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Wells Fargo Bank snags office space

By Inman News, Monday, July 2, 2007.

Wells Fargo Bank has signed a 10-year lease at La Terraza Professional Plaza in Escondido, Calif., for a price of more than $10 million.

Wells Fargo will occupy the entire second floor, approximately 26,995 square feet of the 78,000-square-foot, three-story office building, when the building is completed in December. It is located at 500 La Terraza Blvd.

The landlord, Tycoon Development Co., began construction on La Terraza in December 2006. The project also offers covered parking, common-area conference rooms and storage rooms.

Century Hills sold to TIC investors

By Inman News, Monday, July 2, 2007.

Tenant-in-common investors on Friday purchased a 200-unit apartment complex in Augusta, Ga., for an undisclosed price.

The property, Century Hills, is a class A community located on nearly 17 acres. Comprising approximately 221,000 square feet, the property includes eight residential buildings and a separate building that houses the community's leasing center and clubhouse. Average unit size is 1,105 square feet.

Community amenities include a swimming pool with sun deck, fitness center, executive business center, gated access and lighted tennis courts.  more...

Younan takes Northbelt Corporate Center

By Inman News, Monday, July 2, 2007.

Younan Properties Inc. has completed its acquisition of Northbelt Corporate Center, a 10-story office property in Houston, Texas, for an undisclosed amount.

The 156,572-square-foot mid-rise, located at 2350 North Sam Houston Parkway East, is the second Houston office property acquired by YPI this month. Younan's plan is to purchase 5 million square feet of Houston office space by the end of 2007.  more...

Redfin launches consumer forums

By Inman News, Monday, July 2, 2007.

Real estate brokerage company Redfin Corp., which has made a name for itself with low-cost services and an unconventional business model, today is launching message boards to facilitate real estate conversations among consumers.

The company announced that its Redfin Forums message boards will feature discussions about neighborhoods in which Redfin operates.

Cynthia Pang, a company spokeswoman, said that Redfin may be among the first brokerage companies to launch such forums, though the concept is not new to the industry.  more...

BofA buys reverse-mortgage business

By Inman News, Monday, July 2, 2007.

Bank of America has acquired a Seattle-based lender's reverse-mortgage business, including the company's retail sales force of more than 200 people in 25 states.

All 400 employees of Seattle Mortgage Co. were offered positions with BofA as part of its acquisition of Reverse Mortgage of America, Seattle Mortgage's reverse-lending division, a BofA spokesman said.  more...

Former Countrywide execs plead guilty to insider trading

By Inman News, Monday, July 2, 2007.

Three former Countrywide Financial Corp.  more...

Subprime lender files for bankruptcy protection

By Inman News, Monday, July 2, 2007.

A Mountlake Terrace, Wash. wholesale lender that specialized in subprime loans has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from more than 200 creditors who hold $98.7 million in secured debt.  more...

LendingTree founder to speak at real estate event

By Inman News, Monday, July 2, 2007.

Doug Lebda, president and chief operating officer of IAC, will present the "Story of an Entrepreneur" at Real Estate Connect San Francisco on Aug. 2.

Lebda, one of online real estate's most successful entrepreneurs, will tell the story of how he went from a start-up founder to a top executive within Barry Diller's IAC, which also owns Ticketmaster, Home Shopping Network and Match.com.  more...

2.3 million consumer records stolen from FIS subsidiary

By Inman News, Monday, July 2, 2007.

A former employee at a subsidiary of Fidelity National Information Services Inc. allegedly stole 2.3 million consumer records with bank account and credit card information and sold them to a data broker.

Some of the records, which were kept by Certegy Check Services Inc. in St. Petersburg, Fla., were then sold to direct marketing companies who used them in telephone and mail campaigns.

Certegy said there's no evidence that bank account or credit card information has been used for identity theft or fraudulent financial activity.  more...

Pending real estate sales index lowest since 2001

By Inman News, Monday, July 2, 2007.

In May, an index that gauges pending existing-home sales dropped to its lowest monthly level since Sept.  more...

Move unveils plans for social networking Premium Content

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Monday, July 2, 2007.

Gigapixel cityscapes, user-supplied media content ranging from questions and answers to business ratings and personal profiles, and home improvement videos are among the barrage of new tools by real estate search company Move Inc.

It's part of a broad plan to integrate user-generated content and social-networking with the company's existing search sites, including Realtor.com and Move.com.  more...

Lawsuit claims AppraisalPort mining reports for database Premium Content

By Matt Carter, Monday, July 2, 2007.

A Web portal that lets lenders order property valuations online "dupes" appraisers by mining their reports to build a database of property information it resells to lenders, a lawsuit alleges.

The allegations against FNC Inc. over its AppraisalPort service are made by three appraisal firms, whose attorneys seek class-action status to represent other firms.

FNC maintains that information in its National Collateral Database is furnished by lenders, not appraisers, and that reports filed through AppraisalPort remain confidential.  more...

Real estate rates slip overnight

By Inman News, Monday, July 2, 2007.

Long-term mortgage interest rates sank Monday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield dipped to 4.99 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average fell to 6.27 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate slipped to 5.98 percent. The 1-year adjustable was down to 5.54 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield was down at 5.09 percent.

Rates and bonds 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...

Housing derivatives market draws pro investment crowd Premium Content

By Stephen Bedikian, Monday, July 2, 2007.

Since May 2006, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange has offered futures contracts and options based on the S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index. Futures and options currently are traded on indices for a composite index, and the 10 markets included in that composite are: Boston, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

The following is an interview with Fritz Siebel, director of property derivatives at Tradition Financial Services.  more...

How should home inspector handle complaints?

By Barry Stone, Monday, July 2, 2007.

Dear Barry,

I've been a home inspector for about two years and am now having a problem with a home buyer, more than seven months after the inspection. She claims that I am responsible for roof leaks. How can that be possible this long after the inspection? How should I address this situation? --Roy

Dear Roy,  more...

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