Real estate News 04/2014
How to protect your personal data in a real estate transaction
Jill Chodorov, a real estate agent with Long & Foster, writes an occasional column about local market trends and housing issues. Homebuyers beware. If you are nervous about having your financial information hacked when purchasing linens for your new ... (Apr 1, 2014, Washington Post (blog))
Busiest time for realtors is the spring real estate market
"They want to know the best time of year to put their property on the market. It's simply a fact that more property goes on contract in April than any other month." For sellers they can take advantage of the spring rush of buyers. Ideally, realtors ... (Apr 1, 2014, WCSH-TV)
Commercial real estate forecasters see continued US growth
Top real estate economists expect that commercial property transactions will rise over the next two years to levels not seen since before the recession – exceeding the volumes hit in 2006. Total transaction volume will reach $430 billion by 2016 ... (Apr 1, 2014, Dallas Morning News (blog))
DSU partners as host for real estate symposium
Corporate/University Real Estate's Connectivity to Social Value Creation," will be at Dover Downs Casino Hotel from 8 a.m. until noon. It is being hosted by Delaware State University, Johns Hopkins University's Carey Business School and Sperry Van Ness ... (Apr 1, 2014, The News Journal)
10 things your real-estate agent won't tell you
That's good news for real-estate agents as well. A 2013 National Association of Realtors member survey showed that agents' $34,000 median annual income last year reflected a level not seen since 2006, just before the U.S. housing boom went bust; ... (Apr 1, 2014, Yahoo News Canada (blog))
What It's Like To Be One Of Luxury Real Estate's Highest Rollers At Age 27
Scoot over to 26-year-old Oren's feed, and you'll find the Alexanders — who co-founded The Alexander Team at Douglas Elliman Real Estate two years ago — out to lunch on the slopes of Aspen, Colo., while The A Team's feed includes photos of their ... (Apr 1, 2014, Business Insider)
Real estate delights on April Fools' Day
Every April 1, industry players dream up absurd, fanciful stories to tickle, delight and momentarily hoodwink their fellows. This year was no exception. Here's a rundown of some of today's shenanigans: 1. Thanks to the real estate industry's eventful ... (Apr 1, 2014, Inman.com)
Real-Estate Stocks Put 2013 Behind Them
The stocks of real-estate investment trusts tracked by Dow Jones posted total returns of 8.6%, including dividends, in the first quarter, which ended Monday, according to the DJ Equity All REIT Total Return Index. They beat the S&P 500's total return ... (Apr 1, 2014, Wall Street Journal)
Rent This Sewer! Satirical Signs Mock San Francisco Real Estate Prices
You might not be able to afford a condo in San Francisco's tech-inflated real estate bubble, but what about a sewer, mailbox, or bus stop? Photographer Scot Hampton created satirical For Rent signs that show just how ridiculous the rental market in the ... (Apr 2, 2014, TIME)
Cities where real estate investors are finding deals
To sort out what you can expect in real estate this year, MONEY zeroed in on four markets: upscale neighborhoods, new investor favorites, booming growth cities, and once-busy areas that have quieted down. Whether your local real estate market is ... (Apr 2, 2014, CNNMoney (press release))
Real Estate Investing Is No Longer A Private Club
Jilliene Helman had a track record in real estate. She had underwritten more than $1 billion and was a vice president in wealth management at Union Bank. She knew what to invest in and what not to. A friend asked if he could invest alongside her when ... (Apr 2, 2014, Forbes)
Portland's Friendly Real Estate Renegade
She persevered, driven by a vision for a real estate firm that would be, well, different. She wanted to learn about her clients: where they came from, what kind of community they longed for. “There was this rift between my values and where I saw my ... (Apr 2, 2014, Portland Monthly)
How To Invest In Real Estate
Do Purchase Rental Property- You aren't likely to find real estate at a reasonable price that doesn't need some fixing up but readying a property for rental is much different than flipping. If you're purchasing real estate as a rental property, your ... (Apr 2, 2014, NASDAQ)
Mayor Slay orders cabinet and staff to disclose real estate ownership
Now, members of Slay's staff and cabinet must provide written disclosure including street address of real estate interests to chief of staff Jeff Rainford and the city's building commissioner. The building commissioner will annually review the ... (Apr 2, 2014, STLtoday.com)
'Million Dollar Listing New York': Fredrik Eklund is riding the real estate boom
These are heady days to be in Manhattan real estate, what with supply lagging behind a demand driven to an all-time high by foreign buyers, and interest rates staying at near-historic lows. Fredrik Eklund, agent for Douglas Elliman Real Estate and one ... (Apr 2, 2014, Zap2it.com (blog))
New Orleans real estate market seeing green
Even as a green real estate market sprouted during the recent years of rebuilding in the New Orleans area -- think solar panels -- there wasn't a clear path for buyers to find greener houses or for sellers to get more value for investing in ... (Apr 2, 2014, The Times-Picayune)
Londoners Priced Out of Housing Blame Foreigners: Real Estate
Cheryl Coyne shouted “No more homes for millionaires!” with protesters dressed as pirates outside London City Hall this week. Inside, Mayor Boris Johnson was approving a plan by Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. (13) to build as many as 3,500 ... (Apr 2, 2014, Bloomberg)
Zillow to Offer Real Estate Listings to Chinese Portal
The online real-estate service announced Wednesday that it had formed a partnership with Beijing Yisheng Leju Information Services Inc. This summer Leju and Zillow plan to launch a jointly branded website in China that will give shoppers access to ... (Apr 2, 2014, Wall Street Journal)
Modeled after Airbnb, new app aims to disrupt commercial real estate
But for those seeking smaller, shorter-term deals Jones Lang LaSalle, the global real estate services and brokerage firm that now goes by its initials, JLL, is launching HiRise next month in Washington. The idea behind HiRise somewhat resembles that ... (Apr 3, 2014, Washington Post)
JLL partnership gets key backing as MBTA reviews real estate contracts
After selling surplus real estate and leasing retail space for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority for nearly two decades, TRA, the Boston-based real estate management and consulting firm specializing in transportation-related property ... (Apr 3, 2014, Boston Business Journal)
5 Things Your Real Estate Agent Won't Tell You (VIDEO)
Yes, they can be fantastic allies as you embark on your journey of finding your dream home, but more often than not, they're keeping some major secrets to themselves. From only seeing the "me" in "home" to exercising their right to a floating ... (Apr 3, 2014, Huffington Post)
Former real estate sales agent gets Smithtown position
John Walser worked for the Smithtown-based Island Associates Real Estate since 2011, where he developed marketing solutions and sales and leases of commercial real estate, including shopping centers, office, industrial and multifamily properties, ... (Apr 3, 2014, Newsday)
Philadelphia real estate community to battle it out
“We wanted to shake it up and make a unique, fun networking event but it had to be real estate related,” said Anne Klein, an office broker with Newmark Grubb Knight Frank. Klein said Rich Gottlieb, who works at Keystone Property Group, originated the ... (Apr 3, 2014, Philadelphia Business Journal (blog))
Women emphasize financial independence at commercial real estate meeting
Kristin Stang, a commercial real estate associate at J.P. Weigand & Sons, tells a Women in Commercial Real Estate audience Thursday how she gained some control of her financial destiny. Kristin Stang said the wake-up call for her financial well-being ... (Apr 3, 2014, Kansas.com)
Daniel J. DiSalle, Sr.; 1935-2014: Former real estate chief remembered for ...
Daniel J. DiSalle, Sr.; 1935-2014: Former real estate chief remembered for ... (Apr 4, 2014, Toledo Blade)
Wall Street Engineers Awaken CDOs in Real Estate Deals
Commercial real-estate investor H/2 Capital Partners bundled a hodge podge of its holdings -- from bonds tied to skyscrapers and malls to junk-rated bank loans -- into about $400 million of securities. The deal, similar to the pre-crisis transactions ... (Apr 4, 2014, Bloomberg)
Are Real Estate Brokers Obsolete?
Since I've recently been exploring a few real estate options, my mind immediately went to the role of real estate brokers. Before I begin, let me first say that my intention is not to “attack” one profession, but rather to use a specific example to ... (Apr 4, 2014, Forbes)
PNC Real Estate ranks in top five nationwide for owning apartments
PNC Real Estate, a Portland, Ore.-based division of Pittsburgh's largest bank, has risen to be the fourth-largest owner of apartments in the country, according to a new survey from the National Multifamily Housing Council. The top three are Hunt Cos ... (Apr 4, 2014, Pittsburgh Business Times (blog))
Khosla Ventures' Keith Rabois finally launches his real estate startup
Under the codename HomeRun, Rabois has assembled a four-person team, including himself and an unnamed data scientist, to upend the residential real estate business with a super-fast way to sell a house. “My belief is that if you added a frictionless, ... (Apr 4, 2014, VentureBeat)
Viewpoint: What to watch in the Boston real estate market in 2014
Boston remains a hot market for real estate investors. With record pricing in office and multifamily projects, and investment dollars coming in from all corners of the globe, increasingly larger projects are being planned and financed — a trend that ... (Apr 4, 2014, Boston Business Journal)
Real Estate & Market Report: April 04, 2014
However, as always there is something happening in real estate and a report to be found. The Mortgage Bankers Association announced on Wednesday that. Any increase is welcome however applications for purchases are still 17 percent below the same ... (Apr 4, 2014, KHTS Radio)
An open letter to anyone wanting to get their real estate license
This post by Greg Nino, real estate agent at Re/Max Compass in Houston, was originally published on ActiveRain. Several times a year I am approached by people who want to become a Realtor. Many of them think it's a great way to supplement their income ... (Apr 4, 2014, Inman.com)
REAL ESTATE: Leju partnership with Zillow creates new sales links to China
Real estate transactions in California could get more dynamic on an international level after the announcement that Zillow and a subsidiary of E-House (China) Holdings Limited will build a co-branded website to create a platform bridging information ... (Apr 4, 2014, Press-Enterprise)
Oklahoma real estate briefs for April 5, 2014
DURANT — The Oklahoma Association of Realtors has recognized Life Member Martin Van Meter of Durant for his service of more than 15 years on the Oklahoma Real Estate Commission. The commission grants real estate licenses, acts to safeguard the ... (Apr 4, 2014, NewsOK.com)
Billionaire buying into Harvard Square
Over the course of 18 months — and without calling attention to himself — billionaire businessman Gerald L. Chan spent about $120 million to amass an impressive portfolio of Harvard Square real estate that includes nearly a dozen properties. Together ... (Apr 4, 2014, Boston Globe)
Selling Points: Notable real estate deals in Buffalo Niagara
Seller: Cole Real Estate Investments and Cofinance Group SA of France, through Cole/CoTops Youngmann NY LLC. Planned Use: Investment and continued operation as retail plazas anchored by Tops Friendly Markets stores. Cole Real Estate Investments, ... (Apr 5, 2014, Buffalo News)
Drone targets Greenbrier Valley real estate market
LEWISBURG — The owners of a drone that began flying the skies over Greenbrier County last month come in peace, although they do plan to eventually target local real estate. Paul and Richard Grist of Lewisburg's Foxfire Realty are testing the ... (Apr 5, 2014, Charleston Gazette)
Commercial real estate deals soar early this year
January and February were bitterly cold in Western New York, but the commercial real estate market was burning hot. Nearly $120 million worth of commercial property changed hands in Erie County during the first two months of the year, setting a pace ... (Apr 5, 2014, Buffalo News)
Tom Kelly: Memories of real estate's dark ages
The performance of the real estate agent heightened the tension. She had no license, no formal training, was a close friend of the seller and had an “exclusive” listing that allegedly prohibited anyone else from selling the property. And she didn't ... (Apr 6, 2014, The Spokesman Review)
Real estate: What's your neighbor's home selling for?
313 N. John St.; from The Lincoln Real Estate Group; to Chloe Simon and Mark Simon; $112,000. * 476 Falling Leaf Way; from Philip Kogler and Clarita Kogler; to Southern Illinois Living Centers; $135,000. * 1190 Larkspur Drive; from Timothy Casey and ... (Apr 6, 2014, Belleville News Democrat)
Residential real estate to continue slow rise in '14
"Some people aren't going to sell unless they get what the property used to be worth," Rennekamp said. "I'm not saying they can't, but that's a rare instance." In Greater Cincinnati, homes last year spent an average 69 days on the market before being ... (Apr 6, 2014, Cincinnati.com)
Six charged in $560000 real estate scam run from Palisades Park, prosecutor says
HACKENSACK — Six people were indicted on charges stemming from their roles in a real estate scheme run from Palisades Park that bilked victims out of $560,000 in all, prosecutors said Friday. Four people charged in the scheme were in custody while ... (Apr 6, 2014, The Star-Ledger)
Traditions in Real Estate helps heroes buys homes
One local hero has a home thanks to the help of Traditions in Real Estate. Roy Airington, a firefighter from Montmorenci, is settling in to his new home in Aiken. Traditions in Real Estate Team with RE/MAX True Advantage is the exclusive Homes for ... (Apr 6, 2014, Aiken Standard)
TIAA-CREF and Henderson Global Investors Launch $71 Billion Real Estate ...
TIAA-CREF and Henderson Global Investors Launch $71 Billion Real Estate ... (Apr 6, 2014, CoStar Group)
How One Family Passes It On, and On...
How One Family Passes It On, and On... (Apr 6, 2014, Wall Street Journal)
Desktop visits to real estate websites jump 15 percent in March
Visits to real estate sites from desktop computers surged 15 percent in March compared to the month before, indicating the spring homebuying season has gotten off to a hot start. Consumers recorded about 362 million visits to real estate sites from ... (Apr 7, 2014, Inman.com)
US Tax Court ruling could save real estate trusts millions
As we've discussed many times in this column, anyone who can qualify as a “real estate professional” for federal tax purposes enjoys some unique tax benefits. First, a real estate professional who owns rental property is allowed to deduct an unlimited ... (Apr 7, 2014, Inman.com)
Russian sanctions have real impact on US real estate market
It's been easy to shrug off the U.S. sanctions against Russia as something that only impacts people half a world away. That could be changing. Anecdotal evidence suggests that wealthy Russians, who have become a big part of the luxury real estate ... (Apr 7, 2014, Yahoo Finance (blog))
VanMeter recognized for service to real estate commission
The Oklahoma Association of REALTORS® (OAR) recognized OAR Life Member Martin VanMeter on his more than 15 years of dutiful service to the Oklahoma Real Estate Commission (OREC). In his role on the commission, VanMeter served as one of seven ... (Apr 7, 2014, Durant Daily Democrat)
The Internet is for sellers and real estate agents, not buyers
Last week one of my clients asked to see a property she'd found on Zillow. I looked it up, and it was listed as a for-sale-by-owner. The details stated that the owner would work with real estate agents. I clicked on the link next to the listing to send ... (Apr 7, 2014, Inman.com)