South Padre Island Real Estate Investment Blog

Benjamin F. Isherwood: Premier Engineer of the US Navy

2010-10-18T07:21:00.000-07:00

Benjamin Franklin Isherwood (1822-1915) was a human dynamo. Before he joined the Navy in 1844, he had already worked as a railroad engineer. He worked on the Croton Aqueduct, the major source for drinking water for the City of New York, still in use today. He had an engineering job on the Erie Canal and designed and constructed lighthouses for the Lighthouse Service. During the Mexican War, he served as engineering officer on two warships supporting US forces in Mexico, where he first encountered David Dixon Porter.

After the war, Isherwood was assigned to the Washington Navy Yard, where he experimented with and designed steam engines for naval vessels. By the outbreak of the US Civil War, Isherwood had published 55 technical and scientific articles on steam engineering and vessel propulsion, as well as a two-volume tome on steam machinery. At age 39, he was appointed Engineer-in-Chief of the US Navy. When the Civil War commenced, the Navy had 28 steam vessels. By the end of the war, the Navy’s steam-powered fleet had grown to 600 under Isherwood’s direction. He organized a curriculum for steam engineering at the Naval Academy, where the engineering building is still named “Isherwood Hall” in his honor. In 1869, he ran afoul of David Dixon Porter, who was now the senior Admiral in the US Navy.

Isherwood wanted to reorganize the Navy to provide engineering officers with more rank and prestige, a concept strongly opposed by Porter, who had Isherwood banished to the Mare Island Navy Yard in San Francisco Bay. While in this “exile”, Isherwood conducted experiments that resulted in a propeller used by the Navy for the next 27 years. Before his retirement in 1884, he designed the Navy’s fast cruisers. Since his death in 1915, three Navy ships have been named for Isherwood. The Rear Admiral Benjamin F. Isherwood Award is presented by the US Navy to recognize “innovation and expertise in the effective assessment, development, execution, or deployment of technological solutions for operational Fleet needs.”

Hawaii residents see tourism's benefits

2010-02-15T07:17:00.000-08:00

Pacific Business News (Honolulu) - by Chad Blair

Most Hawaii residents “appreciate and understand” the benefits that tourism brings to Hawaii, according to a survey released Friday.

But many residents do not believe that the visitor industry helps solve community problems, sustain natural resources, or preserve Hawaiian culture.

The survey, conducted by OmniTrak Group, was presented at a Hawaii Tourism Authority board meeting at the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu. Its purpose is to help the HTA and industry stakeholders work on areas that need improvement.

“We know we still have areas that we need to work on as an industry,” said HTA President and CEO Mike McCartney. “At HTA, we are focused on driving demand to travel to Hawaii, but we also understand our responsibility to protect Hawaii’s natural resources and perpetuate our host culture.”

For 2010, the HTA has budgeted more than $1.6 million for Hawaiian cultural and natural resource programs.

Nearly 80 percent of the 1,650 residents polled last August and September agree that tourism brings more benefits than problems to the state. That was 7 percentage points higher than in 2007, the last time the survey of resident sentiment was conducted.

Fewer residents, or 49 percent, said they believe their island was being “run for tourists at the expense of local residents.” That’s down from the 55 percent who felt that way in 2007.

Among other findings:

• Fifty-nine percent of survey respondents who identified themselves as Hawaiian expressed dissatisfaction with tourism’s support of Hawaiian language and culture, while only 36 percent of Filipinos felt that way.

• Just over half of the respondents said they were aware of the visitor industry’s support for multicultural events, while 58 percent said they were aware of sponsorships of sporting events.

• Oahu residents are least likely to see tourism as “primarily responsible for negative impacts” on issues like traffic, but more residents on Kauai and Maui “feel strongly” that tourism worsens traffic and over-development.

• Compared to other industries, tourism ranks second to defense and ahead of health care in perceptions that it contributes to the state economy.

While calling the survey results “favorable” overall, OmniTrak recommended that the HTA and other groups in the visitor industry work to improve public awareness of tourism’s contributions to the state and Native Hawaiians.

TEXAS ECONOMY FEELING RECESSION, STILL STRONGER THAN NATION'S

2009-07-27T07:19:00.000-07:00

The Texas economy is in a deep recession but is still weathering the downturn better than the nation’s economy. The state’s economy lost 274,600 jobs from June 2008 to June 2009, an annual job loss of 2.6 percent. Over the same period, the U.S. economy lost more than 5.8 million jobs or 4.2 percent of its total nonfarm jobs.

The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose from 4.8 percent in June 2008 to 7.5 percent in June 2009. The U.S. rate rose from 5.6 percent to 9.5 percent during that time.

Only two Texas industries (education and health services and leisure and hospitality) and the government sector had more jobs in June 2009 than in June 2008. Nine industries had net job losses over the same period.

Only three Texas metro areas had positive employment growth rates from June 2008 to June 2009. Twenty-three metro areas had net job losses. Odessa ranked first in job creation followed by Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission.

The state’s actual unemployment rate in June 2009 was 8 percent. Amarillo had the lowest unemployment rate followed by Lubbock, Midland, Abilene and Texarkana.

INSTANT VIEW: U.S. eases mark-to-market accounting

2009-04-02T12:57:00.000-07:00

Thu Apr 2, 2009 11:54am EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board on Thursday agreed to give banks more flexibility in applying mark-to-market accounting to their toxic assets.

The action by FASB, an independent accounting standards-setter, came after Congressional pressure to help banks that have been forced to record billions of dollars in lower values for distressed assets because of frozen markets.

Investor groups opposed the change, saying it would let big banks conceal the real value of their toxic assets.

KEY POINTS:

* FASB allows banks to apply new mark-to-market guidance in the first quarter of 2009.

* FASB says the objective of mark-to-market accounting is to set a price that would be received by a bank in an "orderly" transaction in the current, inactive market. It says an "orderly" transaction for accounting purposes does not include the forced liquidation or a distressed sale of an asset.

* FASB agrees to drop the presumption in mark-to-market accounting that all transactions in an inactive market are distressed unless proven otherwise.

* FASB clarifies when banks are required to take write downs on impaired assets, letting them record smaller losses on their income statements.

COMMENTS:

ANDY ENGEL, CO-MANAGER OF CORE INVESTMENT FUND, LEUTHOLD GROUP IN MINNEAPOLIS

"I think it's something that on a near term basis is obviously positive for the stock market -- being able to allow these financials to put what maybe a more realistic price on their assets is a good thing

"Long term there maybe some problems with that. It's a good thing to be able to value some of these things at a realistic price. Right now you're looking ahead and saying their depressed. If you continue to allow people to project what they think these might be worth in the future I think it could lead to some problems.

"Near term its a good adjustment I think I'd like to see them at the end of this crisis going back to instituting that again. You'd get to the point where you have people inflating asset values beyond what they are actual worth

RALPH COLE, PORTFOLIO MANAGER AT FERGUSON WELLMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, IN PORTLAND, ORE:

"Whoever voted against this is probably thinking we don't want to give too much leeway to management teams, that we want to be as conservative as possible in pricing these assets, and darn it we need to get on with this."

"It will lengthen this process that has already felt like forever. It allows people to play a lot more games and maybe not recognize what they need to recognize as quickly. So that's definitely a downside to it."

"Now you're going to leave pricing back in the hands of management teams that may not have done a great job over this cycle, and you're going to have to trust them that they really are marking these things to a model and a price that is reasonable. It takes us back to the same thing: We're probably going to give more leeway to the management teams that you trust ... than those you don't."

"It will be interesting how quickly it can be implemented in this quarter's earnings, and does it change the market's opinion of the stocks just because they write up some assets."

JOSEPH BATTIPAGLIA, MARKET STRATEGIST, STIFEL NICOLAUS, YARDLEY, PENNSYLVANIA

"The mark-to-market rules have been and always will be imperfect. The value of mark-to-market is that it brings some information to the marketplace about what various securities are worth.

"For banks, they already had the most lenient treatment because in effect, mark-to-market was only applied for those assets designated by the banks as being held for sale within a year. So

"I look at the loosening up of mark-to-market -- which was a political effort by Congress against the FASB -- the TALF and the Geithner plan, as all reinforcing the zombie bank concept for America, particularly as it relates to Citicorp and Bank of America, that they will continue to be allowed to exist from a book-keeping point of view, on support from the federal government, for years to come. Which doesn't engender great enthusiasm in my judgment and it certainly sends mixed pricing signals to the marketplace."

ROBERT WILLENS OF ROBERT WILLENS LLC, AN ANALYST WHO SPECIALZIES IN TAX AND ACCOUNTING ISSUES

"This may end up being a dark day in history before it's all said and done. It's a Pyrrhic victory.

"This certainly helps banks cosmetically. It will increase capital levels quite a bit. Yet I'm finding the investors I speak to are mostly disappointed because it doesn't change the reality of the banks.

"Most of these assets are still losing value at a rapid clip. The fact that banks will not have to reflect that loss from an accounting point of view doesn't change the reality."

"More importantly, investors are dismayed that FASB was persuaded to come out with this proposal, that they did it under protest and that FASB doesn't believe in the changes. That this proposal was the result of Congressional threats to its independence."

SCOTT TALBOTT, CHIEF OF GOVERNMENT AFFIARS FOR THE FINANCIAL SERVICES ROUNDTABLE:

"The guidance removes uncertainty of pricing assets in an inactive or illiquid market. The guidance will remove artificially downward pressure on asset value and actually help restore the economy."

EDWARD KETZ, ACCOUNTING PROFESSOR, PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, STATE COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA

"It is a huge mistake by FASB. FASB had had a principled view toward fair value, and has compromised it to allow companies to massage and manipulate balance sheet values."

"The impact will be twofold. In the short-term, there could be higher stock prices, and investors may feel better about banks. Longer-term, it will probably be negative because of the realization that numbers are being manipulated."

"People so much want to get past the recession that they may make the foolish move of interpreting the decision as good news."

TOM SOWANICK, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER AT CLEARBROOK FINANCIAL, WITH $22 BILLION UNDER MANAGEMENT, PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY:

"Today's action by FASB to ease the mark-to-market accounting rule could have a tremendous impact on financial stocks from this point forward. This change can be applied to first-quarter earnings and it is estimated that net income may be increased by as much as 20 percent or more."

STEPHEN MASSOCCA, MANAGING DIRECTOR AT WEDBUSH MORGAN IN SAN FRANCISCO

"It would benefit any bank that is having issues because their stated tangible common equity is creating some problem for them.

"Now, via the waving of the wand, they're going to be able by virtue of a journal entry increase their stated equity.

"I see good from the standpoint that they are able to claim they have greater equity. That helps them be more stable, changes the tone of the conversation.

"It's potentially bad if that now promotes procrastination with regard to cleaning up these 'toxic' assets. If it somehow slows down the process of dealing with that, of disposing of them and moving things forward on that front, then that's a bad thing."

LEE OLVER, FIXED INCOME STRATEGIST, SMH CAPITAL, HOUSTON

"Overall I would think it would help the market in the short run. In the long run, it will cause doubts about the accuracies of financial statements when you don't know what value of the assets in financial institutions. It's a short-term fix that will create long-term problems."

JOSHUA SHAPIRO, CHIEF U.S. ECONOMIST, MFR, INC., NEW YORK

"Our reaction is that this decision decreases transparency and allows financial institutions to use fictional valuations on many of their toxic assets. Whatever "write-ups" result from this are unlikely to be valued very highly by markets, and this decision further obscures the true position of banks and other financial institutions."

"Shenanigans such as this do nothing to resolve the many problems facing the financial system; indeed this decision is more likely to delay necessary reform and restructuring than it is to create a positive outcome."

STEVE GOLDMAN, MARKET STRATEGIST, WEEDEN & CO IN GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT

"This was anticipated, given the politics behind it. It is a sigh of relief since people had been expecting it for the past 2-3 weeks, though again there's some political influence behind it.

"If we look back from the last 30's and into the late 90's I believe there was no such thing as mark-to-market. When you're forcing prices in a market where there's structural imbalances in terms of credit flows, and investors know that, it can lead to a continuous downward cycle.

"If they allow this, it puts pressure on a lot of businesses, including banks. If this was in place in the 90s I think a lot of banks would've imploded. It's quite a restriction.

Realtors® Pledge Assistance for Obama Guidelines on Foreclosure Fixes

2009-03-13T09:30:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON, March 04, 2009
Mary Trupo 202/383-1007 mtrupo@realtors.org

The following is a statement by National Association of Realtors® President Charles McMillan:

“NAR’s 1.2 million members are eager to help make President Obama’s Making Home Affordable plan a reality. We are pleased that the president released the guidelines today for refinancing and mortgage loan modifications and that the guidelines will be implemented immediately to help struggling homeowners as well as millions of eligible homeowners who have stayed current in their mortgage payments.

“Housing stabilization must be the key component of any federal recovery plan. Helping families keep their homes is critical to this effort and for the health of our economy and communities across the country.

“NAR has long called for a multipronged approach to address the housing and economic crisis. Allowing eligible homeowners to refinance or modify their loans will help millions of families avoid foreclosure. This in turn will support the housing recovery by slowing the growth in inventory due to foreclosures. Lowering unsold inventory will help stabilize home prices and values. We believe that the incentives the loan modification plan offers to borrowers and loan servicers will encourage additional loan modifications, reducing the default rate.

“Moving forward, we must not only work to prevent foreclosures, but also bring financially healthy home buyers to the market to further reduce unsold inventory. Toward this end, we hope that the president and his administration will continue to look for new and creative approaches that will lower interest rates for all homeowners and buyers.”

Review the Plan's Guidelines

For more detailed information on the Making Home Affordable plan, visit www.financialstability.gov.

Tampa Bay Business Journal

2009-03-04T07:35:00.000-08:00

John Williams March 3, 2009 4:48PM EST

Mandy, let's get it straight. It wasn't 8 yrs. of Bush policies that lead to this mess. It mostly started with President Clinton.While President Carter in 1977 signed the Community Reinvestment Act, which pushed Fannie and Freddie to aggressively lend to minority communities, it was Clinton who supercharged the process.

After entering office in 1993, he extensively rewrote Fannie's and Freddie's rules.In so doing, he turned the two quasi-private, mortgage-funding firms into a semi-nationalized monopoly that dispensed cash to markets, made loans to large Democratic voting blocs and handed favors, jobs and money to political allies. This potent mix led inevitably to corruption and the Fannie-Freddie collapse.Despite warnings of trouble at Fannie and Freddie, in 1994 Clinton unveiled his National Homeownership Strategy, which broadened the CRA in ways Congress never intended.

Addressing the National Association of Realtors that year, Clinton bluntly told the group that "more Americans should own their own homes." He meant it.Clinton saw homeownership as a way to open the door for blacks and other minorities to enter the middle class.Though well-intended, the problem was that Congress was about to change hands, from the Democrats to the Republicans. Rather than submit legislation that the GOP-led Congress was almost sure to reject, Clinton ordered Robert Rubin's Treasury Department to rewrite the rules in 1995.The rewrite, as City Journal noted back in 2000, "made getting a satisfactory CRA rating harder."

Banks were given strict new numerical quotas and measures for the level of "diversity" in their loan portfolios. Getting a good CRA rating was key for a bank that wanted to expand or merge with another.Loans started being made on the basis of race, and often little else."Bank examiners would use federal home-loan data, broken down by neighborhood, income group and race, to rate banks on performance," wrote Howard Husock, a scholar at the Manhattan Institute.But those rules weren't enough.Clinton got the Department of Housing and Urban Development to double-team the issue. That would later prove disastrous.Clinton's HUD secretary, Andrew Cuomo, "made a series of decisions between 1997 and 2001 that gave birth to the country's current crisis," the liberal Village Voice noted.

Among those decisions were changes that let Fannie and Freddie get into subprime loan markets in a big way.Other rule changes gave Fannie and Freddie extraordinary leverage, allowing them to hold just 2.5% of capital to back their investments, vs. 10% for banks.Since they could borrow at lower rates than banks due to implicit government guarantees for their debt, the government-sponsored enterprises boomed.With incentives in place, banks poured billions of dollars of loans into poor communities, often "no doc" and "no income" loans that required no money down and no verification of income.By 2007, Fannie and Freddie owned or guaranteed nearly half of the $12 trillion U.S. mortgage market — a staggering exposure.Worse still was the cronyism.Fannie and Freddie became home to out-of-work politicians, mostly Clinton Democrats.

An informal survey of their top officials shows a roughly 2-to-1 dominance of Democrats over Republicans. Then there were the campaign donations. From 1989 to 2008, some 384 politicians got their tip jars filled by Fannie and Freddie.Over that time, the two GSEs spent $200 million on lobbying and political activities. Their charitable foundations dropped millions more on think tanks and radical community groups.Did it work? Well, if measured by the goal of putting more poor people into homes, the answer would have to be yes. From 1995 to 2005, a Harvard study shows, minorities made up 49% of the 12.5 million new homeowners.

The problem is that many of those loans have now gone bad, and minority homeownership rates are shrinking fast. Fannie and Freddie, with their massive loan portfolios stuffed with securitized mortgage-backed paper created from subprime loans, are a failed legacy of the Clinton era.Thus the collapse of the economy.Now it is "fare economic politics" running the economy besides intelligent economics.

5 Texans Buried in Reefs

2009-02-27T07:13:00.000-08:00

On Monday, November 8th, five Texans will be buried at sea in Eternal Reefs artificial reef balls off the coast of South Padre Island, Texas. This will mark the second memorial reef burial at the Port Isabel reef site.

Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) October 26, 2004 -- Families will attend the viewing and reef placement ceremonies for Austin and Houston, Texas natives Nene Sims, Glenn Rowe Pollard, Charles Pratt, Iris Schaa and Lola Kate Van Cleave.

Eternal Reefs is the only company in the United States to offer underwater burial at sea in artificial reef balls. For families and individuals that choose cremation rather than burial, Eternal Reefs offers a new memorial option that replaces cremation urns and ash scattering with a permanent environmental living legacy.

As reef systems have declined from natural disasters, Eternal Reefs will supply South Padre with memorial reef balls to develop local environmental ecosystems. Healthy coral reef systems are vital to both fishing and scuba enthusiasts, providing a fundamental undersea habitat that attracts diverse marine life. Establishing new reefs is a tool that is used to take the pressure off the natural reef systems and help repair the damage that has been done by mankind. As a fishing and diving reef site, South Padre will provide a nurturing environment for fish and other forms of sea life that are critical to the environment.

An astonishing 45 percent of families that have chosen cremation still have the remains at home sitting on a shelf or in a closet. An Eternal Reef is a permanent memorial option that takes the remains and creates new life in the form of reef habitat for fish, turtles and other forms of sea life. Cremation is growing dramatically in the United States, and by 2010, the procedure may be included in 40 percent of funerals, according to the Cremation Association of North America.

About Eternal Reefs Inc.
Eternal Reefs, Inc is an Atlanta-based company that provides creative environmentally enhancing means to memorialize the cremated remains of a loved one. The company incorporates cremated remains into a concrete mixture used to cast artificial reef formations. The artificial reefs are dedicated as permanent memorials while also bolstering natural coastal reef formations. Contact Eternal Reefs Inc. at: http://www.eternalreefs.com/

FIVE TEXAS CITIES NAMED HEALTHIEST HOUSING MARKETS

2009-02-23T07:05:00.000-08:00

TEXAS (Builder) – Five Texas cities swept the top spots on Builder magazine’s list of “Healthiest Housing Markets for 2009.”

Houston ranked first, Austin second, Fort Worth third, San Antonio fourth and Dallas fifth.

Rounding out the top ten were Raleigh, N.C., Seattle, Indianapolis, Ind., Fayetteville, Ark., and Washington D.C.

To compile the list, Builder analyzed the top 75 housing markets in the country, ranking them based on population trends and job growth, perennial drivers of housing demand. They also looked at home prices and the number of building permits.

TEXAS NATION'S TOP EXPORTER

2009-02-14T08:06:00.000-08:00

AUSTIN (Dallas Business Journal) – Mere days after being named tops in job growth by bizjournals.com, Texas has been declared the nation’s top exporter by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

According to Governor Rick Perry’s office, Texas exports totaled $192.14 billion last year, about $23.92 billion more than the year before.

The top five recipients of those exports were Mexico, Canada, China, the Netherlands and Brazil.

This marks the seventh year in a row in which Texas has ranked first.

CBS Morning News: Number Of Homes Under Contract Rose More Than 6 Percent Last Month

2009-02-06T08:02:00.000-08:00

02/04/2009

America's Realtors reported that the number of homes under contract rose more than 6 percent last month.

VIEW CLIP

CBS Morning News: Claire Leka

TARP recipients paid $114M to lobby lawmakers

2009-02-06T08:01:00.000-08:00

Jacksonville Business Journal - by Tierney Plumb

Recipients of the $700 billion federal bailout package in the finance and auto sectors may view their contributions and lobbying as the smartest investments made in years, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

More than half of the 300 companies helped by the federal government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) have dished out $114.2 million for politicking, with $77 million spent on lobbying last year and $37 million spent on federal campaign contributions for the 2008 election.

Those political activities have, in part, yielded the companies $305.2 billion from TARP, or a massive return of 267,208 percent.

“Even in the best economic times, you won’t find an investment with a greater payoff than what these companies have been getting,” said Sheila Krumholz, the center’s executive director, in a statement.

The top three bailout recipients also spent big on campaigns and lobbying, according to the D.C.-based nonprofit.

Bank of America, combined with Merrill Lynch, spent $14.5 million and got $55 billion from the bailout. General Motors spent $15 million and got $10.4 billion, and American International Group spent $10.6 million and was paid out $40 billion.

Of all companies that have been helped by TARP, 25 paid lobbyists $76.7 million to represent them on Capitol Hill last year.

They spent the most during the third quarter of last year, dishing out $20.4 million on lobbying.

“Taxpayers hope their money is being allocated entirely on the merits, but with Congress controlling how much money the Treasury gets to hand out, it will be impossible to completely exclude politics from this process,” said Krumholz, in a statement.

Some of the top recipients of contributions from TARP beneficiaries are members of Congress who chair committees that regulate the financial sector and oversee how well the bailout program works.

In total, members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Senate Finance Committee and House Financial Services Committee received $5.2 million from TARP recipients in the 2007 to 2008 election cycle. President Barack Obama collected at least $4.3 million from employees at those companies for his campaign, said the center.

TEXAS HOME PRICES AT LEAST RISK

2009-01-27T06:29:00.000-08:00

WALNUT CREEK, CA (PMI Group) – Amidst a nation of MSAs hosting tumbling home prices, the Lone Star State’s own metropolitan areas have held tight to their home values, with only five of 26 MSAs seeing price declines in a 12-month period ending in September.

According to PMI Group’s Winter 2009 Risk Index, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio were the least likely large MSAs in the country during third quarter 2008 to experience lower home prices in the next two years. Each had a risk index of less than one.

Austin ranked as the 12th least likely metropolitan area to experience home price depreciation, with a 3.1 risk index, up from 2.3 in second quarter 2008.

Overall, Texas MSAs averaged a 2.8 percent increase in home prices between September 2007 and the same month in 2008.

Four of Texas’ MSAs claimed spots in PMI Group’s list of top ten annual house price appreciation rates. Sherman-Denison had an appreciation rate of 8.56; Victoria, 8.34; Odessa, 7.98; and College Station–Bryan, 6.71.

PMI’s U.S. Market Risk Index uses economic, housing and mortgage market factors (including home price appreciation, employment, affordability, excess housing supply, interest rates and foreclosure activity) to determine the probability of lower home prices in the future.

For the full study, including more rankings for Texas MSAs, see PMI Group’s Risk Index.

ECONOMIST PREDICTS STRONG TEXAS HOUSING MARKET IN 2009

2009-01-19T08:06:00.001-08:00

BEAUMONT (Beaumont Enterprise) – Despite the negative news surrounding the real estate industry, now continues to be a great time to buy a home in Texas, said Dr. Mark Dotzour yesterday, speaking before the Beaumont Board of Realtors.

Dotzour, the chief economist for the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, said the states’s housing market should thrive in 2009 thanks to affordable housing and steady job growth.

However, he also told the group to expect a decline in new home construction this year, partly because more new homes could inflate the market, causing existing home values to decline.

Although the latest report from California-based foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac showed an 81 percent increase in the number of homeowners facing foreclosure last year, Dotzour said he does not expect foreclosures to become an issue in Texas.

“Our home prices have been going up," he said, "and when your house is going up, you'd rather sell it then give it back to the bank."

MORTGAGE APPLICATIONS MORE THAN DOUBLE

2008-12-05T13:38:00.000-08:00

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) – Mortgage applications more than doubled last week as government bailouts led to sinking interest rates that made refinancing especially attractive, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported this week.

The Market Composite Index — the organization's measure of mortgage loan application volume — surged 112.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the week earlier.

On an unadjusted basis, the index increased 51.4 percent from the previous week, down 21.9 percent from a year earlier. Results included an adjustment to account for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Rates plummeted following the Fed's announcement that it would buy debt and mortgage-backed securities from mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 5.47 percent this week, down from 5.99 percent last week.

Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 5.13 percent from 5.78 percent.

The report's Refinance Index increased 203.3 percent to 3802.8 from the previous week, and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 37.4 percent.

Subsea 7 Engineering and Construction Company Plans to Build a New Pipe Fabrication ‘Spoolbase’ in Port Isabel, Texas

2008-11-28T10:22:00.000-08:00

Subsea 7 Engineering and Construction Company plans to build a new pipe fabrication ‘spoolbase’ in Port Isabel, Texas. Port Isabel was selected for a deepwater port in southeast Texas, close to the Mexican border to build a pipe assembly plant on a 58-acre site at the Port Isabel–San Benito Navigation District’s turning basin.

Subsea 7 signed a 25-year lease with the Port Isabel Logistical Offshore Terminal, a business aimed at attracting industry suppliers to the area.

The $32 million plant will help attract offshore oil and gas industry suppliers to the area, and it is expected to create about 100 welding and heavy equipment operation jobs.

The spoolbase will deliver the company's North and Central America region requirements for pipe fabrication, supporting Subsea 7's construction vessels. The facility will produce pipe stalks of up to 16 inches (40 cm) in diameter and 1.2 kilometers (0.7 miles) in length for spooling onto reeled pipelay vessels.

The new base will also be able to weld steel material for the onshore fabrication of offshore oil and gas pipelines and complete the manufacture of double joints, plastic lined pipelines, pipe-in-pipe and steel catenary risers.

Bill Boyle, vice president for the Subsea 7's North and Central America region said the spoolbase was a "key milestone" in the company's objective to expand its business in the U.S., Mexican and Gulf of Mexico markets. The company will begin shipping in mid 2009.

These new jobs and the new suppliers the plant will attract should provide a healthy economic boost for the area and increase demand for housing. This new demand should increase the value of property values.

Subsea 7 is one of the world's leading subsea engineering and construction companies. Subsea 7 is the result of mergers between DSND, Halliburton Subsea, Subsea Offshore and Rockwater. The company has five main divisions:

1. Subsea field development
2. ROV support to Drill Rig Operations
3. Inspection, Repair and Maintenance;
4. Survey and Positioning
5. Development and Application of Subsea Technology

Subsea 7 carries out its Subsea field development business in all the major offshore oil & gas markets globally.

• Operations are supported out of the North Sea, Africa, Brazil, Gulf of Mexico and Asia Pacific
• They install infield rigid and flexible pipelines up to 16" diameter, riser systems and umbilicals connecting production facilities on the seabed to fixed or floating platforms. They provide a full range of complementary design, fabrication and installation services for related subsea hardware in order to offer a total subsea field development package. They service deep and emerging deepwater projects with a modern fleet of pipelay, construction, survey and multi-purpose support vessels.

Onshore, our global operations include an extensive infrastructure of pipeline spoolbases and fabrication yards. The newest spoolbase is currently being developed at Port Isabel in the Gulf of Mexico. These strategically-positioned assets, in conjunction with a network of local partners, are central to their objective of developing strong and sustainable regional businesses.

Sir John Marks Templeton- Requiescat in pace

2008-11-19T07:28:00.000-08:00

Economic systems based on atheism have failed. Religion teaches the infinite worth of each individual.

Religion causes each individual to want to serve others. An increasing part of God's ongoing creative process is to encourage each individual to be purposeful and creative. The free market system removes limitations and thereby encourages amazing and increasingly varied forms of creativity. Religion teaches love and brotherhood and truth and diligence which tend to cause accelerating creativity and productivity.

Fortunes built on force or on inheritance can be harmful; but fortunes built on superior service are beneficial to rich and poor alike.

Sir John Marks Templeton
Requiescat in pace

Banks say they're using bailout money for loans

2008-11-13T11:53:00.000-08:00

By JOHN DUNBAR, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – Some of the nation's largest banks sharing in the $700 billion government bailout of the financial industry tried to assure lawmakers Thursday they are using the money to make more loans and help financially strapped homeowners avoid foreclosure.

Barry L. Zubrow, chief risk officer with JP Morgan Chase, told the Senate Banking Committee that a portion of the $25 billion capital infusion it received from the Treasury Department was being deployed to "expand the flow of credit" and to assist with rewriting residential mortgages for up to 400,000 families.

Zubrow and executives with Goldman Sachs Inc., Bank of America and Wells Fargo & Co. told the committee that that none of the $85 billion they have received collectively from the government is being used to pay salaries or bonuses.

"The committee has asked whether (bailout) funds would be spent on executive compensation," said Jon Campbell, regional banking president for Wells Fargo & Co. in his testimony. "The answer is no. Wells Fargo doesn't need the government investment to pay for bonuses or compensation."

Despite the reassuring words, lawmakers pressed hard for commitments to more lending.

"Let me say as clearly as I can," said committee chairman Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn. "Hoarding capital and acquiring healthy banks are not — I repeat are not — reasons why Congress authorized $700 billion in emergency funding."

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said he and other lawmakers are looking at requiring banks to make more loans as a condition for taking part in the $350 billion second half of the bailout. "Any new capital injections must come with tougher requirements," he said.

Treasury has already loaned out or committed $290 billion of the first half. Democrats are working on a bill they hope to pass next week that would devote another $25 billion to the beleaguered auto industry, with the specific intent of helping General Motors Corp. avoid bankruptcy.

Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., said he was alarmed by reports of continued generous compensation packages and benefits for executives of companies getting bailout funds, as well as dividend bailouts to stockholders equal to more than half the bailout money they are getting.

"The intent of the bailout was to stabilize troubled financial institutions and help those businesses and individuals and Main Street affected by the credit freeze," said Johnson. "Those making the decisions on how to spend the $700 billion, and those receiving the funds, must remember this intended use.

Congress can block release of the second $350 billion. It can also rewrite the law to put new conditions on its use.

DOWN BUT NOT OUT IN TEXAS

2008-11-04T15:47:00.000-08:00

TEXAS (San Antonio Business Journal) – Annualized sales for commercial properties in Texas at the end of August 2008 showed a considerable drop from actual sales reported during the same period last year, according to a recent report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

The report showed $14 billion in annualized sales as of the end of August 2008, compared with $31.6 billion in actual sales a year earlier.

The investment falloff in Texas has been felt in all types of commercial real estate, and the authors of the report said national economic woes will continue to weigh on investment activity.

However, they predict that the factors that brought investment money to the Lone Star State in the first place will bring investors back once the economy rebounds.

The National Association of Realtors® Challenges Lawmakers

2008-11-04T14:04:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON, October 31, 2008

The National Association of Realtors® has stepped up its challenge to lawmakers encouraging them to take new, decisive actions to address the continuing problems in the housing industry, as well as the ongoing economic crisis.

“Our members see firsthand the impact that an unstable housing market is having on communities all across this great country,” said Richard F. Gaylord, NAR president. “The U.S. Treasury and Congress need to work together to ensure that the American people – not Wall Street and large banks – benefit from the economic recovery plan.”

NAR sent a letter last week to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson calling on him to refocus the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s efforts on restoring strength to the mortgage-backed securities market, which would help lower mortgage rates for all home buyers and for those who need to refinance.

NAR today provided an economic analysis demonstrating that a reduction, or a buydown, of interest rates by just 1 percentage point could result in up to 840,000 additional home sales and reduce the inventory of homes by as much as 20 percent. Inventories currently at 9.9 months’ supply would decrease to approximately a 7.5 month supply.

“These changes would help stabilize home values and the housing industry,” Gaylord said. “The Treasury Department has gotten off track by focusing too much attention and stimulus money on Wall Street and banks that are in turn using the money for mergers and acquisitions. The administration needs to get back to the original intent of the plan – stabilizing the mortgage and housing markets – to help families avoid foreclosure. Home price stabilization would bring clarity to the valuations of mortgage-backed securities, removing uncertainty in the financial markets and positively affecting the overall U.S. economy.”

Realogy President and CEO Richard A. Smith said that substantially lower mortgage rates would stimulate both existing- and new-home sales. “When home sales increase, housing-related consumer purchasing follows, and we would expect this to help lead our economy to a recovery,” he said. Both NAR and Realogy have called on the federal government to take corrective actions that will result in lower mortgage rates.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair has presented some ideas aimed at helping millions of homeowners by guaranteeing their mortgages. “NAR would support this effort,” said Gaylord. “The government must focus on protecting homeowners and making the dream of homeownership once again attainable. This would help stabilize the housing market and strengthen the national economy.”

Toward this end, NAR submitted a stimulus plan to Congress and the administration earlier this month, calling on Congress to enact a new housing stimulus package that would help boost the economy. The plan includes consumer-driven provisions that would eliminate repayment of the first-time home buyer tax credit and expand the credit to all home buyers, make the increased mortgage loan limits permanent, and focus the economic stabilization efforts on supporting the housing and mortgage markets instead of providing capital to banks with no strings attached.

Reducing the interest rate, combined with removing the home buyer tax credit repayment, would result in an additional 10 percent reduction in inventory, down to a 6.5-month supply, and would produce modest home price gains of 2 to 4 percent. Such price gains would provide up to $760 billion in housing equity recovery for the nation’s 75 million homeowners.

“There is no question – there cannot be an economic recovery without a stabilized housing market. Congress and the new administration need to act immediately to help America’s families protect their homes, savings and futures,” Gaylord said.

Texas’ real estate markets healthier than most

2008-11-04T14:02:00.000-08:00

Texas home prices holding steady

The good news for Texas homesellers is that prices are holding. That’s in stark contrast to what’s happening in other parts of the country. Texas’ real estate markets never caught the housing bust bug that spread like the flu across most of the United States. “Getting back to normal” is how many real estate people describe today’s Texas market. The Real Estate Center agrees with that diagnosis.

Compared to other markets across the country, Texas is still sitting pretty in many ways. By comparison, there are entire condo buildings in Miami that are empty – with not a single unit sold – and single-family homes in various phases of construction across Florida and Arizona, all shells waiting to be completed.

We’re not seeing that in Texas, nor do forecasters expect to see that degree of downturn. That’s because, according to Jim Gaines, Ph.D., research economist for the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M, we’ve got a lot of positive economic factors going for us, including affordability, reasonable cost of living, low overall cost of doing business, ample employment opportunities, and – the reason why a lot of us are Texans – a great lifestyle. Jim Gaines, Ph.D., keeps his finger on the pulse of the state’s major housing markets. If one market misses a beat, he knows it.

“Events and circumstances point toward a Texas-sized boom between now and 2030,” says Gaines. “The state’s population and economy – as well as its housing and commercial real estate markets – are poised to explode in volume and prices. Job growth is expected to be stimulated by overall U.S. economic growth and enhanced by Texas’ employment-friendly characteristics.”

Austin’s Dugg Tankersley echoes the positive outlook of many experts, putting the current Texas real estate market in perspective. “We’ve been doing 90 miles per hour for so long,” he says. “Now we’re at 65 miles per hour, but that’s still pretty fast.”

-David S. Jones
David S. Jones is communications director and senior editor with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University

Burning Down The House: What Caused Our Economic Crisis?

2008-10-07T10:06:00.000-07:00

This video is 10 minutes, but it is 10 minutes of usable material. I believe that all claims here can be easily validated, although some would not want us to do that. Don't stop before the end even if you think you've seen everything, it keeps going right up to the end and it has some valid points worth mentioning.

We hear Biden and Obama saying that the McCain regime would be 'more of the same' as far as the financial world and mortgage bail out crisis is concerned. It is nice to understand the genesis of an ideal and then to see who ends up with the 'end game' dumped in their laps. Hope you enjoy.

Burning Down The House: What Caused Our Economic Crisis?

TEXAS METROS ARE TOP PERFORMERS

2008-09-23T07:41:00.001-07:00

SANTA MONICA, CA (Milken Institute) – Texas made a strong showing in "America’s Best-Performing Cities," the Milken Institute’s annual ranking of metros based on economic growth.

Although Provo-Orem, Utah, came out the winner among the 200 large metros that were studied, six major Texas metros made the top 25. Austin–Round Rock was ranked fourth, McAllen-Edinburg-Mission seventh, Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood 13th, San Antonio 15th, Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown 16th and Dallas-Plano-Irving 23rd.

Within the small metros division, which included 124 areas, Texas dominated. Midland ranked first in the nation. Longview and Odessa came in at seventh and tenth, respectively. At 37th, El Paso showed the biggest gain among small metros, jumping 85 spots from its 2007 position.

DOTZOUR: STEP ONE, RECHARTER FRANNIE

2008-09-16T15:42:00.000-07:00

COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – As long as the federal government continues to indicate they are willing to redraw the promises contained in mortgage loans, investors will be wary of buying more mortgage bonds. Hence the interest rates on mortgages will stay higher than normal. That's how the Real Estate Center's Chief Economist Dr. Mark Dotzour sees the recent government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

"Fannie and Freddie were doing a great job of providing low cost mortgages to a large majority of American families for three decades of the 20th Centrury. Somewhere in recent years, they lost track of their mission and morphed into the largest mortgage bond speculators on the planet," said Dotzour. "They did this by veering away from their mission of 'packaging mortgages' into the risky waters of keeping mortgages and hoping they hold their value. That bet has completely failed, and now they become a part of the problem and not a part of the solution to the housing market."

Dotzour outlines what he thinks should be done.

BACK TO ORIGINAL PURPOSE

"First, they (Fannie and Freddie) should be re-chartered to their original purpose of serving as a conduit for mortgages. They shouldn’t be in the business of holding mortgages as investments.

"Second, the government should monitor the spread between FRANNIE mortgage rates and the ten-year treasury rate. Mortgage rates should be about 1.6 percent higher than the current ten-year Treasury. This means that 30-year mortgages should be about 5.1 percent today."

GLOBAL SKEPTICISM REDUCED

Dotzour says there are several reasons why mortgage rates are not down to around 5 to 5.25 percent already.
"First, mortgage bond investors have been very skeptical about the truthfulness of the quarterly earnings reports of FRANNIE for years. Now that they have been temporarily nationalized, this global skepticism should be greatly reduced."

"Second, members of Congress have been suggesting this year that the interest rates on troubled mortgages should be ‘frozen’ so that the homeowners are not hit with interest rate ‘resets’ that make their payments higher."

"This sounds great for homeowners that bought more house than they could afford, but it sounds terrible if you are a bond investor. When the federal government suggests interest rate freezes, this is like the government just took away part of your private property. You were expecting to get 2 percent interest for two years and then 6 percent interest on your bond and then the federal government threatens to freeze the rate at 2 percent indefinitely. Consequently, you won’t buy any more of those bonds when there is a threat that the contractual promise in the underlying mortgage could be abrogated."

CRAMMING DOWN HOME VALUE

Dotzour says the new housing law signed by the President recently allows certain existing mortgages to be “crammed down” to 90 percent of the current value of the home.

"This sounds great for homeowners as well. Say you bought a $500,000 house with a $500,000 mortgage. Today it’s worth $400,000 and the Federal Reserve and Congress both encourage banks to lower the principal amount to 90 percent of the current value. So the loan is reduced from $500,000 to $360,000.

"Who will want to buy any more U.S. mortgage securities when the government is willing to wipe away value of your investments with a stroke of the pen?" asks Dotzour.

Not in Texas...

2008-08-08T00:00:00.000-07:00

WACHOVIA'S $9 BILLION LOSS
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) – Wachovia Corp. has posted an $8.9 billion loss for its second quarter.

Wachovia's quarterly report followed those of peers Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo, all of whom reported hefty losses or declines in profit.

Excluding a one-time, $6.1 billion charge related to "declining market valuations," the North Carolina–based bank said it lost $2.67 billion, or $1.27 per share.

It was the second consecutive quarterly loss for Wachovia, marking the first time the bank reported back-to-back losses in 20 years.

**We're just a tiny, word of mouth resort Island, in the U.S., on the the same parallel as Miami, with GREAT real estate investment opprountities, for the contrarian Investor.**

-Roman

Texas Rocks!!!

2008-08-07T23:54:00.000-07:00

EMPLOYMENT NEWS STILL POSITIVE
COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – The Texas economy continues to create more jobs albeit at decreasing rates while the nation’s labor market is losing jobs. Texas nonfarm employment rose 2.3 percent from June 2007 to June 2008 compared with a 0.1 percent decrease for the United States.

The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose from 4.3 percent in June 2007 to 4.4 percent in June 2008.

Driven by higher oil prices, the state’s mining industry ranked first in job creation, followed by professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, construction, and education and health services industry.

All Texas metros experienced positive employment growth rates from June 2007 to June 2008. Smaller metro areas posted the highest employment growth rates. Longview ranked first in job creation followed by McAllen-Edinburgh-Mission, Odessa, College Station–Bryan, and Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood.

The state’s actual unemployment rate in June 2008 was 4.8 percent. Midland had the lowest unemployment rate, followed by Amarillo, Odessa, Abilene, San Angelo and Victoria.
The complete economic review is available on the Real Estate Center's website.

Have you Heard how Great Texas is Doing?

2008-07-18T10:29:00.000-07:00

With the national media focusing heavily on the negative markets highlighted by States such as California, Nevada and Florida, very little attention is being paid to the markets that are thriving and continuing to grow.With recently released data, it is evident that the Texas real estate market is not only thriving, but poised for considerable growth."Texas - Poised for a 21st Century Boom""So far, skyrocketing home prices common to fast-growing states like California and Florida have not occurred in Texas." says Dr. Jim Gaines, research economist for the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.

Gaines says housing affordability is just one card in a deck stacked in the state's favor. The other winning cards include lower cost of living, cost of business, greater employment opportunities and an appealing lifestyle. "Events and circumstances point toward a Texas-sized boom between 2005 and 2030", Gaines writes in the latest issue of Tierra Grande magazine, a periodical sent to all the state's real estate licensees."The state's population and economy -- as well as its housing and commercial real estate markets -- are poised to explode in volume and prices. Texas leads the nation in job creation. If Texas maintains its average employment-to-population ratio as expected during the next 25 years, the state will add another 4.5 to 5.8 million jobs", says Gaines. "Job growth is expected to be stimulated by overall U.S. economic growth and enhanced by Texas' employment-friendly characteristics. Texas is the most housing-affordable, high-growth state in the nation."

Accordingly, he presented the following data for what Texas currently has going for it:

• Population and economic growth
• Low cost, affordable labor
• Pro growth attitude
• Migration into state from elsewhere
• Attractive retirement areas
• Pressure on infrastructure, government sources, public finances
• Most affordable state for land, housing and overall cost of living

The Current Texas Real Estate MarketConsider the following...

• 4 major Texas cities were recently included in the Forbes Top 10 recession proof cities. These included San Antonio at #2, Austin at #3, Houston at #7 and Dallas at #10.

• Unemployment rates for all 4 cities have fallen across the state and job growth has increased in many cities (Austin, Dallas and Houston all showed an increase)

• Almost all Texas counties showed no decrease in house price. The majority of Texas counties showed an increase of up to 5%!

In conclusion, the Texas market is not feeling the effects to the extent the rest of the nation. While we are not in the boom market we were two years ago, it is evident that the Texas real estate market is healthy and growing. Population growth has tremendous bearing on the health of a real estate market and the projections for population increase in Texas are quite exciting. To quote Dr. Gaines "we are the most affordable State in the US. Texas housing is a bargain... land sales are going up... commercial rents continue to go up... You draw the conclusion as to how the real estate market is in Texas, and what potential it holds".

We look forward to working with you! -Roman

Zachry, ACS Awarded TRANS-TEXAS CORRIDOR Contract

2008-07-07T18:10:00.000-07:00

AUSTIN (Austin Business Journal) – Zachry American Infrastructure and ACS Infrastructure have been selected by the Texas Transportation Commission to plan, develop, build and operate the I-69 corridor, one of two highways being considered for the Trans-Texas Corridor.
The Trans-Texas Corridor is a proposed multi-use network of transportation routes in Texas that will incorporate existing and new highways, railways, utility rights of way and toll roads.

Cameron County - The Sleeping Tourism Giant

2008-07-04T04:38:00.000-07:00

On February 12, 1848 the Texas legislature decreed the existence of Cameron County, with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgoqv, on July 4, 1848 the area officially became part of the United States.

Cameron County, was named for Scottish born, Captain Ewen Cameron, who was executed by order of Santa Anna, on April 25, 1843, at age 32, in Huehuetoca, Mexico, one month after surviving the "Black Bean Episode".

While there are many stories to tell between 1848 and the present, I will leave those to historians and later musings on this blog.

In the last 2 decades, since Texas started its diversification from an oil based economy to its present state, the border towns of El Paso, McAllen and Laredo have experienced phenomenal growth, while Cameron County slumbers, with 1 eye open.

Yes, there are some new restaurants, stores and a few roads, but nothing compared to the rest of Texas.

Cameron County is the only county in the continental U.S. that has a coastline and a warm year round climate, outside of southern Florida. There are 31.5 miles of sub-tropical coastline and an Island Resort Community in the Gulf of Mexico, a fishing/boating community with miles of deep water frontage (unique between Houston & the Yucatan Peninsula), a deep water shipping port, 3 airports, 4 international bridge crossings, 1 University, Union Pacific & Rio Grande Intl. Railroad service and more less notable infrastructure to be sure.

While on the recreational front we boast the best shallow water flats and deep sea fishing in Texas, the best surfing in the Gulf of Mexico, one of the best windsurfing & kite boarding spots in North America, home to over 300 butterfly species, where 2 major avian migratory paths cross (almost 400 bird species) and the friendliest county in Texas to live in..., so what's next?

Anything is possible:

UTB becoming a center for biotech, medical, nano, reusable energy & tourism studies?
A year round tourism economy on the southern tip of Padre Island (the longest barrier island, on planet Earth) that benefits the entire area?
A Tourism Destination Project, i.e. Disney, Six Flags, Cesar's/Venetians?
More domestic non-stop flights: Chicago, Denver, St. Louis, Kansas City, OK City, etc.
International tourism? Non-Stop flights from Monterrey, Mx, Toronto & Calgary?
Bring Whole Foods and H.E.B.'s Central Market to Brownsville?
World class health care & activity centers for our seniors? (They deserve it!)
World class (Landmark/PGA) golf course communities?
MLB Spring training camps?
Upgrading the Port of Brownsville to a container shipping port?
Three thriving airports, each with its own strengths?
A 50,000 person capacity event center/coliseum for performing arts, concerts, sports, etc.
An international cruise ship terminal with Carnival, Princess, Norwegian, etc.
A Performing Arts & Music Center
Museum of Arts
Museum of Natural History
Enhance our existing facilities/attributes:
Sabal Palm Grove Sanctuary
Gladys Porter Zoo
Isla Blanca Park - Hotel, Marina, Aquarium, IMAX Theater, enhanced beach with lifeguards , 24-hour clinic, expanded parking, new Surf City Jetties Restaurant & Museum
Palmetto Battlefield
Palo Alto Battlefield
El Jardin Hotel

Let us designate what we want to save and preserve and then master plan the rest.

The next 20 years will be easier, more profitable and pleasant for all, when we have charted our course.

By the way, Happy Birthday Cameron County, you've come a long way in 160 years.

Roman C. Esparza

Casino Gaming & South Padre Island

2008-06-24T22:48:00.000-07:00

This is an article from last summer, the Senate Joint Resolution #8 will come up again in the next legislative session in Jan. 2009. I will be posting more on the Casino Gaming bill, later.

Texas Casino Gambling Vote Stopped by Religious Conservatives
In the Texas state legislature, the religious right members have again stopped the voters from going to the polls to decide whether to allow casino gambling within the state. Fearing that such an initiative would be overwhelmingly be approved by voters, those staunch religious right representatives blocked bills from coming out of committee to allow voters to register their opinions. Brian Branderson, a gambling analyst said, "Once again, we have a situation of supposedly god-fearing religious right lawmakers pushing their morals on everyone. This is a classic interruption of the separation of church and state, which is guaranteed by the United States constitution." A poll in Texas, taken earlier this year, showed that a vote by the people would have been a resounding “YES” to casino gambling. Texas' surrounding state neighbors, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Louisiana have a combined 133 casinos. According to Business Week, in 2005, Las Vegas brought in $7.5 billion; Atlantic City came in a close second with $5 billion, Louisiana with $2.2 billion and Mississippi with $2.8 billion. A study done in Texas estimates that if Texas allows casino gambling it would create 400,000 jobs and generate between $1 and $4.5 Billion in state and local revenue. Texans are disappointed with the legislators who are more and more inserting religious views held by them and powerful lobbying groups that want to regulate morality. In 2008, Texans can change this. Texans will need to come out in force during that election cycle and support candidates that not only support legalizing casinos, but also lend their support to those willing to allow mature adults to make their own choices and decide what moral path each wants to pursue. June 30, 2007Posted By Bob HartmanStaff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com

Southern Tip of Padre Island's 2nd Bridge?

2008-06-20T00:27:00.000-07:00

The next bridge to join the southern tip of Texas' barrier Island to the mainland is in it's second stage(Environmental stage). While the small local municipalities squabble and scratch at the locale of this historic connect, it is not a political football, much to their future dismay.

Economic factors will trump over political and personal agendas.

One-way streets and roadways do not spur economic progress as much as circular traffic patterns, so logic dictates a northern crossing of the upper Bahia Laguna Madre.

There is no need to reinvent the concept i.e., Tampa Bay, San Francisco Bay, Miami Beach (our most logical and nearest comparison) to see that Holley Beach to Access #4 or #6 is the best and most logical crossing.

The reasons why:

1. Our State and Federal government budgets are stretched and those funds could take 10-20 years, yet a private or public bond issue initiated by our RMA (Regional Mobility Authority) can make it happen within 7 years.

2. An "RMA" bond issue will not raise local taxes 1 cent and, yet fast track construction, but it will make the crossing a "Toll bridge" in order to pay back the bond.

3. The Queen Isabella Memorial Causeway needs relief now, she's 35 years old.

4. Port/Point Isabel & South Padre Island will always remain economically viable and continue to grow and prosper.

5. Why would anyone use/utilize a toll crossing, if there is a free bridge nearby?

Roman C. Esparza

Ocean Tower: Sinking or Settling? KVEO Video

2008-06-18T16:02:00.000-07:00

A muliti-million dollar condominium high rise building is settling and sinking on South Padre Island.

Construction is temporarily haulted at Ocean Tower condos, on the north end of South Padre Island and it's one of the tallest buildings in the Valley and this building delay on these 151 high priced, ocean view condos, is raising some concerns.

Construction crews are still on site at the luxurous Ocean Towers condos, but work has come to a hault. Late last week, Cameron county officials say, after inspecting they realized, this 31 story high skyscraper is slowly settling into the sand, more than it should be.

Column cracks in the parking garage structure concern former developers like, Fred Joseph, but real estate agents, who work closely with Ocean Tower developlers say, there isn't much to worry about. What apparently happened is the tower and parking garage were mistakenly built connected and say, tower is not leaning, but the parking garage structure did not settle. The connection of the garage to the tower caused cracks at the junction points because of the unsettling.

Still, residents sasy they hope construction continues, so profits won't be lost. Agents involved with the project tell us, developers hope to resolve the situation and resume construction by Monday. They say sinking is not un-heard of for buildings being built so close to the ocean.

WATCH THE KVEO NEWS VIDEO

NEWS RELEASE

2008-06-06T07:52:00.000-07:00

May 23rd, 2008
A recent reversal in mortgage policy means the market is better positioned for a turnaround, according to the National Association of Realtors®. NAR President Richard F. Gaylord, a broker with RE/MAX Real Estate Specialists in Long Beach, Calif., said the good news is that mortgage restrictions have just been eased. “In the past week, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae announced that they were eliminating their ‘declining market’ policies, effective June 1,” he said.

“This means consumers across the country will have access to safe, affordable financing with down payments of only 5 percent on most mortgages, with 100 percent financing available on some loan products, and we could see an upturn in home sales this summer.”

Summer season is underway on Texas' #1 beach destination!

2008-06-05T13:30:00.000-07:00

Our real estate market is very active as Buyers recognize the amazing deals to be found. Two of the most recent condos sold went for $132,000 & $140,000. These were 2B/2B condos in different complexes, just across the street from the beach.

$275,000 for a one bedroom beachfront condo, and a 3B/3B, brand new upgraded condo, half a block to the beach for under $250,000! The phrase “kid in a candy store” may just apply to investors as well looking for a great deal on the Island right now!

Our pre-construction development, Solarium & Sky Beach , is proving to be a hit already, due to its unique rooftop amenities & competitive pricing. Those reserving units at Solarium are buyers wanting to plan ahead for their piece of Island paradise, as completion is not until 2010. There are still plenty of available units so call us for a Reservation Agreement.

The good news is not all of the best deals have been snapped up yet, and this month’s Newsletter shows you our top picks for your best investment/vacation home, or an Island Lot close to the beach. These properties have been chosen from the MLS and not just our office listings, so you know you are getting the full spectrum.

So come on down, take a vacation, see for yourself the incredible real estate deals we have here on the Island. Book a condo or beach house rental with our sister company, Latitude 26, and experience first-hand our investment rental program.

Roman & Jane Esparza