 19th century Notre-Dame de Fourvière Basilica may even inspire a church – yes, a church – right next to a mosque.

This can’t be so bad, I tell myself. I read on:

Location is still up in the air – discussion has involved placing the ‘little Lyon’ on upwards of 1000 acres of land. Potential spots include an urban area by the tallest building in the world, the Burj Dubai Tower; a plot of desert land close to the second international airport, which has not been built yet; and "Dubailand," which is a $10 billion complex including theme parks and entertainment that is currently still under construction.

Any way you toss it, this project is ambitious, at best. And also? A total perversion of French culture. It’s like calling ‘Paris’ in Vegas … well, Paris. The manager of the project insists, however, that it’ll be a far cry from anything Vegas or Disneyland.

What about atmosphere? How does one create a street comfortable enough to stroll down in the middle of the desert heat? I fight visions of massive fans. Somehow I keep thinking about the movie ‘Bio-Dome’ with Pauly Shore.

Naturally, my instinct is to worry first about the wine, and then of course, the food. French culture is known for not only their love of cured meats and delectable cheeses, but their wine, most of all! Muslim countries ban not only meat, but all forms of alcohol. Dubai is a modern city, however, an international hub, even – and tends to be more lenient about those rules. I am still skeptical. I think they still allow cheese.

In any event, my logic has kicked in. What does this mean for the commerce in the city? What does this mean for investors? Particularly investors interested in saturated (yet successful) international markets like Dubai? What it means is a potential boost in the economy of this emirate – and fast. Things are looking up, perhaps.
This project, if it breaks land, will attempt to bring not only the charm, but also the economic successes of Lyon to Dubai. Lyon is currently one of the world’s most popular (top 30) convention sites. Readers Digest named the city the 7th most livable in the world last year. It is for good reason that Ghandi would like to replicate it.

Any way you flip it, this project is interesting. Skeptics are concerned about any attempts to recreate French culture in the middle of the desert – and rightly so. I recall from my days in art history class learning that Lyon was second only to Venice in its light origin – some of the world’s most important pieces of art were painted there. How can that same light be recreated in the middle of the desert?

Again, I digress.

Clearly this project represents great opportunity for investors interested in overseas markets. It also represents great opportunity for further economic development in (the seemingly few) areas of Dubai that are suffering.

My inner Francophile is still screaming.