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Economy's strength in question

By Lou Barnes, Friday, July 2, 2004.

The fine print. Always, always, always...wait for the fine print.

In the most-telegraphed punch in the history of the Fed, it did indeed hike the overnight cost of money from 1 percent to 1.25 percent on Wednesday. However, nothing else in the markets, in the structure of interest rates, in the perception of the economy, in the expectations for future interest rates...not one other thing went according to plan.  more...

Chemical giant lands headquarters

By Inman News, Friday, July 2, 2004.

BASF Corp., the North American affiliate of chemical company giant BASF AG, inked two northern New Jersey office leases totaling nearly 250,000 square feet.

The total value of the transactions was not disclosed.

In Florham Park, BASF leased 148,515 square feet at 100 Campus Drive. The facility will house the firm's new headquarters and executive offices. Jim Nugent, vice president of leasing at The Gale Co., represented his firm, which manages the 353,000-square-foot, class A office property.  more...

Santa Monica office building sold

By Inman News, Friday, July 2, 2004.

Charles Dunn Co. negotiated the sale of a 110,000-square-foot office building in Santa Monica, Calif.

The value of the transaction was $31.6 million.

Built in 1981, the six-story building is located at 520 Broadway Ave.

Charles Dunn represented the seller, SM Broadway Corp., in the sale. T.C. Macker and Christian Holland of Coldwell Banker Commercial WESTMAC represented the buyer, Palrock LLC.

Los Angeles-based Charles Dunn Co. is a full-service brokerage and property management company.  more...

REIT buys SoCal retail center

By Inman News, Friday, July 2, 2004.

Grubb & Ellis/BRE Commercial brokered the sale of the 110,458-square-foot El Camino Promenade in Encinitas, Calif.

The value of the transaction was $24.5 million.

Weingarten Realty purchased the shopping center, located at 204-252 N. El Camino Real, from ACF El Camino 02 LLC.

At the time of sale, El Camino Promenade was 100 percent leased to tenants such as TJ Maxx, AMC Theater, Burger King, and Beverages and More.

Houston, Texas-based Weingarten Realty Investors is a real estate investment trust.  more...

A new low in real estate commissions Premium Content

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Friday, July 2, 2004.

IPayOne Inc., a discount brokerage based in Carlsbad, Calif., is bringing real estate commissions to a new low: 1 percent.

Launched in March by a group of mortgage and real estate companies, iPayOne has made some major marketing moves in its home region, securing an exclusive real estate advertising contract with the San Diego Padres baseball team.  more...

July 4th in the Hamptons

By Inman News, Friday, July 2, 2004.

Real estate agents sell 'lucky' houses Premium Content

By Bernice Ross, Friday, July 2, 2004.

(This is Part 4 of a four-part series. See Part 1: Simple tasks make real estate an easy sell, Part 2: Home staging works real estate miracles and Part 3: Real estate agents tap 'Feng Shui' advice.)  more...

Calling all 'Flippers'

By Inman News, Friday, July 2, 2004.

The Learning Channel is planning to teach its viewers something about real estate investment.

Creators of the "Property Ladder," a new series for the cable channel that is set to air in early 2005, are looking for homeowners and home buyers from Bakersfield to San Diego who want to fix up houses to sell, Realtors who will serve as listing agents for the resale of the revamped homes, and Southern California homes suitable for fix-up and resale.  more...

Real estate: The week ahead

By Inman News, Friday, July 2, 2004.

How much for the White House?

By Inman News, Friday, July 2, 2004.

What would it cost to buy the White House if it were for sale today?

$106 million, according to a HouseValues survey of top real estate agents nationwide.

And to qualify for a jumbo 30-year, fixed-rate loan at 7.5 percent, and assuming 10 percent down, the new owners of the 132-room house at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. would need to pull down an annual salary of at least $18 million. Monthly mortgage payments would be about $667,000.  more...

Feds settle Midwest lead disclosure case

By Inman News, Friday, July 2, 2004.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the U.S. Attorney in Minneapolis and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Thursday announced settlements against one of the largest Midwest property management companies and a Minnesota landlord for failing to warn their tenants that their homes may contain lead-based paint hazards. Combined, the settlements will result in the complete removal of all lead-based paint in nearly 4,500 apartments in four states in the upper Midwest–Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota and Indiana.  more...

Overnight mortgage rates sink

By Inman News, Friday, July 2, 2004.

Long-term mortgage interest rates were lower Thursday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield fell to 4.56 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average dipped to 5.83 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate dropped to 5.25 percent. The 1-year adjustable was down at 3.4 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield remained at 5.29 percent.

Rates are current as of 7:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.  more...

How to get top dollar for your real estate

By Robert Bruss, Friday, July 2, 2004.

Have you been following the almost daily reports of continually rising home sales prices and near-record-high sales volume for both new and resale homes in the last few weeks? The 2004 spring and summer home sales season is proving to be stronger than most experts predicted.  more...

Water filters inspire homeowner health

By Katherine Salant, Friday, July 2, 2004.

(Part 2 of a two-part series. See Part 1: Is my drinking water really safe?)  more...

Choosing saws, cutters for next home tile project

By Paul Bianchina, Friday, July 2, 2004.

Ceramic tile is a material that is perfect for a number of areas in your home and for the patient do-it-yourselfer, it can also be a wonderful and very rewarding project. It's rare, however, that you encounter a tile job that uses only full tiles, so you're almost sure to run into the need to cut the tiles – and that's where tile saws and tile cutters come in.

TILE CUTTERS

A tile cutter is a non-powered tool that is used for making straight, simple cuts on tile up to about 9/16-inch in thickness.  more...