Clay Sparkman I like what I’m seeing in the New York Times lately regarding real estate recovery. The following article was in yesterdays paper: Here It seems that they are convinced that recovery of the real estate markets is underway–though they also suggest that it is likely to be slow. I’m fine with that. I […]
Valuation
I can climb; I just don’t want to fall again
Thursday, August 23rd, 2012Everything you wanted to know about private money but were afraid to ask
Thursday, January 12th, 2012Clay Sparkman (Note: I posted the following on my broker blog recently. It is oriented to toward brokers, but at the same time, I think it would be quite useful to those trying to get a handle on investing in private money loans and trying to better understand the process.) Private money is often misunderstood. […]
The quest for a good set of comps
Saturday, March 20th, 2010Clay Sparkman As I have mentioned in at least one previous posting (Ten Crucial Steps in Reading an Appraisal), I am not so concerned about the bottom line value on an appraisal or property valuation as I am about the particular logic that lead to the creation of that value. If the instrument is transparent […]
Ten crucial steps in reading an appraisal
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010Clay Sparkman The crucial thing that you must understand about any appraisal (or other real estate valuation instrument) is that it is only as good as its logic. So that—in other words—you must never accept an appraisal’s conclusion regarding value without looking beyond the surface to understand the logic that leads to the conclusion and […]
Two hicks from Oregon go to Malibu – a cautionary tale
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009Clay Sparkman The runway was drenched in sunlight as our plane touched down that morning at LAX. It was a golden balmy day. We grabbed our bags and headed for the rental car kiosks. I don’t recall how it happened exactly, but the fellow at the counter said something like, “I can make you a […]
