Real estate News 03/2014
Cohen and Steers, Real-Estate Pioneers, Blaze New Trails
For many years, Martin Cohen and Robert Steers were synonymous with real estate, pioneers in the world of real estate investment trusts, or REITs. They launched their firm in 1986. Although Cohen & Steers (ticker: CNS) still has a big real estate focus ... (Mar 1, 2014, Barron's)
Eight real estate projects planned for downtown Houston
A flurry of construction is taking shape in downtown Houston with multiple hotel and residential projects under way. Now, office developers are about to join the party. At least eight projects are planned in the city center as builders risk huge sums ... (Mar 1, 2014, Houston Chronicle (blog))
Middle Georgia real estate sales hit 5-year high in 2013
We're not talking about a real estate bubble. We learned all too well from the Great Recession those bubbles can burst and cause quite a mess. We're talking about a slow and steady improvement in real estate sales with the number of homes sold pretty ... (Mar 1, 2014, Macon Telegraph (blog))
"Office Space" actor now takes on real estate
But now, Greg Pitts is trying to make a new name for himself in Southwest Florida real estate. The actor — famous for an unforgettable scene in the cult comedy "Office Space" — recently moved back to his hometown of Venice to follow in the footsteps ... (Mar 1, 2014, Sacramento Bee)
Lampert seeks real estate sizzle by shearing Sears name
Analysts speculate that Sears may be planning to spin off Seritage into a real estate investment trust. REITs generate at least three quarters of their income from rents or interest on mortgages financing real estate. They pay no corporate income tax ... (Mar 1, 2014, STLtoday.com)
Credit Catch-22 hampers Southwest Floriad real estate market
In 2013, “65 percent of the commercial transactions were all cash” in Lee County, said Stan commercial real estate broker Stan Stouder, a founding partner of CRE Consultants who handles commercial property sales and leasing. “That really narrows the ... (Mar 1, 2014, The News-Press)
City's spooky spots have become real estate hotspots
Real-estate bigwigs are also vying for Brooklyn's Long Island College Hospital. “Some people [would rather] live in the psych ward with high ceilings as opposed to cookie-cutter buildings,” said developer Don Peebles. “It's a reminder of the history of ... (Mar 1, 2014, New York Post)
'Go-getter' dives into real-estate world
The day I graduated from college, I started looking into real-estate school. I started that education process. In retrospect, I could have done just fine in real estate without having to go through those extra steps of going through college but the ... (Mar 1, 2014, ABQ Journal)
Prudential PenFed helps military enter real estate industry
Bobby Powers with Prudential Pentagon Federal Real Estate and Jacquie Walker hold a flyer about a new program they are offering called 'Real Heroes' which will offer up to $2,500 to help retired veterans and their spouses, and active-duty men and women ... (Mar 2, 2014, Clarksville Leaf Chronicle)
Monte Mohr: Is real estate agent worth the high fee?
Bottom line, though one of the most rewarding careers that I personally believe someone can pursue and one that I love with all my heart, real estate sales can also be one of the most thankless, exhausting, time-consuming, gut-wrenching and ... (Mar 2, 2014, The Tennessean)
Mary Monday: What can the 1031 Exchange do for real estate investors?
The training provided many of the essential concepts of the program and provided broad guidance to real estate investors who may be able to use an exchange to accumulate additional real properties. If you own investment real estate, you should ... (Mar 2, 2014, Arizona Daily Sun)
How To: Appeal Your DC Real Estate Assessment
This past week, DC's Office of Tax and Revenue sent out the FY 2015 (which begins in October 2014) appraisals for property taxes in the city. That means: if you own a house or a condo or a plot of land, the city assesses the value of that land and ... (Mar 2, 2014, We Love DC)
Outside Consultant: Real estate strategies
I'm a real estate agent in NYC. Do you have any advice for how I can generate more leads in 2014? It seems like the advertising landscape has been changing. Consumers no longer look for rentals on Craigslist as much as they used too, and a ton of new ... (Mar 2, 2014, Minneapolis Star Tribune)
The Week Ahead For Real Estate Stocks [Bank of America Corp, Annaly Capital ...
The Week Ahead For Real Estate Stocks [Bank of America Corp, Annaly Capital ... (Mar 2, 2014, Seeking Alpha)
Real Estate: Atlas
Boy, Real Estate sure has done it again. Without a doubt, this is another Real Estate album. Atlas has all the hallmarks: clean guitars, open chords, the faintest whiff of melancholy. Unfortunately, it doesn't begin to approach anything resembling an ... (Mar 3, 2014, PopMatters)
Pimco Said to Compete With Perella for Spanish Real Estate
Pacific Investment Management Co. is one of three bidders chosen to make final offers for an office and shopping-mall complex in Madrid's business district, two people with knowledge of the matter said. Pimco, in partnership with Talus Real Estate, ... (Mar 3, 2014, Bloomberg)
Doggy marketing in real estate: Do's and don'ts for agents
If so, make sure that you know the do's and don'ts of “doggy marketing.” A couple of years ago I received an eight-page glossy color brochure from an Austin, Texas, real estate agent. It had multiple pictures of her enjoying the local lifestyle ... (Mar 3, 2014, Inman.com)
Jack Nicklaus' family to open boutique real estate firm in Charleston
He added that Golden Bear's business concept includes several websites that list luxury real estate, golf course communities, waterfront homes and high-rise condominiums in the Palm Beach, Fla., area. Now, the firm is branching out from its South ... (Mar 3, 2014, Charleston Post Courier)
Real estate agents grapple with Illinois' new gun law
With the state's concealed carry gun law in effect, and the first 5,000 licenses in the mail, real estate firms are starting to grapple with a person's ability to carry a concealed weapon into a real estate office, an agent's car and a seller's home ... (Mar 3, 2014, Chicago Tribune)
UPDATE 1-Soros buys IGD stake in bet on Italian real estate
Shopping centre developer and manager IGD had struggled to arrange meetings with potential foreign investors, who were worried about falling property prices and high debt in Italian real estate, the group's CEO told Reuters in an interview. Italy, the ... (Mar 3, 2014, Reuters)
Billionaire Paulson Plans to Invest in Spanish Real Estate IPO
Paulson & Co., the hedge-fund firm founded by billionaire John Paulson, is joining Pacific Investment Management Co. in betting on a recovery in Spanish real estate. Paulson & Co. will invest in Hispania Activos Inmobiliarios, a Spanish real estate ... (Mar 3, 2014, Bloomberg)
Sunny Day Real Estate to Release "Lipton Witch", First New Song Since 2000 ...
Sunny Day Real Estate to Release "Lipton Witch", First New Song Since 2000 ... (Mar 3, 2014, Pitchfork Media)
3 more heavy-hitting real estate brokers switch firms
Three more high-profile commercial real estate brokers have taken positions at competing brokerages, moves that continue a recent trend of personnel changes at the region's largest real estate firms. Cushman & Wakefield of Maryland Inc. on Monday ... (Mar 3, 2014, Baltimore Business Journal (blog))
Real estate investments: A 5 On Your Side Solutions Center warning from a ...
Real estate investments: A 5 On Your Side Solutions Center warning from a ... (Mar 3, 2014, NewsNet5.com)
Dayton-area real estate firms merge
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Big Hill announced it has merged with Richmond, Ind.-based First Richmond Realtors, which also operates in Eaton under the name Preble Plus Realty. Olivia Barrow: Senior Reporter- Dayton Business Journal: Email ... (Mar 3, 2014, Dayton Business Journal)
Premature Evaluation: Real Estate Atlas
At one point during the day I threw on headphones and immersed myself in Atlas, the album Real Estate is set to release tomorrow, and it captured that sensation of sighing domestic bliss better than any album in recent memory — better, even, than ... (Mar 3, 2014, Stereogum)
Denver's Roger Herman buys California real estate company
ERA Herman Group Real Estate of Denver bought Shorewood Realtors, making it the largest division of the parent company ERA Real Estate, which owns a chain of residential real estate brokerage firms. Shorewood, which posted $1.7 billion in 2013 sales ... (Mar 3, 2014, Denver Business Journal (blog))
Tech Broke Real Estate In San Francisco. Can Tech Help Fix It?
The online real estate brokerage Redfin recently calculated that there are zero homes in San Francisco that would be affordable on the income of a public-school teacher, and only one home that a firefighter could buy without spending a third or more of ... (Mar 3, 2014, Forbes)
Real-estate titans turn partnership into nasty feud
The increasingly bitter battle between real estate partners Andrew Heiberger, left, and Joe Sitt is marring the reputation of one of the city's leading residential property businesses. Photo: Handout, Lorenzo Ciniglio ... (Mar 3, 2014, New York Post)
Tucson real estate
Jon O'Shea and Rob Fischrup of Vast Real Estate Solutions LLC represented 2030 East LLC in the following purchases: 17,865 square feet at 7430, 7458 and 7464 N. La Cholla Blvd. from 220Properties LLC for $3.5 million; 4,040 square feet at 7494 N. La ... (Mar 3, 2014, Arizona Daily Star)
Redfin's Old-School Approach to Online Real Estate
March 4 (Bloomberg) -- Glenn Kelman, CEO at Redfin, explains his company's business model and the changing approach to online real estate sales on Bloomberg Television's “Bloomberg Surveillance.” Please enable JavaScript to view the comments ... (Mar 4, 2014, Bloomberg)
De Blasio notches an early real-estate win
After threatening to mothball his 3 million-square-foot Domino apartment-and-office space project when de Blasio demanded more affordable housing, Walentas backed down, and on Monday evening, he and the city issued a press release announcing a ... (Mar 4, 2014, Capital New York)
Meet The 20 Richest Real Estate Billionaires On The Forbes Billionaires List
Property values are rising globally, creating wealth–and new billionaires–across the planet. Fifteen people join the FORBES ranks this year thanks to their real estate holding, bringing the total number of property tycoons on the FORBES Billionaires ... (Mar 4, 2014, Forbes)
High-country real-estate sales slow slightly in 2013
As if to confirm that the roaring heydays of 2006 and 2007 are forever gone, real-estate sales in Colorado's resort high country declined slightly in 2013, keeping with the up-down, back-to-reality theme of the past few years. Five years ago, the ... (Mar 4, 2014, Denver Post)
Sunny Day Real Estate Releasing New Song “Lipton Witch” For Record Store Day
This April, Sunny Day Real Estate will release the new single “Lipton Witch.” It'll be the first piece of new material we've heard from the band, who played some reunion shows in 2009, in about 14 years. The track will be available on Record Store Day ... (Mar 4, 2014, Stereogum)
North Shore's Potential Already Creating Real Estate Buzz
"You have the most undervalued waterfront property in all of New York City. We've got postcard views of downtown Manhattan, we've got a burgeoning restaurant scene and we've got real estate that's really affordable," Rizzo said. Potential is what lured ... (Mar 4, 2014, NY1)
Chinese Investors Aren't Snatching Up Detroit Property, Yet
After Detroit filed for bankruptcy protection last summer, the media was flooded with stories about Chinese investors pouring money into real estate there. Headlines like this one summed it up: "Chinese investors are buying up Detroit." When you look ... (Mar 4, 2014, NPR)
Former SLO real estate broker guilty of property-flipping fraud
A former San Luis Obispo real estate broker pleaded guilty to orchestrating what federal prosecutors call a scheme to fraudulently flip properties across San Luis Obispo County. On Monday, Timothy William Barnes, 37, now a resident of San Francisco, ... (Mar 4, 2014, The San Luis Obispo Tribune)
City Real-Estate Group Touts Industry's Impact
The trade group released a report Tuesday highlighting the $15.4 billion in tax revenues collected from the real-estate industry in 2012. It included revenues from property, mortgages and commercial occupancy but excluded that from condos, co-ops and ... (Mar 4, 2014, Wall Street Journal)
Google Capital Pours $50M Into Real Estate Marketplace Auction.com At A $1.2 ...
Google Capital Pours $50M Into Real Estate Marketplace Auction.com At A $1.2 ... (Mar 4, 2014, TechCrunch)
Japan Real Estate Shares See Sharpest Rise In 6 Months
Traders also cited a bullish industry report by Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities, which upgraded several real estate stocks, including blue chips Mitsui Fudosan and Mitsubishi Estate, to overweight from equal-weight. Their shares closed up up 3.6% and 5 ... (Mar 5, 2014, Wall Street Journal (blog))
The Traits Every Real Estate Agent Needs
The real estate landscape has changed significantly since the 2007 crash that led to the Great Recession, but there's one element that remains a necessity: the need for the best real estate agent. In fact, it's become even more important. Working with ... (Mar 5, 2014, Fox Business)
Real Estate Shift Focus for New Album Atlas
The power of Real Estate's sophomore album, 2011′s Days, was hidden in the same elements that many interpreted as safe. On its own, the sunshine-beckoning feel of the New Jersey band's braiding guitars — always loosely played, air-tightly arranged ... (Mar 5, 2014, TIME)
Real Estate Investors Rediscover Risk
The tide has changed in real estate investments. Until last year, wealthy buyers were primarily looking at property as a safe haven for their capital, a trend that had started after the credit crunch and ensuing real estate market crashes. In 2013 ... (Mar 5, 2014, Forbes)
The priciest real estate? Hint: It's not New York
The Knight Frank Wealth Report shows that the tiny, tony principality of Monaco remains the most world's expensive real estate market. The report found that $1 million will only get you 15 square meters of space, or about 160 square feet. So you could ... (Mar 5, 2014, CNBC.com)
Housing Hunting in ... Croatia Real Estate in Croatia
This four-story hillside villa with six bedrooms and a ground-floor studio apartment has its own quay on secluded Kobas Bay off the Peljesac Peninsula in Croatia. Built around 1990 and renovated in 2008, it has concrete construction, a stone facade and ... (Mar 5, 2014, New York Times)
Big Island real estate email scam contains virus
An attachment—which the letter claims has a "legal statement" and contact information for the real estate company—actually contains a computer virus. The Police Department does not seize residential property without a court order, and citizens are ... (Mar 5, 2014, KITV Honolulu)
REAL ESTATE: Where are the boomerang buyers?
It appeared in a March 4 newsletter by Irvine-based John Burns Real Estate Consulting, as Sean Fergus makes the point that of the 5.3 million households that lost a home to a foreclosure or short sale from 2007 to 2013, many are regrouping to become ... (Mar 5, 2014, Press-Enterprise)
Ray Kelly lands a job with a real estate giant
Former police commissioner Ray Kelly has a new job as president of risk management services at Cushman & Wakefield, the giant real estate firm. Cushman created the new position for Kelly, where he will “offer clients tailored solutions to manage and ... (Mar 6, 2014, Capital New York)
Survey: Real Estate Is Top Alternative Investment for Millionaires
Millionaires also said they own collectibles (34 percent), precious metals (28 percent), private equity (27 percent), real assets such as oil, gas and mining (17 percent), private real estate funds (16 percent), hedge funds (16 percent) and venture ... (Mar 6, 2014, Moneynews)