Realtor.com rolls out iPad app

Property search site Realtor.com has launched a mobile application for the Apple iPad, site operator Move Inc. announced today.

Also today, the company announced the newest update to its iPhone app, which makes the iPad and iPhone apps more similar in appearance.  

Realtor.com stepped into the mobile space in January 2010 with the launch of its iPhone app. Ten months later, the site released apps for the Android and Windows 7 operating systems. Combined, the apps have been downloaded 3.6 million times, the company said. Active users jumped 79 percent from December through March.

The rise of mobile is changing the home shopping experience for consumers and agents, said Move CEO Steve Berkowitz.

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Square Feet: Projects Shelved in the Downturn Spring Back to Life

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Square Feet: Government, Too, Has Trouble Selling Buildings

But the federal government did not put the building on the market until November 2009. By then, of course, the real estate market had slumped. Akridge and its partner, Rockwood Capital, a real estate investment fund in White Plains, finally bought the building last October, paying $12.5 million, less than the $14 million asking price.

In a report last October Republicans in Congress pounced on the long delay in selling the Bethesda building — and the discounted price — as an example of how the federal government has been mismanaging its real estate holdings.

The government owns or manages more than 900,000 buildings or other structures across the country — office buildings, courthouses, warehouses and other property types — making it the nation’s largest landlord. But like the former N.I.H. building, about 14,000 are no longer needed and are costly to maintain. An additional 55,000 are regarded as underutilized.

The report was also harshly critical of government spending to operate surplus and underused buildings, including $6.5 million for the Old Post Office Building at 12th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington. The administration’s own figures estimate the annual operating expenses for those buildings at more than $1.8 billion.

Last June President Obama ordered executive agencies to accelerate efforts to dispose of unneeded buildings, and set a goal of saving $3 billion by the end of 2012. Yet various obstacles make it difficult for the government to unload buildings it no longer wants.

For one thing they must first be offered to other federal, state and local agencies. Officials also have to ascertain if the building has a community use — say, for a homeless shelter.

At times an agency may want to sell an obsolete building but cannot afford the moving costs, Jeffrey D. Zeints, a deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, said in a telephone interview. Then, too, political considerations may come into play. “Politicians love to come hold a ribbon-cutting for a new building,” Mr. Zeints said. “Getting rid of a building is less rewarding.”

The Obama administration has determined that if the barriers to selling were removed, he said, the savings could be much higher — $15 billion over five years. The sum includes the dollars not spent on maintenance and energy costs as well as sale proceeds.

To speed up the disposal process the administration wants to create an independent commission modeled after the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, or BRAC, a process begun in 1988 to review Defense Department recommendations for closing military bases. The proposed commission, the Civilian Property Realignment Board, would be able to cut through much of the existing red tape, establish new procedures and come up with recommendations for selling property in bulk, Mr. Zeints said.

The commission would also recommend ways the government could use its space more efficiently by, for example, consolidating space or getting agencies to move into one building.

In addition, the legislation is expected to provide incentives for federal agencies by allowing them to share in the proceeds from any sales. To reduce political influence, the commission’s recommendations would be submitted to Congress as a package and not subject to amendment — similar to the way the base closure recommendations were handled. Daniel Werfel, the controller for the Office of Management and Budget, said the commission would include people with experience in commercial real estate, government operations and community development.

The commission concept has bipartisan support, said Jeff Denham, Republican of California and the chairman of the House subcommittee on public buildings. “The goal in the short term is to sell as many buildings as possible to generate some immediate cash flow to help with the debt crisis,” said Mr. Denham, who backed a similar proposal when he was a state legislator. The longer-term goal is to improve the way the federal government handles its real estate needs, he said.

Some real estate experts wondered if a board was necessary. “Whenever government is faced with a problem, the first thing they do is appoint a commission,” said Nicholas R. Smith, an executive vice president at First Potomac Realty Trust, a publicly traded company that leases more than 700,000 square feet to the government. Mr. Smith said the process for selling federal property should simply be made less complex.

Jeffrey D. DeBoer, the chief executive of the Real Estate Roundtable, a Washington trade group that represents industry leaders, described the proposed board as a “positive idea.” But he urged the government to restrict its sales efforts for now to stronger markets with relatively low office vacancy rates, like Manhattan, the Back Bay area of Boston, Washington, San Francisco and the West Side of Los Angeles.

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Square Feet: Rebuilding Downtown From the Ground Up

The city has approved plans to raze most of its 50-acre center and replace it with $289 million in new infrastructure and $1.3 billion of new private housing, retail, offices, entertainment, hotels and parking. The private builder, Street-Works Development of White Plains, will pay for the public improvements upfront.

Once Street-Works installs the utilities, roadways, parking and landscaping; builds a number of new buildings and leases 50 to 75 percent of the space, the city will assume responsibility for the infrastructure bill by selling general obligations bonds. Some income from the property will flow to the city to cover interest on the debt, amortize the principal and generate extra money for city coffers.

“We couldn’t afford to do this on our own, this quickly,” Mayor Thomas P. Koch said. But after 30 years of wanting to revitalize a downtown drained of businesses, shopping and housing by outlying neighborhoods, he said, “we’ve established a relationship of trust with Street-Works.” In 2005 the developer started planning what is to be called New Quincy Center. In January it signed a master agreement with the city to codify the plan and set milestones it must meet before Quincy floats the bonds.

This is a reversal of the traditional urban development model, in which municipalities pay for public improvements before the private sector starts construction. And it could be a template in an era when state and federal agencies are retreating from ambitious redevelopment projects.

“In the 21st century, innovative mayors will have to redefine development rules, and it’s commendable that this mayor is willing to take the risk,” said Thomas Murphy, a senior fellow at the Urban Land Institute and a former mayor of Pittsburgh. “If Quincy succeeds, it’s a game changer.”

But the consequences of failure can be significant. In downtown Boston, for instance, there is a gaping block-size hole where Vornado Realty Trust and Gale International halted construction of a large mixed-use project, One Franklin.

“The bigger projects are, the more difficult and fragile they are,” said George J. Fantini Jr., the chairman of Fantini & Gorga, a commercial real estate mortgage broker based in Boston. “For a project to succeed, each building has to be feasible in its own right.”

Ken Narva, a partner in Street-Works, said the risk in Quincy was minimized by the city’s easy access to mass transit, the broad scope of the project, a strong local economy and the lack of a vital urban center elsewhere on the South Shore. “We’re building a new neighborhood, not a project,” he said.

The plan is to build, in increments, 3.5 million square feet of new space: 1,200 rental and condominium apartments, 625,000 square feet of retail, two hotels and entertainment; 1.5 million square feet of offices for higher education, health care, professionals and businesses; and parking for 5,500 vehicles.

Ten years of construction will start mid-2012, first on the infrastructure and then in mid-2013 on the buildings. The first group of buildings, 1.3 million square feet valued at about $700 million, will include approximately 300 apartments, 325,000 square feet for retailers, 350,000 square feet of offices, a hotel and parking for about 2,000 cars.

Before construction starts, Street-Works estimates it will have spent $50 million of its own funds, as well as money raised from Quincy Mutual Fire Insurance Company, Ronus Properties of Atlanta and others. For construction financing the developer plans to take the city bond guarantee and its signed leases to the private equity and debt markets for institutional and traditional loans, Mr. Narva said. He and his partner, Richard Heapes, are talking to potential joint venture partners to develop at least 12 of the 25 new buildings with financing they raise themselves.

“The underlying premise is that Quincy is a great location,” Mr. Narva said. “Its mass transit is a main driver of value creation.” Quincy Center has a Red Line subway stop, six stops from downtown Boston and 10 from Cambridge. The city is on a main highway, Interstate 93, and has 27 miles of waterfront. “The developer is here because of the T stop,” said Mayor Koch, referring to the transit system, who said he was impressed when he visited Street-Works’ Blue Back Square project in West Hartford, Conn. He said he hoped to secure another $50 million in state and federal grants for infrastructure work.

New Quincy Center will offer what many empty nesters and young workers say they prefer: a walkable, urban place to live, work and play. But this type of overhaul would not succeed everywhere, said Gregory Bialecki, the state secretary of housing and economic development.

It may work here because Quincy is willing to make a big financial commitment; the developer has a long-term plan with the flexibility to survive a few market cycles; and since the fall of 2009 the regional South Shore economy has performed well, creating jobs in sectors that are driving the overall state economy like health care, higher education and financial services. Further, Mr. Bialecki said, “that everyone has skin in the game from the start is a strong sign it will work.”

Whether it does, “rests on how much space Quincy can absorb” said Gleb Nechayev, an economist with CBRE Econometric Advisors. Because Quincy added 6.8 percent more housing units and 4.8 percent more residents from 2000 to 2010, he said, “the project has a good chance of success.”

By mid-2013, the Quincy region is expected to return to peak employment, with the jobless rate dipping below 7 percent for the first time since early 2009, said Michael Lynch, an economist at IHS Global Insight. “By the time buildings come online, the economy will be in much better shape to handle them,” he said.

By early next year Street-Works hopes to have letters of intent for a cinema; at least 300,000 square feet of offices for education, health care and businesses; and 100,000 square feet of large format retailing, Mr. Narva said.

If the plan fails, Mayor Koch said, “the city walks away with more than it had five years ago.”

If it succeeds, Mr. Narva said, “we’ll feel good about creating a great urban place and make a lot of money.”

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DealBook: Blackstone Earnings Leap 58% on Real Estate Gains

Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times Stephen A. Schwarzman, the Blackstone Group’s chairman and chief executive.

7:34 p.m. | Updated

For the Blackstone Group, the first three months of the year were something of a blast from the past.

On Thursday, the investment giant reported its strongest earnings since it went public nearly four years ago. Its quarterly profit rose 58 percent as the company continued to reap benefits from improving real estate markets.

Blackstone said that it earned $568.1 million in the quarter on $1.2 billion in revenue. Its assets under management swelled 43 percent, to $150 billion. (The profit was reported as economic net income after taxes because it excludes charges tied to the company’s initial public offering of stock. On a generally accepted accounting principles basis, the company earned $43 million, a big swing from a $121 million loss in the period a year earlier.)

“Blackstone’s first-quarter results further demonstrated our ability to generate outstanding returns for our investors and attract new capital,” Stephen A. Schwarzman, Blackstone’s chairman and chief executive, said Thursday in a conference call with analysts.

The results again show how private equity firms have rebounded from the financial crisis. As the stock and credit markets have risen, the value of buyout shops’ holdings has risen, and their ability to strike deals for a variety of assets has improved as cheap financing remains readily available.

These firms have also benefited from their ability to sell their portfolio companies through initial public offerings, allowing them to realize profits.

Blackstone has seized upon these opportunities to bolster its businesses. It has held stock offerings for holdings like Nielsen, and it plans to hold more for other companies, like Vanguard Health, Freescale Semiconductor and Kosmos Energy.

And the company has struck a few deals, notably its $9.4 billion purchase of the American malls of the Centro Properties Group, its biggest purchase since its $25 billion deal for Hilton Hotels nearly four years ago.

The Centro deal was struck through Blackstone’s huge real estate arm, which propelled the firm’s quarterly profit. The division nearly quadrupled its revenue, to $555.6 million, thanks to an improvement in real estate values, especially for hotels and commercial office buildings. That has helped bolster performance fees.

Blackstone’s best-known division, its private equity unit, reported a small decline in revenue, to $273.7 million, and disclosed a drop in investment income. The value of its holdings rose about 5 percent in the quarter, and the average paper value of those assets was marked at 1.5 times their original investments.

Hamilton E. James, Blackstone’s president, suggested in a conference call with reporters that traditional leveraged buyout deals might be out of fashion for now. With corporations embarking on a buying spree, using their piles of cash and able to pay more because of greater cost savings, buyout firms are at a competitive disadvantage.

“There’s a lot of corporate competition that has come out of the woodwork,” he said. “That has made the plain vanilla buyout pricey.”

But Blackstone is seeking other investment opportunities, he added, including some in the energy industry and in emerging markets.

Blackstone still has plenty of money to invest, with $25.5 billion in uninvested capital between its private equity and real estate units. It has finished raising capital for its sixth buyout fund and is raising money for its seventh real estate fund.

Shares in Blackstone rose 1.6 percent on Thursday, to $19.31. They remain well below the firm’s initial offering price of $31.

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10 cities with top schools: a range of real estate prices

10 cities with top schools: a range of real estate prices | Inman News@import "/files/css/b991d32ba87b8ea15796948ae043e143.css"; Join Inman News! Sign InShopping CartHomeNewsVideoConnect VideosInman TVAgent RebootPodcastsWebinarsFOREMCommunityMainMembersGroupsJob SearchOpinionColumnistsMainCategoriesBiographiesQ & ADirectoryConferencesAgent RebootReal Estate ConnectStoreReportsMediaMembershipColumnist ReportsAbout UsMainAdvertisingAd SpecsAudienceContent channelsProductsTestimonialsAdvertising InquirySyndicationExamples of Content SyndicationMeet Inman News ColumnistsPublish Our Content in PrintToolbox ReviewSyndication InquiryMembershipCareersContactNewsFree Daily HeadlinesRSS Feeds Syndication Home10 cities with top schools: a range of real estate pricesReport: Median home value runs from $148K to $1.3MBy Inman News, Tuesday, April 26, 2011.Inman News™

cwwycoff1." title="Pella, Iowa. Flickr image courtesy of cwwycoff1." />Pella, Iowa. Flickr image courtesy of cwwycoff1.

A list of the nation's top 10 cities with top-performing public schools challenges the idea that the best schools can only be found in the most expensive housing markets, announced a report from school ratings site GreatSchools and business magazine Forbes.com.

"The two biggest life stage decisions a family makes are finding a great place to live and excellent schools for their kids," said Bill Jackson, CEO and president of GreatSchools, in a statement.

"Great schools exist within every housing budget. This is good news to Realtors who want to help their clients when relocating to a new area," the report added. 

The Northeast, the West and the South each accounted for three cities in the top 10 list. The Midwest accounted for one. That city, Pella, Iowa, had the lowest median home value among the ten: $148,200. Manhattan Beach, Calif. had the highest: $1,278,980.

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Square Feet | The 30-Minute Interview: Michael E. Shields

Mr. Shields, 43, is the managing director of ING Real Estate Finance (U.S.A.), which has a $6.7 billion portfolio of term loans, construction loans and subordinate debt.

ING Real Estate Finance is part of the ING Group of the Netherlands, which provides banking, investment, life insurance and retirement services worldwide.

Q What are your duties at ING?

A We’re primarily focused on first mortgage originations of commercial real estate’s four major food groups: office, retail, residential and industrial. We’re like a little company within ING. I run the group, and that pretty much means everything from new deal originations to approving transactions.

Q Are you doing many debt restructurings?

A Last year we restructured almost $1.6 billion of our existing portfolio, and that was about 17 transactions. They were just deals with issues. In 2009 it was very difficult to get a restructuring done; the client really didn’t know where value was, so you couldn’t get a meeting of the minds for how the restructuring should go.

This year we’ve done about three, and I think we’ll probably end up doing about nine deals, or $800 million to $900 million.

Q Does this drop in deals indicate things are getting better, or that you’ve gotten most of the restructurings out of the way?

A I think it’s both. We’ve gotten through the bulk of it, and last year we started originating new transactions. This year we’re fully in the origination mode.

Q What are your projections for loan originations?

A Last year nationwide we did about $650 million of new originations — brand-new deals — and this year we’ve already closed about $250 million. We expect to be over $1 billion in originations. It’ll just depend on what we see from our key clients.

Right after Lehman Brothers went down, the new-deal flow stopped; we closed two transactions post Lehman.

Q So credit is becoming more available now?

A To strong, creditworthy sponsors on high-quality assets in good markets, it’s available. For smaller sponsors in smaller markets it’s still not that easy.

Q How much equity are you asking borrowers to put in?

A Our loan-to-value ratios have been 60 to 70 percent, so 30 to 40 percent equity. It’s pretty high. Last year we were probably looking at deals in the 55 percent L.T.V. range, so it’s gotten a little more aggressive.

Q Do you work with other lenders on your deals?

A Yes. We’re syndicating some loans to different smaller institutions. On the banking side the hold levels have come down post crisis.

Q Let’s move on to the New York market.

A We’ve been very active in the market. I’d say about 15 percent of our portfolio is here — in Midtown Manhattan.

In the existing portfolio, some situations that we thought were going to be difficult have ended up working out pretty nicely, so we haven’t had a lot of major issues here.

Q You hold the loan for 610 Lexington, on which a Shangri-La Hotel and condominium was proposed. What’s happening there?

A We’re in the process of foreclosing on it. That’s one of the transactions that have been more problematic for us.

Q And what will happen to the property afterward?

A We’re still examining all of our options; there are a lot of things we can do. That site is very high-profile and we’re getting a lot of inquiries from everyone — every major player.

Q Does ING hold much real estate as a result of foreclosures?

A There’s a small loan that was done out of Amsterdam — it’s a land loan — in Annapolis, Md., and it’s pretty small. But that’s it. We really haven’t had to foreclose on a lot of assets; this is the only one. We don’t have a problem owning an asset, but preferably we like to just make loans and not own the assets.

Q There have been a lot of changes within ING, including the recent sale of its real estate investment-management division and the management buyout of ING Clarion. Will this affect your division?

A It’s really not going to have any effect on our business going forward.

Q ING is a title sponsor of the New York City Marathon. Have you had a chance to run that race?

A I am scheduled to run the marathon this year. This would be my first time, my first marathon. This might be the last time that ING sponsors it; who knows?

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Square Feet: A New South City Looks to a Future Not Built on Banking

Bank of America’s 50-story headquarters, Charlotte’s tallest building when it was completed in 1993, was to be joined by a similarly sized home for Wachovia.

But the economic convulsions of late 2008 intervened. Almost overnight, Wachovia became a subsidiary of Wells Fargo, based in San Francisco. Its unfinished tower, including three museums and a theater at its base, was briefly christened the Wells Fargo Cultural Center.

Wells Fargo then negotiated a deal with Duke Energy to give the utility about 500,000 square feet of space on 21 floors in the building, which was finished last year and is now known as the Duke Energy Center. The lease, and the construction of two other new buildings in the city’s central business district, known as Uptown, point to a more diversified future for the city.

One of the other tenants in the tower is Cassidy Turley, the city’s fourth-largest property management firm. Maxwell Hanks, a senior vice president, said Charlotte has had to adjust to a new array of realities: a 13.5 percent office vacancy rate, nearly three million square feet of vacant space and a banking-based economy that was diversifying rapidly into military and energy.

“I find myself in the psychology business these days — of managing expectations for both landlords and tenants,” Mr. Hanks said in his office on the 34th floor. “The market has changed. There’s more supply, weaker demand and greater vacancy. But there are more concessions too.”

The Duke Energy Center — or the Tower of Power as some call it — has 1.3 million square feet over 48 stories and is now 97 percent occupied. The Duke name has transformed it into a symbol not only of Charlotte’s ability to weather a severe financial downturn, but also of a regional economy that is moving beyond banking and into other industries.

“The city fathers took a body blow in 2008,” said Tom Shiel, the communications manager of Duke Energy. “They took an eight count, then asked what they could do to prevent that from ever happening again.”

They began by focusing on industry sectors that had been recruited in previous years and were growing, like military contracting and aerospace. One contractor, Goodrich, had established its headquarters in Charlotte in 1999, while General Dynamics, which is based in Virginia, moved executive offices for its armament and technical products division here in 2004. Last year, BAE Systems of Britain, whose United States unit is based in Arlington, Va., committed to opening a human resources and finance center in Charlotte, creating 176 jobs.

Also on their radar screen was the energy sector. Already, the Shaw Group and Areva were among about 50 such companies clustered in and around the city. Then last June, Babcock & Wilcox, the energy engineering company based in Lynchburg, Va., moved its headquarters and 130 jobs here. More significantly Duke Energy is now poised to lay claim to the title of the nation’s largest electric utility, pending approval of its $13.7 billion acquisition, not including debt, of Progress Energy of Raleigh, N.C. Recently, Duke’s chief executive, James E. Rogers, told The Financial Times that the deal would put the company in a stronger position for further consolidation.

“Usually when you go to a major city, all the tall buildings are the banks,” said Clark Gillespy, vice president of economic development at Duke Energy. “I’ve never been to a city where it’s the energy company. Here, it’s because Rogers has driven a stake in the ground and said it’s the energy sector that’s going to lead us out of this recession.”

That may take a while. Vacancy rates have been steadily increasing since a low of 2.5 percent in 2008, rising this year by almost a full percentage point over 2010’s rate of 12.7 percent. The last time Charlotte was bumping this long and low across the bottom was 1993. Then, two bank chief executives, Hugh McColl of NationsBank and Edward E. Crutchfield of First Union, set out on a nationwide tear of acquisitions that eventually formed Bank of America and Wachovia, respectively the nation’s largest and fourth-largest banks. “They really got traction back then,” Mr. Hanks said. “It took about 24 months from that downturn to get back to single digits.”

But in 1993, Uptown Charlotte consisted of just 10 million square feet of commercial space. In 2011, it covers 22 million, much of that available because banks are giving up third-party space and heading back to buildings they own. That leaves a lot of empty offices — about 2.8 million square feet — much of it Class A space.

Mr. Hanks said the Duke Energy Center was one of two new buildings he would characterize as “Super-A” space — because it was LEED platinum certified by the United States Green Building Council and dominated the city skyline. The other is the recently completed 32-story Bank of America Center, now 95 percent under lease. Nearby is the new Nascar Plaza office tower, with 230,000 of its total 390,000 square feet available — all of it Class A space and much of it contiguous.

Effective leasing rates are estimated at 15 to 25 percent lower than they were four years ago. The remaining Super-A space — a little under 100,000 square feet between the two high-rises — can be had for $28 to $34 a square foot, Mr. Hanks said. The Uptown area has 1.6 million square feet of Class A space commanding $23 to $28 a square foot, and 1.1 million square feet of Class B space that runs $18 to $23 a square foot.

Charlotte’s changes will be on display to the world in September 2012, when the Democratic Party holds its convention here. It is expected to bring in 35,000 visitors and generate $150 million.

Mr. Hanks predicted that companies would like what they saw during the convention. “It will be enticing for a top-tier company to come in and reboot in a New South city,” he said. “With the convention in 2012, companies will come in, like it and stay.”

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Square Feet |The 30-Minute Interview: Glenn J. Rufrano

Mr. Rufrano, who was previously the chief executive of the Centro Properties Group of Australia, took the helm of Cushman and Wakefield on March 22, 2010, replacing Bruce E. Mosler, who is now the chairman of global brokerage.

Q How was your first year as C.E.O.?

A It certainly has been intellectually challenging. I’ve had to understand the breadth of Cushman and Wakefield — which is 13,000 people in 60 countries and 230 offices. So getting into and understanding each of the regional businesses and then the major offices and how they perform services has taken some time this year. I think I’m there.

The first day here, I put out a memo outlining what I’d be doing for the next 90 days. The first 30 I would spend in New York understanding all the financials and the global clientele. Then I outlined my trips for the next 30 days. In the last 30 days I would correlate what I found in the field and prepare a strategic plan. But actually I only spent two weeks here and six in the field.

Q Did Bruce help you?

A He helped me initially understand the structure of the company, personalities of the people, and how business opportunities shaped themselves.

Bruce has such good history at the company, and quite often we’ll talk about the business and what I think I know and what is really happening. As you know, I don’t come from the brokerage business. I had no problem as a C.E.O. coming in with the ex-C.E.O. being in a different position, which is highly unusual; in most companies they’re gone. So I think of this as we’re partners.

Q There’s been talk within the industry that you were brought in to burnish the company so it could eventually be sold off.

A The reason I was brought in — and what my tour is — is to maximize the value of Cushman and Wakefield. It is really as simple as that. Exor has no plans to sell Cushman and Wakefield.

Q Have there been many merger or acquisition overtures?

A There has been over the years. It did eventually sell in ’07 to Exor. Their M.O. is to buy businesses and hold them long term. At some point Exor may want to reduce their position in Cushman. They own 73 percent; the employees own the rest.

Q A number of your key employees, though, have left.

A In New York there have been two groups that have left for Jones Lang LaSalle: our capital markets group, and then our leasing group, more recently. They were fine people, but at times you agree to disagree. On a global basis we’ve added people.

Q Last week, Exor released its financial results for 2010, which showed that Cushman and Wakefield earned $25.7 million on $1.8 billion in revenue, versus a $115.8 million loss in ’09.

A Cushman reduced expenses nicely — kept them down in ’08, ’09 and going into 2010. Then the wind shifted; 2010 was a very good year for revenue. We had a good last half of the year, driven by capital markets and leasing, though every one of our five business lines had increases for the year. In 2008 and 2009 we let go about 17 or 18 percent of our work force. We are building back up.

Q Let’s talk about business in the New York market.

A Leasing activity over all is up 61.9 percent over this time last year. One reason New York City has done so well is because it did not lose as many jobs as people expected. We’ve recovered 43 percent of the jobs that we lost since the end of ’09. Nationally, we recovered 14.5 percent. Our capital markets group had a very fair year. We had a number of transactions in the $40 million-to-$100 million range.

The asking rental rates for a Class A building in Midtown averaged $66.25 a square foot in the first quarter, up 21 percent from a year ago but 47 percent below the ’08 first quarter.

Q Is there more foreign interest?

A There’s clearly more capital from off shore that would like to invest in New York. A group called Afire — the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate — identified the five locations around the globe that they wanted to invest in. New York was No. 1, followed by Washington, London, Paris and Tokyo. What do they want to own? These office buildings, and they will pay high prices for them.

Q Speaking of big office buildings, Cushman is part of the leasing team for One World Trade Center. What’s the status?

A The building is well positioned for large-space users. There’s a commitment for 200,000 square feet from Beijing Vantone, and the other major tenant that’s announced but hasn’t signed yet is Condé Nast.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: April 10, 2011

The 30-Minute Interview last Sunday about Glenn J. Rufrano, the chief executive of Cushman and Wakefield, misstated the amount of space leased by Beijing Vantone at One World Trade Center. It is 200,000 square feet, not 1.25 million square feet, which represents the total amount committed to by Beijing Vantone and another prospective tenant, Condé Nast.

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Real Estate Funds Defy Housing’s Gravity

It may seem surprising, but while home sales have slumped and foreclosure rates have risen in recent months, real estate funds, which typically invest in commercial property and multifamily housing, have boomed.

The 251 domestic real estate funds tracked by Lipper have returned 55.7 percent over the past two years, on average, compared with 31.2 percent for diversified equity funds. According to Morningstar, real estate funds returned 6.1 percent in the first quarter, compared with a 5.1 percent average gain for all stock funds.

Real estate funds have been able to outperform the average general equity fund in part because they did so much worse in the most severe part of the downturn. During the heart of the financial crisis, some commercial real estate investments lost two-thirds of their value in less than six months. Some real estate funds ended 2008 with losses of more than 50 percent.

“It’s been a huge snapback from a drop that was way overdone,” said Robert W. Gadsden, manager of the $112 million Alpine Realty Income and Growth fund, which returned 9.24 percent in the quarter, making it the top-performing real estate fund among those tracked by Lipper.

Real estate funds tend to concentrate their investments in real estate investment trusts, or REITs, which own office, industrial, apartment, health care and other types of income-producing properties. REITs were one of the hardest-hit sectors when the credit markets seized in the fall of 2008, as investors feared that they wouldn’t be able to refinance their debt and that a wave of corporate bankruptcies would cause vacancy rates in their office properties to soar. From Sept. 30, 2008, to March 6, 2009, the MSCI United States REIT index plummeted 66 percent. Mr. Gadsden’s Alpine Realty fund ended 2008 down 50.2 percent, according to Bloomberg.

“There was extraordinary fear in the market, and people did not see the positives, like the diversification in REIT portfolios as well as their long leases and long debt agreements,” said Mr. Gadsden, whose recent top holdings have included REITs like the Simon Property Group, the mall owner, and Vornado Realty Trust, the big office landlord.

As REITs began to regain access to the credit markets, however, that fear began to dissipate, prompting a relief rally that has been supported by an almost perfect mix of market conditions, fund managers say. Those conditions have included very low interest rates, depressed property prices, lots of available capital and a lack of supply of new office and apartment space.

“We have seen occupancy rates and rental rates going up in many markets,” said Joseph R. Betlej, co-manager of the $428 million Ivy Real Estate Securities fund. “And that is because construction lenders turned off the spigot in 2007, and today we are faced with a lack of new supply.”

Ivy Real Estate Securities returned 5.7 percent in the first quarter after a 28 percent gain in 2010. Mr. Betlej’s recent top holdings have included Simon Property; HCP, a REIT that invests in health care properties; and Equity Residential, the big United States apartment owner.

The perfect mix that allowed REITs to shine so brightly has prompted some analysts to warn, however, that they could now be overvalued and that investors who continue to pour money into real estate funds might wind up getting burned. After all, some analysts say, gains made when the Federal Reserve is making extraordinary efforts to keep interest rates near zero might be hard to replicate as the economy grows and inflation and interest rates start to rise.

Investors added $4.15 billion to real estate funds in the first quarter, according to EPFR Global, an analysis company based in Cambridge, Mass.

“I would argue that there are more risks than benefits in REITs at these prices,” said Ryan Leggio, an analyst at Morningstar. “If interest rates go up, they are going to be in a world of hurt.”

Rising rates make it more expensive for REITs to finance their property assets and to make acquisitions. With most of their income coming from longer-term leases, higher financing costs also can’t be quickly passed on to tenants. REITs, by law, also must return 90 percent of their income to shareholders as dividends, making them attractive to yield-hungry investors. Higher interest rates would make other investments, like bonds and even bank certificates of deposit, more competitive.

The average dividend yield for REITs soared to more than 10 percent during the financial crisis, while yields of 10-year Treasury notes fell to near 2 percent. At the end of the first quarter, the dividend yield for equity REITs, which own commercial property and constitute the bulk of the market, was 3.46 percent, virtually the same as 10-year Treasuries.

Real estate fund managers acknowledge that higher interest rates could take some steam out of the commercial property market, but they say REITs will not be hurt much if any increase is modest and gradual.

“If rates are rising because of inflation, real estate has historically been viewed as an inflation hedge and a store of wealth,” said David M. Lee, manager of the $2.9 billion T. Rowe Price Real Estate fund.

Mr. Lee, whose fund gained 6 percent in the first quarter after a gain of nearly 30 percent in 2010, said REITs could keep pace if rising rates were accompanied by stronger job growth. “We need jobs, jobs, jobs,” he said. “We are dealing with a physical product that needs to be filled.”

One bright spot, he said, is likely to be apartment REITs, which are benefiting from strong rental demand as homeownership rates decline because of the foreclosure crisis. “We perhaps made too much of an effort in the past to put people in homes they could not really afford,” he said. “As more people recognize that homeownership is not a sure thing, you will have more renters by choice.”

Among Mr. Lee’s top holdings are two large United States apartment owners, Equity Residential and AvalonBay Communities.

MANAGERS say the most favorable environment for real estate funds — and the REITs in which they invest — would be an economy that improves enough to create more jobs but not enough to prompt major worries about inflation.

“If borrowing costs stay attractive while vacancy rates and credit ratings continue to improve — that would be the ideal,” said Mr. Gadsden of the Alpine Realty fund. “The best thing for REITs going forward is a Goldilocks scenario of not too hot, not too cold.”

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Real estate buyers: protect us from ourselves

Over the last seven weeks we've taken a tour through the psyche of real estate consumers -- a group that includes each of us, really, who pays for a place to live.

We have explored how the various investor desires, motivations and values illuminated in Meir Statman's new business classic-to-be, "What Investors Really Want: Discover What Drives Investor Behavior and Make Smarter Financial Decisions," play out in our real-life real estate decisions.

We've seen that just as stock market investors want to win and not lose, want status, and exercise the highly fallible -- though sometimes useful -- form of psychological bookkeeping known as mental accounting, so do buyers, sellers, homeowners and sometimes even renters.

For the most part, we've explored the substance of what we want, rather than the process of how we want it. But there are real desires we, the human race, have when it comes to the "how" around our financial decisions, real estate and otherwise; Statman calls some of them out when he declares that investors really "want education, advice and protection."

Statman compiles meaty evidentiary proof of this declaration from facts like:

the massive investor interest in culling investment information from the Internet;the fact that financial literacy is a prerequisite for achieving the prosperity most of us crave;the cyclical ebb and flow of cravings for the government's protection of us -- largely from ourselves -- via regulation of how deeply we can leverage our own interests and how much advantage can be taken by financial predators; andthe vast desire investors have for financial advice, including the paid advice of professional advisers, but especially the free sort they trade with each other on personal finance blogs and Internet forums.

The world of real estate has not only gone through these same trends, but I submit that the pudding in which lives the proof that consumers want information and education, advice and protection is thicker when it comes to real estate than in virtually any other sector.

To wit: the evolution of real estate on the Web. Once upon a time, homebuyers had to consult an agent, who had to consult a paper book that was delivered only to agents, just to find out which homes were for sale, their prices and other details.

In response to an ever-escalating consumer clamor for this information, multiple sites now make every detail about a home -- from whether or not it's for sale; to its price; to its number of bedrooms, bathrooms and square feet; to when it was last sold and for how much; to what it's supposedly worth -- available to anyone, anytime, anywhere, all in a couple of clicks.

Anyone can see a ground-level street view of the vast majority of homes in America, what people think of the neighborhood, even whether a home's owners are behind on their mortgage or have received a foreclosure notice: click, click, click.

Wanna see pics of Nicolas Cage's house? Click here. Heard a "Real Housewife" was in foreclosure and just need to know? Click. Their gilt Rococoed, leopard-printed, McMansioned domestic world is your virtual, visual oyster (for better or for worse).

And virtually all the same sites that have made this information available in response to popular demand also feed consumer cravings for education and advice.

Most offer basic briefings on various real estate issues; virtually all of them offer education/advice hybrids by offering connections to real estate brokers and agents and discussion communities in which anyone can ask a question and get a first, second and 44th opinion from local agents not-so-covertly vying for (a) the asker's business, and/or (b) the opportunity to exhibit local knowledge and professional expertise -- not just to the asker, but to prospective clients searching for them or the subject matter on the Web in perpetuity.

(And, lest I forget, those who ask their urgent real estate questions on these communities will frequently get an answer or so from another consumer -- usually a cranky, anonymous one whose advice generally runs along one of three veins: (a) agents and mortgage brokers suck, (b) homeownership sucks, and/or (c) the government sucks. Not so nuanced, and not so helpful, but a clear case in point that some consumers not only want advice -- they also want to give it.)

Even offline, it's not at all bizarre for today's home sellers to interview three or four prospective listing agents to gather advice and opinions, and every buyer's broker has heard a client recount the real estate advice they have been given by their hairdresser, veterinarian, barista or ob-gyn.

Education, information, advice -- consumer cravings for these are clear -- but protection is a little more complicated. In "What Investors Really Want," Statman writes: "Our desire for paternalistic protection from ourselves and others increases when we experience the sad consequences of our own behavior or the behavior of others."

It is on this topic that Statman makes one of only a handful of "What Investors Really Want" references to real estate, making the hindsight observation that regulation limiting homeowners' ability to leverage their own homes might have made sense, given the woeful consequences of overleveraging (i.e., the foreclosure crisis which is currently at four years and running).

Translation: We don't want the government to limit our ability to mortgage our homes when values are skyrocketing, because we want to be able to max out the house we can buy for the money.

But when those adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) start adjusting, our maxed-out neighbors start walking away and the resulting foreclosures cause property values to plummet, while our craving for government protection from predatory lenders, liar's loans and confusing boilerplate loan docs takes a steep uptick.

Do real estate consumers crave information, education and advice just as much -- maybe even more -- than traded-asset investors? Absolutely. And just like stock investors, housing consumers also want government protection from lenders, mortgage brokers, agents and themselves, after their own decisions have spanked them with the consequences of a largely unregulated mortgage market. What remains to be seen is how long the desire for protection will last.

I suspect it will last as long as home values are low and rates of foreclosure and negative equity are high. But I hope that the lessons from this national tragedy -- massive losses in wealth, jobs and families' homes and health -- including the need for more intense mortgage market regulation, do not disappear when property values start to make a comeback.

Tara-Nicholle Nelson is author of "The Savvy Woman's Homebuying Handbook" and "Trillion Dollar Women: Use Your Power to Make Buying and Remodeling Decisions." Tara is also the Consumer Ambassador and Educator for real estate listings search site Trulia.com. Ask her a real estate question online or visit her website, www.rethinkrealestate.com.

Copyright 2011 Tara-Nicholle NelsonAll rights reserved. This article may not be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, in part or in whole, without written permission of Inman News. Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright law.

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Turn Your House Into a Billboard, Get Mortgage Paid

Wouldn’t it be nice if someone else would pay your mortgage for the year? And what would you do in return? Advertising agency Adzookie is looking for homes to turn into billboards and in exchange, they’ll pay a mortgage for each month the home is painted. At the end of the contract, Adzookie will pay to repaint the home, a process they say takes three to five days

Still interested? Adzookie only has a few ground rules. First off, you must own the home—it cannot be rented or leased. The entire exterior of the home is under contract except the roof, the windows and any awnings. The contract lasts a minimum of three months and can be extended up to a year. At any time the contract is ended, either by Adzookie or the homeowner, Adzookie will pay to repaint the home in its original and more normal colors.

To be considered for this ad gimmick, homeowners must fill out a submission form on the company’s website, explaining why their house should be selected. The company will then decide based on their internal criteria, whether the house is worth a billboard ad.

Adzookie CEO Romeo Mendoza told CNN that since the promotion’s launch, the company has received over 1,000 applications, including one from a church.

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Prices fall in 19 of 20 Case-Shiller metros

Half of the 20 major metro markets tracked by a Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price index hit new lows for the downturn in February, and the 20-city composite index is "within a hair's breadth of a double dip," Standard & Poor's said in releasing the latest numbers today.

The 20-city composite index was down 1.1 percent from January (not seasonally adjusted), and 3.3 percent from a year ago, for a total decline of 32.6 percent since the summer of 2006.

Atlanta; Charlotte; Chicago; Las Vegas; Miami; New York; Phoenix; Portland, Ore.; Seattle and Tampa all posted new lows for the third month in a row (not seasonally adjusted).

Looking back a year, the index scores were down in 19 of 20 markets tracked -- the lone exception being Washington, D.C., which posted a 2.7 percent growth rate.

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3 social photo apps

One of the big things that iPhone brought with it was an easy way to manage photos taken with a cell phone. With the old "feature" phones you could take pictures, but getting them off the camera and into something usable and sharable was a significant hassle.

In this week's column we'll look at three photo apps that take advantage of the social capabilities of technology. Using photos to connect with other people has been around as long as portable personal cameras.

Now that cameras are in the pockets of anyone with a mobile phone, and people's social networks are embedded into websites and mobile services, expect social photography (and eventually videography) to become more pervasive in our online experience.

Some of these services are new and not yet fully baked. So my usual beta warning: give it a try and start playing with these to see if they make your life better. If they don't, then stop using them.

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Comedian Chris Tucker Selling Tarzana Home for $2,499,000

Source: IMDb

Fast-chatting comedian, Chris Tucker, has been a Tarzana, CA resident since 1996 when he purchased his first Mulholland Park Estates home for $1,113,500. That’s right – his first. According to The Real Estalker, this wasn’t Tucker’s only Tarzana real estate transaction. After earning a jaw-dropping $20 million for his second performance as Detective James Carter in “Rush Hour 2,” the karate-chopping actor dropped $2.4 million on a second Tarzana property that just so happened to be right next door to his current home.

The 38-year-old actor was a two-house homeowner in the elite neighborhood up until 2008 when he sold his second purchased property, a 6,549-sq ft, 5-bedroom, 7.5-bathroom home, for $3,800,000. Now, it appears Tucker is ready to cut the rest of his Los Angeles real estate ties as he stuck a $2,499,000 listing price on his long-time Tarzana home earlier this month.

Tucker’s Tarzana home features “unobstructed views overlooking the San Fernando valley,” nearly 6,400-sq ft, 7 bathrooms, a large living room, dining room, office, spacious kitchen, master bedroom with a sitting area, fireplace and balcony, and 4 additional bedrooms, all of which are junior suites with their own en suite bathrooms. Outdoor amenities include a basketball court, motor court, and pool all situated on a beautifully landscaped .73-acre lot.

Tucker won’t be rushing to find a new mansion in the Sunshine State. He still owns two properties on the opposite side of the country — a 13,227-sq ft mansion in McDonough, GA and a 5,907-sq ft home in Montverde, FL.

Tony Truisi of Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills, holds the listing.

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Rental rates climb as sale prices dip

Rental listing prices nationwide jumped 7.4 percent in the last year while for sale listing prices dropped 8.8 percent, according to a report from property search site HotPads.

The report is based on listings active on HotPads in April 2010 and April 2011. First-quarter data shows a reversal of the broader trend -- rental prices fell 1.8 percent and sale price rose 3.5 percent -- but the report emphasized that the first-quarter trend is likely attributed to seasonal patterns in the housing market.

"We predict investors looking to ride the rental upswing will continue renting properties and will wait for home values to appreciate," the report said.

"Increasing demand for rental properties is an indicator of a growing preference for low-risk housing options, which is closely linked to the broader economic uncertainty." 

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5 Ways to Go Green, While Saving Green, in Your Home

While making your home energy efficient is good for the environment, it’s also good for your wallet.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, consumers spend $241 billion annually on home energy and 1.2 billion tons of green-house emissions are released as a byproduct. The typical family spends $1,900 on home utility bills, and much of the energy isn’t used. It’s estimated that doing a few simple home improvements would cut the amount of carbon-dioxide released, as well as the amount of money spent on energy bills annually, in half. We dug up some things you can do around the house to help lower both greenhouse gases and your utilities.

Tip #1: Get rid of vampires or other phantom power suckers: This isn’t a reference to the blood-sucking villain or popular culture, but a term that’s used to refer to appliances that suck energy when not in use. Vampire energy, also known as phantom energy or standby power, accounts for 20 percent of home electricity use and 1 percent of carbon dioxide emissions.The biggest culprits are small appliances like coffee-makers, TVs, laptops, cell phone chargers, fans and hair dryers. You can cut back on standby power use by unplugging appliances after you use them or installing a power strip to easily turn several appliances off at once.
Estimated savings: It depends. Cornell University estimates that vampire power adds about $200 to residential energy bills annually.

Tip #2: Change your water heating: The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that water heating can account for 14 to 25 percent of energy use each month. The best way to save energy—and money—is to turn down your hot water heater down to 120 degrees. Most manufacturers set the temperature at 140 degrees which isn’t necessary in washing machines and most dish washers. Want further savings? Most clothing doesn’t need to be washed in hot water; warm to cold water works just as well, and cold water is always fine for rinsing. Consider investing in a front-loader machine which use less water, energy and can cut down on drying times.
Estimated savings: At a very minimum of 3 to 10 percent but a new washer could save you an additional $135 each year on your utility bills.

Tip #3: Change the light bulbs: You’re going to have to eventually change to florescent bulbs (CFLs) when the U.S. begins to phase out incandescent lighting, so might as well start the switch now. According to Energy Star, a program run by the Environmental Protection Agency, switching to CFLs saves “about $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevents 9 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions per year, equivalent to those from about 800,000 cars.”
Estimated savings: $57.55 over the life of a CFL bulb, according to a study done by Consumer Reports.

Tip #4: Heating and cooling: On average 43 percent of your utility bill goes toward heating or cooling. Heating and cooling systems also generate 12 percent of the nation’s sulfur dioxide and 4 percent of the nitrogen oxides—the two chief ingredients in acid rain. Whether its 10 or 110 degrees, there are several things you can do to significantly decrease heating and cooling costs.

Turn down your thermostat—especially at night. If you turn the thermostat down by 1 degree for eight hours every night, you’ll use about 1 percent less energy.Clean or replace filters on furnaces once a month or as needed.During the heating season, keep the draperies and shades on your south-facing windows open during the day to allow the sunlight to enter your home and closed at night to reduce the chill.During the cooling season, close blinds and windows during the day to reduce solar gain through windows.Invest in energy-efficient products when you buy new heating and cooling equipment.

Estimated savings: 20 to 50 percent

Tip #5: Save water: According to the EPA, leaks account for 10,000 gallons of water wasted in the home each year on average. Fixing leaks can greatly reduce your water bill. Purchase low-flow faucet and shower heads, and if you are looking for a new toilet, invest in a low-flow toilet. Many of these will not perform any differently, but you’ll see significant reductions in your water usage. Lawn and garden watering makes up 40 percent of water use in the summer. Cut down on water costs by investing in a rain barrel to collect water from your roof. In times of drought this water can be used to wash your car or dog and water your garden or lawn. This not only reduces demand on municipal water—saving up to about 1,300 gallons of water during the peak summer months—but also reduces storm runoff.
Estimated savings: 25 to 60 percent off your annual water bill.

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Fannie, Freddie, FHA under fire

It has been a quiet week in the markets, shortened by Good Friday. Oh, Standard & Poor's created a tempest with its threat to the AAA rating of Treasurys, but as the week wore on, more and more people asked, "How would they know?"

Stocks regained all losses, but Treasury bond yields stayed low, the 10-year at 3.39 percent and mortgages under 5 percent.

Bill Gross, famously dumping all of PIMCO's Treasurys last month, has lost money on the trade. A federal budget deal is now likely; Europe is in trouble (again, Greek 2-year bonds paying 22 percent), and domestic data is weakening.

Sales of new and existing homes are flat, but distressed inventory is rising. The Federal Housing Finance Agency found that home prices fell 1 percent in January and another 1.6 percent in February.

The fascinating thing about housing, now: it's no longer news. It's so yesterday, boring. For seven months, media attention has focused on "Foreclosure Gate," the so-called robo-signing scandal in which some loan servicers allegedly foreclosed on some innocent homeowners.

The reality is clear now, as then: Some servicers have mistreated borrowers by inattention, finding a work-around for the antiquated local-level foreclosure procedures. Servicers will be fined and newly regulated.

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Fit for a (Future) King! See U.S. Homes Ideal for Royal Couple Will and Kate

Source: London Evening Standard

It’s one of the biggest events of the year and it’s not even happening in the U.S. Britain’s royal couple Prince William and Kate Middleton are getting married Friday, April 29 at 11 a.m. United Kingdom time. (For Americans, live coverage begins at 4 a.m. ET).

The couple will continue to live on the Welsh island of Anglesey where William is a search and rescue pilot and they will eventually move to a six-bedroom home at Harewood Park in Herefordshire, commissioned to be built by Prince Charles, according to the UK paper The Daily Mail. While in London, they have access to an apartment at the Clarence House, the official London residence of The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, and Princes William and Harry.

To get in the spirit, we found some U.S. homes that are fit for royalty. While we couldn’t find any manors built in the 1600s, we did find a few English-style estates with amenities that would remind the couple of their home across the pond, if they ever chose to move here.

190 North St. Greenwich, CT
For Sale: $14,750,000

Our first stop for British-style estates is Greenwich, CT where wealth and history abound in mansions situated among sprawling English gardens. The median Greenwich home price is $1,097,600 — which is far more affordable in British pounds, considering that the current exchange rate (as of this writing) is $1 to £0.60.

This 11,800-sq ft Tudor-style estate was built in 1929 and sits on 3.5 acres complete with a walled garden and carriage house. The 19-room manor has antique parquet, marble and limestone floors, and includes an English oak library, breakfast room, and butler’s pantry. The master wing has a sitting room, fireplace, his and her dressing rooms and marble baths.

(undisclosed address) Greenwich, CT
For Sale: $9,850,000

This 1932 English manor is at an undisclosed address and sits in the private Belle Haven neighborhood — perfect for the media-mobbed royal couple. The 5-bedroom, 5.5-bath home on the Greenwich real estate market underwent recent expansion and updates while retaining its classic look. Included on the 1.5-acre property is a tennis court, pool house, “romantic gardens” and patios. Inside, an English conservatory and library, gourmet kitchen, butler’s pantry, and breakfast room round out the estate.

2 Old Mill Lane Media, PA
For Sale: $4,250,000

Built in 1862, this English-style manor has only been on the Rose Valley real estate market for a month. The 3.5-acre estate includes four restored buildings: grand manor house, water tower, bank barn and cottage home. The central manor house was expanded in 1904 and was completely updated and restored in 2008; it is now billed as “finest English Arts and Crafts house in America.” William would feel right at home in the property’s cottage, built to resemble a British hunting lodge. Both should feel comfortable here as the home is located in the small historic borough of Rose Valley, population 984.

1 Troutbeck Lane Amenia, NY
For Sale: $9,950,000

This piece of Amenia real estate was a historic family manor converted into a country inn. Most likely the royal couple won’t be renting rooms out to strangers, but could use the 18 bedrooms to house the large extended Royal family. Built in 1890, the stone home retains much of its original turn-of-the-century character and includes 45 “park-like” acres complete with a stream.

605 Elm Street Walpole, MA
For Sale: $3,900,000

This 1920s estate is billed as a “classic English manor” filled with “timeless elegance.” There’s enough room for the new Royal couple as well as the Queen Mother and her pack of Welsh Corgis on the nine acres of gardens and woods. The piece of Walpole real estate was built for entertaining with a large formal dining room, multiple sitting rooms and mahogany library. The grounds include a 3-bedroom carriage guest house as well as a putting green.

2625 Monument Ave Richmond, VA
For Sale: $1,995,00

This brick home is reminiscent of London than the other stately properties but still holds enough period details to make any royal feel at home. The 6,050-sq ft piece of Richmond real estate has 6 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms and includes a small carriage house that contains 1,271 sq ft and has two bedrooms. The main house has four fireplaces, French doors leading to several porches and a private, walled English garden, perfect for afternoon tea.

230 Conanicus Ave Jamestown, RI
For Sale: $1,199,000

How do you make a Colonial mansion stand out on the Jamestown real estate market? Add a full British pub into the home, of course. This property not only includes six bedrooms, six bathrooms, but a full British pub in its guest cottage, complete with bar, bar stools and plenty of pints and chips. Other amenities on the one-acre+ property include a gourmet kitchen, and outdoor gazebo and pond, putting the home well above the median Jamestown home value of $433,000.

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3 reasons sellers should hire own inspector

DEAR BARRY: In one of your columns, you recommended that sellers hire a home inspector, even though the buyers would probably hire an inspector of their own. As a seller, this concerns me. If my home inspector finds a major defect (something that has given me no trouble for the past 30 years), then I'll have to spend thousands of dollars to repair it, or I'll have to disclose it to the buyers. Frankly, I fail to see the advantage in this. Can you please explain again the advantages when sellers hire a home inspector? --Ken

DEAR KEN: There are three main reasons for sellers to hire their own home inspector:

1) Avoiding liability: If an undisclosed defect (one that you were unaware of for the past 30 years) is discovered after the close of escrow, you could be sued for nondisclosure. The fact that you were unaware of the problem would be for you to prove in court.

2) Avoiding repair costs: Disclosing defects at the outset of a purchase transaction enables you to do an as-is sale. When defects are discovered by the buyers' home inspector, the buyers are more likely to insist on repairs.

3) Building trust: Providing a home inspection report to buyers is a good way to build trust in a transaction by demonstrating that you, the seller, have nothing to hide.

As a seller, it's better to provide disclosure than waiting for disclosure to happen to you.

DEAR BARRY: The home I'm buying has electric ignition, rather than pilot lights, on most of the gas-burning appliances -- the furnace, the cooktop, and the oven -- but not the water heater. I thought that all gas fixtures would be equipped with electric ignition to conserve gas. Why is this not the case with water heaters? --Jesse

DEAR JESSE: Electric igniters are standard features on gas furnaces and cooking appliances because continuous pilot lights in those fixtures consume gas needlessly. With gas water heaters, the heat produced by a pilot light helps to maintain the temperature of the water in the tank. Therefore, the gas that fuels a water heater pilot light is not truly wasted.

Still, there are ways to minimize gas consumption in your water heater. For example, wrap the fixture with thermal insulation to minimize heat loss, and do not turn the thermostat to the high setting.

DEAR BARRY: My house was built in the 1960s. The ceramic tile in the bathrooms is outdated and needs replacement. I've heard that asbestos was sometimes added to the mortar used for ceramic tile during that period. Is it possible that the mortar in my house contains asbestos? --George

DEAR GEORGE: Tile contractors sometimes added asbestos to mortar because it made the material easier to apply. The only way to know if the mortar in your home has asbestos is to send a sample to a lab for analysis. The lab fee is only about $10 to $15. If the mortar contains asbestos, removal should be done by a contractor who is licensed to do asbestos abatement.

To write to Barry Stone, please visit him on the Web at www.housedetective.com.

All rights reserved. This article may not be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, in part or in whole, without written permission of Inman News. Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright law.

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Keller Williams top real estate franchisor in annual list

Keller Williams top real estate franchisor in annual list | Inman News@import "/files/css/b991d32ba87b8ea15796948ae043e143.css"; Join Inman News! Sign InShopping CartHomeNewsVideoConnect VideosInman TVAgent RebootPodcastsWebinarsFOREMCommunityMainMembersGroupsJob SearchOpinionColumnistsMainCategoriesBiographiesQ & ADirectoryConferencesAgent RebootReal Estate ConnectStoreReportsMediaMembershipColumnist ReportsAbout UsMainAdvertisingAd SpecsAudienceContent channelsProductsTestimonialsAdvertising InquirySyndicationExamples of Content SyndicationMeet Inman News ColumnistsPublish Our Content in PrintToolbox ReviewSyndication InquiryMembershipCareersContactNewsFree Daily HeadlinesRSS Feeds Syndication HomeKeller Williams top real estate franchisor in annual listFranchise 500 report: Coldwell Banker ranks as industry's 'fastest-growing'By Inman News, Monday, April 25, 2011.Inman News™

Austin, Texas-based Keller Williams Realty led among real estate brokerage franchises in an annual survey by Entrepreneur Magazine, and ranked 78th overall out of 500 franchises.

Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC ranked second among real estate franchises, and was also ranked as the fastest-growing real estate franchise, placing 14th overall out of 100 franchises on that list.

Keller Williams ranked 66th overall in a list of 200 top global franchises -- higher than any other real estate franchise. Keller Williams had 672 franchises in the U.S. and 15 in Canada in 2010, according to the magazine.

Overall, eight real estate franchises were chosen among the Franchise 500. Financial strength and stability, growth rate, size of the system, number of years in operation and total time franchising, startup cost, litigation, percentage of terminations, and other statistics factor into the franchiser rankings, according to Entrepreneur.com.

The rankings are based on data from July 2008 through July 2010.

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RealtyTrac teams up with SmartZip

Foreclosure data site RealtyTrac has integrated property ratings from investment analytics company SmartZip in its property detail pages.

A SmartZip HomeScore allows potential buyers to gauge a home's potential for above-average price appreciation and below-average costs.

"This enables shoppers to get an independent assessment of the long-term value of foreclosures, from the perspective of a homeowner. Shoppers can also easily compare properties against each other, since HomeScore is a relative rating on a scale of 1 to 100," said Avi Gupta, SmartZip's vice president of research and marketing.

Screenshot from RealtyTrac listing detail page. 

Scores of 35 or above are considered good-to-excellent investments. Scores automatically appear in listing search results. Through RealtyTrac's advanced search options, users also have the option of narrowing their results by HomeScore range.

For details such as the home's historical appreciation rates, estimated expenses, and other key ratings, users have the option of purchasing either a single Home Ownership Report or a subscription to unlimited reports from SmartZip.

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A minefield of mortgage charges: What's 'nonshopable'?

Last week I discussed the various mortgage charges for which borrowers could shop. It is also important for mortgage borrowers to know the charges they can't shop, if only to avoid wasting time trying to shop or negotiate them.

Private mortgage insurance (PMI): On a conventional (not a Federal Housing Administration-insured or Department of Veteran's Affairs-insured) mortgage, you are required to purchase PMI if you put less than 20 percent down on a purchase, or have less than 20 percent equity on a refinance. Because the insurer is selected by the lender, PMI has never been "shopable" by the borrower, who pays the premium quoted by the lender.

This will change in a few months when a major mortgage insurer will be quoting premium rates on my website. The quotes will cover both monthly premiums and single premiums financed in the mortgage, offering borrowers a choice they do not now have. Until then, however, PMI will remain "unshopable."

Appraisal: On most mortgage loans, lenders require that the property be appraised in order to make sure that the purchaser is not overpaying, or that a refinancing borrower has the equity (value less loan balance) that is required. The appraisal company is selected by the lender and paid by the borrower. The fee generally ranges from $300 to $600.

Recording fee: This is a fee paid to a local governmental entity to record the mortgage or deed of trust, and title documents, in an official registry. The fee is whatever the entity charges. While it varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, it is never negotiable.

State and local transaction taxes: These taxes may cover the mortgage transaction, the property transaction or both. They vary greatly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but are never negotiable. They are what they are.

Escrows: Lenders generally require that an escrow account be established with funds the borrower provides at closing, from which the lender makes payments for property taxes and homeowners insurance as they come due. Lenders usually get to keep the interest on escrow accounts. Borrowers can usually opt out of this requirement if they pay a special fee, called "waiver of escrow."

Since lenders have an incentive to make the escrows as large as possible -- they keep the interest on the account -- the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has imposed a ceiling on the size of escrow accounts, which in turn limits the amount the lender can ask the borrower to deposit at closing.

If you know your property taxes and insurance premium, you can calculate the required escrow at closing by following the procedure at "How Do I Figure Escrows?" on my website.

Keep in mind that the escrow deposit continues to be your money, can be used only to pay your debts, and any unused portion will be returned to you when you pay off the mortgage.

Daily interest: Because mortgage payments are due on the first day of a month, regardless of when the loan is closed and funded, borrowers must pay interest for the period between the funding date and the first day of the following month.

The amount of daily interest due at closing is calculated by dividing the annual rate by 360 to get a daily rate, multiplying this by the loan amount to get the daily interest, and multiplying that by the number of days for which interest is due.

For example, the loan is for $200,000 at 5 percent and it is funded on April 16, which requires an interest payment for the 15 days until May 1. The daily interest is thus 0.05 divided by 360, then multiplied by 200,000. That equals $27.78. Multiply that total by 15, and you get: $416.70.

Why 360 days rather than 365? No justifiable reason. It is a self-serving convention of the industry that has never been challenged by regulators. It is of no interest to class-action lawyers because the amounts involved have been so small. Using a 365-day year in the example, the amount comes to $410.96, for a difference of $5.74.

The writer is professor of finance emeritus at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Comments and questions can be left at www.mtgprofessor.com.

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Realtor braves frigid bay waters ... more than 80 times

Realtor braves frigid bay waters ... more than 80 times | Inman News@import "/files/css/b991d32ba87b8ea15796948ae043e143.css"; Join Inman News! Sign InShopping CartHomeNewsVideoConnect VideosInman TVAgent RebootPodcastsWebinarsFOREMCommunityMainMembersGroupsJob SearchOpinionColumnistsMainCategoriesBiographiesQ & ADirectoryConferencesAgent RebootReal Estate ConnectStoreReportsMediaMembershipColumnist ReportsAbout UsMainAdvertisingAd SpecsAudienceContent channelsProductsTestimonialsAdvertising InquirySyndicationExamples of Content SyndicationMeet Inman News ColumnistsPublish Our Content in PrintToolbox ReviewSyndication InquiryMembershipCareersContactNewsFree Daily HeadlinesRSS Feeds Syndication HomeRealtor braves frigid bay waters ... more than 80 timesPeople in Real Estate: Kathie HewkoBy Mary Umberger, Monday, April 25, 2011.Inman News™

Kathie Hewko. Photos courtesy of Mike Mooney, Inman News.

When someone suggested to Kathie Hewko in 1976 that she should try swimming across San Francisco Bay, she wasn't buying it.

"I said, 'Are you crazy? There are sharks out there and the water is freezing!' " she recalled.

Apparently, she got over it. On April 17 she completed her 80th swim across the bay and under the Golden Gate Bridge, reaching the tip of Marin County in about 30 minutes.

She hasn't encountered any sharks in the bay, she said. And as for the water temperature -- well, it is what it is. Fifty-one degrees Fahrenheit -- which was the temperature when she swam on April 17 -- is no big deal, she insists. She's seen colder.

"The first time I swam to Alcatraz Island, it was 45 (degrees), and that's about as cold as I've done," said Hewko, a Petaluma, Calif., real estate agent.

In sickness and in health, Hewko has been participating in organized, open-water swims for 35 years. In addition to the many 1.2-mile San Francisco Bay crossings -- that she refers to merely as "the Golden Gate" -- she has traversed the depths in many parts of the U.S., as well as in Canada and Europe.

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