1. Do what you love. Jobs once said, "People with passion can change the world for the better." Asked about the advice he would offer would-be entrepreneurs, he said, "I'd get a job as a busboy or something until I figured out what I was really passionate about." That's how much it meant to him. Passion is everything.
2. Put a dent in the universe. Jobs believed in the power of vision. He once asked then-Pepsi President, John Sculley, "Do you want to spend your life selling sugar water or do you want to change the world?" Don't lose sight of the big vision.
3. Make connections. Jobs once said creativity is connecting things. He meant that people with a broad set of life experiences can often see things that others miss. He took calligraphy classes that didn't have any practical use in his life -- until he built the Macintosh. Jobs traveled to India and Asia. He studied design and hospitality. Don't live in a bubble. Connect ideas from different fields.
4. Say no to 1,000 things. Jobs was as proud of what Apple chose not to do as he was of what Apple did. When he returned in Apple in 1997, he took a company with 350 products and reduced them to 10 products in a two-year period. Why? So he could put the "A-Team" on each product. What are you saying "no" to?
5. Create insanely different experiences. Jobs also sought innovation in the customer-service experience. When he first came up with the concept for the Apple Stores, he said they would be different because instead of just moving boxes, the stores would enrich lives. Everything about the experience you have when you walk into an Apple store is intended to enrich your life and to create an emotional connection between you and the Apple brand. What are you doing to enrich the lives of your customers?
6. Master the message. You can have the greatest idea in the world, but if you can't communicate your ideas, it doesn't matter. Jobs was the world's greatest corporate storyteller. Instead of simply delivering a presentation like most people do, he informed, he educated, he inspired and he entertained, all in one presentation.
7. Sell dreams, not products. Jobs captured our imagination because he really understood his customer. He knew that tablets would not capture our imaginations if they were too complicated. The result? One button on the front of an iPad. It's so simple, a 2-year-old can use it. Your customers don't care about your product. They care about themselves, their hopes, their ambitions. Jobs taught us that if you help your customers reach their dreams, you'll win them over.
There's one story that I think sums up Jobs' career at Apple. An executive who had the job of reinventing the Disney Store once called up Jobs and asked for advice. His counsel? Dream bigger. I think that's the best advice he could leave us with. See genius in your craziness, believe in yourself, believe in your vision, and be constantly prepared to defend those ideas.
Bargains Abound: What Are Buyers Waiting for?
With low home prices and ultra-low interest rates, the housing market is offering “perhaps the best deals of a generation,” notes a recent article by Bloomberg Businessweek.
Since the housing boom of 2006, home prices have fallen about 31 percent. Also, mortgage rates have been hovering at record lows for the past few weeks (4 percent range or even lower on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, according to Freddie Mac’s mortgage market survey).
“It’s hard to see the possibility of losing on a home purchase right now, with these mortgage rates,” says economist Dean Baker. “Prices may go lower, but not by much.”
The article notes the following scenario: Buying a $300,000 home with a 4 percent mortgage rate and a 20 percent down payment would mean a $1,145 monthly payment. The Mortgage Bankers Association recently predicted that home prices may fall another 3.5 percent by mid-2012 but mortgage rates will increase by a half-point. So for that same loan under that scenario, a home would sell for $289,000 while the monthly mortgage bill would be $1,171--only a $26 difference.
For those who can qualify for a mortgage, "playing the waiting game" won't result in much gain, Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS in Englewood, Colo., told Bloomberg Businessweek.
Source: “Crazy Home Deals Await the Creditworthy,” Bloomberg Businessweek (Oct. 24, 2011)
Since the housing boom of 2006, home prices have fallen about 31 percent. Also, mortgage rates have been hovering at record lows for the past few weeks (4 percent range or even lower on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, according to Freddie Mac’s mortgage market survey).
“It’s hard to see the possibility of losing on a home purchase right now, with these mortgage rates,” says economist Dean Baker. “Prices may go lower, but not by much.”
The article notes the following scenario: Buying a $300,000 home with a 4 percent mortgage rate and a 20 percent down payment would mean a $1,145 monthly payment. The Mortgage Bankers Association recently predicted that home prices may fall another 3.5 percent by mid-2012 but mortgage rates will increase by a half-point. So for that same loan under that scenario, a home would sell for $289,000 while the monthly mortgage bill would be $1,171--only a $26 difference.
For those who can qualify for a mortgage, "playing the waiting game" won't result in much gain, Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS in Englewood, Colo., told Bloomberg Businessweek.
Source: “Crazy Home Deals Await the Creditworthy,” Bloomberg Businessweek (Oct. 24, 2011)
Homeownership Rate Second-Highest on Record
The homeownership rate is at its second-highest level on record, only behind the record high set in 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, which began collecting home ownership data in 1890.
By region, the homeownership rate is: •Midwest: 69.2 percent•South: 66.7•Northeast: 62.2•West: 60.5Nearly every metro area had more home owners than renters in 2010. The metro areas with the highest homeownership rates were in Michigan and Florida. Monroe, Mich., had the highest percentage of owner-occupied units at 79.8 percent, followed by Punta Gorda, Fla., at 79.7 percent.
While the national homeownership rate remained high, the decrease in the rate from 2000 to 2010 by 1.1 percent — to 65.1 percent overall — is the largest decrease since the 1930 to 1940 period, the Census Bureau reported.
By region, the homeownership rate is: •Midwest: 69.2 percent•South: 66.7•Northeast: 62.2•West: 60.5Nearly every metro area had more home owners than renters in 2010. The metro areas with the highest homeownership rates were in Michigan and Florida. Monroe, Mich., had the highest percentage of owner-occupied units at 79.8 percent, followed by Punta Gorda, Fla., at 79.7 percent.
While the national homeownership rate remained high, the decrease in the rate from 2000 to 2010 by 1.1 percent — to 65.1 percent overall — is the largest decrease since the 1930 to 1940 period, the Census Bureau reported.
Investors See Bigger Profits From Rising Rents
Rental demand and prices continue to soar, and investors are cashing in. Rents are rising at a 5.17 percent annual rate — up from last year’s 4.72 percent rate. If rents continue to grow at their current pace, they won’t be too far behind the record-high reached in 2000 of 6.18 percent, according to Axiometrics Inc.
The rental market has added about 1.4 million new renters this year, some of whom were former home owners who faced foreclosure or a short sale. Renters are increasingly showing an appetite for single-family homes owned by investors.
As such, the number of investors in the market is growing. Investors make up anywhere between 20 and 40 percent of monthly existing home sales, according to home-sale data. With home prices and interest rates low, more aspiring investors are jumping in. Nearly 60 percent of investors in a recent survey by Realtor.com considered themselves newcomers to real estate investing.
“This is a long-term investment,” says Greg Rand, CEO of OwnAmerica. “Rents are a steady return on your investment through the years, leaving you with an attractive asset when prices improve. And they will. The best profits in real estate accrue to long-term investors who take a long-term view.”
Source: “Rising Rents Improve Investors’ Return,” RISMedia (Oct. 20, 2011)
The rental market has added about 1.4 million new renters this year, some of whom were former home owners who faced foreclosure or a short sale. Renters are increasingly showing an appetite for single-family homes owned by investors.
As such, the number of investors in the market is growing. Investors make up anywhere between 20 and 40 percent of monthly existing home sales, according to home-sale data. With home prices and interest rates low, more aspiring investors are jumping in. Nearly 60 percent of investors in a recent survey by Realtor.com considered themselves newcomers to real estate investing.
“This is a long-term investment,” says Greg Rand, CEO of OwnAmerica. “Rents are a steady return on your investment through the years, leaving you with an attractive asset when prices improve. And they will. The best profits in real estate accrue to long-term investors who take a long-term view.”
Source: “Rising Rents Improve Investors’ Return,” RISMedia (Oct. 20, 2011)
America’s Priciest ZIP Codes
The priciest ZIP code in the country boasts a median home price of more than $4.5 million, according to a new list by Forbes that tracked home prices of more than 20,000 ZIP codes nationwide to determine the most expensive areas.
Appraiser Jonathan Miller, chief executive of New York’s Miller Samuel, told Forbes that he’s seen an increase in listings that fall under the luxury bracket this year. “It’s not that we’re seeing prices rise, it’s that we’re seeing more activity,” Miller told Forbes. Compared to 2010 figures, the median home prices in 500 of the most expensive ZIP codes dropped slightly by 2 percent.
Here are the five priciest ZIP codes in the country, according to Forbes.
1. Alpine, N.J.: 07620
Median home price: $4,550,000
2. Atherton, Calif.: 94027
Median home price: $4,295,000
3. Sagaponack, N.Y.: 11962
Median home price: $3,595,000
4. Hillsborough, Calif.: 94010
Median home price: $3,499,000
5. Beverly Hills, Calif.: 90210
Median home price: $3,469,891
Appraiser Jonathan Miller, chief executive of New York’s Miller Samuel, told Forbes that he’s seen an increase in listings that fall under the luxury bracket this year. “It’s not that we’re seeing prices rise, it’s that we’re seeing more activity,” Miller told Forbes. Compared to 2010 figures, the median home prices in 500 of the most expensive ZIP codes dropped slightly by 2 percent.
Here are the five priciest ZIP codes in the country, according to Forbes.
1. Alpine, N.J.: 07620
Median home price: $4,550,000
2. Atherton, Calif.: 94027
Median home price: $4,295,000
3. Sagaponack, N.Y.: 11962
Median home price: $3,595,000
4. Hillsborough, Calif.: 94010
Median home price: $3,499,000
5. Beverly Hills, Calif.: 90210
Median home price: $3,469,891
Housing Can Be 'Key Engine of Job Growth'
Daily Real Estate News Thursday, October 06, 2011 The National Association of Home Builders is stressing the need for policymakers to remove anti-housing barriers that they say are preventing a housing market recovery. After all, NAHB says, housing can be the answer policymakers have been searching for in boosting jobs and economic recovery.
The housing industry can be the “key engine of job growth” the country needs, says Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders.Nielsen says that constructing just 100 single-family homes can generate more than 300 jobs and $8.9 million in taxes and revenue for state, local, and federal governments.
Yet, Nielsen says the government keeps placing stringent policies that are preventing the housing market from recovering and that are dampening demand and reducing Americans ability to purchase a home, from the tightening of credit and possible stricter down payment qualifications to reducing the conforming loan limit on Oct. 1.
One of the main hurdles home builders are facing is obtaining credit from banks so they can begin working on new homes. The tightening of credit has brought new-home construction practically to a standstill in many parts of the country.
Since April 2006, more than 1.4 million residential construction jobs have been lost, according to NAHB. “Yet there is demand for housing in markets that are on the mend," says Nielsen. "Home builders have plenty of shovel-ready jobs set to go but they can't keep their doors open and create jobs in their communities if federal regulators continue to shut off the credit spigot."
The housing industry can be the “key engine of job growth” the country needs, says Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders.Nielsen says that constructing just 100 single-family homes can generate more than 300 jobs and $8.9 million in taxes and revenue for state, local, and federal governments.
Yet, Nielsen says the government keeps placing stringent policies that are preventing the housing market from recovering and that are dampening demand and reducing Americans ability to purchase a home, from the tightening of credit and possible stricter down payment qualifications to reducing the conforming loan limit on Oct. 1.
One of the main hurdles home builders are facing is obtaining credit from banks so they can begin working on new homes. The tightening of credit has brought new-home construction practically to a standstill in many parts of the country.
Since April 2006, more than 1.4 million residential construction jobs have been lost, according to NAHB. “Yet there is demand for housing in markets that are on the mend," says Nielsen. "Home builders have plenty of shovel-ready jobs set to go but they can't keep their doors open and create jobs in their communities if federal regulators continue to shut off the credit spigot."
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