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Developer sinks money into Opus Crossing

By Inman News, Tuesday, March 21, 2006.

Grubb & Ellis/BRE Commercial represented Master Development Corp. in the purchase of buildings 4 and 8 at Opus Crossing, an eight-building industrial park in Otay Mesa, Calif.

The purchase price was $15 million, or approximately $100 per square foot for the two buildings.   more...

Spaulding & Slye inks lease, plans expansion

By Inman News, Tuesday, March 21, 2006.

Spaulding & Slye has signed a new, long-term lease and has begun construction on 55,000 square feet of class A office space on three floors at Equity Office's One Post Office Square in Boston. This relocation and expansion will serve as the new Boston headquarters for Jones Lang LaSalle.

The value of the transaction was not disclosed.  more...

Joint venture to acquire Plano Corporate Center

By Inman News, Tuesday, March 21, 2006.

Pacific Coast Capital Partners, a full-service real estate investment firm and lender, and Lincoln Property Co., a developer, have formed a joint venture for the acquisition, lease-up and development of Plano Corporate Center in Plano, Texas.

The property is comprised of two three-story office buildings located at 2201 and 2301 West Plano Parkway totaling 308,038 square feet, and two separate land parcels totaling 14 acres.  more...

Football star's former mansion involved in alleged real estate scam

By Inman News, Tuesday, March 21, 2006.

A Texas man wanted in connection with an alleged mortgage fraud scheme involving the mansion once owned by a well-known ex-Dallas Cowboy has been arrested, Dallas CBS 11 News reported Monday.

Oltha Austin was arrested following a high-speed chase with the Irving, Texas, police, reports said.

Police told CBS 11 they had been looking for Oltha Austin Jr. for some time.  more...

Tech company offers widespread distribution of home listings

By Inman News, Tuesday, March 21, 2006.

RealBird on Monday launched a new publishing service to distribute real estate listings to thousands of classifieds directories and search engines.

The Redwood City, Calif., technology company said the syndicated distribution of listings will be in addition to the Google Base uploading service that it released in November 2005.

Brokers and agents can choose from a sponsored, free subscription and a low-fee, ad-free membership.  more...

Growth slows for new online job ads

By Inman News, Tuesday, March 21, 2006.

Some 1.98 million new online job ads were posted in February, down by 175,000, or 8.1 percent, from January, according to The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series.

Adjusting the number of ads for the size of the labor force, there were 1.33 online job ads per 100 persons in the U.S. labor force in February and 1.44 in January 2006. This was similar to August 2005 (1.43) and July 2005 (1.32).

"The labor market picture remains a bit cloudy," said Ken Goldstein, labor economist with The Conference Board.  more...

Weichert continues online real estate courses

By Inman News, Tuesday, March 21, 2006.

Weichert, Realtors said today that the brokerage company would continue providing online training to its sales associates through an extended contract with Learn.com.

Weichert currently offers about 30 real-estate specific courses online, and more than 160 technology courses – including Microsoft Office and ACT! -- to help sales associates in company-owned and franchise offices improve their skills and make optimal use of their time.  more...

Real Estate Book offers home valuation service

By Inman News, Tuesday, March 21, 2006.

The Real Estate Book has launched a new service offering homeowners instant free home valuations at FastValues.com.

The service provides sales prices on homes recently sold nearby, information on other homes currently on the market in the area, and it connects consumers with local real estate agents.

FastValues joins a host of other companies offering home valuation information, among them HouseValues.com, HomeGain.com, HomeSmartReports.com and the recently launched Zillow.com.

FastValues.com is a free service from  more...

Fidelity unveils new real estate valuation tool

By Inman News, Tuesday, March 21, 2006.

Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions is now offering a Web-based lead generation tool for real estate professionals that gives consumers instant home values while capturing their information as leads for agents, the company said Monday.

NeighborhoodHomeSales is powered by Fidelity's proprietary property ownership database, which contains more than 120 million real property records nationwide, according to Fidelity.

In keeping with consumers' growing desire to search the Int  more...

Cendant Settlement Services expands in South

By Inman News, Tuesday, March 21, 2006.

Cendant Settlement Services Group, a subsidiary of Cendant Corp., on Monday announced that it has acquired the assets of Mississippi-based Mid South Title Agency Inc. and its affiliates Mid South Title Agency of Alabama Inc., Nationwide Title and Closing Services Inc. and Southern Closing Services Inc.

CSSG purchased the assets from Fred Ross Jr., Mid South's owner and founder.

Mid South Title Agency, based in Jackson, Miss., and its affiliates are licensed and operating in seven states.  more...

Overnight real estate rates barely budge

By Inman News, Tuesday, March 21, 2006.

Long-term mortgage interest rates were mostly flat Monday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield dipped to 4.66 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average slipped to 5.87 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate held at 5.55 percent. The 1-year adjustable was up at 4.89 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield fell to 4.7 percent.

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

Mortgage rate figures are according to Bankrate.com, which publishes nightly averages based on its survey of 4,000 banks in 50 states.  more...

Wireless devices do the job on the fly Premium Content

By Janis Mara, Tuesday, March 21, 2006.

Editor's note: Real estate agents are depending more and more on mobile technology, enabling them to take and make phone calls on the run, respond to leads while they're out in the field, pull up home listings data while driving clients around, and more. In this three-part series, we explore a new round of mobile technologies and how they're being used in real estate.  more...

50 best retirement places revealed

By Robert Bruss, Tuesday, March 21, 2006.

If you or your parents are nearing retirement age and are considering a move to a new location, "50 Fabulous Places to Retire in America, Third Edition" by Arthur and Mary Griffith is a great place to start your quest. The authors list their top 50 favorite retirement spots, followed by six pages to explain the pros and cons of each town.

As you might expect, the list is weighted toward the Sunbelt. But, surprisingly, three of the best-rated retirement havens are in Alaska. One is in Minnesota, and two are in Montana.  more...

Divvying up real estate difficult without name on deed

By Robert Bruss, Tuesday, March 21, 2006.

DEAR BOB: My fiance and I are splitting after a 10-year relationship. During this time, we bought two single-family houses and one duplex. When we started acquiring these properties, my credit was poor due to a bankruptcy, so all the property is in her name. I am worried that nothing is in my name. What should I do to protect myself and my interest in these properties, which have greatly appreciated in market value? --Dan C.

DEAR DAN: Please consult the best real estate attorney in town.  more...

Water heater leak is potential wet blanket for homeowners

By Barry Stone, Tuesday, March 21, 2006.

Dear Barry,

Our water heater and forced-air furnace are both installed on the same raised platform in our garage. Recently, the water heater began leaking and had to be replaced. Our main concern, however, involves the water that leaked into the platform and the adjacent wall. The enclosed space below the platform is part of the duct system for the furnace, and we're worried about the long-term effects of this moisture. It seems strange that the joint use of the platform would ever have been allowed, considering the potential for mold and other moisture-related problems.  more...