PARKER  REALTY ASSOCIATES

It may seem hard to imagine but, yes, the cycle has spun around and in some markets there are bidding wars leaving buyers wondering, "What can I do to make my offer stand out?" The real estate market is again heating up and many buyers are trying to get into the market now after taking a long break. For some, it's a chance to become first-time homeowners. For others, it's a chance to make a move up to a larger home or to buy a second home. Still others may have owned in previ

Selling a home has its typical challenges. Maybe the couple across the street just listed their house, which you know has an amazing kitchen (while yours is just slightly less so). Maybe values have started to drop a tad. Or maybe you're getting transferred and you have to sell - and find something new in your future city - in what seems like an impossibly short amount of time. Whatever the circumstances, you want the sale to go as smoothly, and take place as quickly, as poss

The term big data is used to refer to very big sets of data that can be analyzed and computed to reveal trends and patterns. These patterns are of particular importance as they relate to human behavior and interactions. In the current world of commerce, there is not one sector that is not impacted by big data. According to IBM, close to 4.4 million data scientists will be required by this year. Real estate has not been an exception in embracing the use of data. The commercial

Residential homeowners have a number of tax benefits, the most important of which is the exclusion of up to $500,000 profit made on the sale of the principal residence. But real estate investors -- large and small -- still have to pay capital gains tax when they sell their investments. And since most investors depreciated their properties over a number of years, they often have to "recapture" the depreciation, as well as paying a lot of capital gains tax. There is a way of de