The Party City Liquidation: Lessons from the Retail Market

2024 ended with surprising news—Party City filed for bankruptcy for the second time in under 2 years. This time, however, it was liquidating. On December 21, 2024, Party City filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, looking to liquidate its assets. This happened after the company sent home all of its employees nationwide on December 10, 2024 and closed its corporate headquarters in New Jersey to everyone but executives on December 11, 2024. The resultant liquidation plan seeks to close all Party City locations by this February.

Episode 23: Why We Love Loopholes

Join TRET for it's 23rd episode, as Stephon discusses common real estate and business legal loopholes

TRET Episode 23: Why We Love Loopholes

Seasoning Update 2024

It’s been a while since we have discussed seasoning on this blog and it’s about time to talk about the changes that have taken place in the past few years and discuss further the different meanings of seasoning that exist for a mortgage.

Digitization and the Real Estate Professional

There is no denying that the role and purpose of a real estate professional has changed over the past five years. From advances in artificial intelligence, to the popularity of digital real estate, to the presence of large full service real estate companies in the market, like Zillow 2024, this market is very different from that of 2019. Add to this mix the weakening of real estate professional organizations, like the National Association of Realtors via the NAR settlement and it becomes even more apparent that the real estate service market is in a state of change. Given the current state of flux in the market, some have begun to question the role of a real estate professional. It has therefore become imperative that real estate professionals recognize their current competitive advantages in order to thrive.

Blockchain Real Estate: Some Things to Consider

There has been a recent movement toward marrying blockchain technology with real estate transactions. As a result, tokenization has been offered as the solution for everything real estate from investment to document execution. Companies like RealT, ManageGo, Republic, Blocksquare and others now offer a variety of different real estate services based on blockchain technology. Although this wave of innovation is seemingly ubiquitous in today’s real estate market, there are still a number of legal and logistical issues that must be considered before fully integrating blockchain technology into your real estate endeavors.

2023 Recap (No Clever Title This Time)

Yet another year has come and gone for TRET and it’s time for our annual wrap up. Let’s start with this blog. This year started for us with a focus on individual wealth generation through real estate. This noble goal dominated the blog for the first couple of months of the year and was continued in an expert fashion by this year’s guest writer—Sharon Wagner. All of our residential real estate articles have had a wealth generation theme and we will continue to honor this commitment to wealth generation going forward.

Industrial Real Estate: A Normal Market for a Somewhat Normal Time

Recently coming off the effects of nearly two years of rising interest rates by the Federal Reserve, the real estate market has been in a state of constant change for the past 18 months. As this blog has extensively discussed, real estate is very dependent on interest rates, as they influence property loans, cap rates and ultimately, property prices. Despite the recent period of adjustment, the economy seem to show signs of normalization, with mortgage rates, consumer loan rates and even treasury rates settling at levels much higher than those of the previous two years. By all indicators, it seems like our economy and we seem headed for a soft landing. No market has internalized the current state of the economy more than the Industrial Real Estate market.

Retail Real Estate Is Thriving, But How?

Picture it, the year is 2023. Any and every item that can be bought sold can be accesses via the Internet from the comfort of one’s own home. For over seven years, the number of stores in existence has steadily declined. The economy is experiencing the perfect storm of rampant inflation and recessionary forces. Despite all of this, retail real estate vacancy nationwide is 5.4% and retail is thriving. Let’s take a look at why.

Is the American Office Market Dead?

There was a time in the not too distant past when I considered office properties “the best of all worlds.” They offered the flexibility to create leases that were in between the detailed relationships established by industrial and retail properties and the more straight-forward residential lease. Rental calculations were relatively simple—base rent plus utilities and any tenant improvement allowances. Occasionally, common area improvements or maintenance factored into the equation. The property was typically used from 7 am until 7 pm, so utilities were relatively low and predictable. Wear and tear on the property was much less than any other real estate property class.

The necessity of office space was at one point unquestioned and tenants were readily available. Space considerations were for the most part limited to whether the location was large enough and had enough amenities or services to meet the tenants needs. Leases were easy to enter, easy to renew and easy to understand. For owners, office properties offered many of the benefits of owning a commercial property with fewer of the complexities that come with other property types.

The Connection Between Banking and Real Estate in 2023

Throughout the years that I have written this blog, I have regularly connected the activity of the financial market with the real estate market. In doing so, I often take for granted the connection between the two markets. Recent troubles in local banking, however, give me yet another occasion to highlight how the banking industry impacts the real estate market. It seems like every few years, I write an article like this, but I will do my best to highlight the contextual factors that make this year’s bank failures unique.

2021: What A Year

Ok, I’ll admit it…I wasn’t prepared for the impact that returning to work in person would have on my life and on TRET. Now, 2021 is coming to an end and I find myself yet again writing another end-of-the-year post in which I am apologizing for the recent inactivity on this awesome blog. This time, however, it’s a little different.

2021 marked 10 years since I published the first post on this blog. At the time I was real estate agent and teacher who was about to begin law school and was looking for ways to better understand real estate modeling and real estate finance. I hoped to create a community of like-minded people so that we could explore ways to better value real estate properties and mortgages and discuss the market. Ten years and many experiences later this blog has grown and transformed into a general forum on all things real estate and I am amazed at the direction it has taken. 2021 has been an amazing year for TRET, so let’s take a look at the year in review.

The End of Summer

Stephon Martin

August is coming to a close and although Summer isn’t officially over until September 23^rd, the end of August has an unofficial feel of transition. School will soon have begun for all children in the United States and the country will attempt to push forward out of the shadow of COVID-19. Some areas will forge ahead more successfully than others, but an attempt will be made by all. The beginning of September means that the holiday season is just around the corner. With the impending change of the season, how will the real estate market be affected?

Moving to a Bigger House to Start a Business: How to Do It

Suzie Wilson

Starting a business in a new community can be challenging. Preparing to move because current living arrangements do not allow you to run a business from your home can be difficult, but it's doable. House hunting, moving, and starting a venture all require detailed planning. However, the enthusiasm, economic growth, and products or services you bring to the new community will reward your efforts.

To succeed in finding the right home for your business and prepare for future expansion, The Real Estate Think Tank offers the following tips below.​