From the Ashes of Elrood

[Ugohr Poof]

Elrood. Once torn by years and years of warfare over the past centuries, some party previously unknown to Ugohr was almost ready to commence sales on the freshly-rebuilt property tracts in the city of Dinbar, but Elrood was not a planet for which Ugohr had that much information about its real estate market or the prices of housing or business space as rebuilt by that party. And, even though what was called business space under Alliance law could be further subdivided in two types of "business space": commercial and industrial space. But was there anything designated as "faction space" in these newly-rebuilt city blocks? He landed his modified N-2 fighter in one of the newly built landing platforms.

"A newly-rebuilt area of a town that has seen better days: there-sa lots of townhomes, there-sa lots of business space, like markets, office space, and da market"

If only Katherine Vaygr, the host of Outer Rim House Hunter's Show, was there to witness this... large-scale development built around a spaceport, probably would Dinbar be marketed as a spacer's heaven! That, notwithstanding Mrs. Vaygr's shallow understanding of starship registration and operation regulations... she may have been paid a signing bonus of 600,000 credits to anchor the show and oversee its production, and, with it, bought a Neimoidian Yacht for the show's purposes, she had very basic piloting skills, relying on autoland every single time, and only knew it needed periodic maintenance but no more. The Gungan saw some figure in the distance once he landed his craft.

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Ugohr Poof"]

​

​

​

New Dinbar Spaceport was coming together nicely. Salacia Consolidated had been working on the project for some time, contracting with several different companies to turn the spaceport and several city blocks into a new shining city space. Once overrun with zombies, it was now a haven along the Rimma Trade Route. Or soon to be haven. The city blocks extended towards the ocean, surrounding the new spaceport. Salacia would be putting down roots on Elrood as well, turning the central high-rise into a new office and center of operations. Plans were in motion to expand out into the Kathol sector. Elrood would be central to that.


Judah was meeting a business sentient about real estate and the spaceport. It would be important to sell off the spaces and draw in others in order to make Dinbar work and be profitable once more. He waited on a landing pad for his new arrival, watching as a sleek Naboo style vessel landed. He waited a second before drawing himself closer, not wanting to rush his guests.

 

[Ugohr Poof]

Salacia Consolidated built a complex out of a field of ruins, or so Ugohr was told by the Elrood office of the real estate company. Ugohr had a chance to see the development for himself before he landed moments ago. Apparently the high-rises are mixed-use, part of it is to be rented out as business space, part of it as residential space. But very little, if any, faction space to be found in the city, or so it looked that way. But a newly-rebuilt city had to have a healthy mixture of both. He has seen cities where residential and commercial space is meshed together, and others where business space seemed to be set so far apart from the residential space, with little, if any, mixing between business and residential space, with the occasional faction building, like a fire or a police station. He seemed curious about the urbanism plan because he knew that it was going to affect how the real estate of New Dinbar was to be marketed to potential clients. Once he is face-to-face with what he assumed to be a representative of the builders:

"Mesa Ugohr Poof, from IGR Brokerage. Mesa company issa berry interested in New Dinbar: if yousa can show me a map of settlement zoning, wesa can make da best deal for the tenants, or owners, of that space. There-sa seems to be a lot of condos in thesa mid and high-rises... in particular wesa interested in da design of neighborhoods"

Even though Ugohr was no real estate expert, he knew that city zoning usually involved three general types of land zoning: residential, business and faction. Certain species liked to have businesses close to them, to live in densified properties, like Gungans or Geonosians, and Omwati to a lesser extent, whereas other species, like Chiss, would prefer to stay away from business areas.

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

Hand extended towards the Gungan in greeting, shaking the Brokers hand. [member="Ugohr Poof"] was the name, one Judah couldn't place. There had been no signs of life from IGR Brokerage before, or perhaps they had just expanded down the Rimma Trade Route. With the Galactic Alliance, more and more businesses were flooding into the territory, looking to expand in relative peace.


"Neighborhoods are going to be stretched on the blocks towards the ocean. Closest to the ocean will be more traditional, residential only housing. Moving towards the interior and towards the spaceport, we planned for some mixed use spaces. Condos primarily in that area...most of our city here is powered by green technology..."


A pause and Judah started to walk across the landing platform. The spaceport was along the front edge of the blocks extending back into the middle of the New Dinbar Spaceport. Residential and mixed used form somewhat of a crescent along the backside, facing the rocky shore line of the churning ocean.


"Maps, plans, floorplans....Anything you want. Follow me, lets go inspect a condo unit in the Midtown District. Circular building at the heart of most of the action. Might appeal to the younger buyers on your list."

 

[Ugohr Poof]

"Younger buyers... assuming theirsa real estate habits were like Humans across a variety of species. Yousa may never know what species would like to buyen yoursa properties. Da oceanfront properties may be more upscale all right, and aquatic species liken oceanfront properties"

Ugohr must not assume Humans were going to be dominant in New Dinbar, but the Outer Rim House Hunter's Show is still recovering from the Ruusan debacle and has newly hired a new host in its wake since the last one died to the hands of the Sith Triumvirate. He got a datapad out with the ability to take pictures as he was going to inspect the condos Judah invited him to do first. Whereas for humans, housing away from the hubbub of central business districts or inner cities would be a symbol of status, for Jawas the opposite is true. With Jawas joining the greater galaxy since the Netherworld event, and not confined to Tatooine, Ugohr would not be surprised to see Jawa clients, especially not since Jawas started serving the Alliance armies (most Jawa recruits requested to serve in the Army of Malastare however, and Jawas may even displace Gungans in that particular Army), even though Jawas seem to be interested in developing a retirement estate on Malastare near Malastare Narrows instead of going nilly-willy on Elrood.

"Dis condo issa ideal for those species dat do not place a whole lot of attachment to family in theirsa housing needs. Theysa more likely to buy or rent condos. Jawas, on da other hand, theysa both communal and territorial and theysa no liken condos: too cramped for them-sa"

"Ugohr, Jawas are more interested in selling technology or repair services than in housing" a bystander, also interested in condos, told Ugohr. "On Elrood they would live in their business space"

"Mesa have a Jawa businessman interested in business space for hisen business of mackineek repair: can hesa rent a first-floor business space in dat building? Also, is it possible to shoot part of an episode of the Outer Rim House Hunter's Show here?"

Family-sized condos, naturally, were larger and cost more. But even Elrood was nowhere near as expensive as Bespin, let alone Coruscant's upper levels, where he recently fought the One Sith. The Coruscant undercity is less expensive than Bespin though. Nevertheless, Bespin and Coruscant are planets that the Outer Rim House Hunter Show would rather avoid for the time being, due to Battleon Town News' Gungan executives preferring to actually show the best bargains in the galaxy.

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

Judah nodded at [member="Ugohr Poof"] 's words. Humans wouldn't be the only ones moving in of course. Salacia alone would have hundreds if not thousands of new employees moving in. A large number of his higher ups - managers, project coordinators, directors - were of aquatic species. If Elrood became a magnet for such species, oceanfront living was still going to be at a premium. Judah decided to take his guest to the Midtown District. More affordable, closer to the spaceport. Excellent mix-use for business, living and more. Depending on how high one lived in the towers and what direction, they could still see the ocean.

​

"I don't foresee too many Jawa living here, unless you know something I don't. They follow spaceports? I suppose that makes sense if they are selling technology....Ah, here we go. Heart of the Midtown District. You're quite right, anyone could use the lower spaces for business. You'll be able to tell your clients Elrood is much cheaper than the Core worlds. However....there are some drawbacks, especially if someone has been in the Core all their life. On the positive side, with so many refugees the sector and sectors nearby have experienced a real surge."


A shrug. What did it matter if a holovision show filmed? It may bring even more interest.


"You are welcome to film in any space you like. No restrictions. Nothing to hide at New Dinbar. I think viewers may like the security we've put in. This won't be a haven for criminals, although crime happens anywhere....Salacia has driven to rebuild a city folks will be happy to settle in."

 

[Ugohr Poof]

"There-sa tens of thousands of properties here... da only concern of Battleon Town News issa dat theirsa show may increase da demand for Elroodian properties to da point that prices will rise to da level of Core Worlds with similar terrain, perhaps not as high as on Alderaan but probably da same as on Dulvoyinn"

"You would think that Battleon Town News would extend so widely across the galaxy that species other than Gungans or Jawas (i.e. the non-Human species that live on Ringo Vinda) would actually affect the real estate market on a planet-wide level? It would drive up demand all right, but not to the level you indicate" a Force-ghost told Ugohr about this whole deal.

Dulvoyinn has never been much of a "hot" real estate market, until the Alliance won on Dulvoyinn about two or three weeks ago. Muuns and Neimoidians are buying properties willy-nilly there by now. Even Anastasia Volzhin's old house (and business space) was sold for prices no long-time Dulvoyinn resident would ever dare think their house would be worth that much, despite the harsh criticism levied on Darth Scabious' castle on Malastare, which was the only building she ever designed for some entity other than her own, personal or corporate. Elrood alone had several million properties listed on the GMLS: a hundred thousand more with at least the demand to match would, well, drive up the demand. Ugohr actually understood that faction space often took up strategically-placed positions within high-rise buildings this time around.

"Mesa see that yousa actually took into account dat a variety of species liven here. Perhaps da first special episode (ergo with a player as the participant) will feature one such condo if shesa, as a token of gratitude of BTN towards heroes of Coruscant, accept to be da client for dat special episode havin to choose between dee properties: a condo on Elrood with proximity to da spaceport, a castle on Malastare whosa courtyard issa large enough for a fighter to land in da middle of it and a property on Lipsec close to da spaceport and da Kartika Supermall, where shesa can shop to hersa heart's content"

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Ugohr Poof"]


"There is the concern the property prices will rise, yes. Given the Galactic Alliance in the area I can see it happening. Elrood will become the last stop or first stop for folks going to the Kathol Outback and beyond. This planet could very well become a type of Coruscant on the Rimma Trade Route. An important piece of the puzzle for folks out here."


Taking a sip of water from the refreshment table set up, he thought it over for a moment.


"Could be a good angle for yourself. Telling your customers to buy now before the prices drive too high. If the wars continue between the Jedi and Sith it will be a possibility some refugees will start flooding in. Some will have enough credits to want to buy right away,some won't. However it will create an incredible amount of interest."


"My company, Salacia Consolidated, can donate the condo on Elrood to the show. The publicity will be more than what is lost on a condo sale."

 

[Ugohr Poof]

Ugohr could see how advertising on a galaxy-wide scale for Elrood properties could lead to a real estate bubble. He remembers being told about how Gungans historically tended to look for worlds where the material damage far outweighed loss of life for wartime real estate speculation because the market imbalance is great on such planets and market imbalances tend to be fertile grounds for bubbles. Wars between the sides of the Force would be the main driver as Dulvoyinn has been one such world. Perhaps even as far out as Malastare would see an increase in demand. Although Malastare would be a place appreciated mostly by podracing fans, if not by those who would rather have some "peace and quiet" than the hustle and bustle of that Elrood it is slated to become under the current environment.

"Greed is an easy path to the dark side, young Padawan" the Force-ghost told him again. "Many a Sith Lord invested heavily in businesses of all types: Darth Plaugeis with banking, Darth Scabious in droid technology, Darth Jar Jar in real estate, to name a few I know about"

"Thesa economic conjectures call for a deal to reserve a set of 100,000 properties on Elrood for IGR Brokerage to sell in exclusivity, most of which issa going to be in dis city"

"That will sell fast, Ugohr. Even Malastare may still be affected if hydroponic farming can take hold there"

"If theysa want to invest theirsa moolah all over Alliance territory, and not simply invest in a few select worlds"

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Ugohr Poof"]


"Property can be reserved. Your friend is right, if you advertise this on a several sector or galactic scale their is a potential for a bubble. Personally I would rather the bubble not be fast and hard. Meaning I would prefer if the growth is more stable. A housing bubble is good for short term profits but once it bursts it will be horrible for everyone involved. We won't have long term gain if it turns into a horrible place to visit and live."


Judah took another sip of water, slowly rotating the holographic map of the city.


"What are your suggestions to prevent a housing bubble? Surely you do not want a quick collapse because that would cut into your profits as well. "

 

[Ugohr Poof]

"Most things capable of preventing real estate bubbles controlled by agents external to a real estate office. If mortgage regulations too loose, or interest rates too low, theysa push buyers to borrow more than theysa can afford. Banks and cities hold more power than realtors to prevent real estate bubbles"

Sometimes real estate bubbles begin where the market falling prey to such a bubble is grossly undervalued. Other times real estate bubbles begin with easy access to credit. To Ugohr the blame would not, as applied to Elrood, be placed on municipal land use policy, unlike what was the case on other planets that are vulnerable to real estate bubbles, like Bespin in 3 ABY. Some species had dissenting opinions as to whether bubbles should be prevented: Muuns and Neimoidians preferred to let their respective governments clean up the aftermath of a bubble, while Gungans preferred to deflate one before it bursts. Then again, Jedi had some training in economics, especially those who were destined to diplomacy as consulars. But even Jedi brutes had some basic training in economics.

"But if thesa interest rates rise too quickly, real estate will crash, disen no good for anyone. Mesa actually not know that much about macroeconomics, beyond what mesa learned at da Jedi Temple"

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Ugohr Poof"]


"I won't lie and say I know much about macroeconomics. However, in such a case we can bring in consultants. It won't be a problem but like you said it will be a balance of working with banks for interest rates and keeping them at the right level so we don't see explosive growth. Of course it helps us that war continues throughout the 'verse, as much as I hate to say that. It may be hard keeping explosive growth down. Logistics we can discuss with a consulting firm about the sale of these properties."


Judah glanced out the window.


"Would you like a tour of the condo you are interested in? Its not furnished but it could give you an idea of some of the spaces available."

 

[Ugohr Poof]

"Please do: mesa interesten in visitin da condo yousa donaten to Battleon Town News for theysa to show on holovision"

Battleon Town News have one unit being donated to them. It made sense for Ugohr to visit the very condo being shown on Outer Rim House Hunter's Show before taping actually started. IGR didn't sign up for sponsorship for that show for nothing, alongside other housing companies and contractors, with all sponsorship contracts extant still in effect even after the Ruusan debacle which resulted in the death of the last host. That seemed to be a well-appointed kitchen, with granite countertops, and with mirror doors for the closets. As for the bathroom, it had an acrylic bathtub, a polished quadanium faucet... clearly that was aimed for the professional-class. But it was unfurnished.

"Issa not going to be Mrs. Vaygr or Battleon Town News that will complain about that condo"

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

Touring the condo Salacia Consolidated was donating for the show, Judah kept himself back a bit, letting [member="Ugohr Poof"] take charge on the exploration of the residence. The one in question was a standard model, it was completely unfurnished. Design groups had been consulted on what colors to use to appeal to a variety of species, genders, and tastes. It resulted in a neutral color palate throughout, from the flooring to the cabinets to countertops. It wasn't furnished, but they currently saw no need for it. If Mr. Poof was contracted however, perhaps his expertise could handle that for clients who would prefer to move in straight away. Judah saw that as a bit of luxury, something a majority of the folks moving down on this end of the 'verse couldn't afford.


"I'm sure it will be a top contender. Might appeal to some looking to escape the war-torn parts of the galaxy. Location alone is fairly interesting...however, its only going to appeal to a limited number of buyers. However, the reason I suppose we're doing this is exposure. Really exposure for both of us at this point."

 

[Ugohr Poof]

"Most people that can afford thesa units would probably liken to have theirsa own furniture shipped in from their old home, or buyen new furniture here"

There has to be some furniture shop somewhere in that city, perhaps two or three. Wookies, Ewoks and Dugs would probably want wooden furniture, despite being of different sizes, Umbarans are more for the dark colors, Jawas seem to prefer recycled or polished metal, Gungans seem partial to rattan, Zeltrons prefer flashy colors, well, there could be three or four furniture shops in the city and all of these would remain in business for a few years. But Katherine knew that furniture shops that arrive in a newly built city often have their fortunes ride on the construction developments, and when construction dies down, so does their business, that which Ugohr does not know. He knows about a few species and their furniture habits, but no more than that.

"If some of da 100,000 units being contracten not sold after a year, then and only then thesa unsold properties can appear on da GMLS. Thesa terms are there to prevent overexposure and that's all mesa can do to slow down a bubble: yousa will otherwise see Muuns, Neimoidians, as well as many professionals buyen willy-nilly, and any trust-fund boyo will find himsa-self with a property hesa cannot afford"

But the more upscale the property, the longer it stays on the market. Darth Scabious may even take his castle on Malastare off the market if his bold gambits pay off in the end and he can repay his mortgage on it: that castle was foreclosed and IGR posted it on the GMLS.

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Ugohr Poof"]


"Sounds logical enough. I assume your company can go ahead and do the legwork on that. Assign properties within the GMLS and go ahead and list them. We can contract if they are not sold within a year, the property will go off market. I supposed you'll want to talk terms. I am thinking commission for each sale is at four percent. This won't include listing fees, taxes, and the like."


"At the end of our one year contract we can explore if it is viable enough to continue to be in business or if Elrood isn't the place for such a thing as the GMLS at this time."

 

[Ugohr Poof]

"Foosa percent issa acceptable for most clients. Mesa believe wesa agree on dat one"

4% commission on condos worth 300k credits apiece... at least at base price. But Judah had a misconception: if the properties are listed on the GMLS, which stands for Galactic Multi-Listing Service, these 100,000 properties on which IGR would have exclusive rights for a year would be sold within three, or maybe even two, months of signing the contract. Some of the 100,000 properties would be sold multiple times over, which meant that either Elrood is nevertheless not as attractive as originally thought, or that they had no intention of living there in the first place, if only on a rotational basis. Then again, taxes, listing fees are often about 4-6% on most Alliance worlds, and the solicitor fees, to which an extra 1-3% is tacked. This means that, to turn out any profit, a bubble-rider had to sell at least 15% higher than the initial purchasing price, and often more than that because the taxes on real estate benefits also eat into said benefits.

[member="Judah Dashiell"]