Home

New site crunches numbers for realty investors

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Monday, May 5, 2008.
Screenshot of Krunching.com

Krunching.com, a Web site that launched this week, combines real estate information from multiple listing services with digital tools that allow investors to crunch numbers on properties.

The site, launched by Level 2 Realty, an investment-focused real estate brokerage company with offices in Los Angeles and Elk Grove, Calif., offers map-based displays of comparable properties, investment analyses of properties including cash flow, rental market data and market trends information, and tools to prepare reports for client presentations, among other features.  more...

John L. Scott buys tech company

By Inman News, Monday, May 5, 2008.

John L. Scott Real Estate, a Seattle-based real estate brokerage company with offices in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, has purchased a Web-based technology company, Real Tech LLC.

With the change in ownership, Real Tech will evolve into John L. Scott's exclusive in-house technology provider, according to an announcement Monday.

John L. Scott Chairman and CEO J. Lennox Scott said the company decided to purchase Real Tech in order to support the company's aggressive technology needs.  more...

Home inspection advice called 'anti-Realtor'

By Barry Stone, Monday, May 5, 2008.

Dear Barry,  more...

May

5
2008

Elv!s L!ves!

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Monday, May 5, 2008.

An interesting profile at ActiveRain.com: http://activerain.com/doworkbuddy.

The photo on the profile closely resembles David Carradine in "Kung Fu."  more...

Trulia's Web-ranking strategies catch heat Premium Content

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Monday, May 5, 2008.

Web-ranking strategies employed by real estate search and marketing site Trulia.com have stirred up debate, with some real estate professionals saying the techniques are in competition with the Google ranking of partner sites that Trulia relies on as sources of its property listings information.  more...

Riverchase Apartments changes hands

By Inman News, Monday, May 5, 2008.

Riverchase Apartments in Indianapolis, Ind., recently sold to an out-of-state buyer for an undisclosed amount, brokerage CB Richard Ellis announced today.

Colorado-based Continental Realty Advisors purchased the 216-unit community, which is its first acquisition in the Indianapolis market, from JC Hart.

Located on the city's west side at 2730 Riverchase Drive, the community includes a clubhouse and was completed in 2001.  more...

Bixby's $12M SoCal purchase

By Inman News, Monday, May 5, 2008.

Bixby Land Co., a private real estate investment trust, recently announced it purchased a 72,600-square-foot industrial building in Poway, Calif.

The value of the transaction was $12.3 million

The property, sold by an unidentified entity, is located at 13500 Danielson St. on more than six acres of land in the Poway Business Park.

Hallmark Circuits Inc., a print circuit board supplier, currently occupies the facility on a long-term, triple net lease, and uses the facility as its corporate headquarters, warehouse and manufacturing plant.  more...

Phillips Edison buys Nebraska retail

By Inman News, Monday, May 5, 2008.

Developer Phillips Edison & Co. today announced it has acquired its second grocery-anchored retail center in Omaha, Neb.

Neither the value of the transaction nor the seller's identity was disclosed.

The property, Deerfield Plaza, comprises 129,914 square feet and was anchored at the time of purchase by Baker's Supermarket and Walgreens.  more...

Realtors' short sale ally: mortgage insurer?

By Matt Carter, Monday, May 5, 2008.

An ongoing concern during the housing downturn has been that loan servicers aren't helping many borrowers who might be able to avoid foreclosure through repayment plans, loan modifications or short sales. Even when these alternatives would save lenders money, borrowers may still end up in foreclosure -- in some cases simply because servicers aren't staffed to handle the workload involved in evaluating each situation on a case-by-case basis (see previous post).  more...

BofA rethinking Countrywide merger

By Inman News, Monday, May 5, 2008.

Bank of America may back out of its planned acquisition of Countrywide Financial Corp. if it can't negotiate a better deal, analysts said after Bank of America revealed that it might merge the troubled lender into a subsidiary and not guarantee all of Countrywide's corporate debt.  more...

Cyberhomes gets new look, capabilities Premium Content

By Matt Carter, Monday, May 5, 2008.
Cyberhomes homepage

Cyberhomes, the property listings, valuation and information site operated by Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions, relaunched over the weekend with a new look and capabilities.

As with many redesigns, the goal was to make it easier for users to take full advantage of the site's capabilities -- and also put a greater emphasis on Cyberhomes' growing listings and editorial content.  more...

RealEstate.com rolls out terrain, traffic maps

By Inman News, Monday, May 5, 2008.

RealEstate.com has added topography and traffic maps and neighborhood information among other enhancements to its real estate search tools, the company announced today.

Last month, the company added Google Street View tools that allow users to virtually tour an area by viewing digital 360-degree street-level images in some metro areas. Other real estate sites, including Trulia.com, DotHomes.com and PropertyMaps.com, have also integrated Google Street View into real estate searches.  more...

Nightly real estate rates post gains

By Inman News, Monday, May 5, 2008.

Long-term mortgage interest rates increased Friday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield rose to 3.86 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average climbed to 5.77 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate edged up to 5.35 percent. Meanwhile, the 1-year adjustable rate held at 5.9 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield rose to 4.58 percent.

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