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Printing companies sell, lease back buildings

By Inman News, Friday, March 9, 2007.

AG Net Lease Realty Fund L.P. acquired two light manufacturing facilities in the Midwest for $19.3 million, and leased back the space to the sellers.

The first building, located in Brimfield, Ohio, was sold by Hess Print Solutions and will be leased to Hess operating entities.

The second property, located in Woodstock, Ill., was sold by The Press of Ohio.

The size of the properties was not disclosed.

Charlotte office/flex space purchased

By Inman News, Friday, March 9, 2007.

Alex. Brown Realty Inc., a national real estate investment company, has acquired Nations Ford, a 78,736-square-foot office/flex building in Charlotte, N.C.

The purchase is the company's fourth joint venture with local developer Waters Inc.

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

Nations Ford, located at 10345 Nations Ford Road, was constructed in 2002 and features 18-foot clear ceiling heights, 12 rear loading bays and 9-foot-by-10-foot, dock-high doors.

Quail Creek sells in Arizona

By Inman News, Friday, March 9, 2007.

Sperry Van Ness negotiated the sale of Quail Creek, a 269-unit apartment community in Mesa, Ariz., for approximately $15.5 million.

California-based Portico Properties purchased the asset, which is located at 1651 S. Dobson Road, from Vancouver, Wash.-based Holt Homes. Holt had purchased the property approximately two years ago, and it is in need of rehabilitation, according to a press statement.  more...

DOJ, FTC testify to Senate antitrust subcommittee Premium Content

By Inman News, Friday, March 9, 2007.

While some states maintain rules that ban real estate rebates to consumers or "undermine online brokerage models," last year several states took action "to enhance competition to the benefit of consumers," a U.S Justice Department antitrust official stated in testimony to a Senate subcommittee this week.

Thomas O.  more...

FDIC finds Fremont I&L's underwriting policies inadequate

By Inman News, Friday, March 9, 2007.

Fremont General Corp.'s attempts to exit subprime mortgage lending by selling its subsidiary, Fremont Investment & Loan, are being complicated by a cease-and-desist order filed by federal bank regulators.

Fremont General announced March 2 it would sell its Brea, Calif.-based subprime subsidiary or, failing that, exit the subprime mortgage business.
 
On March 7, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.  more...

WMC tightens lending guidelines, lays off 460

By Matt Carter, Friday, March 9, 2007.

WMC Mortgage laid off 460 employees Thursday, and has stopped making zero-down loans or loans to borrowers with FICO scores below 600.

A spokeswoman for WMC, Brandie Young, said the affected employees were given "non-working" 60-day layoff notices, meaning they were not to report to work today. The layoffs, which represented about 20 percent of WMC's workforce, were undertaken companywide, she said.

"We've restructured ourselves to retain a stung position in the market, and feel these actions have done that for us," Young said.  more...

Overnight real estate rates sink

By Inman News, Friday, March 9, 2007. Long-term mortgage interest rates were down Thursday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield rose to 4.51 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average sank to 5.68 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate dipped to 5.42 percent. The 1-year adjustable edged up to 5.34 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield was up at 4.66 percent.

Rates 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...

New Century stops funding loans

By Matt Carter, Friday, March 9, 2007.

New Century Financial Corp. has stopped funding loans after at least five creditors stopped financing the company's operations, and another forced a repurchase of loans it originated.

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Thursday, the California-based subprime lender said it has only been able to fund a portion of its loans this week because of problems with creditors.  more...

Mashup site combines real estate video, mapping

By Inman News, Friday, March 9, 2007.

A Web site that is a mashup of real estate video content and Google interactive mapping tools has a catchy name that is also a mashup: GooTube.net.

The site was developed by Philippines resident Roldan A.  more...