Décor choices can have a big impact on a home's appearance, making it seem bigger or smaller. Professional home stagers chime in with some tips on how to show off square footage, even when space is tight.

• Remove heavy drapes
  Leave windows bare or hang sheer linen curtains. The space will feel brighter, and "you'll extend the view to the outdoors, which will automatically make your space feel larger," home staging expert Lori Matzke told realtor.com.
• Go monochrome
  Painting every single room in the same color can help lengthen a smaller space. It "prevents your space from feeling choppy and gives it more of a continuous feel," Matzke says. Furnishings and accessories should also be monochrome. Reduce contrasting colors whenever possible, says Justin M. Riordan, founder of Portland, Ore., and Seattle-based Spade and Archer Design Agency. "If you have a room with taupe walls, walnut floors, a brown sofa, and milk-chocolate pillows – all various names for medium brown – the edges of each item will be less defined and, in turn, be perceived as taking up less space," Riordan says.
• Remove rugs
  "The more you break up the flow of your flooring, the smaller your space will feel," Matzke says. Limit rugs to only one or two main areas, such as under the dining table. Also, small rugs can dwarf a space, so when you do use them, make sure they aren't too tiny.
• Add mirrors to rooms
  Mirrors can help make a small room appear larger by reflecting more natural light, Bee Heinemann, marketing director and interior decorating expert at Vänt Wall Panels told realtor.com. Consider placing a mirror next to or directly across from a window to add more depth to the room.
• Raise the bar (in the bathroom)
  Place shower curtains and window treatments higher up on the wall. "Hang it as high as you can," Heinemann says. "Doing so gives the illusion of higher ceilings and greater space."

NEW YORK – Oct. 9, 2017 – Bitcoin, the best-known of the upstart digital currencies, is still a mystery to many Americans.

If you've heard about Bitcoin, it's mainly from startling headlines about its 400 percent price gain earlier this year, or its surge to nearly $5,000 last month, making it the most-valuable player in the mushrooming space for so-called cryptocurrencies. Or because Wall Street skeptics call it a "fad," a "fraud" and a "speculative bubble."

Believers in Bitcoin say it's the money of the future, a digital alternative to the dollar, euro or yen. Non-believers say it's not real money. After all, you can't dig into your pocket and pull one out like a $10 bill and hand it to a cashier at Dunkin' Donuts to pay for your morning coffee.

Some investment pros say it's a new asset class, no different from a stock, a bond or an ounce of gold, and that it has great investment promise. Skeptics say it's not an investment because there's no good way to value it.

So what exactly is it?

Bitcoin is a digital currency and digital payment system that allows people to send and receive Bitcoins – or digital tokens – to anyone, anywhere in the world. It runs on a decentralized network of computers where all transactions are recorded, verified and updated by technology known as blockchain, which is akin to an online public ledger. Unlike traditional payment networks such as Mastercard, Bitcoin isn't owned by anyone. There's no central authority, such as a bank or government, that's in charge of it.

How do you buy Bitcoin?

An easy way to get started is to set up an account with a Bitcoin exchange like U.S.-based Coinbase, which allows you to purchase Bitcoins with money from your bank account or credit card. And just like the New York Stock Exchange is a place you can go to buy and sell stocks like Apple or Amazon, these exchanges will let you trade cryptocurrencies.

How do I access my bitcoin 'money'?

Bitcoins purchased on an exchange or received in a transaction can be stored and accessed in a so-called "Bitcoin Wallet," which is like a bank account. A Bitcoin Wallet lets you receive Bitcoins, store or save them, and send them to others. There are apps that allow you to install a Bitcoin Wallet on your computer or mobile device.

Where can I spend it and what can I buy with it?

You can spend your Bitcoin at any retailer set up to accept Bitcoin. But Bitcoin hasn't yet enjoyed widespread adoption, and those retailers that do accept it mostly are set up online. You can use Bitcoin at discount retailer Overstock.com. You can also go online and use Bitcoin at Microsoft to buy apps, games and videos on Xbox, book airline tickets from CheapAir.com or hotel rooms from Expedia, purchase a satellite TV subscription from Dish Network or buy a sub sandwich from an Allentown, Pa., Subway store. One way to get around retailers not accepting Bitcoin is to purchase gift cards for retailers like Amazon or BestBuy at gift card makers like eGifter that accept Bitcoin.

How are Bitcoins priced?

The price is determined by supply and demand – and market forces. The Bitcoin supply will be limited to 21 million, and currently there are roughly 16.6 million. Whether Bitcoin rises or falls in value depends on whether investors believe it will gain widespread acceptance, whether it can avoid being shut down by governments and whether it can continue to dominate the digital currency market or be surpassed by one of more than 1,100 other cryptocurrencies.

What do investors need to know about Bitcoin?

Bitcoin has gained most of its notoriety as an investment. A single Bitcoin ended 2016 at around $950 but skyrocketed to nearly $5,000 on Sept. 1. That's a gain of around 425 percent. But one of Bitcoin's downsides is that it has proved to be wildly volatile. Three weeks after hitting its 2017 peak, it had given back more than 25 percent before rallying back 20 percent to around $4,350 Friday.

Bulls like Thomas Lee, founder of Wall Street firm Fundstrat Global Advisors, see promise. His firm thinks Bitcoin could be worth $6,000 by the middle of 2018, 40 percent higher than current levels. His long-term target is as high as $25,000 by 2022. He believes Bitcoin will enjoy "broader adoption" as a "store of value" similar to gold.

But there's some big bears out there. Jamie Dimon, CEO of J.P. Morgan, has called Bitcoin a "fraud." His fear is that when people start to lose money, governments around the world will eventually "shut down" exchanges that trade digital currencies. "It will end badly," he said recently.

Question: I enclosed my condominium lanai five years ago. The enclosure was damaged by hurricane Irma and my neighbors are telling me that the condominium association is responsible to repair/replace the enclosure. Who is responsible? –B. D., Treasure Coast

Answer: This is a very good question and requires some analysis. First, it is critical to note that there is a difference between damage caused by normal wear and tear, and damaged caused by an insurable event. The answer below focuses solely on the analysis where the damage was caused by an insurable casualty event. The Florida Condominium Act today provides that the condominium association is required to repair and replace portions of the condominium property that are insured by the condominium association. So, the next question is therefore whether your lanai enclosure is required to be insured by the condominium association.

Florida Statutes section 718.111(11) requires the condominium association to insure all portions of the condominium property as originally installed or replacement of like kind and quality. The statute also requires the association to insure any material alterations approved in accordance with Section 718.113(2).

Thus, because your question indicates that you installed the lanai enclosure, I assume that it was not originally installed by the developer and is not a like-kind replacement. That being said, it is possible that the enclosure constitutes a material alteration which therefore requires the condominium association to insure the structure. I would need to know more to answer the question, and specifically whether the enclosure is authorized as an alteration in the governing documents and whether the enclosure was approved by the membership as a material alteration to the condominium property.

I would recommend you bring this matter to the association's attention and confirm whether your lanai enclosure is included within the association's insurance coverage. There is a chance you will be responsible for repair and replacement due to the hurricane damage, but as you can see above there is more analysis to be done and therefore I would recommend you bring any dispute to a licensed Florida attorney for further review.

Question: Our homeowners association recently discovered that there are no reserve funds to replace the perimeter wall. As a result, the Board is increasing the annual assessment significantly to make up for the short fall. Doesn't the membership need to approve large increases in assessments? –T.R., Stuart

Answer: First, note that are significant differences between reserve obligations in a condominium association versus a homeowners association. Chapter 720 governing homeowners associations does not require the Board to obtain approval for budgetary increases. It is very possible your governing documents have self-imposed a restriction on the Board's ability to increase the budget, but this would depend on your specific governing documents. If the documents are silent on this issue, then the general rule is that the Board has control over the budget and therefore the assessments levels.

With specific reference to reserve increases, I will assume that the homeowners association has never reserved for the perimeter wall and the members have never specifically approved a reserve for the perimeter wall. If this is the case, Florida law confers significant discretion over the Board's reserve capabilities and would generally support the Board's figures with respect to reserve levels for the wall.

The information provided herein is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. The publication of this article does not create an attorney-client relationship between the reader and the publisher Readers should not act or refrain from acting based upon the information contained in this article without first contacting an attorney, if you have questions about any of the issues raised herein. The hiring of an attorney is a decision that should not be based solely on advertisements or this column.

The pricing gap that has emerged in the commercial real estate market is shouldering much of the blame for slowing transaction volume. How that gap is resolved – and how long it takes to narrow – is a top concern for investors still sitting on a lot of dry powder.

Investors still have a strong appetite for real estate, but still climbing property values are making them nervous about being able to execute on deals. A first half of 2017 survey of alternative asset investors by London-based research firm Preqin found that a majority of respondents, 72 percent, plan to increase or maintain commitments to private real estate funds over the next 12 months.

However, 53 percent said it is now harder to source attractive investment opportunities, and 72 percent view pricing and valuation as the key issue facing the industry over the next 12 months.

Many for-sale properties have seen a 25- to 50-basis point adjustment in cap rates over the past 12 to 24 months that is showing up in the bid-ask spread, notes Giacomo Barbieri, managing director and senior regional head of New York investments for TH Real Estate, a real estate investment management firm. Many sellers are stuck on 2015 and 2016 pricing mode and are unwilling to sell if they can't get the price they want.

At the other end of the spectrum, investors are wary about paying premium prices at this late stage in the real estate cycle. "The investor community is kind of tired of unreasonable expectations and spinning their wheels not knowing if there is really a seller at the end," says Barbieri.

Prices continue to climb

Prices are still trending upward for multifamily, office and industrial assets, while self-storage prices have peaked and retail prices have pulled back, notes Doug Ressler, director of business intelligence for research firm Yardi Matrix. "There is still a lot of capital waiting on the sidelines right now, especially for residential, because multifamily is still the sweetheart," he says.

According to the latest RCA U.S. National All-Property Composite index, the CPPI index for July is up 7.9 percent year-over-year. Prices on office, industrial and apartment properties are continuing to rise higher, while retail has pulled back with a decline of 1.6 percent.

Yardi Matrix is predicting that cap rates will remain relatively flat. "We do not see significant additional compression," says Ressler. However, there are some segments of the real estate market that may see more downward pressure due to the high volume of capital chasing deals, such as 1031 investments. Last week the Fed indicated that it would make one more increase in interest rates before year-end. "We believe the market has anticipated the Fed potential impact regarding long-term Treasury rates and has adjusted to Fed intentions," notes Ressler.

Recalibrating pricing expectations

The emergence of a bid-ask gap is fairly typical in the later stages of real estate cycles. The question is how the gap will get resolved. Will sellers have to come down on price? Will investors go up, or can they meet in the middle?

Some sellers are looking for ways around that pricing gap. For example, TH Real Estate put its 685 Third Avenue property in New York City for sale recently with low pricing guidance that was pushed higher during the competitive bid process. "We didn't want to go out to the market with unrealistic expectations and not get the attention of investors," says Barbieri. The 27-story Midtown office property is currently under contract.

On the buy side, high sticker prices are prompting some investors to rethink strategies on where to place capital at this stage of the cycle. "We have a lot of borrowers that we have financed over the years that are seeing [lower] return on the equity side of the business, and they are now investing in UC Funds on the debt side," says Daniel Palmier, CEO of UC Funds, a specialty finance and investment firm that provides both debt and equity for real estate investments.

The high price/low cap rate environment is also pushing investors to look for bigger returns in new development deals, value-add acquisitions and properties in secondary markets, such as Raleigh, N.C., Charleston, S.C. and Tampa, Fla. "What we really see is value-add picking up, because with minimal capital you can get a property up and going and get a little bit higher rental rate and a better ROI than you can by putting a shovel in the ground and waiting 19 to 36 months to see it come to fruition," says Ressler.

For example, UC Funds bought two hotels and an apartment property in Downtown Stamford, Conn. earlier this spring for nearly $120 million. One of the assets is a partially developed Residence Inn that was about 60 percent complete at the time of purchase. UC Funds plans to put in another $25 million to finish construction on the 156-room hotel and then operate the completed property.

Even with a visible bid-ask gap on many deals, money is by no means moving to the sidelines. "I think what's happening is that investment sales brokers are realizing that they need to adjust sellers' expectations, and do it from the start," says Barbieri. That will help bring sellers and buyers closer together, but it is likely that that gap will persist and continue to create some softness in the transaction market through the remainder of the year, he adds.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleges that a type of "cryptocurrency," called REcoin, was touted for the real estate industry, but it's a fraud designed to dupe investors out of money.

Cryptocurrency is a "digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography for security." The most famous example is Bitcoin, which has been used in real estate transactions.

The REcoin Group launched REcoin in July with an "initial coin offering" (ICOs), which is the first offering of its digital currency. It touted REcoin as the "first ever cryptocurrency backed by real estate."

The company said REcoin was a "new, proprietary cryptocurrency designed for a broad range of financial transactions." It claimed it was backed by "real estate held by 101REcoin Trust in countries with a developed and stable economy, such as the U.S., Canada, Japan, Great Britain and Switzerland."

As reported by HousingWire, the SEC announced last week that it charged REcoin and the company's founder, Maksim Zaslavskiy, with defrauding investors by selling unregistered securities and selling digital tokens or coins that didn't really exist. SEC's complaint states that the REcoin Group doesn't have any real operations in place.

After the company launched, the SEC says it announced plans to run several "partner platforms" for investors, including an online auction platform for the sale and lease of real estate; a service for finding and offering real estate services; a news site dedicated to real estate; a classified ads platform designed specifically for real estate professionals; and an online platform for crowdfunding in real estate.

"Investors should be wary of companies touting ICOs as a way to generate outsized returns," Andrew Calamari, director of the SEC's New York regional office, told HousingWire. "As alleged in our complaint, Zaslavskiy lured investors with false promises of sizeable returns from novel technology."

Question: I am an 86-year-old widow. I own a townhouse with stairs, which are becoming difficult. I must dip into savings to pay taxes and insurance. I might need those savings for a nursing home some day. I'm thinking of selling and buying a less-expensive condo with costs I can manage with my retirement income. But now I hear that renting and investing may be better than buying and building equity. But rents are high, too. Any thoughts? – Mary

Answer: It's impossible to "call" the market and know when it will top or shift. For the time being, renting is less expensive than buying a home, from the prospective of starting with nothing. But this is not the dilemma that you're facing. It appears that you have equity in your home, and your cost of living each month is less than what it will cost to rent something similar elsewhere.

People's opinions may differ, but here's what I would do: Sell the current townhome and buy a less-expensive and easier-to-maintain condo using the equity from your townhome without taking out a new mortgage.

Then save any remaining equity from the sale to pay taxes, insurance and any emergencies that come up. Your taxes and insurance will be less than what you are paying now, and you will have some savings.

If you need to move into a retirement home later, you can always sell the condo. It likely will have appreciated more than your money would have sitting in a savings account.

If you own the condo and need money later to continue living in it, there's always the possibility of getting a reverse mortgage. Having equity in the condo can be better than money in the bank because if you are renting and your money runs out, you will be without savings and without options.

Of course, every situation is nuanced, so you should carefully consider your next move, taking into consideration all aspects of your individual situation..

Homeowners would be forced to choose between two popular tax deductions – one for local property taxes, the other for mortgage interest – under a potential compromise that House Republicans are considering as they craft the evolving tax revamp.

The nearly $6 trillion tax overhaul plan being pushed by President Donald Trump and Republican leaders in Congress promises to retain the deduction of mortgage interest from federal income taxes – a cherished tax break used by about 30 million Americans that supporters say is a catalyst to homeownership.

Republicans in high-tax states such as New York, New Jersey and California are balking at the proposal from Trump and GOP leaders to eliminate the federal deduction for state and local taxes, fearing the financial hit on their constituents.

The possible deduction tradeoff is among several compromises being floated by Republican lawmakers to gain the support of their defecting colleagues from high-tax states. Their opposition threatens to derail tax legislation that's seen as a political imperative for Republicans and Trump.

Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., said Tuesday,

"It looks like we're going to have some compromise" on state and local tax deductions, Collins said Tuesday at the Capitol. "I am confident there will be an accommodation for the high-tax states."

But Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, a member of the Senate's tax-writing Finance Committee, wasn't sold on the deduction tradeoff idea.

"What does it save and where does it get us? Should the average South Carolinian subsidize the high property taxes in other states?"

Scott noted that the state and local deduction costs the government an estimated $1.3 trillion in lost revenue over 10 years. It covers local property taxes and state income taxes. With more than $1 trillion having to be mined from closing loopholes and ending deductions to finance the Republican plan's sweeping tax cuts, regional divisions within the GOP have jumped to the fore.

The high-tax, high-income states – New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and California – that urgently want to preserve the state and local deduction are Democratic strongholds, but with plenty of Republican lawmakers. A coalition of 70 lawmakers from those so-called blue states, including 20 Republicans, are fighting the proposed repeal of the deduction, arguing it would subject people to being taxed twice.

Collins said other possibilities discussed with Brady included "some either-ors" like the home deduction tradeoff and "maybe some capping." That could mean limiting the amount homeowners could deduct on their local property taxes, for example, to correspond with a maximum $1 million of the home's value, he suggested. Or further reducing the cap on the federal mortgage interest deduction, which currently allows homeowners to deduct interest on up to $1 million in mortgage debt.

Changes like those "would take the argument that this is a tax cut for the rich off the table," Collins said.

Trump, top administration officials and Republican architects of the plan insist that it would provide badly needed tax relief for the middle class – and wouldn't benefit the wealthy.

The wealthiest sliver of the nation would reap big benefits, however. The plan would drop the tax rate for Americans making a half-million dollars or more by almost 5 percentage points. And the blueprint calls for eliminating the estate tax – paid by those with multimillion-dollar inheritances, a boon for wealthy individuals who inherit businesses, investments and real estate. Also slated for elimination is the alternative minimum tax, a supplemental tax for wealthy individuals and corporations that enjoy exemptions lowering their income tax bills

Surging prices in single family homes and lack of inventory are making this market turn to remodeling vs buying or moving. Americans are projected to spend 316 Billion in remodeling this year, according to Harvard's study. Which is an increase from $296 Billion last year. Home owners are tapping into there equity and there savings which is showing an increase in the home markets. The markets haven't seen increases like these since 2006 when it was about $334 billion in remodels and renovations. The big ticket items include kitchen make-overs.

Blake Anthony Papalia 

Broker 

Home Made Real Estate 

The criteria used to figure out this formula was: affordability, quality of life and the current state of the local real estate market. In general,  a number of California cities hovered at the bottom of the list, while the top three cities for first timers was Texas. In FL the top city at #31 is Tampa, Orlando not far behind at #64, port st lucie at #69, and Boca Raton at #69, followed close behind. Miami #269 and Miami Beach #296 fell near the bottom for first time home buyers. 

23 Key metric overall: 

Affordability- 33.3% this includes housing affordability, average cost of homeowners's insurance, cost of living and the avergae home's cost per square foot.

Real estate market - 33.3% this includes rent to own ratio, housing-market health index, share of homes sold in 1 year. median home-price appreciation, foreclose rate, buy vs rent break even horizon, share of listings with price cuts, share of housing units built between 2010 and 2015, building permit activity.

Quality of life- 33.3% This includes recreation-friendliness recession, recover. weather. quality of school system, driver-friendliness, total home-energy-cost, violent crime rate and property-crime rate. 

Florida cities:

34. Tampa

64. Orlando

68. Port St. Lucie

69. Boca Raton

75. St. Petersburg

95. Cape Coral

88. Palm Bay

103. Clearwater

111. Jacksonville

122. Sunrise

126. Pembroke Pines

134. Lakeland

146. Davie

152. Plantation

159. Miramar

166. Gainesville

180. West Palm Beach

183. Hollywood

188. Coral Springs

194. Pompano Beach

214. Miami Gardens

234. Tallahassee

236. Fort Lauderdale

242. Hialeah

286. Miami

296. Miami Beach

Blake Anthony Papalia 

Broker 

Home Made Real Estate