Sean Dreznin, Commercial Investment Real Estate Agent

Despite the title of this article, community banks are not going to croak and die out altogether tomorrow.

However, the U.S. banking industry has been consolidating for the past 15 years. The big gobble up the small. As a result, banks keep getting bigger. It’s harder to find small banks.

This could mean it gets harder for small businesses to get loans in the future. And at the very least, the face of small-business banking will change — in part, for the better and in part, for the worse.

According to research by Celent, smaller banks are on their way to becoming an endangered species. Between 1992 and 2008 the number of U.S. commercial banks under $100 Million in assets dramatically shrank, with the number dropping by 5,410 (from over 8,000 to under 3,000 banks in that size range).

The amount of deposits held by these smaller banks also declined. Today, the top 5 banks in the United States have almost 40% of all deposits. As this chart from the Celent research report shows, smaller banks are bleeding deposits, with the amount of deposts held by small banks declining every year since 1992:

Large banks are able to drive operational efficiencies due to economies of scale. The report notes: “Running a bank requires a certain amount of scale, and that floor is rising due to increasing regulatory requirements, channel support, and product support.” Thus, there’s a lot of pressure for banks to consolidate and get bigger, so that they can get more efficient and profitable. In other words, they may not be able to afford to stay small.

So what does this have to do with small businesses? Well, it means that as smaller banks go away, small businesses, particularly in rural areas without a lot of competing banks, may have a tougher time in the future getting loans.

I’ve long contended that the main advantage of a community bank over a larger bank is if you need a loan. By developing a personal relationship with the local lending officer in a small community bank, as a business owner you may have a better shot at getting a business loan on favorable terms, especially in borderline situations.

But larger banks can be good news for small businesses, too. If you’re looking for the most sophisticated banking products; advanced online banking and bill pay technology; extended branch networks/ hours — larger banks usually walk all over the smaller banks. The wider range of banking products and the convenience of online banking and longer hours — typically provided by larger banks — is a positive development for small businesses.

For your small business, you have to decide what you want most. Do you go for a larger bank that gives you the kind of sophisticated services and banking products that can help make your business more productive, efficient and profitable? Or do you go for a smaller bank where you can get access to the decision-makers, and forge a relationship that may come in handy for a business loan?

Meanwhile, the Federal government is paying healthy banks to take on weaker banks under the financial system bailout from 2008. For instance, if you look at this list of banks getting TARP money, you’ll notice many are not even in trouble. Some have already made ”arranged marriages,” such as PNC which quickly acquired National City Bank with some of the TARP money. That means this consolidation trend will not only continue, but probably increase — and small and midsize banks may disappear faster than ever before.

Small Business Advice, Small business operations, Commercial Real Estate

February 3, 2009 By Anita Campbell

Are you using Video's to Market your Properties?

YouTube Attracts 100 Million U.S. Online Video Viewers in October 2008

Hulu Continues Ascent, Ranks #6 in Online Video Market Share ~ <To get a better idea of Hulu, go to Youtube and type in a search for "30 rock" and click on one of the episode videos and the first thing that will usually flash is the Hulu Logo...

ComScore (SCOR: 11.61, -0.53, -4.4%) , a leader in measuring the digital world, today released October 2008 data from the comScore Video Metrix service, reporting that U.S. Internet users viewed 13.5 billion online videos during the month, representing an increase of 45 percent versus year ago.

Now granted, the above statistics are consuming the entire internet with news stories and gossip, etc, but that doesn't mean there isn't a place in there for your 5-unit apartment building for sale.

See Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5NaVXMc3dI&feature=channel

In October, Google Sites once again ranked as the top U.S. video property with nearly 5.4 billion videos viewed (representing a 40 percent share of all videos viewed), with YouTube.com accounting for more than 98 percent of all videos viewed at the property. Fox Interactive Media ranked second with 520 million videos (3.8 percent), followed by Yahoo! Sites with 363 million (2.7 percent), and Viacom Digital with 305 million (2.3 percent). Hulu, a joint venture of NBC and Fox featuring full-length broadcast TV programs, ranked sixth with 235 million videos viewed (1.7 percent).

I was thrilled when my amateur attempt at a first video on youtube finally drew 1,000 views... I have finally met someone younger and more technologically advanced who works here and is interested in shooting with handheld cam and we can use a Mac to edit and voiceover and really add some professional characteristics to hopefully achieve some impressive statistics.

Click Here to view the above video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze24_1DbZJE&feature=channel_page

Top U.S. Online Video Properties* by Videos Viewed October 2008

Total U.S. - Home/Work/University Locations

Source: comScore Video Metrix Property Videos Share (%) of (000)

Videos

Total Internet 13,536,595 100.0

Google Sites 5,373,783 39.7

Fox Interactive Media 519,926 3.8

Yahoo! Sites 363,426 2.7

Viacom Digital 305,258 2.3

Microsoft Sites 286,464 2.1

Hulu 235,096 1.7

Turner Network 228,024 1.7

Disney Online 126,611 0.9

AOL LLC 122,580 0.9

ESPN 104,724 0.8

* Rankings based on video content sites; excludes video server networks. Online video includes both streaming and progressive download video.

The below video is meant for 18+ as the dude wears revealing clothing, but nonetheless, he rocks it out and smokes Beyonce...

The original video (not 100% sure if this is the original) has so far received over 2.2 Million views...

Other notable findings from October 2008 include:

--77 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video.

-- The average online video viewer watched 274 minutes of video.

-- More than 80 percent of the 18-34 year olds watched online video, higher than any other age segment. The average 18-34 year old online video viewer watched 4.8 hours of video during the month, also ranking above all other age segments.

-- 99.5 million viewers watched 5.3 billion videos on YouTube.com (53.2 videos per viewer).

-- 51.2 million viewers watched 520 million videos on MySpace.com (8.0 videos per viewer).

-- The duration of the average online video was 3.0 minutes.

-- The duration of the average online video viewed at Hulu was 11.6 minutes, higher than any other video property in the top ten.

To request more information about comScore Video Metrix, please visit http://www.comscore.com/contact

On a recent hike through Sand Run Parkway, I couldn't help but take my camera... This shot sums up how I feel about winter on February 1st and thereafter!

With this photo, the first thing that comes to mind for me is a Tim Burton creation...

What do you think of?

On the way to dinner this evening with my Broker (step-father), we came across a stranded citizen!

Now we always go to dinner on Wednesday evening, but a couple of things were dramatically different tonight.

#1. I drove and picked him up. He has a high performance luxury vehicle that is horrible in snow

#2. We got pounded all day by snow

#3. Since I drove, we were Kings of the town in my 4X4 f-150...

Anyhow, as we came around a corner, this Honda Accord was struggling on the smallest of hills (FRONT Wheel drive as well... Like I said, Lots of Snow!)

We hopped right out and got to work... Now it took much longer then we could have imagined, I fell once when I slipped and got a face full of road snow and I wore the wrong gloves so my hands turned snow white and started to sting unmercifully...

But in the end, this nice lady mentioned to us that she worked at the Childrens Hospital and would have stayed home had it not been for her being needed at the Hospital.

I know we earned some good karma points today and maybe us helping her, helped her help a child!

I have used this site for years and although it, to my knowledge, has never paid a dividend, I enjoy the fact that only apartment complexes are listed on the site.

Ultimately, it appears some of the main administrators utilize national listing mediums, such as Wall Street Journal and For Sale listings to compile its list.

Again, I reiterate this is a nice organizational tool for Apartment complexes for sale.

This site seems to handle ass small as 5-unit up to major portfolio properties (500 units+).

http://www.apts-for-sale.com/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=020591