Monthly Archives: January 2011

WASHINGTON, D.C. - January 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- A joint study by the 50+ Housing Council of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the MetLife Mature Market Institute shows the recession has made 55+ buyers more practical when selecting a new home. Design considerations have become less important, and financial concerns have become more prominent.Previous studies from these two organizations found that most 55+ buyers depended on home sale proceeds to finance a new purchase. The most recent data shows that option diminished during the economic downturn.

EUGENE, OR - January 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Grand Rapids, Michigan Realtor Ryan Ogle has chosen to upgrade the search capabilities of his professional website with the IDX, Inc. dynamic IDX Broker software. Now, finding homes around Grand Rapids is possible, with a simple search on the website Ogle supports. Grand Rapids MLS (GRAR) listings are even seamlessly integrated onto the search page Ogle hosts, thanks to the innovative technology of his custom IDX solution

WASHINGTON, DC - January 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development today awarded nearly $127 million in grants to 48 local projects to conduct a wide range of activities intended to protect children and families from potentially dangerous lead-based paint and other home health and safety hazards (see chart below)

EUGENE, OR - January 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, IDX, Inc. welcomes Claudia Pascal of Treasure Coast Sotheby International Realty. As a leading force in the Vero Beach, Florida real estate market, Pascal should support a professional website that reflects the integrity her business has, and now she does, with her IDX enabled real estate website. Tools and features IDX Broker syncs with her website make it simpler for home seekers to explore Indian River MLS (IRMLS) listings conveniently on her search page. These dynamic and detailed property listings makes it easier than ever before to find the perfect Vero Beach home online

Orlando, FL - January 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- With the current state of the national economy, consumers are looking for ways to reduce costs wherever they can – operation of their homes is certainly no exception. In direct response to their customers' needs, and their own desire to "do the right thing," many home builders and remodelers have taken strides to incorporate features that make homes more energy efficient, comfortable, cost-effective to operate and maintain, and generally more friendly to the natural environment. Tuesday night, at a dinner celebration just prior to the start of the 2011 International Builders' Show, an elite group of these conscientious residential professionals received EnergyValue Housing Awards (EVHA) for new and existing homes

DENVER, CO - January 13, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Kentwood City Properties, one of three strategically-located offices that comprise Kentwood Real Estate, has recorded its highest historic residential real estate sales volume since the office was formed in 1999. The office and its leading real estate professionals posted total sales volume of nearly $340 million for 2010, approximately $35 million more that its previous high sales volume.

Santa Fe, NM - January 13, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Canyon Gate Real Estate Services, an Associa company, is pleased to announce the addition of Onate Place to its client portfolio.

January 13, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Gloria Nilson, REALTORS®, Real Living® announced today that their Holmdel office achieved a 100% Customer Satisfaction Rating in 2010, as measured by an independent research company. In the real estate industry, which is driven by repeat business and referrals, customer service is the highest priority. The seasoned sales professionals in this office consistently provide Premier Service® to home buyers and sellers in their market area.

RANKFORT, KY - January 13, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The State Property and Buildings Commission (SPBC) will hold a meeting on Friday, Jan. 14, 2011 at 2 p.m. in Room 182 of the Capitol Annex, Frankfort, Kentucky.AGENDA

BOSTON, MA - January 13, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- As the Patrick-Murray Administration's Division of Banks puts into place new rules regarding right-to-cure foreclosure notices and reverse mortgages, public informational hearings will be held to gather input on the regulations in late January.The upcoming regulations on the right-to-cure notices and reverse mortgages are part of legislation signed by Governor Deval Patrick in August 2010 as part of the Patrick-Murray Administration's response to the foreclosure crisis in Massachusetts.

January 13, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) is pleased to announce two (2) Application Overview Sessions for the 2011 Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Program have been scheduled for:

West Hartford, CT - January 13, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) Jan 20, Feb 2, and Feb 9 - 6:00 to 9:00 PM Comfort Inn. 900 East Main Street, Meriden, CT $140 for CT REIA members | $180 for Not-yet-members Tuition includes a 81 page real estate investment course manual

Cincinnati, OH - January 13, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- With the help of a brand new network of empowered real estate brokers and agents, home buyers can now receive a sizeable part of the real estate broker commission similar to the side deals relocation companies have been receiving for years. Real estate brokers have long shared commissions with relo companies and out-of-state brokers that refer home buyers to their office. Now, select brokers in the EmpoweredBuyer.com network are extending the commission-sharing to a new breed of knowledgeable home buyers.

New York, NY - January 13, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Rose Associates, Inc. announced today that The Mount Sinai Medical Center’s Real Estate Division has named the firm exclusive managing agent of its residential staff housing portfolio. Rose will manage 25 apartment buildings for Mount Sinai, a portfolio comprised of more than 1,700 apartments and a total of 2 million square feet of space on the Upper East Side of Manhattan

BUFFALO, NY - January 13, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Jones Lang LaSalle today announced it has closed the sale of the landmark corporate headquarters of HealthNow New York, Inc, the parent company of BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York for Duke Realty. Cole Real Estate Investments purchased the 430,458-square-foot, Class A office building located in Buffalo, New York. HealthNow will continue to lease the newly constructed LEED Silver Class A property through July 2024

Torrance, CA - January 13, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Lee & Associates, one of the largest national commercial real estate providers with regional expertise, has closed a $6.25 million sales transaction for a 70,377-square-foot mixed-use business park and 4.59 acres of adjacent vacant land located at 1020 to 1050 Nevada Street in Redlands, Calif.

New York, N.Y. – January 13, 2011 – BRP Companies today announced that Greene-Ville Gardens, an organic grocery store is now open on the ground floor of The Clermont, a high-end residential rental development located at 150 Clermont Avenue in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Carousel Children’s Center, a daycare center, is also set to open soon.

CHICAGO, IL - January 13, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® (LeadingRE), the world's largest network of leading independent real estate brokers, continued to expand in 2010, with over 50 new offices and 2,300 sales associates added during the year. A strong pipeline of new member candidates ensures additional growth in early 2011.

CHICAGO, IL - January 13, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® has selected reOneSpot™ as a preferred partner to provide its network of 600 brokerage firms worldwide a low-cost, intelligent, web-based enterprise solution that securely enables collaboration and sharing of activities, documents, feedback and communications between brokers, agents and their clients in one easy-to-use integrated location. This all-in-one solution platform helps real estate brokers and associates improve efficiency and productivity with tools that enhance and streamline the regular, day-to-day activities involved in today’s business of real estate.

McLean, VA - January 13, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®). The survey results showed lower mortgage rates for both long- and short-term rates, with the 30-year reaching a four-week low

EUGENE, OR - January 13, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Real estate agent Madonna Hartley has adopted the IDX, Inc. dynamic IDX Broker software. With the tools her IDX solution supplies her with, Hartley can sync thousands of RealTracs MLS (RTMLS) listings instantly on her website. By extracting raw listing data from RTMLS and seamlessly integrating it onto her website, Nashville, Tennessee potential home buyers can experience the most thorough and complete online property search around

Torrance, CA - January 13, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Charlotte-based Mountain Real Estate Capital (MREC) advanced its bank NPL/REO acquisition program by closing four transactions on Dec. 30, 2010, bringing its total 2010 residential land acquisitions to more than 12,000 acres and over 7,500 home sites nationally. Notes and equity purchases were closed with over 20 different selling banks, amounting to an unpaid principal balance in excess of $600 million. With these latest acquisitions, MREC now owns and manages more than 200 projects with over 10,000 lots and 7,400 acres of land across the U.S

WASHINGTON, DC - January 13, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The American Bankers Association sent a letter today to the heads of the eight regulatory agencies involved in writing new rules on risk retention for mortgage loans as required by the Dodd/Frank Act. ABA supports a broad safe harbor, known as the Qualified Residential Mortgage or QRM, which would not be subject to risk retention requirements.ABA said imposing too broad a risk retention requirement is likely to cause lenders to leave the marketplace, reduce the amount of credit available to eligible borrowers, and harm the fragile economic recovery.

New York, NY - January 12, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that CHEDDI GOBERDHAN, a real estate attorney, pled guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge SHIRA A. SCHEINDLIN in Manhattan federal court to a seven-count Indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, and six counts of bank fraud, in connection with a scheme that defrauded banks out of more than $23 million in home mortgage loans. GOBERDHAN made hundreds of thousands of dollars in illicit profits from the scheme, in which he worked closely with corrupt loan officers of GuyAmerican Funding, a mortgage brokerage firm in Queens, New York. GOBERDAN is the ninth defendant convicted of participating in this mortgage fraud scheme

New Orleans, LA - January 12, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- A panel of distinguished national real estate experts from the Consulting Corps of The Counselors of Real Estate (CRE) will be working with the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) this week to map strategy for 37 properties in the school board’s portfolio

WASHINGTON, D.C. - January 12, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall and Senators Jay Rockefeller and Joe Manchin (all D-W.Va.), announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today released $2,922,000 in funds previously earmarked by the late-Senator Robert C. Byrd for the Pocahontas County Commission to construct a multi-purpose community center in Marlinton.

WASHINGTON, DC - January 12, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Senator Chuck Grassley has asked 20 law firms in Philadelphia for information about their billing of the Philadelphia Public Housing Authority as part of a larger review of how the housing authority has misused federal tax dollars. Grassley said he is going directly to the firms for information about the amount billed and the kind of work performed because the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which awards federal funds to local housing authorities, has told him it doesn’t maintain records about such legal payments and, in the case of the Philadelphia Public Housing Authority, news organizations have reported how the housing authority structured settlements in at least four sexual harassment cases and one case where the failure to inspect a building before demolition resulted in the death of a resident.

Tampa, FL - January 12, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- In recognition of the bicentennial of the 1811-1812 New Madrid Earthquakes, the Central U.S. Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) are teaming with state and local partners to bring residents and organizations in the affected region an educational campaign to help reduce their earthquake risk.

West Hartford, CT - January 12, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- CT REIA and Cameron Dunlap presents: Flip Foreclosures With Proof Of Funds & Transactional Funding

Tucson, AZ - January 12, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage is pleased to announce Greg Hollman, branch manager of the Foothills office and regional vice president of Southern Arizona, has been appointed 2011 president of Tucson’s Multiple Listing Service (MLS)