Strategic Planning – Asking the Important Questions
Since CWS was founded in 1969 the company has been far ahead of the curve by embarking upon strategic planning meetings once a year. The purpose of these meetings is to review what we did well, where we fell short and how we can learn from our mistakes and disappointments,
…
I have always been fascinated by economic cycles. What I have learned over the years is that financial excesses that reverse into fear and revulsion are often catalysts for economic downturns. Real estate, commercial and/or residential, are often culprits because they are assets that can be leveraged which can magnify returns as well as often being influenced by tax advantages which can stimulate demand beyond its longer-term trend.
…
Gary Carmell
Posted in Apartments, COVID 19, Economy, Housing, Interest Rates, News, Stock Market
No Comments ↓
Last week was brutal for retailers as major earnings announcements showed how they have been hit very hard by huge cost increases. Wal-Mart started the week off shocking the market with its very weak earnings outlook and then there was Target.
Its stock price got absolutely crushed in the wake of its results being released.
…
Gary Carmell
Posted in Apartments, COVID 19, Economy, Housing, Interest Rates, News, Real Estate
1 Comment ↓
At CWS we have been heavily focused on growth-oriented markets that have large in-migration due to a competitive cost of living, high quality of life, and pro-business environment. This has led us to be heavily concentrated in metro areas such as Austin,
…
One of the great books I’ve read about marketing is Positioning by Ries and Trout. It is considered a classic and one of the definitive books on the subject. The authors make the simple assertion that marketing is ultimately about accepting that perception is the reality.
…
2021 is now in the history books and it should be a year worthy of study and reflection. We had to work through a full year of Covid and the huge collateral damage that it has done to people’s physical and mental health,
…
Gary Carmell
Posted in Apartments, COVID 19, Economy, Investing, Personal, Travel, Uncategorized
No Comments ↓
I was in London last week for my first international trip since March 2020. It was nice to be overseas again. Given time constraints I will target sharing more of a pictorial journey of my trip after I get back. I like keeping a travel log via this blog as it can serve as a diary of my excursions around the world and gives me a place I can return to if I want to revisit some of those trips.
…
Urban locations with great walkability were in great demand…until Covid hit. These locations became far less desirable as congregating was either not allowed in large numbers or people didn’t want to gather together in close quarters for fear of exposing themselves to Covid.
…
At the depths of the Great Recession in 2008 and 2009, it was nearly impossible to determine what the right valuation metric was to value apartment investments. Fear was pervasive, people didn’t know if Net Operating Incomes (NOIs) were going to fall off a cliff, lenders were very conservative,
…
Mark Twain once said, “I didn’t have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote a long one.”
When writing (and speaking) it’s fairly easy to let the words flow without much regard to precisely communicating. If one gets into a stream of consciousness state it can be helpful for the writer and speaker to release what’s welling up inside but this may not be what’s best for the reader or listener in terms of communicating clearly,
…