TEN OF THE MOST HISTORIC HOUSES IN AMERICA

1.     THE WRIGLEY MANSION - ARIZONA

The Wrigley Mansion was built in 1932 by chewing gum personality William Wrigley Jr. William Wrigley Jr. designed this house as a 50^th anniversary gift for his wife. The mansion sits on top of a hill and has gorgeous 360-degree views of the mountains and the city below. Georgie and Jamie Hormel purchased the property in 1992 and they restored it with the intention of sharing its magic with everyone. Today Wrigley Mansion is a popular destination for weddings and special events, as well as the popular restaurant Geordie’s Steak restaurant and lounge.

2.     OAK ALLEY PLANTATION - LOUISIANA

In 1830 Valcour Aime, known as the “King of Sugar”, purchased the land that Oak Alley Plantation now sits on. In 1836, Valcour Aime exchanged this piece of property with his brother-in-law Jacques Telesphore Roman for a plantation owned by Roman. By 1837, Jacques Roman began building the present mansion under the oversight of George Swainy and entirely with enslaved labor. They completed the mansion in 1839. There have been several owners throughout the years, as most of them could not afford the cost of upkeep. Josephine Stewart was the last owner to olive in the residence. She left the house and grounds to the Oak Alley Foundation when she died in 1972, which opened the plantation up to the public.

3.     ROBERT FROST FARM – NEW HAMPSHIRE

The Robert Frost farm is in Derry, New Hampshire that Robert Frost lived in from 1900 to 1911. The majority of poems in his first two books were written here. The property was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1968. The property is a New Hampshire State Park and is open to the public seasonally.

4.     OHEKA CASTLE – NEW YORK

Otto Hermann Kahn built Oheka Castle in the middle of a 443-acre plot on the highest point on Long Island in Cold Spring Harbor, for an estimated $11 million. The French-style chateau is the second largest private residence ever built in America. The 109,000 square foot home consists of 127 rooms. Developer Gary Melius purchased Oheka in 1984 with the intent of restoring the Castle to its original grandeur.  After $30 million in restoration, the Castle is nearly fully restored.

5.     JOHNNY CASH’S BOYHOOD HOME – ARKANSAS

In 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created The Dyess Colony to aid in the nation’s economic recovery from the Great Depression. The community provided a fresh start for nearly 500 impoverished Arkansas farm families, including the family of music legend Johnny Cash. The colony has been restored and opened to visitors in August 2014. Johnny Cash’s boyhood home is furnished as it was when the Cash family lived there. Tours are given Mondays through Saturdays.

6.     MARK TWAIN HOUSE – CONNECTICUT          

Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) and Olivia “Livy” Clemens hired New York architect Edward Tuckerman Potter to design their house on Farmington Avenue in Hartford, Connecticut. Construction began in August 1873 and the family moved into the house on September 19, 1874. Twain wrote, “To us, our house…had a heart, and a soul, and eyes to see us with; and approvals and solicitudes and deep sympathies; it was of us, and we were in its confidence and lived in its grace and in the peace of its benediction.” Financial problems forced the Clemens to move to Europe in 1891. The family never lived in Hartford again.

7.     NEMOURS MANSION – DELEWARE

Alfred I. DuPont was an American industrialist, financier, and philanthropist. In 1907 Alfred married Alicia, his second wife. He loved showering her with grandiose gifts and one gift being the spectacular new house that he built for her on a 3,000-acre plot of land in Wilmington, Delaware. They named the estate Nemours after the French town that his great-great-grandfather represented in the French Estates General.

8.     ERNEST HEMINGWAY  HOME – FLORIDA

Ernest Hemingway purchased the Key West home in 1931 for $8,000 in back taxes from the City of Key West. It still contains the furniture that he and his family used. The cats that live on the property are descendants of the cats he had while he lived in the house.  The house is built from limestone that was excavated directly from the ground beneath. It is believed that the stone was all hand cut since there were no power tools available at that time. Today the house serves as a museum. The estate still remains to be the single largest residential property on the island of Key West.

9.     THE BILTMORE ESTATE – NORTH CAROLINA

George Vanderbilt began construction on his 250-room French Renaissance chateau in 1889. Taking over six years to complete, the Biltmore House is the largest undertaking in residential architecture. In 1895, Vanderbilt opens Biltmore to friends and family. The finished home contains over four acres of floor space, including 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces. The estate attracts almost 1 million visitors each year and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964.

10.  GRACELAND – TENNESSEE

In the spring of 1957, at the age of just 22, Elvis Presley purchased Graceland for just over $100,000. When Elvis purchased Graceland, he was working on his second motion picture, “Loving You,” with “Jailhouse Rock” to follow. Elvis had various homes in the Los Angeles area and spent a lot of time on the road. However, Graceland was always home base – a constant in the life of Elvis Presley. Today, you can tour Graceland and get a glimpse into the personal life of Elvis Presley.

Property Types To Invest In This Year

Self-Storage

There are many reasons why investing in self-storage facilities tops the list this year. Let’s take a look at a few. The self-storage sector has generated more than $22 billion in annual U.S. revenues. In a society of over-spenders, people need more space to store various items for various reasons. The recent recession caused many families to have to downsize. Naturally, they wanted to be able to keep most of their stuff. Storing the items in a self-storage facility is a great option for people downsizing. We become attached to our stuff.

Self-storage facilities see more of a stable cash flow. Turnover is not a huge issue, as one would expect. Being that there are so many spaces available for rent, owners are less susceptible to big dips in vacancy rates. They are also very low-maintenance. One sweep and the spaces are ready for the next renter.

A few more things to consider when looking into investing into self-storage facilities are better CAP rates, fewer tenant problems, lower maintenance, minimal utilities, and lower expenses.   

Neighborhood Shopping Centers

The neighborhood shopping center is one of the best investments right now. Shopping centers often have “credit” tenants because they have bond rated credit or have multiple locations, which usually results in more successful tenants and security of the centers income. The centers are also multi-tenant, which diversifies the income and most tenant leases have annual rent increases.

According to the recent ICSC report, the U.S. shopping center industry is meeting year-over-year growth in occupancy rates, rents and net operating income. By the end of Q4 in 2014, shopping center occupancy rates were 92.7 percent, the highest level since 2008.

In today’s world where everything can be purchased online, one thing we can rely on is the fact that people still want to go to the grocery store and pick out their own food. This is one reason that grocery-anchored shopping centers continue to be a reliable investment.

 

Seniors Housing

This type of housing growing exponentially every year and there is a guaranteed demand. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, seniors will represent 20 percent of the U.S. population by 2030. More than 500,000 people are expected to be age 65 and older each year, which could fuel the senior housing sector. And, there are options for investors looking into this sector of real estate. Senior housing is divided into four different types: independent living complexes, assisted living communities, skilled nursing facilities and continuing care retirement communities.

Independent living complexes are much like any other multi-tenant apartment complex except that they are marketed solely to people in their golden years. Independent living centers make up the second smallest percentage of the senior market with about 10 percent of the share. The average monthly cost of independent living ranges from about $1,500 to $3,500.

The largest share of the market goes to assisted living facilities. These types of facilities offer more services than independent living such as: laundry, food service, arranged activities, medical services, if needed, and on site drivers. These types of communities still offer a home-like feel and less institutional. The cost for a room in an assisted living facility is around $4,000 per month.

Skilled nursing facilities are also referred to as nursing homes. They provide around-the-clock care for seniors who need in-depth medical attention. The average cost for a private room at a nursing facility is $6,000 a month. Experts warn investors that unless they have a background in healthcare, it may not be wise to take their first foray into senior living investing in this type of complete care environment.

Continuing care retirement communities offer a mix of service levels including independent, assisted living and nursing home care all on one site.

 

Student Housing

In recent years, student housing has had the ability to drive returns. The occupancy figures outperformed traditional multi-family apartments during the Great Recession. With more than 20 million students enrolled in a college or university in the United States, the projected growth by 2022 is expected to be around 24 million. Not to mention, we are seeing record numbers of international students coming to the U.S. to obtain their bachelors’ and advanced degrees. These factors, combined with funding strains for some institutions to have their on-campus housing, this has created a need for more off-campus properties.

Prices for student housing properties are now comparable to the prices investors pay for apartment properties. And, although the properties that are within walking distance to the campuses are more valuable, the demand is still strong for the properties located a bus ride away from the school. We’re seeing cap rates as low as 5.5 percent for properties within walking distance of tier-one universities, and as low as 7.5 percent for properties a shuttle bus ride away from tier-two or tier-three schools.

Suburban Office

The office sector is predicted to perform well in 2016. Suburban office properties saw no growth for many years, while office buildings went through significant price increases. However, that trend is now reversing.  

6 OF THE HEALTHIEST BUILDINGS IN THE WORLD

In the world today people all around are changing their lives to become healthier human beings. But, that is not all that is catching in this the health crazed world. Yes, buildings can be healthy too! These six buildings are all pushing the green envelope and participating in programs such as LEED and WELL to do so. First, let me tell you a little about each of these programs. LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design is a green building certification program that is very popular and used around the world. Another program that was launched to bring health and wellness into the indoor environment is WELL. Let’s take a look at six of the healthiest buildings in the world.

1.     The Crystal in London

Owned and operated by Siemens, The Crystal is a sustainable development. The building uses solar power and ground source heat pumps to generate its own energy. This building is the first to achieve the highest sustainable building accolades from two of the world’s leading accreditation programs, LEED and BREEAM. It is actually the most sustainable building in London.

2.     181 Fremont in San Francisco

181 Fremont is a 56-floor skyscraper in San Francisco, California. Once the building is omple, it will be the tallest mixed-use building in San Francisco. The building features a water reusing program that catches and reuses graywater and rainwater. It also has a glass curtain wall system that maximizes natural light. The tower will have the world’s first evacuation elevators. In an emergency, people will be instructed by signage to use the elevators and not the stairs. This is one building I would feel safe living in.

3.     Apple Park in Cupertino, California

Apple Park is the vision of the late Steve Jobs. His idea was to create a space for creativity and collaboration for the Apple team members. Apple Park sprawls out over 175 acres. The main building is a 2.8 million-square-foot building made entirely of panels of curved glass forming a ring shape. There will be a 1,000-seat theater, named after Mr. Jobs himself. The parklands has two miles of walking and running paths for employees, an orchard, meadow and pond within the ring’s interior grounds. The building itself is powered by 100 percent renewable energy. With 17 megawatts of rooftop solar, Apple Park is one of the largest on-site solar energy installations in the world. The building is also the world’s largest naturally ventilated building, requiring no heat or air conditioning for nine months out of the year.

4.     ShanghaiTower in Shanghai, China

This “Twisting Tower” is a 128-story megatall skyscraper in Shanghai, China. It is the tallest building in China and one of the most sustainable buildings in the world. One of the super cool features of the buiding is the double-skin façade technology that improves air quality while reducing the number of vertical trips each building occupant must make. There is also a parapet the collects rainwater which is used to heat and cool the tower. The building’s twisting form allows it to withstand typhoon-force winds which saved an estimated $58M in structural costs during construction.

5.     Southwestern Energy in Spring, Texas

This 550,000 square foot building was built to LEED Gold specifications. A generator powered by natural gas provides 24-hour power for the data center, and overall the building uses 25 to 30 percent less energy than a standard building of its size. The building features a rainwater harvesting system, a high-performance unitized curtain wall system, shading fins and energy efficient HVAC system. Every detail is sustainable, down to the farm-to-table café and their natural gas fueling station.

6.     Medibank Place in Melbourne, Australia

Medibank is Australia’s largest health insurer and in 2015 they opened their new headquarters after listening to what employees had to say about healthy work environments. This is what they took from all that they heard. Some features of their new space includes a sports court, edible gardens, demonstration kitchens all with a vibrant color scheme. The 495,000 square foot building has about 2,300 plants living inside and about 10% of the walls are covered with plants. There are 26 different work settings in the 24-story building. This is one of the many buildings I would want to see!