Transform Your Garage Into a Home Office Area

Suzie Wilson

If you work remotely or run a business out of your home, you know how important it is to have the right work area. It’s almost impossible to set any kind of boundaries between work and life, without one. If you don’t have a room in your house that can be used as a home office space, there are other alternatives out there, including turning your garage into an office. Because the garage is set apart from the central living spaces in your house, it can work especially well for those who need a little more privacy or quiet for their work.

Improvement Options You Should Consider to Increase the Value of Your Home

Please enjoy this article from guest author Suzie Wilson of Happierhome.net

Unless you plan to sell your house “as-is,” when you’re ready to list your home, you have a lot of work to do. While there are some benefits of keeping the original fixtures and features of a home, staying up to date with the latest home trends is crucial in selling as quickly as possible. The good news is you can get the job done with some simple upgrades. Below are a few that you need to consider.

Real Estate Asset Managers

In the real estate industry, there are many different professions, each with its unique role. I have focused on different real estate professions in the past on this site, so let us take a look at more obscure and lesser known profession--the Real Estate Asset Manager.

Role of a Real Estate Asset Manager

Although the title Asset Manager has multiple meanings in the world of finance, the Real Estate Asset Manager has a specific task—to manage properties resulting from mortgage default or property acquisition on behalf of a real estate investor, whole loan investor or mortgage servicer. Typically, real estate asset managers maintain a network of vendors, such as contractors, real estate brokers, real estate marketing companies and appraisers in order to maintain, market and sell properties under their management. Resultantly, much of the role of the Real Estate Asset Manager consists of vendor management.

Most real estate asset managers work with mortgage servicers through either a client or a subsidiary relationship. For example, Altisource, the nation’s largest real estate asset manager, is an independent but related company to Ocwen Loan Servicing, one of the nation's largest mortgage servicers, whereas SingleSource, another well-known real estate asset manager, is a wholly independent company that is hired by some of the largest loan servicers. Given the size of the whole loan portfolios of the larger mortgage servicers, many find hiring a real estate asset manager more cost effective than building and managing property vendor networks and tracking sales activity.

Who Should Value the Property: BPO's Versus Appraisals

Appraisers and brokers are frequently considered integral components of a real estate transaction. Their roles are clearly defined in residential real estate, however, in commercial real estate, both professions frequently cross into a number disciplines. It isn’t uncommon for a commercial real estate broker to manage a property, arrange financing, market mortgage notes and even raise funds. Commercial appraisers are often asked to inspect buildings, estimate repair costs, estimate the value of construction materials and determine replacement costs. Brokers not only procure parties and assist in the negotiations of transactions, they are also frequently called on to value properties from a number of perspectives.

In light of the various demands on both the real estate broker and appraiser, there may be some questions as to the differences in the valuation reports that each professional issues. It has been my experience that a broker price opinion (BPO) and a property appraisal each serve different, but useful purposes. A broker price opinion typically reflects the value for which a property will generate either a successful lease or sale. The opinion can also suggest a value at which the property will generate substantial interest on the market. An appraisal, however, is typically useful as a justification of a given price, as may arise under a purchase contract, after an assessment or upon any other instance of valuation. Better stated, a broker price opinion can be seen as a forward looking valuation and the appraisal can be seen as a justification or backward looking valuation.