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17
2008

Real estate's new purple cow is green

By Jessica Swesey, Monday, March 17, 2008.

You might say that real estate franchise giant Realogy's newest darling, Better Homes & Gardens, is in the womb right now.

The company is set to launch in July, but its mother is definitely showing and we're now getting hints of the brand at BH&G's new blog.  more...

Realtor named in '30 under 30' list indicted on fraud charges

By Jessica Swesey, Monday, March 17, 2008.

Eve Mazzarella, broker-owner of Distinctive Real Estate & Investments in Las Vegas, at age 29 was named in Realtor magazine's "30 under 30" feature in June 2007.

Mazzarella is now linked to a mortgage fraud case reported by CNBC on Friday. From that story:  more...

Now we'll know

By Matt Carter, Monday, March 17, 2008.

This description of the scene at Bear Stearns' high-rise headquarters reminds me of the opening scene of Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life" -- you know the one, a send-up of corporate takeovers that has skyscrapers sailing down the streets like tall-masted ships, pirate raiding parties jumping from one building to another. From the Associated Press:  more...

39.5 percent delinquency rate? Bring it

By Matt Carter, Monday, March 17, 2008.

The demise of Bear Stearns has the Fed looking for new ways to help lenders and investors holding deteriorating mortgage-backed securities borrow money against them instead of selling them at fire sale prices (see story).  more...

Fed cutting rates again as credit crunch intensifies Premium Content

By Inman News, Monday, March 17, 2008.

In an emergency move to prop up credit markets, the Federal Reserve cut the discount rate to 3.25 percent over the weekend and expanded the list of banks and financial institutions that can borrow money at that rate.

The Fed also announced Sunday that it was standing behind J.P. Morgan Chase's move to buy troubled investment firm Bear Stearns Cos by providing up to $30 billion in financing that protects J.P. Morgan from losses.  more...

ViaSat leases 40,000 square feet

By Inman News, Monday, March 17, 2008.

ViaSat, a producer of satellite and other wireless communications and networking systems, has leased 40,000 square feet in Carlsbad, Calif.

The 10-year lease was valued at $11.6 million.

ViaSat's new location is at Lot 15 in St. Croix Capital Corp.'s build-to-suit at the Bressi Ranch office development. Part of the Bressi Ranch master-planned community, the property will offer volleyball and sports courts, enhanced landscaping, Palomar Airport Road visibility and close proximity to I-5 and Hwy. 78.  more...

Hampshire fund makes N.J. purchase

By Inman News, Monday, March 17, 2008.

The Hampshire Cos. today announced that its Hampshire Partners Fund VII has paid an undisclosed price for a 77,000-square-foot warehouse building in Branchburg, N.J.

The building, located at 47 Readington Road, was vacant at the time of sale. It includes six loading docks, one of which is a 220-foot interior drive-through, and four docks that are fully enclosed.  more...

Quail Point sells to LLC

By Inman News, Monday, March 17, 2008.

A limited liability company recently purchased the Quail Point Apartments in Phoenix, Ariz., for a price of nearly $15.9 million.

3 Street Financial LLC acquired the 264-unit property from New Castle Investments LLC at a cost that represents $60,038 per unit.  more...

FrontDoor.com gets Prudential listings

By Inman News, Monday, March 17, 2008.

Just a few months after launching, HGTV's FrontDoor.com is steadily adding big-brand partnerships with real estate brokerage heavy hitters.

The latest partnership announced today is with Prudential Real Estate Affiliates and will enable FrontDoor to display some 140,000 for-sale properties at its site, which already includes listings from Realogy and Leading Real Estate Companies of the World.  more...

Billionaire Wilbur Ross moves into subprime servicing

By Inman News, Monday, March 17, 2008.

A private equity firm headed by billionaire Wilbur Ross would become the second-largest servicer of subprime loans -- collecting payments on about half a million mortgages -- if it closes a deal to acquire the servicing business of Option One Mortgage Corp.  more...

Judges: craigslist is just a 'messenger' Premium Content

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Monday, March 17, 2008.

Online classified and community site craigslist is just a "messenger" and is not liable for discriminatory ads posted on the site by its users, a three-judge panel for the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals concluded in a ruling released Friday.

The judges upheld a November 2006 ruling by a U.S. District Court, which found that craigslist is considered an "interactive computer service" under federal law, and is not a publisher.  more...

Real estate rates down again overnight

By Inman News, Monday, March 17, 2008.

Long-term mortgage interest rates continued to fall Friday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield sank to 3.44 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average dropped to 5.89 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate fell to 5.22 percent. The 1-year adjustable rate, however, climbed to 5.11 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield decreased to 4.36 percent.

Rates and bonds are current as of 7:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.  more...

Six months and no closings

By Alison Rogers, Monday, March 17, 2008.

I have a new listing for a $2 million, two-bedroom condo in SoHo. For those of you who don't live in the amusement park that is Manhattan, let me assure you that that is cheap, and I have been showing -- so far by appointment only -- like crazy. By the time my first week ends, I will have had a dozen showings, including one second showing, before I even get to my open house.  more...

Democrats back massive expansion of FHA guarantees Premium Content

By Matt Carter, Monday, March 17, 2008.

A top Democrat wants to give the Federal Housing Administration authorization to provide an additional $300 billion in mortgage guarantees to help refinance up to 2 million loans in cases where lenders agree to "substantial" principal write-downs.

A bill proposed by Rep. Barney Frank would require that lenders -- or the investors who hold the rights to service a mortgage -- agree to write-downs large enough to insulate FHA from losses and provide a "meaningful reduction" in a troubled borrower's monthly payments.  more...

Use my land but please don't steal it

By Benny Kass, Monday, March 17, 2008.

DEAR BENNY: What are the rules for adverse possession? What can new homeowners do to protect themselves when buying property? What should homeowners do to protect their property from their neighbors? Should a small encroachment such as an A/C unit or a driveway with flower borders be addressed as soon as the encroachment is discovered?

What is the current trend regarding adverse possession? Legal issues aside, when is claiming your neighbor's land ever really the right thing to do? --Melina  more...

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