Readwrite.com is an engaging online publication that examines all sorts of brain-teasing futuristic innovations. They write about everything from Facebook (“started as a place to meet people at your college…then the place to meet the people you used to know at college…now it’s not quite clear what it’s for…”) to mapping Mars in 3D.
One of their beats is the future of real estate. So their recent examination of the “Internet of Things,” How IoT is Infiltrating the Real Estate Market, looked to offer a wary examination of IoT—“The Internet of Things”—as a subversive disrupter of the way traditional Delray Beach real estate business is conducted.
The Internet of Things is the technology that enables a galaxy of devices to connect to the web to perform “smart” functions in a coordinated manner. Readwrite’s piece described how IoT is “popping up everywhere”—seeping its way into many diverse industries. It explored four key areas where IoT inroads are “having a profound impact on real estate”:
- Energy efficiency. “Smart” lighting, for instance, adjusts lighting to respond to changing conditions, and WiFi-enabled water heaters allow owners to control times of day when hot water will be needed—and when not. Similarly, plumbing sensors can be installed to measure temperature changes to determine usage patterns.
- Maintenance costs. IoT monitors can track usage and sense irregularities in equipment...
This is the time of year when Boynton Beach pet owners start to hear reminders that the holidays usher in Danger Season for family pets. It isn’t only that Fido is liable to pull the Christmas tree into the fireplace or that Puss’s snow globe attack carries the danger of swallowing the antifreeze inside it. More prominently, Boynton Beach pet owners are warned to steer clear of holiday plants and berries “because they’re deadly” for cats and dogs.
Such warnings serve to remind everyone that family pets can interact with the strange new decorations in unpredictable ways. When conscientious dog and cat lovers first bring a new puppy or kitten into the house, they are careful to keep potentially dangerous objects up and out of the way—as we do for human babies. We “childproof” everything at first—until the growing child has demonstrated appropriate levels of common sense about household dangers.
Perhaps because of that example, we may tend to lower our guard once an animal has passed infancy and made peace with the home environment. But that’s not taking into account that, unlike little humans, pets don’t understand the meaning of Christmas or Hanukkah—only that something alien is invading their corner of the world. They can decide that the brightly festooned holiday gear looks tasty. Or threatening. Or just worth climbing onto/jumping up on/chomping into.
So the holiday pet warnings should be welcome for reminding everyone that this is the season to think twice about our four-footed family members before we install the festive paraphernalia. Yes, mistletoe (especially European imports)...
Boynton Beach real estate investors who are taking a hard look at this autumn’s Boynton Beach listings can be counted on to have some blend of two objectives in mind. They’ll be looking for a property that will bring in cash on a regular basis, or one that grows in collateral value over the long haul—or some combination of both. Experienced investors can do a quick estimate of how most Boynton Beach properties will meet their objectives—although they will be working through more exact projections once they’ve winnowed the field down to a few candidates.
If financing is to be involved, the acronym “DSCR” enters the picture.
The DSCR (Debt Service Coverage Ratio) won’t matter if the investor plans to pay cash upfront or will apply for a loan based on his or her personal assets and income. But if the loan will be collateralized on the investment property itself, its DSCR will be key.
It's a calculation that makes perfect sense. Using Motley Fool’s broad definition, it is the quotient of the investment property’s NOI (net operating income) divided by its debt obligation.
That means that a DSCR of 1.0 is a shorthand way to describe a break-even situation—one where the investment can exactly pay for itself with nothing left over. If the DSCR is accurate, such an investment property stands to build equity without costing the investor anything beyond the original down payment.
Similarly, a DSCR of less than 1.0 means that the investor will have to add cash to keep the investment above water;...
