Real estate news

• Silver Bay finalizes $252.2 million rental home acquisition

  01-04-2015 23:48
  
  Silver Bay Realty Trust announced the completion of the previously announced acquisition of more than 2,000 rental homes from The American Home. When Silver Bay first announced the transaction in February it called the deal a “transformational milestone” for the real estate investment trust.
  
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• Manhattan's Real-Estate Market Is Finally Cooling Off - New York Magazine

  01-04-2015 23:32
  
  New York Magazine
  Manhattan's Real-Estate Market Is Finally Cooling Off
  New York Magazine
  Perhaps the interminable winter is to blame, or the gradually expanding inventory. Or maybe sellers have overreached with their asking prices, lured by reports of record-breaking real-estate sales. Whatever the reason, prices for Manhattan properties ...and more »
  
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• Radian completes sale of Radian Asset to Assured Guaranty

  01-04-2015 23:31
  
  According to Assured Guaranty, the final purchase price for Radian Asset was $804.5 million, paid in cash. According to Radian, its net proceeds on the deal were $789 million, due to transaction-related expenses.
  
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• Multi-borrower single-family rental securitizations officially arrive

  01-04-2015 23:17
  
  It appears that a new asset class is quickly developing, borne out of the single-family rental asset class, which itself is less than two years old. Multi-borrower single-family rental securitizations are here.
  
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• Expected FICO changes to aid risky borrowers

  01-04-2015 23:07
  
  Borrowers with a bad credit history are getting a second chance in the mortgage game. Fair Isaac Corp. is supposed to announce a new credit score metric as soon as this week that will help borrowers who are regarded as too risky by some lenders obtain mortgages, credit cards and auto loans.
  
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• Sears expects $2.5 billion from real estate moves - Crain's Chicago Business

  01-04-2015 22:35
  Crain's Chicago Business
  Sears expects $2.5 billion from real estate moves
  Crain's Chicago Business
  (AP) — Sears Holdings said it plans to sell about 254 other properties to a real estate investment trust that it is creating and anticipates about $2.5 billion in proceeds from the sale. Sears anticipates distributing rights to acquire shares in the ...
  Sears Moves to Raise $2.5 Billion By Selling Real EstateWall Street Journal
  Struggling Sears to raise $2.5B from real-estate holdingsNew York P
  
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• Ninth Circuit Appellate Court upholds MERS ruling

  01-04-2015 22:18
  
  The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s judgment dismissing the borrower’s wrongful foreclosure claim against MERSCORP Holdings, the latest in an ongoing string of victories for the company. Here’s what happened.
  
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• HUD’s Castro to Realtors: We want alternatives to traditional credit scoring

  01-04-2015 22:04
  
  Several real estate trade groups spent Wednesday discussing the challenges that credit standards pose for access for some would-be borrowers and alternatives to traditional credit scoring. Good idea, or increasing the subprime risk?
  
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• Mortgage lending continues seismic shift from large banks to nonbanks

  01-04-2015 21:29
  
  A new study released by the American Enterprise Institute’s International Center on Housing Risk found that the seismic shift in home purchase loan originations away from large banks to nonbanks continued in February, and the mortgage risk is increasing.
  
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• Preqin: Real estate, venture capital fundraising up in quarter; private equity ... - Pensions & Investments

  01-04-2015 21:25
  Bidness ETC
  Preqin: Real estate, venture capital fundraising up in quarter; private equity ...
  Pensions & Investments
  Private real estate and venture capital fundraising were strong in the first quarter of 2015, while private equity funds saw the lowest number of fund closings for a quarter in more than 10 years, a series of Preqin reports said.
  Blackstone Group LP Raises Record Real-Estate FundsBidness ETC
  PE Real Estate Fundraising Hit $29B In Q1, Report FindsLaw360 (subscription)all 5 news a
  
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• Bucks real estate investor charged in mortgage fraud scheme - Philadelphia Business Journal

  01-04-2015 20:33
  
  Philadelphia Business Journal
  Bucks real estate investor charged in mortgage fraud scheme
  Philadelphia Business Journal
  An indictment was unsealed Wednesday accusing a Bucks County real estate investor in connection with an alleged mortgage fraud scheme, federal prosecutors in Philadelphia said. Dean Rossi, 49, of Warrington, Pa., who owned numerous low-income ...
  Warrington real estate investor charged with fraudBucks County Courier Timesall 5 news articles »
  
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• Best cities to play Pac-Man in Google Maps

  01-04-2015 19:45
  
  Think you’ve mastered Google Maps’ April Fools’ Day joke? Here are the 9 hardest cities to beat the game in, in order. And the city holding the number one spot as the hardest city is definitely not where you would expect.
  
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• Kansas City real estate company enters St. Louis market - St. Louis Business Journal

  01-04-2015 19:19
  
  Kansas City real estate company enters St. Louis market
  St. Louis Business Journal
  Less than a year after opening its second office, Kansas City-based Newmark Grubb Zimmer has opened a third — in St. Louis. Previously known as Zimmer Real Estate Services LC, the commercial real estate firm has long been headquartered in downtown ...
  
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• Real Estate Roundup: Industrial space goes to bikes and custom furniture - Portland Business Journal (blog)

  01-04-2015 19:16
  
  Portland Business Journal (blog)
  Real Estate Roundup: Industrial space goes to bikes and custom furniture
  Portland Business Journal (blog)
  Portland-based Cyclone Bicycle Supply has signed a lease for more than 16,000 square feet in Northwest Portland. Jon Bell: Staff Reporter- Portland Business Journal: Email | Twitter. Here's a look at some of the latest commercial real estate ...
  
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• Altisource Residential moves to pull more mortgage servicing from Ocwen

  01-04-2015 19:06
  
  Citing a desire to decrease its reliance on a single servicer and diversify its risk, Altisource Residential revealed plans to significantly decrease its commitment to Ocwen Financial in 2015. What does it mean for the future of Ocwen?
  
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• Petrochem, port improvements drive surge in industrial real estate - Houston Business Journal (blog)

  01-04-2015 18:45
  
  Houston Business Journal (blog)
  Petrochem, port improvements drive surge in industrial real estate
  Houston Business Journal (blog)
  A panel of experts weighed in on how improvements in the port and expansion of Gulf Coast petrochemical facilities will affect Houston's industrial real estate market. French inspired custom creation 15 photos ...
  
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• Here are the 3 basic requirements for any real estate company - HousingWire (blog)

  01-04-2015 18:41
  
  HousingWire (blog)
  Here are the 3 basic requirements for any real estate company
  HousingWire (blog)
  Opinion, commentary and analysis on everything that makes the U.S. housing economy tick -- not to mention the ghosts in the machine, too. Written by HW's team of editors and reporters each business day. Lending ...
  
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• Here are the 3 basic requirements for any real estate company

  01-04-2015 18:15
  
  The real estate market is evolving. Gone are the days of millions of distressed assets waiting to be serviced. What's left? A new emerging real estate market with a heavy focus on technology and compliance versus cost.
  
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• The week in real estate market reports - The Real Deal Magazine (blog)

  01-04-2015 18:11
  
  The week in real estate market reports
  The Real Deal Magazine (blog)
  The latest batch of reports from around the industry found that Brooklyn's retail corridors are expanding and sales volume for Manhattan office condos reached record levels in the second half of 2014. Residential. February 2015 Manhattan condo sales: ...
  
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• Mortgage technology will be ready to address TRID

  01-04-2015 18:00
  
  Maybe it’s the proximity to Disney’s Magic Kingdom, but at the Mortgage Bankers Association tech conference in Orlando this week I couldn’t help remembering futurist Arthur C. Clark’s third law of technology that says, ‘‘Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” But can technology magically solve the industry’s compliance challenges?
  
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• Mortgage industry embraces new CFPB mortgage toolkit

  01-04-2015 17:17
  
  The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday released a new toolkit that guides consumers through the process of shopping for a mortgage and buying a house, and the mortgage industry thinks it’s a good idea.
  
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• ADP: Employment grows by 189K

  01-04-2015 16:56
  
  Private sector employment grew by 189,000 jobs from February to March, coming in softer than predictions.
  
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• Auction.com: March to bring exciting spring selling season?

  01-04-2015 15:37
  
  Thanks to recent strong housing reports, Auction.com revised its March forecast for existing home sales to be slightly higher, giving the market a more positive outlook for the spring selling season.
  
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• Sanford Alderfer Real Estate opens second office in Harleysville - The Reporter

  01-04-2015 15:36
  
  Sanford Alderfer Real Estate opens second office in Harleysville
  The Reporter
  When founder Sanford A. Alderfer conducted his first real estate auction on Feb. 8, 1960, his office was located in his family home on Main Street in Harleysville with a sign hanging outside his front door. Now after 55 years of real estate services ...
  
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• Construction spending slips dragged down by drop in homebuilding

  01-04-2015 15:13
  
  Construction spending fell for the second month in a row in February, with single-family homebuilding effectively the biggest drag on the total. Here’s what happened.
  
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• Real Estate: REITs That Can Weather a Rising Rate Environment - Morningstar.com

  01-04-2015 13:34
  Real Estate: REITs That Can Weather a Rising Rate Environment
  Morningstar.com
  Rising interest rates could be a major valuation headwind for REITs, so investors should focus on moaty landlords with good growth prospects and attractive relative valuations. PrintCommentRecommend (0) ...and more »
  
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• Mortgage applications jump a solid 4.6%

  01-04-2015 13:00
  
  March rolled in like a lamb and strode out more like a lion – not exactly roaring, but certainly with more confidence and swagger. Here’s why there was a little roar.
  
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• Real Estate Matters | High-end upgrades may not return investment for FSBO ... - Washington Post (blog)

  01-04-2015 11:36
  
  Real Estate Matters | High-end upgrades may not return investment for FSBO ...
  Washington Post (blog)
  My husband and I built our home 11 years ago. Our home is 4,290 square feet and we have an additional 1,100-square-foot, covered, screened-in lanai. We built our home with resale in mind, and now that our children are grown and living journeys of their ...
  
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• Estate Planning Tips to Know After Robin Williams Saga

  01-04-2015 06:15
  
  Filed under: News, Celebrity Homes
  ZillowRobin Williams left his vineyard estate in Napa Valley to his three children. It is on the market for $25.9 million.On Monday, a judge gave the grieving children and widow of Robin Williams until June 1 to settle out of court their battle over items in his estate, eight months after the highly acclaimed actor died in August at his home in near Tiburon, California, of apparent suicide.Williams probably believed he had an airtight will and testament to sett
  
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• TILA-RESPA: Tick, tick, boom

  01-04-2015 06:01
  
  “We fear many lenders and title agents have been preconditioned by history to believe these changes are simply form changes, will be reversed, or the date will be moved — let alone implement an actual solution,” said Mark McElroy, president and CEO of Pavaso.
  
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• Programming for Integrated Disclosures

  01-04-2015 06:01
  
  Advancing to the end of the mortgage process and beyond closing, both the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure must be compliant (and defensible) to the end investor. Given the ambiguities within so many of the rules applicable to both forms, it is important to have a way to defend the programming logic used to define the output.
  
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• Ocwen's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year

  01-04-2015 06:01
  
  “The existence and pervasiveness of these issues raise critical questions about Ocwen’s ability to perform its core function of servicing loans.” Lawsky said in the letter that in light of these serious issues and the likelihood that thousands of new, inaccurate records are created with each passing day, Ocwen has not approached this problem with the urgency it demands.
  
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• MERS upheld

  01-04-2015 06:01
  
  "If you look at what we do, fundamentally, MERS is the mortgagee on behalf of the investor and its assigns, it’s not a whole lot more complicated than that. And that role as an agent is well rooted in the laws of this country. So when you get down to it, and when we get challenged, we typically prevail. We simply take away all the clutter and present what we do, and what the laws actually say, and we get there," MERS CEO Beckmann said in an exclusive profile only in HousingWire magazine.
  
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• Interview: Jennifer Miller of a la mode

  01-04-2015 06:01
  
  “A lot of people my age, they got into computers and then became hackers. It was never like that for me — it was more of a study, where I would just kind of learn from books.” Jennifer’s interest in math and computer science would prove to be the driving force for the rest of her life; she just didn’t know it yet.
  
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• Hot Seat: Garrett Clayton of AmCap Mortgage

  01-04-2015 06:01
  
  With more and more borrowers wanting to use smartphones and/or tablets to complete their loan applications, we’ve developed a software that enables an easy and safe way for our borrowers to submit their application while on the go. Although leveraging technology as a whole plays a large part in satisfying borrowers’ needs, there is no replacement for quality loan originators effectively communicating with AmCap’s borrowers.
  
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• High-tech demand: How far behind is the mortgage industry?

  01-04-2015 06:01
  
  “Though I hear them repeatedly, today’s remarks made me say yet again, ‘Are you kidding me?!’ The mortgage industry is so far behind in meeting the consumer’s demand for technology, and it appears that there are very few who care. For some to state that technology will simply ‘weed out weak originators’ is reflective of how disconnected the industry really is from technology and the demand of their consumers."
  
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• Dodd-Frank fails again

  01-04-2015 06:01
  
  Ladies and gentlemen, it’s been some time since the mortgage bond world felt shaken to the core. But shaken, right now, it feels, according to several recent conversations I’ve had on the subject.
  
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• Company Spotlight: ClosingCorp

  01-04-2015 06:01
  
  “The fact that ClosingCorp owns and operates the nation’s largest database of actual closing costs from nearly 20,000 service providers, gives lenders an edge, because they can quote accurately and quickly using automation. It also gives title and real estate professionals a competitive edge to market and win new business,” Benson said.
  
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• Avoiding RESPA kickback violations in the social media age

  01-04-2015 06:01
  
  The CFPB is currently paying close attention tothe individuals/small players, as well as the larger institutional mortgage companies. With respect to the small players, the CFPB is looking at the loan officer, real estate agent and developer. A common violation that these smaller firms or individuals commit, in addition to possible violations resulting from social media posts, stems from agreements among themselves.
  
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• Portsmouth considers hefty real estate tax hike - 13newsnow.com

  01-04-2015 01:39
  
  13newsnow.com
  Portsmouth considers hefty real estate tax hike
  13newsnow.com
  Mayor Kenny Wright is vowing to fight a hefty proposed hefty real estate tax aimed at filling gaps in the budget. Mayor Wright said he was "surprised" at the recommendation. Loading… Post to Facebook. Portsmouth considers hefty real estate tax hike ...
  
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