Everybody needs a roof over their head – even local businesses. Jonathan Lansner, a veteran reporter at The Orange County Register, details how to cover the story of real estate locally and nationally.
A word we haven’t heard much of in recent years suddenly seems to be rippling through the zeitgeist again: “Flipping.” The pre-recession practice of buying a house, fixing it up a bit and then within a handful of months selling it off to eager buyers is back, with a few post-recession twists. And with the [...]
With changing bylines on the same story, big-picture stories sometimes don’t make it onto the budget. But after writing another story about the bankruptcy filings and real estate struggles of two local businessmen, reporters at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch decided it was time to put the issues into perspective, says reporter Tim Logan. “Four of [...]
The farm bill limping along in Congress is back in the news again. The Senate is expected to pass its version of the legislation next week and then the bill would go to the House of Representatives. Studying the massive, five-year bill (an extension expires Sept. 30) is a big project, but you can likely [...]
Business writers sometimes encounter the summer doldrums, when there’s a lull in big corporate news, regulatory affairs and other drivers of financial news. By contrast, my ideas log is experiencing a touch of spring fever, with so many good story pegs hitting my desk and so little time to pursue them. So here – better short [...]
I’ve been fortunate to do a bit of traveling lately, putting in plenty of road time in the southeast and midwest. One phenomenon that struck me was a number of fresh, new-looking signs offering commercial real estate for sale, lease and/or custom development. And closer to home, I’ve observed signage changes at some long-vacant parcels [...]
With the deadly Oklahoma tornados still top of mind — some meteorologists now say the storm had far more power than the atomic bomb the United States released on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II — you might want to contemplate another day or so of related business angles. Even if you’re far from the [...]
L.A. Times reporters Jason Felch and Jack Dolan found a 35-year-old law that has contributed to California’s economic crisis. The law allows companies buying business properties to avoid reassessments and the resulting tax increases if “no one acquires a majority stake in a company that owns the property.” For instance, Jason and Jack write: “In [...]
At this point in springtime, articles about residential real estate sales are logical and appreciated by readers. But about one-third of Americans don’t own, they rent, and they need information about the market they are competing in. So why not buck seasonal tradition with a spring report for tenants and landlords about how your region [...]
Summer looms and with it, perhaps, the thought of a lakeside getaway, mountain cabin or day at the pool. As your audience begins to mull these notions – and business owners start dreaming of a sizzling season — the time is ripe for a look at how the vacation, cottage and second-home market fares amid a general improvement in [...]
