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Biotech company inks long-term lease in California

By Inman News, Sunday, June 11, 2006.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. recently announced it has executed a 12-year lease with biotechnology company Genentech Inc. for a ground-up development of an approximately 121,000-square-foot facility in South San Francisco, Calif.

The value of the transaction was not disclosed.

Genentech is scheduled to take delivery of the four-story property in the fourth quarter of 2006, according to a press statement.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. is a publicly traded real estate investment trust focused on properties containing office/laboratory space.

Defense contractor buys space in San Diego

By Inman News, Sunday, June 11, 2006.

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems recently acquired an 86,952-square-foot corporate office/R&D building in Rancho Bernardo, a neighborhood in San Diego, Calif.

The value of the transaction was $18.4 million.

The facility sits on nearly 6.2 acres and is located at 16868 Via del Campo Court. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, which is focused on the design and production of unmanned aircraft systems for the U.S. military, has occupied all or a portion of the property since 2001.

The seller was Prudential Real Estate Investors.  more...

Younan continues office expansion outside Chicago

By Inman News, Sunday, June 11, 2006.

Younan Properties Inc. has purchased a 158,879-square-foot office building in Arlington Heights, Ill., which brings the firm's holdings to 420,000 square feet in northwest Chicago.

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

Knockbox sends real estate info to wireless Internet users

By Inman News, Sunday, June 11, 2006.

These walls can talk: A new device broadcasts a photographic tour, buyer presentation and other details about for-sale properties to visiting agents and prospective buyers over a wireless Internet connection.

The Knockbox, produced by Ardell-Martin Industries, is a "sleek, self-contained appliance that is placed unobtrusively inside the home for sale," according to a company announcement.  more...

Online real estate buyer's agent expands national footprint

By Inman News, Sunday, June 11, 2006.

Online real estate buyer's service BuySide Realty today announced its expansion into Georgia, making it the fourth state for the company that launched two months ago.

Joseph and Avi Fox, brothers who paved the way for online stock brokerages in the late 1990s, in April started BuySide Realty, which gives home buyers access to property listings, licensed real estate agents and technology used to make and manage offers via the Internet, among other things.<  more...

Defense takes turn in Wolff trial Premium Content

By Marcie Geffner, Sunday, June 11, 2006.

LOS ANGELES -- Two former employees of Homestore (now Move Inc.) were questioned here Friday morning in the trial of Stuart Wolff, the company's former chief executive, who has been charged with conspiracy, filing false statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission, circumvention of internal auditing controls, fraudulent insider trading, and falsification of corporate books and records.

First on the witness stand for the defense was Joe Zwicker, a wide-eyed young man in a gray suit and white shirt, who worked for Homestore in a business planning capacity in 2001.  more...

Real estate inventory swells 60% in top metro areas

By Inman News, Sunday, June 11, 2006.

The number of existing homes listed online for sale in the largest 100 metro areas in the nation grew 60 percent from May 2005 to May 2006, according to an analysis of homes listed online at the Realtor.com property-search site.

The survey, conducted by Corzen, a real estate research firm based in New York City, found that the inventory of homes listed in these metro areas grew from 1.3 million in May 2005 to 2.3 million in May 2006.

Median list prices were up 8.4 percent from May 2005 to May 2006, while "in some parts of the  more...

Countrywide's real estate loan production stalls

By Inman News, Sunday, June 11, 2006.

Countrywide Financial Corp.'s mortgage loan fundings for May dipped 0.3 percent from a year ago to $38.6 billion, the company announced today.

The Calabasas, Calif.-based company said year-to-date loan fundings posted an 8 percent gain over the same period in 2005, coming in at $178 billion.

Monthly purchase volume slipped to $18 billion last month, down 10 percent from $20 billion in May 2005.  more...

Overnight real estate rates take a breather

By Inman News, Sunday, June 11, 2006.

Long-term mortgage interest rates were flat Friday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield sank to 4.97 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average held at 6.18 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate remained at 5.87 percent. The 1-year adjustable was unchanged at 5.25 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield decreased to 5.02 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...

Gulf Coast brokerages prepare for hurricane season Premium Content

By Janis Mara, Sunday, June 11, 2006.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as many Gulf Coast brokerages learned from last year's storms, and disaster preparedness is taking the spotlight now that hurricane season has begun.

"This time, we're not going to have to walk up and down 10 flights of steps in the dark carrying computer servers on our backs," said Rich Stone, director of commercial sales and leasing for New Orleans-based NAI/Latter & Blum.  more...

Borrowers grow more wealth with 15-year mortgage

By Jack Guttentag, Sunday, June 11, 2006.

Q: I can afford the larger payment on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage, but I plan to take a 30-year anyway, invest the difference in the cash flow, and end up ahead. Is there a flaw in this plan?

A: Yes. The flaw is that the investment return required to make the plan work is much too large. You will almost certainly end up poorer than if you take the 15-year mortgage.

If 15-year and 30-year loans carried the same rate, say 6 percent--and you earned 6 percent by investing the difference in monthly payments--you would end up in the same place.  more...

Unmotivated sellers make real estate deal tricky

By Dian Hymer, Sunday, June 11, 2006.

Finding the right house to buy is rarely easy. Negotiating the right price and terms can be even harder. The best deals are made between buyers and sellers who are motivated. Commitment is critical.

You can waste a lot of time and energy with a seller who's not motivated to sell at market value. Imagine this scenario: You decide to make an offer on a house you love. To make sure it's accepted, you offer the asking price. You expect the seller to embrace you with open arms. But, he doesn't.  more...

Home warranty nightmare erupts over broken furnace

By Robert Bruss, Sunday, June 11, 2006.

DEAR BOB: About four months ago we bought our first home. It was built around 1930 in a very charming older neighborhood with great schools for our two kids. Although we probably bought the cheapest home in the first class school district, we are glad we did. However, we have a big problem with our home warranty company. Our home seller paid for a one-year home warranty policy, which we understand cost her around $450. Within a week or two, the furnace gave off a bad odor. We phoned the home warranty company, which sent a repairman the next day.  more...

Second-home growth fuels new house-rental site

By Inman News, Sunday, June 11, 2006.

While the portion of overall home sales that are second homes is growing, a new Web site offering to connect these homeowners with prospective vacation renters launched this month.

HomeAway.com includes more than 60,000 vacation rental home listings, and is a consolidation of vacation rental sites CyberRentals.com, GreatRentals.com, A1Vacations.com, TripHomes.com (formerly Rent101) and Holiday-Rentals.com.

Second-home sales accounted for about 40 percent of all residential transactions in 2005, the National Association of Realtors  more...