AOL Real Estate - Blog http://realestate.aol.com/blog AOL Real Estate - Blog http://realestate.aol.com/blog/media/feedlogo.gif AOL Real Estate - Blog http://realestate.aol.com/blog en-us Copyright 2013 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Texas Gov. Rick Perry Rents Home, Taxpayers Foot the Billhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/05/18/texas-governor-rick-perry-rents-home-taxpayers-foot-the-bill/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/05/18/texas-governor-rick-perry-rents-home-taxpayers-foot-the-bill/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/05/18/texas-governor-rick-perry-rents-home-taxpayers-foot-the-bill/#commentsFiled under:

This is a story about what I call America One versus America Two.

In America One, only a very small fraction of the millions facing the prospect of losing their homes to foreclosure are actually helped by the Obama administration's mortgage modification programs. While in America Two, a fat-cat politician (well, OK, so he happens to be the governor of Texas) gets to have taxpayers pick up the tab for what the Associated Press refers to as a "sprawling rental home in the hills above the capital."

If you live in America One -- that would be most of us -- you might be one of those homeowners who have come to the conclusion that it is more cost-effective to default on your mortgage and walk away. Because: Why try or a loan modification for a house that you are unlikely to ever afford -- so long as only interest and not the principal of your loan is what is modified?

On the other hand, if you live in America Two, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry certainly resides there, you not only do not have to concern yourself with annoying things like mortgage statements each month, but you get to have the public pay for a pad with five bedrooms, three dining rooms, seven bathrooms, and wood floors the color of pecans roasted in the Austin sun. (I know politicians are dirty, but, come on--seven freaking bathrooms? What is he doing, baptizing himself in all that money?)
Back over in America One, new figures just out show the Making Home Affordable Program has only made it "affordable" to about 300,000 homeowners out of an estimated 4 million that are close to foreclosure.

"The program is dying," the AP quotes one financial blog, Calculated Risk, as announcing.

Now, in America Two, Gov. Perry has discovered the true "Making Home Affordable" program: The citizens of his state foot the bill for more than $10,000 a month rent until repairs are made to the governor's mansion! (It was partially destroyed by an arson fire.)

You can argue that in both America One and Two, taxpayers are paying the bill: in America One, for defaulting homeowners helped by a government program; in America Two, for a cheap governor who could no doubt afford his own rental unit, or a more modest one paid for by taxpayers -- rather than living off the fast-food-infused fat of the land.

You can make that argument, but it won't wash. In America One, the financial help is to keep hardworking but down-on-their-financial-luck homeowners from being kicked out into the street. In America Two, the financial help is to keep an elected official in the comfort he has come to think he deserves and certainly, therefore, expects.

Wouldn't it be great if Gov. Perry could live in America One for just one night?

Charles Feldman is a journalist, media consultant and co-author of the book "No Time To Think -- The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-Hour News Cycle." He has written about real estate-related issues for several years.

 

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]]>governor rick perryMaking Home Affordabletexas governor rentalCharles Feldman2010-05-18T11:00:00 00:00Gulf Coast Real Estate Threatened by Oil Spillhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/05/12/gulf-coast-real-estate-threatened-by-oil-spill/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/05/12/gulf-coast-real-estate-threatened-by-oil-spill/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/05/12/gulf-coast-real-estate-threatened-by-oil-spill/#commentsFiled under: ,

Five years after the catastrophic Hurricane Katrina, real estate players are predicting that BP's oil spill has the potential to hinder the Gulf Coast more severely than that epic storm.

"This will be 100 times worse," says Christine Weber, a real estate agent near Biloxi, Miss., who says she can already smell the fumes from her house five miles from shore. "It is not something that can be cleaned up like a hurricane, where you can replace a roof. You can't remove oil from the sand or the water."

Weber, looking back on the housing market following Hurricane Katrina, says the demand for homes had picked up, and the supply was low because of homes lost or damaged in the storm. But the impact from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a slick which is edging toward the Gulf Coast, could destroy wildlife, beachfront property, and healthy living conditions for the community for years.

"We won't have anything around here," she adds. "It will be desolate."

The extent of the oil spill's damage is far from being felt in Biloxi, but in some vacation havens the toll on tourism is taking immediate effect. On Dauphin Island, a barrier island in Alabama, a broker at a local beach-house rental company says that in one to two days they lost $400,000 in cancellations for reservations as far away as September. The broker, Randy Tanner of Dauphin Island Real Estate Inc., says the island is experiencing occasional tar balls on the beaches, but it's unknown whether the oil spew will hit the island head-on.

"The lifeblood of this island is the west end, the beach, where the tourists come in," he says. "We are dealing with a problem we've never had. We knew how to deal with hurricanes."

In addition to turning off tourists, it's also scaring away investors who were looking to redevelop the area. Local real estate broker Ray Gonzales told ABC affiliate WLOX-TV in Biloxi: "[The venture capitalists] will be back. They're going to make sure that this is cleaned up before they open banks for developers."

Other real estate insiders argue that despite the upsurge of casinos in Biloxi since Katrina, little progress has been made in the home market along the city's coastal area.

A real estate agent with Keller-Williams in Biloxi, Joe McVey, says that securing home insurance and mortgages to build on the beachfront is nearly impossible, post-Katrina. According to McVey, only a few wealthy homeowners, who can pay in full, have been able to build in the vicinity.

"It is very depressing," he says. "The roads along the beach are fine, but there are no homes to speak of. You have 26 miles along Mississippi that are still devastated -- basically empty lots."

"Now, comes along this oil spill. What's it going to wipe out?" he asks.

It is still not possible to know for sure just how costly this debacle will be to the regional and national economy: It is a tragedy that is still very much unfolding -- or in this case, flowing.

Initial guesstimates of economic damage from natural (or man-made) disasters often prove to be wildly overstated. But why do I have a feeling that in this tragedy the initial estimates will prove to be largely understated?

Additional reporting by Megan Mollmann.

Charles Feldman is a journalist,media consultant and co-author of the book "No Time To Think-The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle." He has written about real estate-related issues for several years.

 

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]]>bp oil spillgulf coast oil spillgulf coast real estatemississippi real estateCharles Feldman2010-05-12T10:30:00 00:00Goldman Sachs Tries to Make Its HQ Disappearhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/05/10/goldman-sachss-invisible-building/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/05/10/goldman-sachss-invisible-building/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/05/10/goldman-sachss-invisible-building/#commentsFiled under: ,

You know how when you were a kid, and you maybe did something you shouldn't have done? But you had to go back to school the next day, so you really hoped and wished and prayed that somehow, magically, you would be rendered invisible to your fellow classmates when you walked into the room? That you wouldn't be noticed? That you could just get through the day without calling attention to yourself?

Now, suppose you were the new Manhattan headquarters for Goldman Sachs: the same Goldman Sachs that is in the crosshairs of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Manhattan federal prosecutors, and just about every investigative reporter trying to write a book about how the planet was plunged into a two-year economic convulsion by Goldman's, shall we say, "complex" financial dealings. (The firm allegedly bet against its own clients in order to rake in more money than anyone could reasonably dream of.)

As you might imagine, if you were that building, the Goldman Sachs building, you might want to be invisible. So how do you go about being an invisible 42-story skyscraper?
As the New Yorker magazine tells it, apparently it's easier than you might think.

"At 200 West Street, as the building is known, the name of the firm appears nowhere on the exterior, or in the lobby, or even on the uniforms of the security personnel or the badges given to visitors," writes the magazine.

The first employees actually started working back in November at the new $2.1 billion building -- which according to the Wall Street Journal features such amenities as "a gym with overachiever fitness classes like 'Awesome Abs.' " But it wasn't til recently that anyone noticed that the building doesn't appear to have any name on its outside or inside!

A few months back, the U.S. architecture critic for Bloomberg, James S. Russell, wrote this of it: "As I contemplated this edifice at 200 West Street, a block from Ground Zero, some numbers came to mind: The $1.65 billion in tax-exempt bonds that helped build the tower and saved the firm $100 million. The $115 million of tax breaks Goldman wrung from city and state officials desperate to show progress at the World Trade Center site...."

Gee. With all that money being tossed around, you'd think Goldman Sachs would at least want its freaking name on the building!

Maybe they can write it on huge, white cards in invisible ink.

Charles Feldman is a journalist, media consultant and co-author of the book "No Time To Think -- The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle." He has written about real estate-related issues for several years.

 

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]]>goldman sachs buildingGoldman Sachs fraudgoldman sachs headquartersCharles Feldman2010-05-10T11:15:00 00:00Chicago Real Estate Rescue? A Piece of Cupcakehttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/05/07/chicago-real-estate-rescue-plan-cupcakes/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/05/07/chicago-real-estate-rescue-plan-cupcakes/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/05/07/chicago-real-estate-rescue-plan-cupcakes/#commentsFiled under: ,,

Forget about unrest in Athens, or whether some idiot broker might have sold billions instead of millions of shares -- helping to send the stock market into a thousand-point plummet. This is the story of how a cupcake, or in this case, cupcakes, may breathe new life into Chicago's real estate and rental markets.

There is a virtual cupcake explosion in the Windy (or is it Winded?) City. Tough economic times are apparently driving more and more folks to seek the small pleasures of the small cake baked in a metal cup, even at a premium price. And, it appears to be a win-win situation ... except, maybe, for Chicago residents trying to lose weight.
Several new bakeries have recently opened their doors in Chicago, says Medill Reports of Northwestern University. Beside the independent operations (a sure boon to the commercial real estate market there), Medill says that some 20 new cupcake bakeries are now being run out of a place called Kitchen Chicago, which rents space and equipment for $14 to $24 an hour.

The competing bakeries sell to coffee shops, farmers markets and some upper-crust food stores. Oh, and also to customers.

The chief instructor at the International Culinary School at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, Peter Babcock, said the cupcake market will keep growing because a cupcake is as "charming to children as it is to adults."

What's more, Babcock added, there is a similarity between the cupcake and housing markets. "People are under the impression that if they pay more, they're getting something that might be better than it really is. Everybody feels so strapped, they think they can treat themselves, even if the product doesn't warrant the price."

Well, he has a point. It does sound an awful lot like the real estate/housing market, doesn't it?

He mentioned the inflated price for these cupcakes with good reason: Some are selling for four bucks or more apiece.

Chicago is, of course, not the only city seeing more and more cupcakes popping out of bakery ovens. According to thenewsbusinessidea.com, "Gourmet cupcake shops are opening up in every major city."

In fact, the website offers tips on how to start a cupcake business:

First, you will need money. But maybe not as much as you might think. "With a cupcake business, you can start small, from your kitchen ... [and] as your business grows ... you can open a cupcake shop."

Here in L.A., as in Manhattan, several cupcake establishments have recently opened their doors, which is good for eaters and good for the local real estate markets.

It's even been good for the Kardashians. (Why is it that everything seems good for the Kardashians?) Kim Kardashian is hawking her vanilla cupcake mix out of her fairly new cupcake shop in -- naturally -- Beverly Hills.

L.A. churches have even begun using red velvet cupcakes with buttercream frosting in place of communion wafers, served with lattes instead of wine. No, I'm just joshing. But if a church were to do that in L.A., how much you wanna bet the Kardashians would be running it?

Charles Feldman is a journalist, media consultant and co-author of the book "No Time to Think -- The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle." He has written about real estate-related issues for several years. He has eaten cupcakes every now and then.

Read about more Chicago Real Estate news or find homes for sale in Chicago at AOL Real Estate.






 

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]]>chicago real estatecupcake storeskim kardashianCharles Feldman2010-05-07T15:00:00 00:00Cuba Real Estate: Si (for Golf!)http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/05/06/cuba-invites-foreign-real-estate-investors-to-develop-golf-cou/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/05/06/cuba-invites-foreign-real-estate-investors-to-develop-golf-cou/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/05/06/cuba-invites-foreign-real-estate-investors-to-develop-golf-cou/#commentsFiled under:

Think of Cuba, and what comes to mind? Castro? Of course. Revolution? Naturally. Political prisoners? Certainly. Exploding cigars? Sure. ( I still love those handy CIA smokes.) But what if I said: "Golf courses by foreign real-estate developers"? Would you think I had slipped on a banana and hit mi cabeza?

I didn't. At least, not recently.

Cuba has decided to open development of golf courses (and other real estate projects, such as marinas) to foreign companies -- or, as they used to be known, the enemy.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Cuba's tourism minister told a tourism fair on the island nation, "With the objective of developing regions that today are virgin, a policy was approved that permits real estate development associated with tourism, fundamentally golf courses, marinas and other complementary tourist investments."

Other than providing a pretty nifty place for Tiger Woods to shelter his money from any future divorce, why is Cuba doing this?
Well, pretty much for the same reason, of course: Money. Cuba wants money, and that comes from building giant hotels and, along with the hotels, luxury golf courses.

Although something like 2.5 million tourists went to Cuba last year, government figures quoted by the Australian paper show they collectively spent 12 percent less than in 2008.

Now, my follow Americans, before you start thinking about either investing in Cuban real estate or winging your way there to play a round or two, keep in mind that for the most part Americans can't go to Cuba because of this trade embargo the U.S. government imposed nearly half a century ago to force Castro out. So much for that policy!

The BBC quotes its Havana correspondent as saying that several European and Canadian investment firms have already made proposals.

But, says the BBC reporter, "in a country with no real estate market, where Cubans are not allowed to buy or sell their homes, the government has long been wary of allowing foreigners to own property." Which is why, he says, the fairly longterm leases will apparently be allowed -- provided they are linked to golf courses.

What's next, one wonders? Cuba inviting Disney to develop a Che Guevara theme park?

You know, actually...

Charles Feldman is a journalist, media consultant and co-author of the book No Time To Think-The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle. He has written about real estate-related issues for several years.

 

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]]>castrocubacuba real estatecuban golf coursesCharles Feldman2010-05-06T11:30:00 00:00Jumbo Mortgages: Bigger Is Better, Againhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/05/05/jumbo-mortgages-bigger-is-better-again/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/05/05/jumbo-mortgages-bigger-is-better-again/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/05/05/jumbo-mortgages-bigger-is-better-again/#commentsFiled under: ,

JUMBOS are back! I thought I'd use all caps for JUMBO to sort of, you know, emphasize the bigness of the news and, frankly, to get your attention. Now, since this is a real estate/housing-oriented site, JUMBOS obviously refers to jumbo mortgages.

CitiMortgage, the mortgage finance arm of Citigroup has announced that it is lowering its jumbo mortgage rates to 5.625 percent for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage. As recently as October 2008, jumbo rates averaged 7.95 percent.

Jumbo mortgages mean loans above $417,000 -- though that was raised on a temporary basis to $729,750 for certain higher-priced markets. And that's even though loans above the old amount still usually translate into higher interest rates and tighter lending standards.

The amounts are the limits established to get government backing or for lenders to unload (I mean sell) the loans to those darlings of the mortgage financing world, Fannie and Freddie.

But that is for their "highly credit-worthy borrowers."


I think that means rich people, but I could be mistaken. Anyway, this rate is down from more recent jumbo rates that usually hit the 6 percent mark.

Speaking to Reuters, CitiMortgage CEO Sanjiv Das said, "We are beginning to see a lot of interest in the jumbo market." Guess we're not talking downtown Detroit here.

According to The Wall Street Journal, banks in the tri-state area of New York, Connecticut and New Jersey are now making it easier to get a jumbo mortgage -- provided you have a credit score of 740 or higher and can afford to shell out a down payment of "at least 20 percent for loans up to $1 million and 30 percent for loans up to $2 million."

"The availability of money has improved and the price of that money has improved," said Keith Gumbinger of HSH Associates, a financial publisher.

The Journal also points out that jumbos have "fallen to their lowest levels in years."

Just the other week, Redwood Trust announced a plan to offer the first private securitization of mortgage-backed debt since 2008, based on jumbo mortgages. This is seen as a test case to determine whether the dried-up private securitization markets can be brought back to life in any meaningful way. If so, that could impact the entire mortgage market, with lending institutions becoming more free-spending for standard mortgages -- jumbos included. Or so the theory goes.

If people who can afford the more expensive homes can get financing more easily, then average home-buyers should be able to as well. Jumbo mortgages with lower rates mean more credit liquidity for everyone, and that's not peanuts.

Charles Feldman is a journalist, media consultant and co-author of the book "No Time To Think, The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle." He has written about real estate-related issues for several years.

 

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]]>jumbo mortgagesprivate mortgage securitizationCharles Feldman2010-05-05T11:00:00 00:00Virtual Property Rights: Real Estate's Ridiculous Final Frontierhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/05/03/virtual-property-rights-real-estates-ridiculous-final-frontier/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/05/03/virtual-property-rights-real-estates-ridiculous-final-frontier/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/05/03/virtual-property-rights-real-estates-ridiculous-final-frontier/#commentsFiled under: ,

It apparently isn't enough that people all across America are losing their real homes to foreclosure because their real jobs have vanished. Now, we have people going to court suing over virtual-property rights.

You heard me. They are suing over real estate that doesn't even exist except in cyberspace and, apparently, the space between their ears.

This, after the real too-big-to-fail lending institutions lost a ton of real money on poor mortgage-backed investments -- throwing the entire freaking planet into a very real Great Recession that it's still trying to really recover from. (The institutions, meanwhile, pretty much landed on their feet due to a real transfusion of real taxpayer money into their real fat-cat wallets).

And even though the property in the lawsuit is virtual, the money involved is very real.

Confused? Let's backtrack.


A lawsuit was filed recently, according to the Los Angeles Times (the real paper, I think, and not the virtual online one) in Pittsburgh (and you can't get any more real than that, folks. If you've been to Pittsburgh you know what I mean). The suit is against the real company (Linden Lab in San Francisco) that created Second Life, the virtual world that was using digital avatars long before the 3-D flick of the same name ever opened.

Real people use their avatars in this virtual world to do things like purchase virtual real estate. And therein lies the very real problem: They use real money to do so.

And now, the suit alleges, the real folks who run the real company that owns the virtual Second Life are trying to take away their rights over property that doesn't actually exist -- without giving the real investors back their real money.

Following this so far?

Now how's this for a really interesting quote: "It's a unique case," the real lawyer representing the real plaintiffs, tells the L.A. Times.

Really?

The paper, quoting from the legal papers, says Linden Lab got something like 50,000 real Second Life users to shell out something like $100 million to buy and develop the virtual property, even charging then "monthly fees that the company likened to property taxes."

Wouldn't you know it. Even in the freaking virtual world, there are real taxes!

Now, says the suit, the company has pulled a fast one by altering the contract to get rid of the entire idea of ownership, even taking back the virtual property. The Times says a company spokeswoman ( I presume a real one, but I could be mistaken) refused to comment.

OK, so I guess it is left for me to comment then.

How sick of a society have we become that, in these gloomy economic times, people are actually spending real money to buy something that is not real? And then, they are surprised that their real money vanished down a virtual sinkhole?

I'm originally from Brooklyn, where I think the reaction to all this would be, "Give me a break!" (Well, I'm leaving out one important word from the phrase that does give it a bit more juice, but you know what I mean.)

Most lawsuits, of course, never end up in court. They are settled out of court. But I hope this one makes it all the way to the Supreme Court. I'd love to be there the day the real lawyers argue before the real justices about property rights for something that doesn't even exist. I'd really love to be there!

Charles Feldman is a journalist, media consultant and co-author of the book No Time To Think-The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-Hour News Cycle. He has written about real estate-related issues for several years--but this is the first time he has written about virtual real estate.

 

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]]>avatarssecond lifevirtual property rightsCharles Feldman2010-05-03T11:30:00 00:00Remodeling Won't Help You Unload Your Crummy Homehttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/30/remodeling-wont-help-you-unload-your-crummy-home/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/30/remodeling-wont-help-you-unload-your-crummy-home/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/30/remodeling-wont-help-you-unload-your-crummy-home/#commentsFiled under: ,

What do Americans do best? Why, shop and spend lots of money fixing up our homes, of course! If a new survey is correct, we the people are about to do both during the rest of this year. That is, provided we have jobs and an income.

American Express says 62 percent of homeowners it recently surveyed intend to spend more than $6,000 each on home improvements in 2010.

That's probably because, according to the survey, 85 percent of homeowners think of their homes as their most valuable assets.

If there's an angle, perhaps it's this: A lot of home-improvers might be fixing up the old abode because they think they will be able to unload (sorry, I mean sell) it soon.
Fifty-three percent of the homeowners polled by AmEx said they believe there will be a sellers' market in just about two more years, so obviously a new door here or a new window there might make a house that much easier to unload (I know, I mean sell).

"It's clear from this month's survey findings that Americans' most-prized possessions are their homes," says Pamela Codispoti, an American Express official, on the company's website, "and they are committed to continuing to enhance its appearance and value in spite of the softer real estate market."

This is all, of course, great news for companies such as Home Depot and Lowe's.

"The gradual recovery in the broader economy should encourage more remodeling spending by homeowners," reports the Los Angeles Times. The newspaper quotes Nicolas Retsinas, director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University: "This year could produce the first annual spending increase in the industry since 2006."

So given the option, what exactly will these homeowners most like to fix around the house?

AmEx found that most want to do indoor remodeling of some sort. They want to redo a room or maybe put in new flooring.

For some reason, richer homeowners and young pros are keen on enhancing their outdoor spaces.

Two in five homeowners claim (I use the word "claim" with great care and precision) that they want to invest in green solutions when it comes to selecting materials for home improvements.

Now, let me quickly dispel one notion you may be having: No, these homeowners are not, for the most part, into doing all this themselves. In fact, says the survey, only 14 percent of homeowners say they will do it themselves. Some plan on "inviting" family or friends to help them, but more say they will just hire a pro.

Good thinking, if you ask me.

Charles Feldman is a journalist, media consultant and co-author of the book No Time To Think -- The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle. He has written about real estate-related issues for several years.

 

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]]>american expresshome improvementshome remodelingproperty enhancementsCharles Feldman2010-04-30T09:00:00 00:00Home Tax Credit: All Smoke and Mirrors?http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/27/was-home-tax-credit-all-smoke-and-mirrors/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/27/was-home-tax-credit-all-smoke-and-mirrors/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/27/was-home-tax-credit-all-smoke-and-mirrors/#commentsFiled under: ,

The conventional wisdom has it that the soon-to-expire government tax credit for home purchases was a success. After all, it drove people back into the real estate market and helped to ignite a fire under a still-nascent recovery.

But suppose the conventional wisdom is wrong? Suppose it was all really smoke and mirrors? Suppose most of the recent home buyers were going to buy a house anyway, with or without the credit; while many others weren't even old enough to buy a house, which didn't stop them (or their parents?) from claiming the government credit.
A rather disturbing New York Times article connects the dots of some previously reported material and paints a not very pretty picture of a government program that was "successful" at some levels, but overly costly and not targeted at the people who could have used help the most.

The program which wraps up at the end of this week (though home-buyers have til the end of June to close the deal to qualify for the credit) gives $8,000 to first-time buyers and $6,500 to those moving up to a new home (provided they lived in their old home at least five years).

The program to date, says the Times, quoting government and industry experts, has helped 1.8 million buy homes by allowing more than $12 billion in government tax credits.

But the Times says that for every home-buyer who was actually propelled into the market because of the credit, "at least three others" would have bought without it! That translates, says the paper, into more than $30,000 of government money for each buyer who was "truly lured into the market by the credit."

If that weren't troubling enough--and it is--how about this: "Hundreds of others who received the credit were not old enough to sign a binding contract ... with some as young as 4 years old," says the paper, citing a Treasury Department audit last year.

Some people claimed the credit who didn't even buy a house because, initially, there was no proof needed that they had actually done so!

What all this would suggest is that the end of the program should not really have much of an impact on home purchases. Those who are bent on buying will probably buy and those who are not--or can't--won't.

Charles Feldman is a journalist, media consultant and co-author of the book, "No Time To Think, The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle." He has written about real estate related issues for several years.

 

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]]>federal tax creditfirst-time buyersgovernment tax credithome tax creditCharles Feldman2010-04-27T13:30:00 00:00House Flipping in South L.A.: That's So Right!http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/26/house-flipping-in-south-l-a-its-a-good-thing/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/26/house-flipping-in-south-l-a-its-a-good-thing/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/26/house-flipping-in-south-l-a-its-a-good-thing/#commentsFiled under: ,,

Like many parts of the nation, but especially here in Southern California, the neighborhood known as South Los Angeles is pockmarked with foreclosed properties, the result of aggressive subprime lending. But unlike some other parts of town, house flipping just may save South L.A. from what would otherwise be a bleak destiny.

As the Los Angeles Times proclaims, "Flipping houses is back in South Los Angeles," citing figures from MDA DataQuick, which showed that at least three different South L.A. zip codes were among the top in Southern California for frequency of flipped homes, defined as houses resold "within three weeks to six months of purchase."

And, says the paper, the MDA statistics reveal that in the Watts section of South L.A., "1 out of every 6 homes during the final three months of 2009 was flipped." That makes Watts the de facto flip capital of all of Southern California!
Why is South L.A. so apparently attractive to real estate investors?

The Times quotes one investor as saying South L.A. is a good place to flip homes because it is a "blue-collar" area near a lot of work--factories and such. It is also fairly close to downtown Los Angeles.

Another factor appears to be something South Los Angeles does not have an oversupply of, according to the paper: overbuilding from previous years.

Only a few weeks ago, Business Week asked the question, "Is the return of house flippers a good sign?"

The conclusion, in general, was yes.

Flipping is returning, you see, not only to South Los Angeles, but to other areas that were hard hit by the subprime mortgage-caused housing market collapse. Places such as Phoenix.

According to the magazine, for 2009, the number of foreclosed homes that flipped within six months of being purchased in that city had jumped a whopping 81 percent from the previous year, based on figures computed by RealtyTrac.

Unlike during the housing bubble, when flippers gained a bad rep for their speculation and for helping drive up the price of real estate beyond any measure of reality, this time flippers are seen as people who are "stabilizing" whole areas.

In fact, even the federal government seems to now see the merits of house flipping: As of this past February, the Federal Housing Administration issued a one-year waiver of its previous anti-flipping regulation.

"We do believe investors will play an important role in today's marketplace because they tend to be more liquid than first-time home buyers," Vicki Bott, an official with the Housing & Urban Development Department in D.C., tells Business Week.

The truth is, of course, it is far too early to tell whether the return of the house flipper is a good or bad thing: As with many things in life, moderation will be the key. In moderation, house flipping probably will be a positive influence for many neighborhoods.

But real estate investors in the past few years have often proven themselves to be anything but moderates. Taken to an extreme, house flipping could just lead us right back where we started from.

Charles Feldman is a journalist, media consultant and co-author of the book, "No Time To Think, The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle." He has written about real estate related issues for several years.

 

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]]>fhaflip that househouse flippingsouth los angelesCharles Feldman2010-04-26T11:12:00 00:00Real Estate iPhone App 'Layar' vs. the Classifiedshttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/19/real-estate-iphone-app-layars-your-local-market/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/19/real-estate-iphone-app-layars-your-local-market/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/19/real-estate-iphone-app-layars-your-local-market/#commentsFiled under:


It's amazing how this technology works: Spread out before me on a single, neat page is a whole list of available nearby homes and condos, and even rental apartments. Is it on Layar, one of the latest so-called "augmented reality" mobile phone apps? Are you kidding? I'm using the L.A. Times classified section on-line.

Layar is not a real estate app but an app that brings together augmented reality apps from various vendors, such as Trulia.com, HotPads.com, and ForRent.com.

The way it works is you point your phone's camera at a particular block, for example, and select what it is you are trying to find. (A place to eat? Who happens to be Tweeting near you? And my favorite -- places that have government contracts nearby?)

The Layar app uses the visual info, combined with your phone's compass and GPS to show onscreen where to find all this stuff.

Pretty neat. When it works.
Now don't get me wrong. I'm no Luddite. Hell, I can Tweet with the best of them. But sometimes, for some things, the "old-fashioned" way still is the best. (Funny how one can now refer to the online version of a newspaper's classifieds as "old-fashioned!")

Following the advice of an Associated Press story (whose findings, I might add, pretty much matched my own short experiment), I downloaded Layar to my iPhone 3GS. (See, I told you I am no Luddite!)

Among the real estate apps available to select on Layar are ones by Trulia.com, HotPads.com and ForRent.com, according to the AP. (I say "according to the AP," because I was unable to locate all of them when I tried searching for and then selecting apps connected to real estate.)

When I went around my Los Angeles neighborhood, though -- where foreclosures and an ever-shifting population base make for plenty of churn in the housing sales and rental markets -- what did my "augmented reality" mobile phone app reveal?

Nothing.

I mean, not even in my own building where several condos have been for sale for many months.

I know what you're thinking! The schmuck just doesn't know how to use the damn thing!

Nope. This schmuck, thank you, was able to use Layar to find all sorts of other cool stuff that had nothing to do with real estate--including about a dozen people Tweeting away their lives in real time.

No. There was something about the real estate apps in particular that just did not seem to work the way they are supposed to.

Maybe Larry Fisher is right. He's research director for NextGen, a tech-trend tracking firm, who is quoted in that AP story as saying that the augmented reality technology is just not ready for commercial prime-time, even though it has been used by the military for years. "It can be useful, but ... it's really limited at this point," he said. "It's going to take a couple of years to develop."

Of course, if you happen to be looking for a house or apartment---like right now!---waiting "a couple of years" for the high-tech stuff is out of the question.

Which brings me back to the L.A.Times real-estate classifieds. I didn't know that I could lease, for only $1,600 a month in nearby Westwood (UCLA territory), a one-bedroom apartment with a large patio, wet bar and fireplace. But now I do.

Postscript: Never wanting to be defeated, I decided to give it the old college try. While I was still unable to get results from Trulia's augmented reality function in and around my neighborhood, I was finally able to get ForRent.com on Layar. And I did manage to have it "reveal" to me many little dots that meant nearby units for rent. The nearby units were often miles away though.

It was like a bad video game. Almost too much visual information on a small iPhone screen and, as I moved about, I found my AT&T 3G connection cutting out often enough that it rendered the app fairly useless.

I'll stick with the newspaper on this one ... for now, anyway.

Charles Feldman is a journalist, media consultant and co-author of the book, "No Time To Think -- The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle." He has written about real estate-related issues for several years.

 

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]]>augmented reality appsiphonemobile real estate appsCharles Feldman2010-04-19T17:30:00 00:00Larry King Wants His Real Estate Back in Divorcehttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/15/real-estate-fails-to-keep-larry-kings-marriage-together/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/15/real-estate-fails-to-keep-larry-kings-marriage-together/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/15/real-estate-fails-to-keep-larry-kings-marriage-together/#commentsFiled under:

Often when couples split a big point of contention is -- who gets the house? In the case of CNN talk show host Larry King, he apparently used real estate in a desperate attempt to save his faltering marriage to wife number seven.

According to TMZ, King actually transferred all his prime real estate -- including a Beverly Hills mansion and properties in Utah -- to Shawn Southwick two years ago in an effort to prove that he was committed to the union and not having an affair.

Now, according to the gossip Web site, King wants to try and void the agreement as the couple moves toward divorce ... his eighth! (The affair by the way? According to TMZ, it involved Shaun's younger sister, a charge she denies).



The 76-year-old King and the 50-year-old Southwick have been married since 1997 and have two children together.

By way of full disclosure because of my years having worked at CNN in both New York and Los Angeles: I know Larry and soon to be ex-wife number seven --- he better than she. Always thought them a good couple.

But Larry always did have a reputation around the newsroom as, shall we say, a "ladies man." And while I truly believe the pair were indeed in love, I must admit it doesn't surprise me that he is now being accused of having an affair.

I also know how much he loves his Beverly Hills home ... so, if he really did sign over the property to her to prove his loyalty, it was certainly not an empty gesture.

It would also not surprise me if Larry soon gets married --- again! Maybe the best way to find out is to keep a close eye on the real estate columns rather than the gossip ones.

Oh, and now it seems the couple is fighting over the properties, which include the Beverly Hills mansion, a house in Provo, Utah, and a house in St. George, Utah, according to the latest from TMZ.

Maybe they're a conventional couple after all.

Charles Feldman is a journalist, media consultant and co-author of the book, "No Time To Think -- The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle." He has written about real estate related issues for several years ... and has had lunch with Larry on many occasions ... but then, who hasn't?

 

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]]>cnnlarry kingreal estate divorceShannon EngemannShawn SouthwicktmzCharles Feldman2010-04-15T10:29:00 00:00New Foreclosure Risk: Big, Bad Raccoonshttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/14/new-foreclosure-risk-big-bad-racoons/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/14/new-foreclosure-risk-big-bad-racoons/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/14/new-foreclosure-risk-big-bad-racoons/#commentsFiled under: ,

Foreclosures can devastate entire neighborhoods. In addition to leaving people homeless, foreclosed houses that sit empty often fall into disrepair, posing safety risks, lowering property vales and decreasing a community's tax revenues. Now, add a new problem to the list: giant raccoons.

In Chicago, where there have been some 6,000 foreclosure filings since the start of the year alone, hard hit neighborhoods have been overrun by "raccoons as big as orangutans and bolder than ever before," as the the Chicago Sun-Times put it.

The masked marauders (along with occasional squatters of the human variety) move in when their former human occupants move out, and set about terrorizing the neighborhood.

For Wilma Ward, a Chicago resident whose home was invaded by one of the giant critters, it was far from an amusing matter. More like a Stephen King novel.

"I looked down the hallway and I saw a set of eyes...." she told the Sun-Times.

Ward, who lives near two abandoned buildings, told the Sun-Times (and the Chicago City Council's Health Committee) that the robust raccoon managed to claw through the screen on her kitchen window and squeeze its huge body through some window bars. She barricaded herself upstairs for the night until she was sure the nocturnal creature was gone.

The invader was apparently after Ward's dry macaroni. (No wonder why the raccoon's are getting fat--who knew they liked Italian?)

According to Chicago's CBS TV station, one Alderman is demanding a "crackdown" on raccoons, especially in areas of the city overrun by foreclosed properties--and, therefore, empty human nests.

The office of Alderman Bob Fioretti is calling the raccoon invasion a "huge problem" and not just because the nocturnal critters are moving into the vacant homes in droves. Once inside, they are apparently treating the foreclosed homes as sex pads where they are mating up a storm and producing legions of little raccoons.

Even before the housing bubble burst, leading to all the distressed properties, raccoons were a problem in Chicago. As far back as 2003 most of the more than 65,000 service calls made in the city by animal control experts involved raccoons, according to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, as quoted by the TV station.

Apparently there's not much that can be done about the problem since raccoons are protected animals. If they are in someone's home in Chicago, they can be trapped and removed. But outside they are considered wild animals and off-limits.

Well, that doesn't go over well with one Chicago resident, who railed to CBS: "Citizens pay taxes. Raccoons don't pay taxes. We have to live there, they don't have to live there."

One good thing: Of all the raccoons tested for rabies, none has tested positive.

Pretty hard anyway to bust raccoons. They all wear masks making positive identification nearly impossible!

Charles Feldman is a journalist, media consultant and co-author of the book, "No Time To Think-The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle." He has written about real estate related issues for several years.

 

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]]>blightchicago foreclosureschicago raccoon invasionforeclosureCharles Feldman2010-04-14T11:35:00 00:00The HELOC Bust: Next Problem for Big Banks?http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/13/the-heloc-bust-next-problem-for-big-banks/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/13/the-heloc-bust-next-problem-for-big-banks/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/13/the-heloc-bust-next-problem-for-big-banks/#commentsFiled under: ,

Say it ain't so. If a prediction from a leading research firm turns out to be accurate, three of the country's biggest banks are poised for colossal losses of up to $30 billion -- this time because of their exposure to home-equity loans.

The research firm, CreditSights Inc., says that Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase -- the three biggest U.S. consumer banks -- are particularly vulnerable to "changes in the consumer cycle," reports Britain's Telegraph. And HELOCs, as the home-equity loans are known, are shaping up to be the next problem area in housing.

In the last quarter of 2009, late payments on home-equity loans hit record highs, according to the American Bankers Association. The loans, typically taken out on top of a primary mortgage, are a source of dispute among lenders and those who advocate reducing mortgage principal to stem foreclosures -- and the subject of a Congressional hearing being held today. Second loan holders are forced to take a loss when the first mortgage loan is modified, which they are loathe to do.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, says Bloomberg, told investors in the bank's annual report in February that quarterly writedowns in home-equity lending "could reach $1.4 billion" this year. But CreditSights believes the HELOC problem could be so bad that the three banks could see their 2010 profits -- estimated at $30 billion -- completely wiped out, the Telegraph reported.

CreditSights, by the way, reputedly predicted the housing downturn back in 2006, so people are taking notice of its latest warning.

In an interview with Bloomberg, CreditSights' senior bank analyst Baylor Lancaster said: "While a lot of people are looking for dramatic improvement in the short term, one area that still has to be worked through in a material way is home equity." The writedowns from HELOCs are not likely to show up in earnings reports until later this year, Lancaster said.

Together with Citigroup the banks hold about 42 percent of the $1.1 trillion in second-home liens. Unlike first mortgages, they are typically not bundled and sold off to investors but kept on the banks' books. The biggest home-equity lender in the U.S. is Bank of America, holding some $138 billion in such loans. Wells Fargo has about $123.8 billion of home-equity loans.


Charles Feldman is a journalist, media consultant and co-author of the book, "No Time To Think-The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour New Cycle." He has written about real estate related issues for several years.

 

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]]>bank of americacreditsightsHELOChome equity loansmortgage modificationsecond lien mortgagesCharles Feldman2010-04-13T12:59:00 00:00Detroit's Donald Trump Is Buying Up Small Lots Across the Cityhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/12/detroits-donald-trump-is-buying-up-small-lots-across-the-city/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/12/detroits-donald-trump-is-buying-up-small-lots-across-the-city/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/12/detroits-donald-trump-is-buying-up-small-lots-across-the-city/#commentsFiled under: ,

It's good to have cash and a shrewd ability to spot a deal in a downturn. Just ask Manuel Moroun, a businessman who has become the Detroit area's biggest private landowner. Moroun owns an estimated 600-plus parcels of real estate scattered across Michigan's Wayne County, which includes the city of Detroit -- much of which he snapped up at bargain basement prices.

His name is not as well known as Donald Trump, but Manuel "Matty" Moroun is clearly a landed force to be reckoned with in his home state.

Since 2006, Moroun has purchased roughly 200 properties according to the Detroit Free Press, many of them at the yearly county auction of tax-foreclosed properties. Moroun buys in bulk, often paying just the minimum bid of $500 a parcel. Most of the purchases are small residential lots, around 30 by 100 feet, or vacant lots, often in blighted areas.

So who is this dude and how come he doesn't have his own TV show like that other real estate mogul?


Moroun actually could not be more different. The reclusive 82-year old Arab-American businessman recently ranked 321 on Forbes' list of wealthiest Americans. But unlike Trump whose real estate dad, Fred, handed the young Donald his empire on a silver platter, Moroun grew up poor in Detroit, according to Forbes, where he pumped gas as a teen.

He wanted to be a doctor, he told Corp! Magazine last year in a rare interview, but was not able to get into med school. So he ended up working for his dad's trucking company, which set him on the road to being a man who knows a thing or two -- or 600 -- about real estate investments.

Oh, and he knows something about bridges too. He happens to own the Ambassador Bridge, over which one-fourth of all commerce between the United States and Canada flows. It is one of the few privately owned border points in the country.

According to the Detroit Free Press article, "no private owner appears to own anywhere near the number of parcels (of real estate) as Moroun" -- although others may own larger total acreage than he does.

So what does he plan to do with all of those little lots? Moroun is a controversial figure in his home state, but he's not just looking to make a quick buck on his property. Instead, he told the Free Press, he hopes his accumulation of real estate can eventually be put to productive use and contribute to Detroit's revitalization.

No doubt many residents hope that is the case.

Charles Feldman is a journalist, media consultant and co-author of the book, "No Time To Think-The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle." He has written about real estate related issues for several years.

 

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]]>Ambassador BridgeDetroit largest landownerDetroit real estateDetroit revitalizationmanuel morounMatty MorounCharles Feldman2010-04-12T13:00:00 00:00Apartment Rentals Are Cheap, and Getting Cheaper, In SoCalhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/09/apartment-rentals-are-cheap-and-getting-cheaper-in-socal/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/09/apartment-rentals-are-cheap-and-getting-cheaper-in-socal/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/09/apartment-rentals-are-cheap-and-getting-cheaper-in-socal/#commentsFiled under:

Attention bargain hunters: It's a great time to move to Southern California. Sure, the weather's great this time of year - but then, it always is. An even better reason is that apartment rents are falling fast. In the coming year, rents are expected to decline by as much as 3.5 percent in Los Angeles County and 2.4 percent in Orange County, according to a new study by the Casden Real Estate Economics Forecast. That's on top of declines for the previous year.

In case you're wondering (sure you are), the average monthly rent in L.A. County fell to $1,488 by the end of last year, says the LA Times, a decline of almost 6 percent from the previous year.

In comparison, the average rent in Manhattan edged up in the first quarter of 2010, to $3,812, according to Prudential Douglas Elliman and appraisal firm Miller Samuel Inc. (And that's without even a palm tree view!)
It's pretty easy to figure out why this is happening: During the housing bubble, lots of buildings were built. Now, with foreclosures and a county and state unemployment rate way above the national average, there are lots of buildings--and apartment units--that remain empty.

In a news release on the USC Lusk Center Casden website, Tracey Seslen, co-author of the report, says, "Overall, Southern California will not see sustained increases in rents until the greater economic health of the region improves, but renters in San Diego may experience the kind of slight increase that comes when jobs return and housing is still too costly for renters to become buyers." San Diego County, says the report, is the only market in Southern California expected to see slight rent increases in 2010 averaging 0.7 percent. Rents stayed flat in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties.

"It is a way more competitive marketplace now," the owner of one historic West Hollywood apartment building tells the Los Angeles Times. "Before, at the high end you could still rent an apartment quickly" said the owner, Mark Howell.

Maybe he should move to New York?


Charles Feldman is a journalist, media consultant and co-author of the book, "No Time To Think-The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle." He has written about real estate related issues for several years.

 

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]]>los angelesLusk Centerorange countySan Diegosouthern california rentalsouthern california rental marketCharles Feldman2010-04-09T10:00:00 00:00Cambodia Opens Real Estate Market To Foreignershttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/07/cambodia-opens-real-estate-market-to-foreigners/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/07/cambodia-opens-real-estate-market-to-foreigners/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/07/cambodia-opens-real-estate-market-to-foreigners/#commentsFiled under: ,

Have you been hankering to buy real estate in Cambodia? OK, maybe not. But you may want to give it some thought now that a new law allows foreigners for the first time to purchase real estate in the impoverished Southeast Asian country.

Those in the know already know that some investors have long gotten around the prohibition. But do you really want to do something blatantly illegal in a place such as Cambodia? Well, now you won't have to.

The new law has passed the lower house of the Cambodian parliament. It still needs approval from the Senate there and the King, but that's considered nothing more than a technicality by the 'in the know' crowd.

There is just one small caveat you should be aware of, however, if you are thinking of buying into the Cambodian dream.

Under the new law, foreigners, says the Associated Press, will only be able to buy property at least one floor above the land. In other words, you can own the building sitting atop the land, but you can't own the land itself!

Agence France-Presse quotes Cambodia's land management minister as saying the new law would "boost the kingdom's real estate market and bring in more foreign investment."

The Xinhua News Agency quotes the minister as saying the new law will now permit foreigners to own apartments and condos above the ground, or from the first floor up. So, who owns the underground parking garage, is what I want to know?? Then again, maybe that's an LA thing. You could always take a rickshaw.

Charles Feldman is a journalist, media consultant and co-author of the book, "No Time To Think, The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle." He has written about real estate related issues for several years.

 

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]]>cambodiacambodian real estateforeign ownership cambodian real estateCharles Feldman2010-04-07T14:00:00 00:00Apple iPad Real Estate Apps Are Here!http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/05/apple-ipad-real-estate-apps-are-here/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/05/apple-ipad-real-estate-apps-are-here/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/05/apple-ipad-real-estate-apps-are-here/#commentsFiled under:

They're here!!!! Yes, Apple's new iPad has finally arrived, but I'm talking about the real estate apps for the iPad that are already available from Zillow, ZipRealty and others. While pundits debate the merits of the latest mobile marvel from Apple, one thing is clear: the iPad's big touch screen is perfectly suited for real estate apps.

Zillow.com was among the first real estate apps for the iPad ready to download free from the iTunes store. According to a description of it on sfgate.com, the app, specially designed for the iPad, lets users "search and browse cities and neighborhoods on a large touch-screen map; window shop the neighborhood viewing multiple homes side-by side; flick through preview photos of one home versus another and drag and drop homes into a personal favorites section."

What more could a home shopper possibly want?

Apparently, more.

Which is why ZipRealty has also entered the iPad arena---it's product, says the San Francisco Chronicle, will let you look at both listed and recently sold homes in something like 4,000 cities and neighborhoods.

These real estate apps are among the first wave of apps for the iPad, which reportedly sold 300,000 it's first day (less than some initial reports which put sales at more than twice that). Apple's online store boasts "over a thousand apps made just for iPad" and more on the way. And developers are falling all over themselves in their efforts to praise Apple and stand out among the crowd.
"We jumped at the chance to create the Zillow on iPad App because we saw this as a unique opportunity to create a brand new, photo-driven home shopping experience on the most incredible Apple device yet," says Zillow chairman and CEO, Rich Barton, In a news release. "Our app for iPad has the potential to radically change the way people search and comparison shop for real estate and we're excited to be on the App Store for iPad from day one."

If nothing else, Mr. Barton wins the Apple brown-nosing award of the week. But does he have something there about Zillow's app having the potential to radically change the way people search and comparison shop for real estate?

Well, according to the news release, one cool feature of the iPad app is that home shoppers can set custom filters to "refine searches by price, size or type and share homes of interest via email or Facebook." And, it goes on, if you find yourself interested in a particular house, you will be able to email the agent, owner or landlord "right from the app."

OK, that sounds pretty cool.

Moving back to ZipRealty, its President and CEO, Patrick Lashinsky, is quoted by money.cnn.com as saying of its new iPad real estate app, "The initial iPad version of our popular mobile application takes advantage of the device's sharp visuals and touchscreen technology to present home listings and property details in a format that we think users will love."

Mr. Lashinsky's quote, while enthusiastic, seems downright subdued compared to Mr. Barton's embrace of the iPad as the "most incredible Apple device yet."

As Apple noted, more real estate apps for iPad are on the way. Most will probably be simple, slight variations of existing apps. So, keep your eye on those CEO quotes for signs of true innovation! Or better yet, give them a test run yourself.

Charles Feldman is a journalist, media consultant and co-author of the book, "No Time To Think-The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle." He has written about real estate related issues for several years.

 

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]]>apple iPadipad appsreal estate appszillow.comziprealtyCharles Feldman2010-04-05T10:35:00 00:00Manhattan Apartment Sales Surgehttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/02/manhattan-apartment-sales-surge/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/02/manhattan-apartment-sales-surge/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/02/manhattan-apartment-sales-surge/#commentsFiled under:

It always helped to have lots of money to buy Manhattan real estate, perhaps now more than ever. Residential real estate sales skyrocketed in the first quarter of 2010 -- there were 2,384 transactions in the first three months of 201o, double the number for the first quarter of 2009, according to a report by Prudential Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel.

What's more, prices have rebounded as well. Half of the units sold were priced at $868,000 or more -- a 7 percent jump from the previous quarter and not far off median selling prices during the boom years.

But don't jump to the wrong conclusion. This is not about some amazing recovery of the housing market in the country -- although the National Association of Realtors does report a February jump in high-end home sales nationwide. No, this glowing report has more to say about the unique character of the New York market.

A big reason for the dramatic increase in Manhattan apartment sales is an equally dramatic decrease in Manhattan apartment prices. Even at a median price of almost $900,000, prices are off by almost 30 percent since their peak, and 11 percent from 2009.

Compare that to the national median home price -- which ranges, depending upon location, from a low of about $139,000 to a high of about $245,000 -- and you see we're not talking about a typical market.

New York has always been viewed as a unique market, an island of coveted real estate that people are willing to pay dearly for. With Wall Street and hedge funds roaring back, and foreign buyers with pocketfuls of strong currency, there are plenty of buyers for these million and multi-million dollar properties.

And these folks know a bargain when they see one -- the code name real estate agents use for this class of buyer is "sophisticated."

"Buyers out there who are sophisticated are bypassing the product that is significantly overpriced," Jonathan Miller, president of appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. tells Bloomberg.

A different report by Brown Harris Stevens, says the Associated Press, shows sales of condos and co-ops increased 92 percent compared to the first quarter of 2009.

Unlike in other parts of the nation, sellers in Manhattan are apparently pretty much getting what they are asking for, says the AP.
"Manhattan sellers," says the wire service, "received 96 percent of their last asking prices during the first quarter."


Charles Feldman is a journalist, media consultant and co-author of the book, "No Time To Think-The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle." He has written about real estate related issues for several years.

 

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]]>home prices down in Manhattanmanhattan real estateMiller SamuelNew York apartment salesreal estate bargainsCharles Feldman2010-04-02T12:30:00 00:00Tampa Homes Get Doggy Treatmenthttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/01/tampa-homes-get-doggy-treatment/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/01/tampa-homes-get-doggy-treatment/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/04/01/tampa-homes-get-doggy-treatment/#commentsFiled under: ,

When the housing market finally improves in this country, is a lot more poo in the streets all we really have to look forward to?

That particular reward came along with a booming housing market in downtown Tampa, Florida. Buyers have snatched up condos and rental units in recent months, after prices were pummeled by the housing market collapse. The area's population has zipped from almost zero to some 3,000 residents, Paul Ayres, the director of marketing for the Tampa Downtown Partnership, tells a local website.


It turns out that a lot of these new downtown residents have brought their pets with them -- along with a pretty inconsiderate attitude toward their new neighbors. Now, Tampa is grappling with a virtual explosion of dog poo.

It's a nuisance for residents who must dodge errant dog poo like landmines. But it's also a health issue, since the feces can end up being washed down storm sewers and into water systems without being treated, as a recent Tampa Tribune article points out.

To combat the problem, new Pooch Stations -- plastic bag dispensers and bins where pet owners can dispose of the package -- are being set up in downtown Tampa. Postcards are also being handed out to remind folks to pick up after their animals. "When your pet has finished its business, do yours by cleaning it up! It's the law!" scold the cards.

Of course, there are fines of $150 for not cleaning up after your pet, but they are rarely enforced.

In some cases, downtown property managers have started issuing fines to to tenants in the their buildings who refuse to pick up their dog's droppings, according to the Tampa Tribune.

Lynda Remund, director of district operations at the Tampa Downtown Partnership, told the paper, "We've have guides who have witnessed this happening and told the owner to clean it up, only to be told that, 'It's your job to clean it up!'"

"Well," replies Remund, "guess what? It's not!"

Somehow, as the nation struggles to heal its housing market, I find it difficult to think that the folks at Treasury or FHA or the too-big-to-fail banks are giving much thought to the potential poo problem that has arisen in downtown Tampa. Maybe they should. Who better than our government officials and esteemed CEOs to deal with poo?

Charles Feldman is a journalist, media consultant and co-author of the book, "No Time To Think-The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle." He has written about real -estate related issues for several years. This is his very first post about poo!

 

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]]>downtown revitalizationdowntown Tampa housing marketFloridapick up after your dogpooch stationsTampaCharles Feldman2010-04-01T12:15:00 00:00