Achievement vs Entitlement

Congratulations to Eastdale Little League of Albuquerque, NM USA in becoming the Little League Softball World Champions in Portland, Oregon this evening!

Reading the local papers as they followed this team through the various levels of play, I was comforted to learn the girls’ coaches told them three years ago that to get to the World Series they would have to work very, very hard after advancing to state champion before being eliminated back then and the girls decided to accept the challenge. Their mantra was ESPN2012.

Watching girls softball has always been about as boring to me as watching paint dry.  But, I have to admit, this team of 11 and 12 year old girls was in a word – OUTSTANDING!  Even the ESPN commentators reflected on how well schooled, coached and disciplined they were.  They wiped out their competition and tonight destroyed semi-finalist Florida 16 to 1!

Having coached my sons and done just about every other volunteer job in Little League including League President three consecutive years way back when, I can attest to a variety of successes and failures I witnessed among the 1000 kids in our league and a lot of general weirdness among the parents.

Here’s where it got really weird:  About the time my boys were ready to move on to high school baseball there was a group of parents that were coming into league administrative positions a few years younger that began to echo a discomforting tune… that all kids should be allstars so that no one feels left out, inadequate, blah blah, else their fragile little psyches will be forever damaged.  I couldn’t believe my ears!

Little League is a microcosm of how we are supposed to achieve and advance in America.  The goal IS to get to the World Series and win.  That means only 14 players will be so privileged at each divisional level. And, the hundreds of others will have to learn how to improve and try again next year or go find something else they can excel at instead.

The process to achieve allstar status is reflective of what it takes to win in life through hard work, self sacrifice, self discipline, self reliance and a strong moral compass… the exact opposite of the Obama ‘you didn’t build that’ mindset that says somebody else spent all those hours in practice, learned to work through failure, contain success and continue to the ultimate victory.

Achievement is what sets us apart and should be rewarded.  The creep to reward those who do not achieve is worrisome and should be discouraged.  Seems a pretty clear choice to me.

Slower Than Expected Job Growth Could Be the Norm Thru 2020 – It’s What I’ve Been Sayin’!

Aging Population Means Decreasing Labor Force, More Replacement Jobs than New Jobs
By Mark Heschmeyer

February 8, 2012

There was good news and bad news for commercial real estate in the employment numbers that came out this past week.

While the 243,000 jobs added in January was certianly good news, the projections of slower population growth and a decreasing overall labor force are expected to lead to slower civilian labor force growth through 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Slower job growth means slower real estate space demand.

Industries and occupations related to health care, personal care and social assistance, and construction are projected to have the fastest job growth between 2010 and 2020, the BLS reported. Again, all good news for the real estate industry. However, despite rapid projected growth, construction is not expected to regain all of the jobs lost during the Great Recession.

Through 2020, 54.8 million total job openings are expected. The downside is that more than half — 61.6% — will come from the need to replace workers who retire or otherwise permanently leave an occupation. In four out of five occupations, openings due to replacement needs exceed the number new jobs due to growth. Replacement needs are expected in every occupation, even in those that are declining.
Latest Job Numbers

Job growth was widespread in the private sector in January, with large employment gains in professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and manufacturing. Government employment changed little over the month.

Professional and business services continued to add jobs in January (70,000). About half of the increase occurred in employment services (33,000). Job gains also occurred in accounting and bookkeeping (13,000) and in architectural and engineering services (7,000).

Over the month, employment in leisure and hospitality increased by 44,000, primarily in food services and drinking places (33,000). Since a recent low in February 2010, food services has added 487,000 jobs.

In January, health care employment continued to grow (31,000). Within the industry, hospitals and ambulatory care services each added 13,000 jobs.

Wholesale trade employment increased by 14,000 over the month. Since a recent employment low in May 2010, wholesale trade has added 144,000 jobs.

Employment in retail trade continued to trend up in January. Job gains in department stores (19,000), health and personal care stores (7,000), and automobile dealers (7,000) were partially offset by losses in clothing and clothing accessory stores (-14,000). Since an employment trough in December 2009, retail trade has added 390,000 jobs.

In January, employment in information declined by 13,000, including a loss of 8,000 jobs in the motion picture and sound recording industry.

In the goods-producing sector, manufacturing added 50,000 jobs. Nearly all of the increase occurred in durable goods manufacturing, with job growth in fabricated metal products (11,000), machinery (11,000), and motor vehicles and parts (8,000). Durable goods manufacturing has added 418,000 jobs over the past 2 years.

Employment in construction increased by 21,000 in January, following a gain of 31,000 in the previous month. Over the past two months, nonresidential specialty trade contractors added 30,000 jobs.

Government employment changed little in January. Over the past 12 months, the sector has lost 276,000 jobs, with declines in local government; state government, excluding education; and the U.S. Postal Service.

The January CBIZ Small Business Employment Index, a barometer for hiring trends among companies with 300 or fewer employees, decreased by 2.75% during the past month, following an increase of 1.75% in December.
Volatility in the Jobs Markets

Last month, employers announced plans to cut 53,486 jobs from their payrolls. That was the largest monthly layoff total since 115,730 job cuts were announced last September, according to global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

The January total was 28% higher than the 41,785 job cuts announced in December. It was 39% higher than January 2011, when employers announced just 38,519 planned cuts.

“Last year’s 38,519 January job cuts represent the lowest first-month total on record. Even then, the January 2011 total was higher than the previous month, when 32,004 job cuts were announced. This year marks the sixth consecutive year and the 11th out of the last 13 in which January job cuts surpassed the December total,” said John A. Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Leading the January surge were retailers and financial firms, which announced 12,426 job cuts and 7,611 job cuts, respectively. The retail total was the largest experienced by this sector since January 2010 (16,737). The retail job losses are unrelated to the departure of seasonal workers, which typically are not announced or reported as job cuts. Rather, the cuts are related to restructurings, store closings and other cost-cutting measures.

The 7,611 job cuts in the financial sector mark the largest one-month total since September 2011, when 31,167 job cuts were announced (most of which came from a single announcement by Bank of America).

For the second consecutive month, the government sector saw relatively few job cuts, with these employers announcing just 3,021 layoffs in January.

“Of course, it is far too early to say whether we will continue to see low job-cut figures in government. It is highly unlikely, considering that many cities and states continue to struggle with budget deficits. And, then there is the federal level of government, which remains under intense pressure to cut costs. As a result, we expect government layoffs to be heavy again this year,” noted Challenger.
Employment Projections 2010-’20

Going forward through 2020, the health care and social assistance sector is projected to gain the most jobs (5.6 million), followed by professional and business services (3.8 million), and construction (1.8 million). Despite rapid growth in the construction sector, employment in 2020 is not expected to reach its pre-recessionary annual average peak of 7.7 million in 2006.

Of the 20 industries detailed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics the ones projected to lose the largest numbers of jobs are primarily in the manufacturing sector (11 industries) and the federal government (3 industries). The largest job losses are projected for the Postal Service (-182,000), federal non-defense government (-122,000), and apparel knitting mills (-92,000).

Yeah… Right!

Commercial Real Estate (CRE) as a sector, I’m told, amounts to around $1 Trillion of the national economy. Yet, while listening to econometric forecasts at a big forecast function yesterday, it occurred to me that economists rarely, if ever, include CRE in the mix of their remarks – in good times OR bad!

Housing is always discussed. CRE not so much and that was the case yesterday.

So, the opening powerpoint slide said: “The Economic Recovery Is Underway, But 2012 Will Be Very Slow!” The next 60 minutes were a muddled dance through the muck of why the speaker thought so… he could’ve sat down and saved us the muddle. All the while, not one mention of CRE. NONE!

So, why does it matter? Well… a couple things are on my mind. For one, there is probably no one left on the planet that hasn’t finally figured out that it takes jobs to fill commercial space. No jobs = protracted vacancy and there is plenty of inventory to go around – a many years supply in fact.

Protracted vacancy = property owners struggling to come up with cash to pay the operating costs and debt service in many instances. And, protracted vacancy creates downward pressure on rental rates, which creates downward pressure on property values.

Lower property values = disproportionately high loan to value ratios leading to a problem when the loan matures – the lender will want a cash call to keep their risk down.

And, the $64,000 question at that moment is: ‘Where will the cash come from?’

Reports from the big guys who track such things vary, but anywhere from 1 to 2 trillion dollars in commercial loans are maturing over the next 5 years. Add to that no to barely visible job growth, owner’s feeding their cash into their properties and then cash calls coming due… and, well, it’s a perfect storm for an implosion in the CRE sector that everyone just hopes won’t occur. Seriously? Apparently so.

If it does… and this old guy thinks there is a high probability of problems yet to come… well then, what’s the point of having econometric forecasts that ignore the subject? An implosion will affect the entire U.S. Economy. Period. No Backs!

Yesterday’s forecasts were pretty much the same as saying we should be positive because we are in a Jobless Recovery!

Yeah…

Right!

NOT MADE IN CHINA

The following article was produced by IDI, Industrial Developments International, in their recent newsletter. It is reflective of similar information I have provided in writings and talks over the last couple of years. I first learned of a probable resurgence in U.S. Manufacturing from Hal Stratton, former Chief of the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission during the Bush Administration, who gave a talk at my home to a group of limited government types shortly after he retired from that position and returned to Albuquerque a few years ago. The impetus, from his perspective, is that the U.S., unlike many developed countries, has product liability laws that force improved quality control on the production line. Countries like China are not yet oriented to quality control. The likelihood of a retailer like WalMart being sued for a defective baby stroller made in China is high. The costs of that kind of liability combined with the other concerns addressed in IDI’s article below seem to make a strong argument for ‘reshoring’ or ‘nearshoring’ again. Problem for places like New Mexico is… we are not a right to work state, our development policies are anti-growth, anti-business and we have a limited supply of skilled labor for manufacturing, though many could be trained… then there is a land availability problem, which many think is a funny notion considering we are surrounded by dirt… but getting water and roads to it is quite another thing! Vic

Not Made in China

U.S. Manufacturers See Advantages of Reshoring

Sleek Audio CEO Mark Krywko was like a lot of business people in the mid-2000s, wooed to China by cheap labor and manufacturing costs. For Krywko, however, the honeymoon did not last long. Repeated manufacturing glitches, delivery delays, cash tied up for months waiting for inventory to arrive and numerous trips to China every year cost him millions. Finally, after countless headaches and seeing his company on the brink of disaster, Krywko brought his operations home. Sleek Audio’s high-end earphones now cost about 50 percent more to produce, but the premium is worth the quality and consistent deliveries. Sleek Audio projects 2011 to be its most profitable year ever.

After years of U.S. manufacturers moving their operations overseas to reduce costs, changes in markets both here and abroad are beginning to swing the pendulum the other way. “Reshoring,” or shifting operations back to the U.S. from a distant country, is slowly emerging as a trend affecting manufacturing jobs, state and national economies and industrial real estate

The Offshoring Backstory
Offshoring has always been part of American history, starting in the Colonial era when almost all manufactured goods were imported from England. In the 1800s, America created its own manufacturing infrastructure in response to high import costs, and eventually led the world in manufacturing power and innovation. This dominance continued until the 1960s, when American productivity stagnated and offshore competitors emerged.

By the 1980s, America’s lack of manufacturing competitiveness prompted companies to close domestic factories and move operations to Mexico, a phenomenon known as “nearshoring.” Next came relocating to Asia, where costs were even lower. Ultimately, as in Colonial days, America once again offshored most manufactured goods.1

Offshoring momentum, however, is showing signs of reversing. In a June 2011 survey of North American manufacturers, 21 percent said they were bringing production into or closer to North America and 38 percent planned to research such a move soon. The Boston Consulting Group predicts the U.S. will undergo a manufacturing renaissance in the next five years.2

The Tide is Starting to Turn
The initial appeal of offshoring was reduced costs. Even though many companies’ transportation, duty and other costs went up and supply chain speed went down, the 30 to 50 percent reduction in labor costs more than offset the shortcomings.3 These numbers, however, are changing. Wages in China are soaring 15 to 20 percent per year.2 In 2000, hourly manufacturing wages were 52 cents; by 2015, they are projected to climb to $4.41.4 Because wage rates account for 20 to 30 percent of a product’s total cost, manufacturing in some areas of China will be only 10 to 15 percent cheaper than in the U.S. After factoring in shipping and inventory costs, the advantage is minimal.

Rising labor costs are not the only reason manufacturers are rethinking offshoring. Other considerations are:

• Increased shipping costs. In the last four years, shipping costs have gone up 71 percent because of higher oil prices and cutbacks in ships and containers.4

• Quality concerns. In an Accenture survey of 287 manufacturing companies, 46 percent said they experienced product quality problems in their offshore manufacturing and supply operations.2

• Supply chain disruptions. Offshoring expands the supply chain’s length, complexity and risk of serious interruptions. Events such as earthquakes, floods, terrorist activity, military actions and political upheaval occur more and more frequently, forcing manufacturers to develop flexible supply chains, multiple sources of raw materials and extensive contingency plans.

• Delivery time. Physical separation between regional supply and regional demand can make it difficult to respond to customer needs quickly and maintain quality and cost efficiency.2

Industries Looking Toward Home
Reshoring makes more sense for certain product categories than others. Household appliances, construction equipment and other products that require less human labor and are made in modest volumes are good candidates for U.S. factories.2

Others likely to relocate U.S. market production are:

• Furniture
• Transportation goods
• Computers and electronics
• Electrical equipment
• Plastics and rubber products
• Machinery
• Fabricated metal products

Together, these industries could add $100 billion to the U.S. economy and lower the non-oil trade deficit by 20 to 35 percent, according to Boston Consulting Group.6

The Reshoring Alternative: Nearshoring
While signs of reshoring are unmistakable, some experts say it is too soon to declare a definite trend. One reason is nearshoring, which offers cheaper labor while keeping production close to U.S. customers. From Mexico, goods can be delivered to the U.S. in one or two days compared to 21 days by overseas. Other advantages are: being in or close to the same time zone as U.S.-based customers for easier communications and coordination; a well-educated, skilled workforce; lower manufacturing costs; and patent and intellectual property protection.7

The news in Mexico, however, is not all favorable. Access to domestic parts and materials, security, drug-related violence, crime, border delays and difficulties persuading managers to relocate are challenges companies face doing business south of the border.

States Poised to Benefit
U.S. manufacturers who move operations back on home soil obviously look for the best locations. Factors influencing their decisions include real estate costs, labor costs, union concessions, workforce skills, state incentives and subsidies, and real estate development partners with experience in the geographies being considered. IDI, for example, has completed inventory and build-to-suit projects in several southern states with low-cost labor including Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. These markets are particularly attractive as manufacturing hubs for the U.S. market8 and some could become among the least expensive production sites in the industrialized world.2

If the reshoring trend plays out in a big way, it could create up to three million U.S. jobs in coming years.6 With the “multiplier effect,” where every manufacturing job can create up to eight ancillary and support jobs downstream in logistics, retail and services, America’s employment picture could improve greatly.2

The U.S. Becoming an Offshoring Destination
Shin Uran, president of Kajima Building & Design Group, Inc. and sister company to IDI, says his company is working with more Japanese manufacturing companies planning to locate facilities in the U.S. than he has seen in over 10 years. A key factor is the large gap in financial exchange rates. “With the value of the yen so high,” he says, “…it has become increasingly necessary for these companies to produce their goods in the U.S. in order to remain competitive.”

This trend is apparent across industries, according to Takayuki Oto, marketing manager for Kajima Building & Design Group. “We have seen a significant increase in all manufacturing sectors and are currently working with Japanese firms in printing, food and beverage, automotive supply and heavy equipment manufacturing.”

1 “A Brief History of Offshoring and Its Relationship to Manufacturing Productivity,”
by Dr. Dean F. Poeth, P.E., C.Mfg.E., 2007.
2 “Is U.S. Manufacturing Coming Back?” by Lisa Harrington, inboundlogistics.com,
August 2011.
3 “Outsourcing and Offshoring,” enotes.com.
4 “Made (Again) in the USA: The Return of American Manufacturing,”
by Nin-Hai Tseng, finance.fortune.cnn.com, June 29, 2011.
5 “New Tire Plant Set for South Carolina,” by Jeff Bennett, The Wall Street Journal, October 7, 2011.
6 “Manufacturing Jobs to Shift from China to US, Report Says,”
by John D. Boyd, The Journal of Commerce Online October 7, 2011.
7 “Manufacturing in Mexico: Nearshoring and the Aerospace Industry,”
collectron.com, March 30, 2011.
8 “‘Reshoring’ Manufacturing: Which States Could Win,”
businessclimate.com, October 4, 2011.

IDI Corporate Office
Eleven Hundred Peachtree
1100 Peachtree Street
Suite 1100
Atlanta, Georgia 30309

© 2011 Industrial Developments International.

Changing the Culture in Washington, DC

The commercial real estate stats continue unchanged. Vacancy is as bad as it was a year ago. Rental rates and sales prices are falling. The threat of foreclosure is looming large.

Aside from the impact associated with the changing nature of work (which I’ve spoken and written about a lot over the past couple of years), jobs are simply not being created.

The folks in Washington are paralyzed, worrying over ever catch phrase and every decision in political terms instead of what is best for the country.

I am convinced individual citizens can make a difference, but we have to ‘engage’. We have to send different people to represent us. Its hard to figure that out in 30 second sound bites… so that means we have to get off our butts and find the right ones any way we can.

The U.S. House of Representatives seat in New Mexico’s First Congressional District is being sought by no less than 3 Republicans and 3 Democrats.

I am supporting the Republican who has the most integrity and experience and is the most electable! Her name is Janice Arnold-Jones. I am serving as her Treasurer and honored to do so.

Janice is a limited government conservative who believes in constitutional principles, economic freedom and individual responsibility.

Support: Janice Arnold-Jones for Congress

You can do nothing and hope for a miracle.

You can do something by supporting candidates like Janice!

I urge the latter!

Real Estate Receiverships

It is noteworthy that some markets around the country are beginning to recognize there is light at the end of the tunnel and its not another train!

Here in New Mexico, life ain’t so grand, I’m afraid. We have zero job growth and the prospects of gains anytime soon are pretty dismal. Continuing economic reports reflect declines in employment year over year… not good.

The study I did on commercial real estate (CRE) vacancy in January provided an interesting snap shot in that to fill the space would require all the people currently shown as unemployed to get jobs. Period. And, that isn’t happening.

So, that reasonably means that many landlords are covering debt and expenses out of pocket while their CRE vacancies loom large. At some point, as reported here and elsewhere, their loans will mature and, to get them refinanced, there WILL be a cash call many will not be able to meet. Why? Because the value of the property has dropped and the lender needs debt coverage ratios that make sense.

So, they’ll have to pay down their current loan balance in order to refinance some smaller amount. AND… if they’ve been feeding the property with their own cash long enough, it is going to be difficult to meet that cash call. Likelihood is… they won’t.

Foreclosure is the word and it is coming to our market soon! Unless there is some rebound in employment and no one is expecting that here… we simply don’t have the economic and political structures in place to allow it.

I’m reminded of the receiverships I was engaged in during the late 1980’s debacle. I’m offering those services again and info can be found at Receiverships Southwest … just in case you might be interested!

Prospects for Real Estate Recovery ~ Chris Lee Sums It All Up Nicely!

One of the smartest and most articulate strategic thinkers there is for matters of public policy and real estate economics in the broader spectrum of things is Chris Lee. I have yet to read one of his Strategic Advantage Newsletters where I didn’t take away something of great value. Check out this one as it is timely, to be sure, and aligns with much of what I have been talking out loud and writing about (while being called ‘negative’) for the past three years…

This is a must read! It isn’t just about “real estate” by the way!

Go Here: http://www.celassociates.com/onlinenewsletter/ProspectsForRealEstateRecovery-SA-K082211.pdf

A Right-to-Work Law, Lower Taxes Can Lift Economy

There has been a lot of discussion in New Mexico of ways to jump-start our struggling economy. This is good news.

For too long, we have relied on the federal government to add or save jobs at the air bases or labs as the basis of the economy in our beautiful state. But, out-of-control deficit spending has finally caught up to the political class in Washington, D.C., and money flowing back to the states is drying up fast.

While some worry about this, it is good to see Washington finally starting to wake up to the reality of a fixed budget.

As an advocate for free market entrepreneurship, it is even better to see state policymakers looking for new ways to bring business to New Mexico.

We should want all businesses to aspire to succeed in a free market where the private capital and risk-taking of entrepreneurs creates jobs out of thin air through innovation and without government assistance. An incentives-based approach is rooted in the mechanism of government and politics, and it has proven repeatedly to be wrong headed.

Take the creation of New Mexico’s film industry as an example – such incentives are a “zero-sum” game with money taken from one group of taxpayers and transferred to another, preferred group.

There are some expensive economic development studies in the works that are designed to answer the question of how best to spur New Mexico’s economy. The Rio Grande Foundation, using economic data from across the nation, has produced its own ideas.

Unlike narrowly targeted incentives, these policies have proven to serve the wider interests of our population, not just special interests.

The first is to eliminate New Mexico’s personal income tax. According to Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore, “from 1998 to 2007, more than 1,100 people every day including Sundays and holidays moved from the nine highest income-tax states such as California, New Jersey, New York and Ohio and relocated mostly to the nine tax-haven states with no (state) income tax, including Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire and Texas.” In addition, Laffer and Moore also found that over these same years the no-income-tax states created 89 percent more jobs and had 32 percent faster personal income growth than their high-tax counterparts.

New Mexico, unlike most states, has a robust gross receipts tax that is charged at high rates. Reforming and restoring this tax – along with fiscal restraint – would enable the income tax to be eliminated.

Whether he really intended to or not, Gov. Bill Richardson got the ball rolling when he took New Mexico’s top income tax rate from 8.2 percent to 4.9 percent. New Mexico’s economy has seen a bump (relative to other states) in personal income, but more needs to be done.

The second major reform is the adoption of “right-to-work” legislation. Simply put, these laws prohibit employers and unions from requiring membership in a union or payment of union dues as a condition of employment. According to economist Dr. Richard Vedder, both population and income growth have been significantly faster in the 22 states with right-to-work laws than in those states that allow forced unionism. Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona and Utah all have right to work laws in place.

The list of other reforms that could be made includes improving our failing educational system, reforming our regulatory system with an eye toward simplification, ease of compliance and lowered costs, and reducing the overall size and scope of New Mexico government.

Economic development is hard work. So is tackling the special interest groups that stand in the way of reforms. The fact remains that pushing the Legislature for these big, real reforms, instead of limited “incentives,” is the only proven way to grow and sustain an economy.

Vic Bruno is the treasurer and a board member of New Mexico’s Rio Grande Foundation, an independent, nonpartisan, tax-exempt research and educational organization dedicated to promoting prosperity for New Mexico based on principles of limited government, economic freedom and individual responsibility.

The RealNators Are Coming

Pause for a moment and picture a futuristic world where commercial real estate buyers and sellers, landlords and tenants meet, one on one … in CyberMLS … a public website built, owned and operated by… the RealNators.

The RealNators, are a group that split off from all the other groups because they realized they were ‘the thinking machines’ instead of the computers that lie in front of them. They raised the machismo to finally do it… quit thinking of themselves as indispensable… and they went forward riding the winds of change instead of trying to put up barriers of resistance.

The RealNators were a thinking group who realized that the only reason they were in business up to then was because they controlled the information supply vis a vis the Commercial Information Exchanges (informal MLS’s) and Multiple Listing Services, or by contract with other third party vendors all of which exclude the consuming public if you don’t have a real estate license. For all practical purposes, these are closed union shops.

The RealNators figured out before anyone else did that information ultimately will not be owned by anyone and it will be available freely in the public domain. So, instead of trying to control the information via their various listing services, they decided to make it freely available and allow all comers to use the RealNator-based CyberMLS world-wide, free.

Almost at once, everyday brokers were lost, then ultimately out of business as they realized their reason for existence (getting listings to put in the controlled system) was gone… kinda like Travel Agents once consumers could book their own flights.

The RealNators went one step further though and did a very clever thing. They created some new credentials that went beyond the scope of any of the 50 states licensing criteria and they became the standard by which all real estate providers would ultimately have to emulate… or die.

Thereafter, anyone who was able to get through the rigorous criteria and achieve the Chartered Realty Advisor designation, certifiable by any college level accrediting organization on the planet, was assured a place in the sun.

Ok, you’ll have to excuse all the corny metaphors, but this is actually possible (with enhancements) yesterday. Controlling information is not what its about. Being able to serve human needs WITH the information is. Real estate brokers continue to resist the notion that there are a variety of other, highly skilled professionals (lawyers, CPAs, Consultants) who don’t need a real estate license and are getting paid to help facilitate real estate transactions at a whole lot less than a 6% commission. Once the consumer can post and search for property availability in the public domain on their own (and the future is coming), the long-standing, matchmaking process of real estate brokers is no longer needed. But sound advice and related services will be.

Microsoft Office 365

Continuing the story about working in the cloud, I’ve been learning to navigate around my new Motorola Xoom Tablet PC and no question some of the Android apps are pretty cool, though I’m not a big fan of Google Apps.

So, I’m anxious to try the beta of Office 365 which Microsoft says is available beginning today: Microsoft Office 365 Article

I’ll let you know how it goes whenever I get it and have a chance to see how it works.