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$66 million Massachusetts office sale

By Inman News, Monday, July 23, 2007.

Three buildings at the Burlington Woods Office Park in Burlington, Mass., have sold to a joint venture for $66.5 million.

A partnership between Griffith Properties and Urdang Capital Management bought the 288,933-square-foot asset from a joint venture between Finard Properties and Mugar Enterprises.

Burlington Woods is situated along Route 128 (I-95) and features a walking/jogging trail connecting the property to the 200,000-square-foot Wayside Commons Lifestyle Center.  more...

Texas' Mayfair Village sold

By Inman News, Monday, July 23, 2007.

Phillips Edison & Co. added another shopping plaza to its holdings with the recent purchase of Mayfair Village in Hurst, Texas.

An unidentified entity sold the property for an undisclosed amount.

Mayfair Village is a 235,307-square-foot complex anchored by a Tom Thumb grocer. Other tenants at the time of sale included Wendy's, Mercantile Bank, Hurst Tire and Service Center, Bally Total Fitness and Blockbuster, which bring the property to 56 percent occupancy.  more...

Westcore JV buys in Silicon Valley

By Inman News, Monday, July 23, 2007.

A partnership between Westcore Properties LLC and Dividend Capital Total Realty Trust has acquired a two-building office complex in Milpitas, Calif., for approximately $14 million.

The venture, known as TRT-Westcore California Circle LLC, gained 51,868 square feet of class A office space from seller Grifcar Partners, all of which is located on a 23.4-acre lot at 1521 and 1533 California Circle.

At the time of sale, the property was fully leased to Harris Stratex and Patni Computer Systems.

Terabitz addresses data-scraping concerns

By Jessica Swesey, Monday, July 23, 2007.

Shortly after its highly publicized launch last week, Terabitz, a new venture-backed real estate site that mashes up data sources on neighborhoods and ZIP codes throughout the U.S., has removed some data feeds from its site after being accused of illegally scraping data from real estate Web sites.

Ashfaq Munshi, co-founder and CEO of the Silicon Valley company, said Terabitz has received a handful of complaints from real estate companies saying Terabitz is usi  more...

ActiveRain introduces agent referral tool

By Matt Carter, Monday, July 23, 2007.

The ActiveRain Network -- a social networking site that's attracted more than 35,000 real estate professionals -- has rolled out a new tool to make it easier for members to refer clients to each other.

The ActiveRain Referral Exchange will allow real estate agents, mortgage lenders, appraisers and title company officers who want to make a referral to post details about their client's needs.  more...

If I were an agent Premium Content

By Marc Davison, Monday, July 23, 2007.

I believe in guardian angels. Without one, I don't know how I negotiated the two-hour drive home from a speaking engagement the other day.

I don't remember one inch of road. My thoughts were wrapped around the profound realizations that occur when you step outside your own world and visit another.

A good question

I raised some questions during my speech: Who blogs? Who's on Facebook? Who has an RSS reader? Who reads Inman News? Who's paperless? Who creates videos of their listings?  more...

Countrywide profits fall 33%

By Inman News, Monday, July 23, 2007.

Countrywide Financial Corp. said second-quarter earnings fell 33 percent from last year to $485 million, in part because rising delinquencies forced the company to write down by $388 million the value of securities backed by prime home-equity loans.

"During the quarter, softening home prices continued to affect many areas of the country, and delinquencies and defaults continued to rise across all mortgage product categories as a result," Chief Executive Officer Angelo R.  more...

California mortgage defaults hit 10-year high

By Inman News, Monday, July 23, 2007.

Lenders sent California homeowners the highest number of mortgage default notices in more than a decade during the second quarter, the result of flat or falling prices, anemic sales and a market struggling with the excesses of the 2004-2005 home-buying frenzy, a real estate information service reported.

Lenders filed 53,943 notices of default (NoDs) during the April-through-June period, up 15.4 percent from 46,760 for the previous quarter, and up 158 percent from 20,909 for second-quarter 2006, according to DataQuick Information Systems of La Jolla.

Last quarter's default leve  more...

Realogy affiliates get healthcare options

By Inman News, Monday, July 23, 2007.

The largest real estate company in the U.S., Realogy Corp., on Monday said it will offer healthcare options to the more than 250,000 sales associates affiliated with its brands, including Century 21, Coldwell Banker, Coldwell Banker Commercial and ERA.

Healthcare has been a top concern for real estate industry participants and trade groups because the majority of agents work as independent contractors, and in the past have had poor access to affordable healthcare programs.

"This health care initiative giv  more...

Wells Fargo stops making 2/28 ARM loans

By Inman News, Monday, July 23, 2007.

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage says it's discontinuing its subprime 2/28 and one-year adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) in response to new guidance from federal regulators and downgrades on subprime bonds by ratings agencies.

The 2/28 mortgage is an adjustable-rate mortgage on which the rate is fixed for two years and then reset to equal the value of a rate index at that time, plus a margin.  more...

Real estate rates mixed overnight

By Inman News, Monday, July 23, 2007.

Movement in long-term mortgage interest rates varied Monday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield held at 4.95 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average stayed at 6.29 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate sank to 5.97 percent. The 1-year adjustable dipped to 5.57 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield was unchanged at 5.06 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...

Vendors cope with real estate downturn Premium Content

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Monday, July 23, 2007.

Editor's note: How bad will the real estate market get before it gets better? Inman News compiles the facts and analysis in this five-part series.  more...

New Mexico pushing 6.3% cut in title insurance rates

By Inman News, Monday, July 23, 2007.

New Mexico regulators propose rolling back title insurance rates in the state by 6.3 percent on Sept. 1, although the industry has the right to appeal the change to the state Public Regulation Commission.

New Mexico's state superintendent of insurance, Morris J. Chavez, cited a recent report on competition in the state's title insurance industry as the justification for the rollback, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.  more...

It pays to hire home inspector before selling

By Barry Stone, Monday, July 23, 2007.

Dear Barry,

I'm getting ready to sell my home and would like to hire a home inspector before I put it on the market. It seems that a pre-marketing inspection would give me a better idea of needed improvements before I sell. Is this wise or not? --Marian

Dear Marian,

Your approach demonstrates a wisdom not commonly realized by sellers. Buyers typically hire the home inspector after the purchase contract has been signed. The inspector provides a list of defects, and then the buyers ask the sellers to make repairs, to reduce the price, or sometimes to cancel the sale.  more...

Praying for a 'short sale'

By Robert Bruss, Monday, July 23, 2007.

DEAR BOB: I am a loyal reader who should have taken your advice. When my adjustable-rate mortgage was recently "recast" to current interest rates, the unpaid interest was added to the mortgage principal balance. I now owe about 110 percent of my home's market value. I recently lost my tech job, which paid over $100,000 annually. Do I have any recourse to convince the mortgage lender to do the right thing? --Rick C.  more...

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