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Wells REIT acquires Las Colinas complex

By Inman News, Thursday, September 7, 2006.

Wells Real Estate Investment Trust Inc. on Wednesday announced it has acquired Las Colinas Corporate Center I and II in Irving, Texas.

MetLife sold the two class A office buildings, which rise six and eight stories, respectively, and total 386,000 square feet. Las Colinas Corporate Center I and II were constructed in 1997 and 1998, respectively.

Tenants at the time of sale included H.D. Vest Financial Services, Deloitte & Touche and The Feld Group, a division of EDS. Vest, the largest tenant, is a subsidiary of Wells Fargo, and leased through December 2012.  more...

$37.5M tenant-in-common deal completed

By Inman News, Thursday, September 7, 2006.

Griffin Capital acquired Washington Pointe, a 163,623-square-foot office building in Naperville, Ill., on behalf of 28 individual investors who were completing 1031 tax-deferred exchanges.

The value of the transaction was $37.5 million.

The Opus Group, which developed the property in 1999, sold it at 100 percent occupancy, according to a press statement. The tenants include Millward Brown and Concentra Preferred Systems, which collectively lease 93 percent of the building; Smith Barney, which leases 5.8 percent; and a first-floor cafe, which occupies the remaining space.  more...

Archstone-Smith lands high-rise apartments

By Inman News, Thursday, September 7, 2006.

Archstone-Smith on Tuesday announced the acquisition St. Francis Place, a 410-unit, high-rise community in downtown San Francisco.

Representing a purchase price of $170 million, the acquisition was funded primarily through tax-deferred exchange proceeds from dispositions of apartment communities that no longer meet the company's long-term investment criteria.

St. Francis Place is located at the corner of Third and Folsom streets, just four blocks south of Market Street in the heart of downtown San Francisco's central business district.  more...

Another home builder slashes earnings forecast

By Inman News, Thursday, September 7, 2006.

Lennar Corp. today joined a growing list of home builders that have cut their profit forecasts on a dismal housing market. Lennar expects earnings to be lower mostly because of increased sales incentives to unload inventory and land adjustments the company has made.

The company revised expectations for the third quarter, which ended on Aug.  more...

MLS backs off property listings display restrictions

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Thursday, September 7, 2006.

The Realtors Association of Northeast Wisconsin MLS has changed its rules on the types of home listings that it allows to appear on some public Web sites after an investigation by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

The Aug.  more...

'Prices are falling' becomes real estate mantra

By Lou Barnes, Thursday, September 7, 2006.

Bond yields rose slightly this week in a long-overdue correction from straight-line decline, but not enough to move mortgages above 6.5 percent for low-fee deals.

A bigger rate rise was intercepted at mid-week by declines in price in the whole commodity complex. Oil has broken to $67, natural gas to $5.71 (60 percent below last winter's spike), wholesale gasoline to $1.63 (retail gas should fall below $2.50 in a month or so), and gold may shortly fall below $600.  more...

Connecticut home sales dive 16%

By Inman News, Thursday, September 7, 2006.

Sales of single-family homes in Connecticut fell by 16.4 percent in July, the 11th straight month sales were below the comparable year-before period.  more...

Real estate price appreciation hits slowest rate since '99 Premium Content

By Inman News, Thursday, September 7, 2006.

Home-price growth crawled at the slowest rate in the second quarter since fourth-quarter 1999, Freddie Mac reported this week.

The mortgage giant's Conventional Mortgage Home Price Index rose 4.9 percent in the second quarter on an annualized basis, down from a revised first quarter rate of 9.1 percent.

Nationally, home values increased 10.2 percent from second-quarter 2005 through second-quarter 2006, down from the 13.9 percent annual growth seen over the four quarters ended in June 2005, according to the report.

 more...

Cool summer for Toronto real estate

By Inman News, Thursday, September 7, 2006.

Home sales in the Toronto, Canada, market dropped for the third straight month in August, as prices dipped from July, the Toronto Real Estate Board reported.

The 6,976 sales recorded through the TorontoMLS system last month were 7 percent below the 7,498 sales in August 2005, according to TREB, and were down 1.5 percent from July 2006.

The average price of an existing home in the metro area registered $338,192 in August, down 1.1 percent from the previous month's average of $342,034, but up 4.6 percent from the year-ago price of $323,255.

Despite the overall cooling, t  more...

No cash flow for this agent

By Alison Rogers, Thursday, September 7, 2006.

Six months ago, I didn't have any income. Now I have advanced to a magical plateau: I don't have any cash.

I realized this today when I had a long conversation with a marketing exec. Six months ago I would have been begging her for work; today, she was offering me some, and I wasn't all that eager to grab it.

"You owe me four thousand dollars," is what I said.

There's another $4,000 due for writing jobs I've already performed, plus $500 from a small publication that I'll have to take to small claims court, plus $5,000 in advance on another job.  more...

Overnight real estate rates stall

By Inman News, Thursday, September 7, 2006.

Long-term mortgage interest rates stayed put Thursday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield sank to 4.79 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average held at 5.95 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate remained at 5.66 percent. The 1-year adjustable was unchanged at 5.32 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield decreased to 4.94 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...

Surviving spouse sells home, hits capital gains roadblock

By Robert Bruss, Thursday, September 7, 2006.

DEAR BOB: I recently sold my house. My wife died three years ago. Her name is still on the deed. How do I get her name off the title and figure my capital gains tax on my income tax returns? --Harold McD.

DEAR HAROLD: Presuming you inherited your late wife's half of the house, you have a new stepped-up basis as of the date of her death.

Purchase Bob Bruss reports online.

Depending on the details, you might owe little or no capital gains tax.  more...

Emotions take control when selling FSBO Premium Content

By Bernice Ross, Thursday, September 7, 2006.

You're an agent about to sell your own home. Would you hire yourself to take the listing?

Recently, my husband and I decided that we want to build a new home. We picked out the lot and are in the process of finalizing the plans. An important issue we must now address is how to handle the sale of our current property. I've been in the real estate business since 1978. During that time, I've represented some of the wealthiest and most sophisticated sellers in the world. I speak all over the country on how to generate more leads, market your listings, and earn a full commission.  more...

Before digging anything else, dig this

By Paul Bianchina, Thursday, September 7, 2006.

You've seen the stories in the newspaper about the excavator who created a geyser when he hit a buried water line, or the contractor whose errant backhoe cut off phone service to half the town. But it's not only the heavy equipment that's a risk of cutting into underground utilities – every time you pick up a shovel, you could be at risk as well.

It's important to remember that right below your feet there is a network of everything from water lines to TV cables, and some of it may not be as deeply buried or as well protected as you might think.  more...

How to find a buyer for virtually any house or condo

By Robert Bruss, Thursday, September 7, 2006.

On a recent airline flight to Chicago, I sat next to a fascinating gentleman who told me he was 74. He was returning from a competitive swimming event. Needless to say, he looked like he was in great physical condition.

More interesting to me was that he develops real estate, mostly condominium complexes. Then he told me condo sales (along with most housing sales) have recently slowed down.  more...