The negative impact of a neighbor’s yard on a home sale, a Seattle billionaire abruptly moves to Florida, and a department store executive vows to keep his locations open. From the wild and wooly world of real estate, here are our Hits and Misses for the week of March 9-13.
Hit: Get Out the Lawnmower. One of the most interesting survey stories we’ve come across involved how homebuyers and sellers are influenced by a neighboring property’s lawn. More than half (56%) of respondents said they would hesitate to buy a residence next to a home with a poorly maintained yard, while 87% worried about neighboring lawn conditions affecting the sale of their home. Furthermore, 45% claimed they would consider contributing financially to a neighbor to improve a lawn if it could help their home sell faster or at a higher price. The survey was commissioned by the organic lawn care provider NaturaLawn of America, which obviously has an interest in maintaining verdant yards, but at the same time this was the rare survey that acknowledged few people are eager to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to have slobs as neighbors.
Hit and Miss: Escaping the Wealth Tax. Starbucks founder Howard Schultz announced on LinkedIn this week that he and his wife Sheri moved from Seattle to Miami. Schultz’s post gave the impression that the relocation was timed to the “retirement phase” of their lives and the selection of Miami strictly meteorological. “We are enjoying the sunshine of South Florida and its allure to our kids on the East Coast as they raise families of their own,” he wrote. But the timing was not arbitrary – it coincided with the passing of the “Millionaires Tax” in the Washington legislature that enacts a 9.9% tax on people making more than $1 million per year, starting in 2029. This will be the first state income tax for Washington. Florida has no state income tax, and Schultz escaped Washington’s new wealth tax before it could take effect, which is a Hit for him. But it is a Miss for Washington, which is embracing the socialist dream that government can be properly funded if it jacks up taxes on financially successful residents.
Hit and Miss: Sayonara, California! Elsewhere in the high tax West Coast environment is Yamaha Motor Corporation USA, which is moving its headquarters from Cypress, California, to Kennesaw, Georgia. Yamaha acquired the 25-acre site land in Cypress for its US headquarters in 1978 and established its office in 1979. The company tried to avoid slamming California’s business-unfriendly policies by claiming its move was “aimed at improving the profitability of its US operations in response to cost increases resulting from US tariffs and changes in the market environment.” But a move of this depth and scope was clearly not an overnight decision sparked by the Trump tariffs. This is a Hit for Yamaha’s exit from a high-tax location and a Miss for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s economic policies that resulted in many prominent executives and companies leaving his suffering state.
Hit: Carry On Kohl’s. The department store chain Kohl’s had a dismal 2025, with net sales falling by 4%, comparable sales down 3.1%, and nearly 30 locations closed. But according to Retail Dive, the chain is pushing forward to a better 2026 and CEO Michael Bender vowed not to further whittle down its retail network. In a call to financial analysts, Bender claimed that “well over 90%” are profitable, adding, “I would not anticipate any sort of grand plan of … taking stores out or adding stores at this point. The focus for us is actually on optimizing what we already have, and we’ll be focused on making sure that we continue to push the stores’ productivity as far as we can.” At a time when many retail chains are either shuttering or slashing their retail networks, it is invigorating to hear that Kohl’s still has faith in brick-and-mortar operations.
Hit: Put Away That Wrecking Ball! Architect Amy Hetletvedt has a wonderful new book called “Preserving with Purpose: Reimagining Buildings for Community Benefit” that advocates for preservation of older buildings that might seem like easy candidates for demolition. The book provides a passionate argument that saving older buildings represents a victory at aesthetic, economic, and neighborhood pride levels. I had the pleasure of reviewing the book for The Epoch Times – the review can be seen here – and it should be required reading for anyone with interests in community development, historic preservation, architecture, and urban renewal.
In Memoriam: Myles J. Hergert. This week, we learned that Myles J. Hergert of Forked River, New Jersey, passed away on March 3 at the age of 92. A versatile entrepreneur, Hergert’s career included work as a carpenter, building inspector, and then a realtor/broker for his business, The Hergert Agency. He was also a dedicated industry leader who president of the Greater Eastern Union County Board of Realtors and vice president of the New Jersey State Real Estate Commission. In addition, he was a public servant who represented his community as Linden Third Ward Councilman. He was a credit to the real estate profession who devoted his life to helping others.
Phil Hall is editor of Weekly Real Estate News. He can be reached at [email protected].
Photo by Kim Kruse / Flickr Creative Commons
