Lots of Start-Ups

It makes sense, if you think about it, for the decline of large firm employment to lead to more people starting their own businesses.  Either they were forced to retire early, or they took a buyout, or they just could see the handwriting on the wall.  For any of those reasons, and often with the help of severance checks, unemployment, or retirement benefits, more and more ex-employees are becoming entrepreneurs.  They are pursuing long-term dreams, or filling needs that large firms have abandoned.

Of course, they need different types of space.  That's partially why we are still seeing too much office space on the market, and why flex space, especially in small increments, in greater demand.  Over time, if these new firms prosper, it may lead to new uses for the office space, or for building of more manufacturing and distribution facilities.  Let's hope so!

Timing a Sale or Purchase

As I think we all know, it almost never pays to try to time some financial event exactly, be it a stock sale or a real estate transaction.  The most we can hope for is to get close enough to either the top or the bottom of the market, depending upon whether you are buying or selling, to feel good about your decision. 

Well, when it comes to the real estate market, people have been trying to pinpoint the bottom of this  particular cycle for years now.  We may not be at the absolute bottom for demand and prices--in fact, I think that we are slightly past that point--but we are close.  So is it time to sell?