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$300m: Impact of oil theft in the Niger Delta on Shell operation as of Q3 2013

The Top 10 Mistakes 20-Somethings Make Regarding Real Estate

Brandon Turner

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ou probably think I'm just a bit crazy for including the phrase "20-something" and "real estate" in the same title.

Okay, maybe you have a point. At this point in life, many 20-somethings are more interested in when the next game of Call of Duty will start than the best way to start building their financial future. However, there are those of us who want more out of life and understand the immense power of time that we have in building wealth.

As a real estate fan, and one who acquired dozens of properties in my early twenties, I want to focus specifically on the mistakes that I see many young people making today regarding real estate and offer some real world strategies for overcoming these concerns.

Whether or not you own any property yet, these tips should help you navigate the often muddy (but often profitable) world of real estate.

1.) Living with Mom And Dad Too Long

Admit it, as you are reading this, someone's face is coming to mind.. and maybe it's yours?

If you are staying with Mom and Dad simply to escape the reality that you are grown up, it's time to grow up and get a job, start paying your bills and meet the world. The only exception I make to this rule is if you are living at home to save money or get out of debt.. but if that's you, don't use your freed-up cash to spend on frivolous things or work less hours. Accomplish your goals as quickly as possible and get on with your life.

2.) Not Doing Your Homework

Many 20-somethings believe homework ended when school ended, but when it comes to buying real estate, as either a home or as an investment, it all begins with homework. Knowing what makes a good deal a good deal, what makes a good location a good location and so on are extremely valuable skills to have. These skills are not impossible to obtain, as there are thousands of books, podcasts, blogs and more that can teach you how to invest in real estate at a young age.

3.) Believing "Real Estate" Is For The Old, Rich, And Boring

Yes, real estate is for old boring folks with a lot of money.

However, it's also for the young, the hip, the middle-aged and every other kind of person who wants a killer smart way to use real estate to build serious wealth. With hundreds of ways to invest in real estate, from buying your own home to buying investment properties, there is no shortage of options for you.

4.) Not Buying with Flexibility In Mind

Those young people who do buy real estate often times buy real estate without realizing that the life they live now is VERY different from the life they'll probably live next year or in the next decade. As a result, they often buy homes that don't accommodate change. For example, buying a small, one-bedroom condo may fit your budget.. but how long can you live in a one-bedroom condo?

This same mistake often causes people to buy real estate too early. If you are confident that you'll be moving out of the area in a short time, think hard about buying any real estate unless you plan to rent the property out using a property manager.

5.) Maximizing Your Debt Based On Two Incomes

It's a tragic love story...

Boy meets Girl, and the two fall in love. Boy and Girl suddenly realize they have extra cash due to the dual incomes and decide to max out their debt potential and buy a ridiculous home and pack it with things to fill it.

Then Baby comes, and Girl decides to stay home to raise Baby. Suddenly, the duel income is no more. Boy and Girl find themselves in a financial crisis, unable to pay their bills, and spend the next 40 years trying to escape the cycle of debt they've created.

Don't be Boy and Girl. Look toward the future, and determine how much you can really afford to pay.

6.) Buying Only Based On Price

If you grew up with a "garage sale" mom, like I did, you probably were trained to recognize a deal and snatch it up before anyone else could. Many young people use this same principle when shopping for a home or investment property. "Just buy something cheap," is the only concern.

However, what many 20-somethings forget is that price is only part of the equation. How is the neighborhood? The schools? The growth potential? There are areas in America where you can buy a home for under $5,000.. but do you really want to buy in these areas?

Price is vital.. but it's not the whole picture.

7.) Variable Interest Rates

A variable interest rate is a rate that changes with the market, which causes your payment to increase as well.

This can be dangerous for any homebuyer or real estate investor, because there is no guarantee where the future is headed. However, because we are living in a time of historically low interest rates, there is really only one direction they could go: up. Lock in a fixed-rate mortgage now and when rates rise, you'll be set with the same payment for as long as you own the loan.

8.) Not Renting Out Rooms

When you buy a house at a young age -- especially if not married -- a homeowner can save an exceptional amount of money on their expenses by renting out rooms in their home to others. Not only does this offset your bills, but it also gives you some incredible on-the-job training for potentially becoming a landlord someday.

9.) Not Starting Early Enough

I've made mention of it several times, but let me just reiterate here: your strongest financial asset as a young person is time.

By getting your first property at a young age, you gain the ability to let the market sort itself over time. Yes, there are ups and downs in the market, but those who hang on the longest tend to do the best. So don't wait until you are old and retired to start buying real estate.. start buying it today to help you retire before getting old.

10.) Not Considering A Small Multifamily

Finally, I want to end with a personal favorite that most young home buyers ignore: small multifamily properties. I'm referring to duplexes, triplexes, or fourplexes that exist in nearly every area of the country. These properties may not only have less competition, but also, if bought for a good price, you can get your tenants to pay all your expenses, allowing you to live for free.

Source: Huffington Post

South Africa Building Site Collapses, One Worker Dead, 50 Trapped

Zandi Shabalala

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URBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - At least one person was killed and up to 50 more were trapped under rubble on Tuesday after a half-built shopping mall collapsed near the South African coastal city of Durban, emergency services and police said.

A further 26 people had been taken to hospital in the town of Tongaat, 30 km (20 miles) north of Durban, Chris Botha, a spokesman for the Netcare 911 emergency service, told Reuters.

It was not yet clear what had caused the collapse of the three-storey building, which had been under construction for some time, residents told Reuters.

If safety regulations are found to have been breached, the accident could sour already fraught labour relations in South Africa's construction sector and might have ramifications for the ruling African National Congress as it moves towards an election next year.

Television footage showed police and rescue workers walking over large piles of rubble and twisted metal lying next to a railway track. Large parts of the building had completely given way.

"The scene is extremely horrific ... concrete big blocks have fallen on to people," Botha told broadcaster ENCA from the scene. "The guys are busy using hydraulic rescue equipment to break through the concrete and get to some of the patients."

Ambulances ferried the injured to nearby hospitals, which initiated full-scale disaster plans.

"There are no really severe injuries," said Jenny Meer, manager of the Mediclinic Victoria hospital in Tongaat that had admitted eight patients.

"It's mainly broken bones, soft tissue injuries and a bit of shock. But obviously there are a lot of patients that are still trapped on site," she said.

Emergency services spokesman Botha said others were more seriously injured.

Durban and the surrounding province of KwaZulu-Natal is the home of President Jacob Zuma. The region has enjoyed a massive construction boom in the last few years, based in part on huge government investment in infrastructure improvements.

Zuma and the ruling African National Congress (ANC)face a general election in April or May next year.

Craigslist Tightens Controls On Property Listings

Hiten Samtani

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nline classifieds platform Craigslist recently made a change to the way it lets brokers add photos and links in the listings they post on the site. And while the adjustment may seem technical, it could prove to be another chink in the armor of the one-time apartment search powerhouse, sources said.

Specifically, the site axed the ability to embed photographs and links in listings. To be sure, brokers can still post ads and manually upload images, but any links to external websites – such as a brokerage’s homepage — will no longer be active. Though the company did not officially announce the change, brokers started noticing it earlier this week.

Brokers and small firms who rely on Craigslist as the main source for their leads and lack other marketing resources will likely feel quite a pinch, even if more established firms are barely affected, said Jonathan Miller, the CEO of Miller Samuel.

“The negative impact is going to be on the smaller firms,” Miller said, “that had used the site as the main vehicle [to drive traffic].”

But Craigslist itself could also see an effect. The San Francisco-based site once dominated apartment listings in New York City, but now a new crop of companies — from StreetEasy to Naked Apartments and Zumper — has carved off some of the market. Broker ads in New York are one of the few types of postings for which the site charges a fee, so many brokers had been resorting to posting in the “for sale by owner” section to avoid the charge, sources said.

Representatives for Craigslist did not respond to multiple requests for comment by press time.

Yuval Greenblatt, a senior executive at Douglas Elliman, said that Craigslist had probably made the decision to change the embedding process as a quality-control measure. “Lots of brokers spam the site, posting multiple times a day,” Greenblatt said. “Craigslist is probably looking to get some control.”

Another reason for the move is that Craigslist may be looking to roll out its own enhanced listings service, in order to compete with giants such as Zillow and Trulia, said Carlos Angelucci, chief operating officer of Rapid Realty.

Anthony Lolli, CEO of Rapid Realty, said that his firm and others had already been moving away from Craigslist toward sites such as Naked Apartments, which allows features such as agent reviews.

“I look at Craigslist almost like a Blockbuster Video, where the name has more power than the product,” Lolli said.

This latest policy change will likely shift Craigslist toward becoming more of a for-sale-by-owner resource, Miller said.

Indeed, David Schlamm, CEO of City Connections Realty, said that his brokers weren’t too worried about the change. Craigslist postings will be less flashy, and the inconvenience of going through a couple of extra steps to get in touch with a broker would be offset by the greater transparency of the process, he said.

Lolli, whose agents often use the site to market rental listings, said that brokers had “got pretty nifty” with using Craigslist.

Rapid, for example, programmed their website to work with Craigslist in a way that allowed a broker to generate listings at the “touch of a button,” Lolli said. Rapid also analyzed traffic coming in from Craigslist to inform their future listings, he added.

“They wanted to level the playing fields for landlords and sellers,” Angelucci said. “It’s uneven when real estate brokers are more savvy.”

Source: therealdeal.com

Warri Industrial Business Park: Catalyst To Economic Growth

Odinaka Mbonu

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s part of efforts to de-emphasise its dependence on oil and diversify to other sectors of the economy, the Delta State government is regenerating the ancient city of Warri, providing infrastructure which, it is hoped, will spur economic growth and development.

The Warri Industrial Business Park (WIBP) is one such infrastructure. Conceived in 2008 by the present administration, the Park, which sits on a large landmass of approximately 329 hectares in Edjeba, Warri South, evidently aligns with the state government’s vision to strategically position Warri as the prime destination for private sector investment in the Niger Delta region.

“The need to leverage on infrastructural development through aggressive pursuit of income diversification necessitated the park,” Helen Emore, the WIBP project director, said at a media presentation of the Park in Lagos recently.  “It’s a giant stride by the state government to re-direct its economy from its sole dependence on oil to other exciting opportunities such as real estate, agriculture, logistics, amongst others.”

Its direct access to four seaports, proximity to the Osubi Airport, access to a wide range of regional, national and international markets through multi-modal transport services, Free Trade Zone, and proximity to the oil and gas industry further highlight its position as a world-class industrial business park that can spike an industrial revolution in the ancient city of Warri.

Other off-site developments aimed at increasing business opportunities at the park are the dredging of the channel linking Warri Port to WIBP, incorporation of a light rail between the port and park into the WIBP project, completion of rail line to Aladja by Federal Ministry of Transport and completion of Ughelli-Asaba Expressway.

“WIBP is a mega project estimated to gulp about $1.5 billion; however, we aim to achieve this milestone through Public Private Partnership (PPP) as we believe that this offers an exciting opportunity to every local and foreign savvy investor,” Emore continued.

Another benefit of the project, which has since kicked off in earnest, is the expected growth to expand the state’s industrial sector, create new knowledge, new enterprises, new opportunities, and also kindle the service and commercial sectors of the economy, raising the state’s competitiveness in such industries in the global market.

Currently, work is going on at the first phase of the project and this would, among other facilities, deliver a 7-storey iconic administrative building expected to churn out about 11,000 sq metres of office space that would be available for leasing.

With a dedicated area for commercial use, residential area, recreational centres, logistics and many more, the park would, on delivery, come with world-class road network, complementary infrastructure, dedicated power stations, telecommunication network, and all facilities expected in a world-class business park.