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JMS sheds Mass. properties in $12M deal

By Inman News, Sunday, June 24, 2007.

Two buildings featuring both office and warehouse space in Peabody, Mass., recently sold for $12.1 million.

B&H Group Ltd. purchased the properties, which comprise a total of 126,801 square feet, from JMS Realty Trust.  more...

KBS REIT makes $33M purchase

By Inman News, Sunday, June 24, 2007.

KBS Real Estate Investment Trust has acquired Royal Ridge in the Atlanta North Fulton submarket community of Alpharetta, Ga., for $33 million.

The six-story, 160,539-square-foot building sits on a 13.2-acre site and was 96 percent leased at the time of sale, primarily by two credit tenants -- Virginia Surety and Hagemeyer North America.

FSP Royal Ridge Corp. sold the property, which was built in 2001.

300-plus multifamily units sold near Seattle

By Inman News, Sunday, June 24, 2007.

Marcus & Millichap recently arranged the sale of two multifamily properties with a total of 312 units in Everett, Wash., for a combined price of $20.9 million.

The 126-unit Woodland Heights and the 186-unit Deer Creek apartment communities sold to Vancouver, Wash.-based Holland Partners for an average price of nearly $67,000 per unit.  more...

Conforming loan limit could stay at $417,000 in '08 Premium Content

By Matt Carter, Sunday, June 24, 2007.

Federal regulators are proposing to leave the conforming loan limit for single-family homes at $417,000 in 2008, regardless of how steeply housing prices fall this year.

The conforming loan limit -- which determines the maximum size mortgage loan eligible for purchase by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- is tied to average home-price statistics released each November.

To provide greater certainty for mortgage lenders and home buyers, last year OFHEO said it would allow the conforming loan limit to stay put at $417,000 in 2007, even if home prices fell in 2006.

When the Fede  more...

Major Chicago brokerage sues former company officials

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Sunday, June 24, 2007.

A lawsuit filed by a major Chicago real estate brokerage alleges that an executive raided confidential and proprietary information and recruited away employees before he left to lead a rival company.

Koenig & Strey GMAC Real Estate and GMAC Home Services LLC filed the lawsuit against its former executive vice president and general manager who now serves as president and chairman of the board for Prudential Preferred Properties in Chicago.  more...

Inman Innovator Award finalists announced

By Inman News, Sunday, June 24, 2007.

Inman News today released the finalists' names for the coveted 2007 Inman Innovator Awards, recognizing innovation in real estate. Winners will be announced at the annual Real Estate Connect SF technology conference, Aug. 1-3, at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.

Thirty-nine real estate, technology and media firms have been chosen as finalists, including John L.  more...

New products promise to boost credit scores

By Inman News, Sunday, June 24, 2007.

Two applications that claim to boost borrowers' credit scores -- Credit CRM and Deal Maker Score -- were the subjects of announcements at the National Association of Mortgage Brokers annual convention in Seattle.  more...

Fannie Mae grows MBS issuance, portfolio

By Inman News, Sunday, June 24, 2007.

Fannie Mae issued $50.9 billion in mortgage-backed securities in May, helping drive growth in the mortgage purchaser's guarantees at an annualized rate of 18.7 percent for the month.

Total Fannie Mae MBS and other guarantees totaled $2.19 trillion at the end of May, an annual growth rate of 11.3 percent for the year, the company said. That compares with a 7.2 percent rate of growth in 2006.  more...

Web site offers open house info on thousands of properties

By Inman News, Sunday, June 24, 2007.

Real estate franchise giant Realogy Corp. today launched a Web site that aims to feature thousands of open houses held by agents and brokers of all the corporation's affiliated brands, including Century 21, Coldwell Banker, ERA and Sotheby's International Realty. The site will also include open house information for those held by Realogy's company-owned brokerages operated by NRT Inc.  more...

Existing-home sales hit 4-year low

By Inman News, Sunday, June 24, 2007.

The annual adjusted rate of existing-home sales fell to the lowest level in May since June 2003, dropping 10.3 percent compared to May 2006, the National Association of Realtors reported today.

The median existing-home price fell 2.1 percent in May compared to the same month last year.  more...

Inman TV Interview Series

By Inman News, Sunday, June 24, 2007.

Joel Burslem interviews MyCurrency's Karim Tahawi for Inman TV. Karim distinguishes MyCurrency's soft data valuation models (the aggregated wisdom of crowds) from automated valuation models, like Zillow.

NAMB spotlights ethical mortgage broker's community ties

By Matt Carter, Sunday, June 24, 2007.

With foreclosures making headlines around the nation and consumer groups and lawmakers pointing the finger of blame at some lenders' underwriting and origination practices, mortgage broker Michael Knight was looking for a way to demonstrate that many members of the profession not only follow a code of ethics, but are active volunteers in the communities they serve.  more...

No stepped-up basis if you don't inherit anything

By Robert Bruss, Sunday, June 24, 2007.

Editor's note: Robert Bruss is temporarily away and will return next week. The following column from Bruss' "Best of" collection first appeared Sunday, Nov. 12, 2006.

DEAR BOB: Our house is owned under my living-trust name. If I survive my husband, will the basis for the house be stepped up to market value as of the date of his death? Should I add my husband's living trust to the deed?  more...

Tighter lending rules could backfire

By Jack Guttentag, Sunday, June 24, 2007.

(This is Part 1 of a two-part series. Read Part 2, "Sky-high loans get borrowers out of trouble.")

Case histories of subprime loans that have gone to foreclosure often generate righteous indignation. With benefit of hindsight, many if not most of them look as if they never should have been made.  more...

How reliable are square-footage figures?

By Dian Hymer, Sunday, June 24, 2007.

Misrepresenting square footage can get a seller into big trouble. If a buyer relies on a seller's disclosure about the living square feet in his home and the buyer later finds out that the representation was overly ambitious, a lawsuit could ensue.

Sellers have a tendency to round up the number of square feet in their home. The more cautious approach would be to round down. The safest approach would be to make no representation about square feet at all. In an ideal world, this would be the perfect solution.  more...