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Broadreach grows holdings near Portland

By Inman News, Tuesday, February 21, 2006.

Broadreach Capital Partners LLC acquired from Portland-based Melvin Mark Cos. a 266,000-square-foot office complex in Hillsboro, Ore.

The value of the transaction was $25.1 million.

The project, known as Evergreen Corporate Center, represents Broadreach's third acquisition in the greater Portland area in the past 18 months, where the company now owns more than 1.5 million square feet of commercial office space, including the U.S. Bancorp Tower.  more...

Joint venture makes purchase in hot San Diego market

By Inman News, Tuesday, February 21, 2006.

Irvine, Calif.-based CIP Real Estate, a real estate investment company, in joint venture with Guggenheim Real Estate, has purchased an 88,295-square-foot office building in San Diego, Calif.

The value of the transaction was not disclosed.

ASR Mira Mesa LLC, an affiliate of American Spectrum Realty Inc., sold the four-story asset, which is located at 9444 Waples Ave.  more...

New owner takes control of Jersey office structure

By Inman News, Tuesday, February 21, 2006.

CB Richard Ellis' New York Tri-State Investment Team recently represented Glenborough Properties L.P. in the sale of a large office building in Florham Park, N.J.

The value of the transaction was $14.8 million.

The property, located at 15 Vreeland Road, is a two-story, 133,090-square-foot building situated on 15.1 acres. Other features include 10-foot finished ceilings, a full-service cafeteria, and a central atrium.  more...

Real estate site sees surge in traffic

By Inman News, Tuesday, February 21, 2006.

HomeGain recently reported gains in Web traffic in January as more consumers are flocking online to begin their home buying or selling process.

The company, now owned by Classified Ventures, reported 6.87 million total online visits with 5.2 million unique visitors in January, up 112 percent from the same month a year earlier.

HomeGain matches home buyers and sellers with real estate professionals.  more...

Zillow gets brokerage license

By Jessica Swesey, Tuesday, February 21, 2006.

Zillow, a new online home valuation site for consumers, has a real estate broker's license in Washington and four other states and is planning to add more, the company confirmed today.  more...

Real estate franchise network expands to Finland

By Inman News, Tuesday, February 21, 2006.

The RE/MAX International real estate franchise system has expanded to Finland, the company announced Friday.

RE/MAX Baltic's Regional Director Eythor Edvardsson has purchased the rights for RE/MAX franchising in Finland, and Petri Kyllonen, a 12-year veteran of real estate in Finland, is the new regional director for the country.  more...

Another agrees to guilty plea in Ohio real estate fraud

By Inman News, Tuesday, February 21, 2006.

An Ohio man agreed to plead guilty in connection with a Cincinnati, Ohio, mortgage fraud scheme that caused losses of almost $873,000, according to legal documents in the case.

Clarence Harris of Cincinnati, Ohio, agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud and filing a false income-tax return in a plea agreement filed Feb.  more...

Mother Nature plays key role in Toronto real estate sales

By Inman News, Tuesday, February 21, 2006.

In the first half of February, the Toronto-area resale housing market posted a nearly 13 percent increase in sales over the same period a year ago, the Toronto Real Estate Board reported.

Realtors documented 3,301 sales during the first half of this month, up from 2,924 posted at mid-month in February 2005.  more...

U.S. real estate foreclosures soar 45% in January

By Inman News, Tuesday, February 21, 2006.

About 103,540 properties nationwide entered some stage of foreclosure in January, a 27 percent increase from the previous month and a 45 percent increase from January 2005, according to RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties.

RealtyTrac's Monthly U.S. Foreclosure Market Report shows a January national foreclosure rate of one new foreclosure for every 1,117 U.S.  more...

Economy posts sharp increase

By Inman News, Tuesday, February 21, 2006.

The U.S. leading index, a key barometer of economic conditions, increased 1.1 percent in January, the Conference Board reported today.

The leading index now stands at 140.1. Based on revised data, this index increased 0.3 percent in December and increased 0.9 percent in November. During the six-month span through January, the leading index increased 2.3 percent, which is a 4.7 percent annual rate, with nine out of 10 components advancing.

Six of the 10 indicators that make up the leading index increased in January.  more...

Plotting a course for real estate leads Premium Content

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Tuesday, February 21, 2006.

Editor's note: Mapping has quickly become an essential part of real estate Web sites as map-based searching offers a more streamlined, interactive way of looking for homes. Brokers and agents are still sorting out how to incorporate maps into their Web sites and turn them into a lead-generating tool. In this three-part series, we go beyond the buzz to uncover what mapping can do for real estate business.  more...

Real estate marketing gets bolder, better

By Howard Brinton, Tuesday, February 21, 2006.

This is the perfect time to take a look at your advertising and make any necessary changes to your overall marketing strategy. A significant portion of the overall cost to run your business is marketing and advertising expenses, therefore it is crucial that these dollars are spent wisely and are in line with the current trends in the marketplace and consumer buying habits. With thousands of ideas out there for advertising and marketing concepts it is often hard to decide what will be effective and what will fall flat.  more...

Furnace placement has new-home buyer steaming mad

By Barry Stone, Tuesday, February 21, 2006.

Dear Barry,

I just bought a brand-new home with a gas furnace in the garage. The unit is installed on a raised platform, but it's not higher than the bumper of my car. The builder fastened cement bumpers to the garage floor to keep my cars from hitting the furnace, but the position of these blocks prevents my cars from pulling in enough so that the garage door can close. I told the builder about this, but he refused to move the blocks. Isn't he responsible for making the garage usable as a parking area?  more...

Fix-up home seller shouldn't expect top dollar

By Robert Bruss, Tuesday, February 21, 2006.

DEAR BOB: My house is a classic three-bedroom, 1.75-bathroom cosmetic fixer in a very desirable, quiet residential neighborhood. I am only a half-block from a shopping center, as well as our charming, increasingly upscale, much-photographed main street. Some repainting, wall-to-wall carpets instead of the shabby parquet hardwood floors, minor repairs and fresh landscaping will make all the difference in my house.

But I am disabled, with little money, and have done what I can to make the house attractive before it is officially listed for sale.  more...

New guidebook for aggressive home buyers

By Robert Bruss, Tuesday, February 21, 2006.

If you are an aggressive home buyer, especially a "first-timer" who doesn't follow a herd mentality, "The Fearless Home Buyer" by Elizabeth Razzi is an excellent "thinking person's" home purchase guide. The author, former real estate editor for Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, plays no favorites as she reveals the pros and cons of doing business with Realtors, mortgage lenders, do-it-yourself for-sale-by-owners, and other realty groups.

This is a book first-time and repeat home buyers should read in advance before starting the quest to buy a first or second home.  more...