#biotech tax planning boston

[zooterchet]

Work for US Navy (Extra-Range Station, Megaman MUSH)

Leadership:

"Duo": Shaun Wilcox, Hawaiian Coastal Engineer, US Navy Japan.

"Libra": James Holmes, DC Comics Development, Mossad Counter-Bay Station.

"Leo": Jeffrey Lange, Cleveland Rotary Association, Finance and Debitures Apartment.

Duo:

"Blueberry": Police code on APB scanner, to catch "ranger patrols", off cented Mounted and Royal Mounted sections (Canadian-German, Protestant Universalist).

"WTC Location Grab": Profiling of Osama Bin Laden, three days after 9/11, to DC Comics Location and Transition Wards, Mossad Afghanistan; Tora Bora Prison Complex.

"San Andreas": Capture of Toris Nelby, British Co Anchor Author, "Crack Underground"; while in live transit of threat of CIA agent Peter Tsapatsaris, "Nails", posing as "Peebo" on internet as fraud of Russian-Jewry infiltrating CIA Annex Three; Winchester Frauds, IDF Biotech Experiments. Toris Nelby, "Peebo", detained and "destroyed", by fired rounds, from Eric Frein.

Libra:

"British Exemplar": Takeover of Japan by Warerra Party, masquerading Clone Wars film, recently released, by "Lucas Arts", as actual factual plan of attack; Pearl Harbor, as represented by "Kleinmen", Rohypnol dealers for Mossad.

"Gutwill Five": Seizure of criminal resources and allies of Framingham Narcotics, rogue Israeli Defense Forces section of Massachusetts cops, out of Jewish gangsters in Ohio; biker gangs, Canadian Freemasons.

Leo:

"Assassin's Creed": Creation of Assassin's Creed concept, as alternative to parents pamphlets to place children in Mossad underground as "Moslems" or "Mussulman".

"Guantanamo Live Range Agent": Use of third degree interrogator's training from mother's Marine NCO doctor, "Glen", to hunt his killers inside INTERPOL's top ranks; Gwenn Pratt, John Washburne, Steven Charlebois, Brian Monaghan, Alexandra Gaetano, and John Kerry.

"Philips Freemasons of Boston": Stage point of removal of Ted Bundy catchem code, to take over Boston Triads for FBI and State Police, through Cyber Command aegis helix on Los Angeles Police Department server scans; return of Chinese to American policing, as FBI informants and cover agents, against rising tide of Taiwanese nationalism; unions and Russian-Jewish consortiums of film and media logic.

"Pinkville": The strike on the Hell's Angels as a capture turn of the Canadian Freemasons for operating criminal ventures in factories, sports leagues, and boarding schools, to turn children into slaves and writers and prison convicts; the French and British Freemasonic attempt to undo Bill Clinton's peace for labor, athletics, and prison inmates.

"Hideous Karl": Use of Jack Unterweger's serial killer profile, tying a necktie for a business meeting, taught by Scoutmasters in male and female scout troops, for any career or American act, to pen research work for Christopher Nolan, MGM, and FOX.

"The Steroids Scandal": Outing American-Japanese pharmaceuticals, and MI-6 doctors, for selling performance enhancing steroids, Suboxone, for decades, under different brands and claim of brands; the public lawsuit against Dr. Joshua Golden, of United Health Associates, by the Attorney General of Massachusetts, Maura Healey.

"The Kennedy Campaign": Legalized marijuana, certified safe and non-sprayed by tree surgeons elected by towns, free from media myth presented on Holland and British telecasts, or by journalist work by High Times magazines authors. Held under tax stamps, through the State Police.

"Spiral": The culmination of three decades of work, as an NSA, from kindergarten to the mid-thirties, in the takedowns of INTERPOL, On Leong Tong, the Unitarian Church, and MI-6. The culmination of years of experience, placed in two blog reformatories, "Lex Luthor and the Sudbury Boys", and "Spiral - The Batman Killer", the prior academic references, the latter actual career references. The shutdown of the "United Nations Security Council", by planting a forged work on American Marxism from 2003, from an economics business professor at UMass-Amherst, Gerald Friedman, through the actual United Nations; published independently overseas, by those dependent on the United Nations as an American CIA entity; falsely framed as MI-6. The same NSA trick, used on Stephen Glass, a Vatican affiliated lawyer out of the Italian government's Nortel structure.

[rudyabaut]

False: Fauci, Gates, Epstein and Soros have ties to drug company Moderna

EXCLUSIVELY for Covid-19 Conspiracy Theories Suckers 

View video before it is taken down...

MODERNA FAUCI(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAZFl1bhMH4)

Then come back to reality...

Read this: Fact check: Fauci, Gates, Epstein and Soros have no ties to drug company Moderna

by Chelsey Cox, USA TODAYSept. 11, 2020

The claim: George Soros founded Moderna, Jeffrey Epstein was an investor, Anthony Fauci was its first CEO and Bill Gates was his college roommateNews of biotech company Moderna's planned development of a vaccine against the coronavirus, the virus that causes COVID-19, has incited internet conspiracy theorists. A popular social media claim links certain high-profile individuals to Moderna and their apparent investment in the vaccine. USA TODAY reported on Moderna's progress in late August.

One such post by blogger Lynna Smith went viral. Smith posted the claim to Facebook on Aug. 12 with a link to a video uploaded to a corresponding YouTube account.

The video outlines alleged connections between Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros, accused sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates as part of a larger conspiracy theory about government-mandated vaccinations against the coronavirus.

The narrator of the video claims Moderna already has the vaccine. It also states Fauci, a graduate of Cornell University, was Moderna's first CEO. Fauci's ties to Gates began at Cornell, the video alleges, because the two were roommates.

The video also states IG Farben, a company that was "heavily involved" in experiments during World War II, was run by Soros, a "Jewish Nazi" who later became an American citizen. Soros apparently formed Moderna from IG Farben.

Finally, the video claims Epstein, the billionaire financier who died in prison while awaiting a trial for sex-trafficking charges, was a major financial backer of Moderna.

Smith summarizes the "relationship" between Soros, Fauci, Gates and Epstein in the post caption, finishing with, "DO YOU GET IT NOW."

Smith is described as a "Truthseeker" and proudly declares "2 of my pages were deleted by FB" on a Facebook profile page. Smith also claims to manipulate mainstream media and references U.N. Agenda 21 in a Gab.com profile. Gab.com is a social network that "champions free speech, individual liberty and the free flow of information online," according to its website.

USA TODAY reached out to Smith for comment.

Another version of the claim was posted to the Facebook page for The Meme Aesthetic, an account that curates "the worst memes on the internet," according to its Instagram page. 

Was Soros a 'Jewish Nazi?'

Soros was born in Budapest in 1930. His father, a Jewish lawyer, forged papers that disguised their religion during the Nazi occupation of Hungary, according to the BBC. 

There is no evidence of Soros joining the Nazi party during WWII — he would have been 14 years old when the Nazis surrendered in 1945 — or anytime during his transformation from London investment banker to billionaire American philanthropist. 

Soros has openly supported the Democratic Party. The BBC reported Soros has been the target of right-wing attacks founded in Nazi-era conspiracy theories about Jewish bankers plotting a "New World Order."

Who founded Moderna?

The founding of the biotech company is incorrectly attributed to Soros in the claim. Harvard University professor Dr. Derrick Rossi founded Moderna in 2010 to manufacture his research-based therapeutics, according to a 2014 interview with the Journal of Young Investigators.

"The biotech company is called Moderna Therapeutics and it’s probably one the most successful young biotech companies in Boston/Cambridge right now. It is only 4 years old. ... The technology at the heart of the company, which we developed in my lab, is very exciting and very powerful," Rossi told JYI.

Soros did not create the company from IG Farben. The German chemical and pharmaceutical conglomerate was dissolved by Allied forces after WWII for manufacturing gas chamber poison and exploiting slave labor, according to The New York Times. Its most important factories formed the basis of chemical companies Bayer, Hoechst AG and BASF, but not Moderna. 

Was Fauci the CEO for Moderna?

Moderna's founding team was comprised of Doug Cole and Noubar Afeyan, according to the website for investor Flagship Pioneering. Afeyan is also Flagship's founder and CEO.

Stéphane Bancel is credited by Flagship Pioneering as the founding chief executive officer of Moderna Therapeutics. He has served in this role since 2011, according to Moderna's website.

A search for "Fauci" on Flagship Pioneering's website produced no results. Fauci is included in two search results on Moderna's website. The first mentioned his interview with National Geographic about an experiment conducted by Moderna. He is listed as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in that entry. NIAID is part of the National Institutes of Health.

The other search result is a 2019 Shareholder Letter that names Fauci as a co-reviewer of a vaccine platform Moderna is working to improve.

Fauci is not identified as the former CEO of Moderna in either instance. Widely available evidence, like his official biography on the NIAID website, states Fauci has served as director of the institute since his appointment in 1984.

Were Fauci and Gates college roommates?

Fauci received his medical degree from Cornell University Medical Center in 1966, according to the Brooklyn Reporter. That is nearly a decade before Gates entered Harvard University. NPR reported Gates intended to study pre-law but shifted his focus to math and science before taking his first of two leaves of absence in 1975. He was eventually awarded an honorary degree in 2007. Gates and Fauci did not attend the same colleges and could not have been college roommates.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is listed as one of Moderna's collaborators, according to Flagship Pioneering. 

What is Epstein's relationship to Moderna?

Epstein left his position as a tax adviser with Bear Stearns Cos. to start his own investment company in 1982, according to USA TODAY. Details about Epstein's Financial Trust Co. are reportedly vague, but the company is not listed as a primary stockholder in Moderna, according to CNN Business.

A search for "Jeffrey Epstein" on the websites for Moderna and Flagship Pioneering generated no results.

Our rating: False

We rate this claim FALSE, because it is not supported by our research. George Soros did not found Moderna, as the claim states. Dr. Anthony Fauci has served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, but never worked for Moderna. Bill Gates and Fauci attended different colleges and could not have been roommates. Lastly, Jeffrey Epstein's company Financial Trust Co. is not a major stakeholder in Moderna, according to records.

Our fact-check sources:

> National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, retrieved Sept. 4, 2020: "Anthony S. Fauci, M.D."

> Flagship Pioneering, retrieved Sept. 4, 2020: "Companies: Moderna"> Flagship Pioneering, retrieved Sept. 4, 2020: "People: Noubar Afeyan, Founder & CEO

"> Flagship Pioneering, retrieved Sept. 4, 2020: "People: Stéphane Bancel, Venture Partner"

> BBC News, May 31, 2018, (archived): "Profile: Billionaire philanthropist George Soros"

> CNN Business, retrieved Sept. 4, 2020: "Moderna Inc. Shareholders"

> USA TODAY, July 8, 2019: "Who is Jeffrey Epstein, the billionaire charged with sex trafficking girls as young as 14?"

> NPR Legacy, retrieved Sept. 4, 2020: "Timeline: Bill Gates, From Geek to Gazillionaire to Do-Gooder"

> Brooklyn Reporter, March 2, 2020: "Brooklyn-born disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci says we may be on the brink of a pandemic"

> Journal of Young Investigators, Oct. 1, 2014: "Interview with Dr. Derrick Rossi of Moderna Therapeutics"

> Moderna, retrieved Sept. 4, 2020: "Moderna’s Work on a COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate"

> Moderna, retrieved Sept. 4, 2020: "Moderna 2019 Shareholder Letter"

> Harvard Stem Cell Institute, retrieved Sept. 4, 2020: "Derrick J. Rossi, Ph.D."

> The New York Times, May 2, 1999: "THE BUSINESS WORLD; I.G. Farben: A Lingering Relic of the Nazi Years"

Learn more at https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/09/11/fact-check-fauci-gates-soros-epstein-not-tied-moderna/5715707002/

Related reading:

Fact check: U.N. Agenda 21/2030 'New World Order' is not a real document (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/07/23/fact-check-uns-agenda-21-2030-agenda-wont-create-new-world-order/5474884002/)

Is George Soros paying protesters? Soros' conspiracy theories surge as protests sweep nation(https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/06/21/george-soros-conspiracy-theories-protests/3232738001/)

[cathrynstreich]

The State of Housing: Experts Discuss Global Influence, Trends, Coronavirus and Other Challenges, and Potential Solutions

The real estate markets are in a constant state of flux. On a national level, there are continuous shifts between buyers’ and sellers’ markets, housing inventory, affordability, and more. Zooming in, the challenges and opportunities of each housing market become even more diverse and nuanced. And with each individual environment comes the need for action—whether through government policy, industry action or consumer response—that solves challenges, lessens burdens and embraces opportunity as they relate to housing.

Here’s a look at today’s real estate market, both on a national- and micro-level, from the perspective of several industry practitioners.

Global Events Impacting Real Estate

The state of the economy and global occurrences can have a substantial influence on real estate, both nationally and locally. Experts are currently keeping a close watch on a global event that’s having a sweeping impact on the economy and, therefore, real estate: the COVID-19 coronavirus.

“Without a doubt, two weeks ago I would have said the biggest hurdle is a general housing shortage. But that’s changed,” says Lawrence Yun, chief economist and senior vice president of Research for the National Association of REALTORS®. “The coronavirus is an unprecedented event, and even though we don’t know how everything will play out, it’s currently a big uncertainty that’s hitting the stock market.”

Yun says it could be good or bad. For some people, the money they have been saving for a down payment may have evaporated, but for others, low rates may provide an exceptionally enticing opportunity. According to a recent NAR survey, nearly one in four home sellers changed how their home is viewed on the market due to the outbreak, including stopping open houses, requiring that prospective buyers wash or sanitize their hands, asking buyers to remove their shoes or wear footies, and more.

The Economic Flash Survey, which was conducted March 9 and 10, found that 37 percent of respondents said homebuyers were more excited by lower mortgage rates than the stock market correction. Surprisingly, 78 percent said there’s been no change in buyer interest due to the coronavirus, and 87 percent said it had not affected the number of homes on the market. In specific areas like California and Washington State, however, 21 percent and 19 percent, respectively, cited larger decreases in buyer interest.

A recent public statement from Yun following the survey release stated:

“The coronavirus is leading to fewer homebuyers searching in the marketplace, as well as some listings being delayed. In the latest flash survey, 11 percent of REALTORS® indicated a reduction in buyer traffic and 7 percent are reporting lower seller traffic when asked directly about the coronavirus impact on the market,” said Yun. “Given that a home transaction is a major commitment, the uncertainties on how the economy will play out and the spread of the virus itself are barriers to homebuying and selling. The stock market crash is no doubt raising economic anxieties, while the coronavirus brings fear of contact with strangers. At the same time, the dramatic fall in interest rates may induce some potential buyers to take advantage of the better affordability conditions. It is too early to assess the likely impact as to whether lower interest rates can overcome the economic and health anxieties. But the survey is implying, in the short-term at least, that home sales will be chopped by around 10 percent, compared to what would have been the case, due to the spread of the coronavirus.”

A Shortage of Housing Supply, Rising Home Prices

Both on a national scale and in certain local markets, aside from the coronavirus, a shortage of housing supply is the predominant challenge.

“There’s a lack of housing,” says Yun. “Fast price appreciation and increasing rents is causing major housing affordability challenges for both renters and first-time buyers.”

In the Atlanta Metro area, for example, Fortune 500 companies and other jobs and people have flooded the markets in the last decade due to mild weather and a lower cost of living, says Collette McDonald, president of Collette McDonald & Associates at RE/MAX Around Atlanta. Because of that, housing supply is low, particularly in hubs with easy access to transportation, causing prices to spike and new construction to slow.

“The ATL Metro Area struggles with transportation infrastructure and people are sick of commuting and are seeking easier living closer to the employment and entertainment centers,” says McDonald. “Properties closer in continue to appreciate at a conservative rate of 6 percent per year, which also makes it difficult for builders to develop affordable low-cost housing.”

John Barmon, a REALTOR® with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, has experienced similar challenges in his own market, both in residential sales and rentals. He says many things attract people to Boston—an excellent economy, low unemployment, a wealth of biotech and hi-tech companies, and several major nearby universities like Harvard, MIT, Tufts, BU and Northeastern.

“There is always a demand for housing that increases every year as demand outpaces supply,” says Barmon. “The ongoing lack of inventory in the core Boston area has made the adjacent towns like Cambridge, Somerville, Brookline and Medford very desirable as well, and prices have risen accordingly. Those towns that have a stop on the MBTA subway lines are especially desirable, forcing lower-income buyers further and further away with longer commutes.”

California is another such market that struggles with these same housing burdens.

“The biggest housing-related issue facing California is the state’s worsening affordability and availability crisis,” says California Association of REALTORS® President Jeanne Radsick.

Orlando is also managing a lack of affordable supply, in both its rental and residential markets.

“Orlando’s popularity as a place to live and its strong economy amplify the housing shortage. Currently, more than 1,500 people are moving to the Central Florida area weekly and contribute to a demand for housing that outstrips and causes prices to rise,” says Orlando Regional Association of REALTORS® President Reese Steward.

Inverted Markets Exist

Not all regional markets experience the same obstacles, however—even if affordability and inventory are the overarching problems on a national level. For example, Nimesh Patel, broker/owner of RE/MAX Fine Properties, has experienced the reverse in his own markets, covering the Sugar Land, Fort Bend County and Houston areas.

“The biggest challenge we face is helping homeowners sell their homes for higher dollar values as we are inundated with lots of land and new construction,” says Patel. “With the amount of master planned communities popping up all over the Houston area, and the numerous amounts of new home starts slated by the builders, sellers are having a harder time competing with their re-sales.”

Determining What Policies Should Address

On a national level, Yun says the reform of Fannie and Freddie will be important, and less stringent, over-the-top regulation about building activity would help “so more homes and apartments can be built.” In addition, Opportunity Zones tax incentives to do more development in economically displaced areas because “that could be impetus for more building activity in what was once considered a less desirable area, but now with tax incentives becomes more viable,” says Yun.

What about at the state and local levels?

According to C.A.R., policy that addresses zoning, permitting and fee certainty would make it easier to build new homes and reverse soaring home prices in California.

“California must tackle the burdensome permitting process that stifles new housing development and increases costs,” says Radsick. “This begins with reducing high-impact fees that can range between 6 percent to 18 percent of a home’s sales price.”

ORRA, meanwhile, strongly advocates full funding of Florida’s Affordable Housing Trust Funds.

“These funds, generated through fees paid during private property transfers, are intended to support programs that increase the availability and affordability of housing for our workforce,” says Steward. “However, the Florida Legislature routinely siphons very significant revenues from the funds toward non-housing related items. REALTORS® statewide work to insist that the legislature fully fund Florida’s Affordable Housing Trust for the intended purposes.”

Patel says understanding master planned living, multi-generational living and multi-family living is key for Texas, as builders are currently profiting from the strategy while re-sales are falling behind.

“Builders are catering to those needs which make lots of the re-sales obsolete,” says Patel. “For example, the biggest search right now is a home with two bedrooms and two bathrooms downstairs, whereas the re-sales don’t have that from a decade or more ago.”

In Atlanta, McDonald says the Atlanta Housing Authority has already made an effort to construct more vertical units for condos and rentals in major employment districts, but that may not be enough.

“Rents are now in line with mortgage payments; however, the lack of supply limits what a buyer can do and where to live within a reasonable commute,” says McDonald, adding that not all reform that benefits housing is housing-related. “ATL needs better mass transit and to focus on revitalizing and expanding our rail system, MARTA.”

In the Greater Boston Area, Barmon says each town should have its own strategy for addressing housing reform.

“In my opinion, Boston and Cambridge have both been very successful in addressing the affordable housing issue by actively purchasing new properties to be eventually sold to lower-income buyers who meet the income guidelines,” says Barmon. “Zoning regulations in my towns now include development guidelines which create new affordable units by requiring developers to allocate a certain percentage (usually under 20 percent) of new units in a condominium conversion project be sold to buyers who meet the affordable housing guidelines in that particular town.”

“I think that Cambridge’s strategy of acquiring individual housing units (condos, single-family, and multi-family properties) and offering it to qualified individuals is one of the better ways to address the lack of affordable housing,” adds Barmon.

Where Should Change Come From?

At the forefront of the housing policy discussion stands the question, “Is governmental influence more effective at the local, state or federal level?”

It’s a tricky question, says Patel, who believes housing policy at the local level is the most effective, but that it should not be linked to social policy, though he “can see where it can be linked in the sense of lending rules and affordability in areas.”

“At the local level, there is an understanding from a community aspect, a demographics aspect and a socio-economic aspect,” says Patel.

McDonald is also pro-local policy, as long as it does not discriminate on any social policies and is based on economic factors.

“The Atlanta Housing Authority has always been one of the best run systems in the region because they run it like a business with federal guidance,” says McDonald.

Barmon believes that any successful, long-term housing reform should be addressed on a local level by each individual city and town. “Each town has its own individual wants and needs depending on the wants and needs of its individual citizens.”

Radsick, however, doesn’t agree that local policy is always the best solution.

“We need accountability,” says Radsick. “One of the primary drivers of the housing crisis is local governments that refuse to build the housing we need. We must do everything we can to stop unreasonable ‘not in my backyard’ laws that only exacerbate the crisis we’re in. California Gov. Havin Newsom has already taken a lead role by taking cities to court when they fail to approve reasonable and responsible housing developments.”

“C.A.R. has long supported state legislation that increases housing availability for those at all income levels, from affordable to market-rate and everything in between,” adds Radsick.

Brokerage-Inspired Action Can Help

Brokers agree that change can start at even more foundational levels, from within their organizations.

“I am proud to say that on a local level my colleagues at Coldwell Banker have, on their own, both created and participated in supporting local charities and organizations that assist individuals who are either homeless or in danger of becoming homeless,” says McDonald, who adds that these efforts include working with the Community Housing Assistance Fund—an organization run and founded by REALTORS®.

“Also, Realogy, my parent company, fully supports the expansion of FHA legal protections as a general, ongoing business practice, and focuses on creating a diverse marketplace by forming partnerships with professional real estate associations whose ongoing missions are to improve the homeownership rates of various diverse groups, including the LGBT community,” she adds.

Is your market experiencing unique challenges? Let us know in the comments how you believe they should be addressed.

Liz Dominguez is RISMedia’s senior editor. Email her your real estate news ideas at ldominguez@rismedia.com.

The post The State of Housing: Experts Discuss Global Influence, Trends, Coronavirus and Other Challenges, and Potential Solutions appeared first on RISMedia.

The State of Housing: Experts Discuss Global Influence, Trends, Coronavirus and Other Challenges, and Potential Solutions published first on https://thegardenresidences.tumblr.com/

[nationaldoorstep]

PART I: What to Look For (and Avoid) When Shopping for an Income Property | Resident First Focus

Ok, so you’re looking to invest in a rental property.

Maybe it’s your first one. Perhaps it’s an addition to your growing mini-empire. Whatever your situation or experience level, there are pitfalls to avoid when shopping for an income property. Getting it right, we don’t have to tell you, means a new source of cash flow. Getting it wrong means you may have a money pit – and no one likes those.

Here are a few things to look for (and avoid!) when shopping for an income property.

Close to Home 

While we always suggest hiring a good property manager, if you do choose to self-manage, proximity to your own home is essential. Middle-of-the-night repairs or getting to your property around rush hour will be that much more irksome if your rental is not close by and without a property manager.

The Neighborhood

Moreover, what about the local population? This is generally the pool from which your residents will come. Do people in this area make enough to support the rent you plan to charge? Are they families that will be long-term renters, or are many of them students (they will be if you buy near a university)? Your demographic will look for certain types of properties. For instance, families tend to be drawn to units with more space, whereas students often look for proximity to their school and/or college friends.

Crime rates are something to check out because soaring numbers can erode the value of your property and keep good residents away. You will want to learn about crime statistics before you purchase. How to find out? Your local library and police are good sources. To get more granular insights into various indices around local unlawful acts, click here.

However, this can be tricky, but worth looking into—if crime is falling in an area and new businesses are opening up, you might be onto real favorable possibilities, especially as it relates to Opportunity Zones. Redevelopment activity is helping to make neighborhoods more charming, safe, convenient, environmentally healthy, and economically secure. If you can sense that an area is improving—and you get there just before Starbucks does—you’ll thank yourself later.

For example, Oakland has persistently high crime levels, but areas of it are drawing renters and buyers because of their affordability, culture, and proximity to San Francisco. The median monthly rent in Oakland jumped 15%, the most in the U.S., to $2,846, last year, according to Zillow.

Oakland is the hottest residential real estate market in the Bay Area,” Kenneth Rosen, chairman of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, recently told Investor’s Business Daily. “It’s still expensive, but it’s more affordable” than San Francisco.

There are great sources on the Internet for useful demographic information.

The Starbucks Test 

Also, pay close attention to where upscale retailers like Trader Joe’s, Starbucks, Publix (especially Greenwise), and Whole Foods are putting new shops. These companies have sophisticated real estate teams that make highly nuanced decisions about where they open new stores. They do extensive research about the best neighborhoods for finding the customers they want – you should do the same.

If a Trader Joe’s, Starbucks or Whole Foods is opening in a new area, be on high alert. Their faith and trust in these neighborhoods is a good sign that the area is an excellent place to invest. It may be time to buy an investment property in this area (or areas where these stores already operate).

Property Taxes

This can be a bit counterintuitive. Usually, it’s wise to avoid high taxes, but with residential real estate, higher property taxes can indicate that the area has excellent amenities and quality schools—features that attract good, long-term residents who will pay their rent on time and treat your investment with respect. You can do this sort of research at the City’s assessment or appraiser’s office.

Now, there is one caveat: the property tax rate should be taken in the context of the whole. Not ALL areas have high taxes because they’re amazing neighborhoods. Some areas have high property tax rates as a result of a declining tax base, meaning fewer people are living there, and those who are, have to pay an expanding share of the taxes to fund city services. 

Conversely, some areas have incredibly low taxes because they have an oversized commercial tax base. Cambridge, Massachusetts – home to Harvard University, MIT and the Kendall Square biotech hub is a perfect example. Cambridge has one of the lowest residential tax bases in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts – not because the City isn’t investing in the schools, parks, or other local amenities, but rather because the City has such a robust commercial tax base that it offsets the need for high residential taxes.

Be Your Own Economist

Why? Simple. If the local economy is booming and the unemployment rate is low, workers will be moving to the area, and that’s good for rents.

If you’re looking to purchase a property near where you live, you probably already know how the economy is performing. However, if you don’t, or if you are looking at a more distant area, spend some time researching the area’s unemployment rate. As a general rule of thumb, you’ll want to invest in an area that has a lower unemployment rate than the national average. 

One final nuance related to this point: here’s where your homework (and intuition) matters. Consider who the largest employers are in the area. Is it a diversified economy? One pitfall that some investors make is investing in a community that has only one major employer; if that employer closes or relocates, it can cripple demand for local real estate as families are forced to move elsewhere in search of work. 

We saw this happen in Fairfield, Connecticut, after General Electric decided to relocate its HQ to Boston. Honeywell also shifted its headquarters from New Jersey to North Carolina. In a tertiary example, Toyota, the Japanese automaker, transferred its U.S. headquarters from the greater Los Angeles area to Plano, Texas, in 2014. The measure impacted about 3,000 jobs.

Next Up

So there you have it: some vital considerations for your income property search. In Part II of this special mini-report, we’ll take a look at some features to look for—and avoid—in the property you’re considering for purchase.

Stay tuned! Don’t touch that dial!

[trabzonto]

Coming of Age: San Antonio Startups Experience Busy Summer of M&A

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San Antonio—Business leaders have been working for years to recast the Alamo City’s image, in an attempt to brand it as a hub of tech and healthcare startups as much as it is a place for tourists to visit the home of Davey Crockett’s last stand, take a glitzy River Walk, and enjoy a stellar NBA team.

Rackspace, the cloud computing giant sold to a private equity firm last year for $4.3 billion, has likely helped sprout more tech companies in San Antonio than most other businesses in the city. Many tech founders are former Rackspace employees who now rent office space in Geekdom, the downtown co-working space that was founded by former Rackspace Chairman Graham Weston and run by another ex-Racker, Lorenzo Gomez.

More businesses are rising up in the San Antonio biotech sector, too, thanks in part to efforts by the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health) to invest in programs that encourage researchers to commercialize their work. Tax breaks from the city and county governments also drew medical startups like CytoBioScience and companies that create them, such as InCube Labs. (Tech companies have received tax breaks as incentives for locating in San Antonio, too.)

Now, some results are beginning to show in the form of merger and acquisition activity. At least six young companies have either sold to or merged with businesses outside of San Antonio, a sign that San Antonio’s fledgling startups are getting more recognition. Some deals were small, such the July sales of contract manufacturer NuPak Medical and software maker eHealthScreenings.

Others gained national exposure, such as the August sale of digital marketing firm Giles-Parscale to Santa Barbara, CA-based CloudCommerce. The San Antonio business gained recognition when its founder, Brad Parscale, lead candidate Donald Trump’s digital marketing efforts during the 2016 presidential campaign. Other deals, such as CellRight Technologies’ planned $30 million sale to U.K.-based Tissue Regenix this month, show the reach San Antonio startups have gained. In June, UT Health also licensed two experimental drugs to China-based CSPC Pharmaceutical Group for $4.5 million upfront. CytioBioScience acquired one competitor and then merged with another company in the last year.

“Mergers and acquisitions can potentially be good for San Antonio provided the new owners leave the existing operations and jobs in the community and invest in expanding such operations,” Ed Davis, executive director of the San Antonio Economic Development Corporation, wrote in an e-mail to Xconomy.

San Antonio has always had big companies with big aspirations, such as Ilex Oncology, which sold to Genzyme for $1 billion in stock in 2004, and Acelity, the sprawling medical device company that has been a part of multiple billion-dollar deals in the past decade.

Even so, San Antonio’s startup culture had always played second fiddle to other Texas cities such as Austin or Houston, particularly on the tech side.

“Austin is like the younger brother that was stronger, that was the quarterback of the football team and got all the dates,” Gomez, the CEO of coworking space Geekdom, told Xconomy late last year.

Gomez worked with Weston, the former Rackspace chairman, and others in the city to develop a mission that might start changing that mentality. The key was to find out what San Antonio was good at, develop a mission around it, and stick to that mission, Gomez said in December. Given the work Rackspace does, helping companies handle the infrastructure of their computing, San Antonio seemed primed for tech startups with a more technical focus.

“Don’t try to be the next Silicon Valley or next Austin, because you’re not going to be,” Gomez said in December. “The next Facebook won’t come out of San Antonio. You need to figure out what you’re a specialist in and double down on that. We have infrastructure tech.”

That focus on infrastructure technology—or as Gomez calls it, the plumbing of the Internet—has indeed helped bolster Geekdom and the overall view of San Antonio startups. More investment money is in town, with VCs such as Geekdom Fund, Scaleworks, and the RealCo seed financing program helping bolster startups. And industries such as cybersecurity are growing, with organizations such as Port San Antonio providing newly built office space for companies in the industry.

On the healthcare side, UT Health is pushing for new incubator space that might help fulfill the city’s desire for more medical device and biotech startups.

San Antonio has indeed been getting more recognition from other cities and groups around the state. Its new angel network hosted a state-wide conference for early stage investment groups this year, and UT Health San Antonio signed a collaboration deal with MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to share resources.

Perhaps most notably, Austin-based Capital Factory’s co-founder Joshua Baer included San Antonio in a blog post last week, in which the startup incubator discussed its goal of encouraging more collaboration among Texas’ top startup cities. Since Capital Factory is the epitome of chic Austin startup culture, perhaps it’s a signal that San Antonio’s startup scene is finally coming of age.

David Holley is Xconomy’s national correspondent based in Austin, TX. You can reach him at dholley@xconomy.com Follow @xconholley

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