15 Kasım 2007 Perşembe

150 Million Dollar Condo Deal at New York Cities “The Mark”



New York real estate developer, no not Donald Trump, Leonard Blavanik has reportedly gone to contract on a triplex condo in the Upper East Side condo “The Mark” in New York City. The deal would be the highest price real estate transaction in the country for the year.

The triplex is reported to be 30,000 square feet with 23 bedrooms and 25 bathrooms. If this is not all, the condo has a four thousand square feet of patio space. Encompassing 3 stories this must be one majestic property.

The prospective purchaser, sources say, is real-estate magnate Leonard Blavatnik, who is worth $7.2 billion, according to Forbes magazine.
The price would be twice as large as the previous record listing in New York City, and nearly $50 million more than last year’s sale of the De Menil estate in East Hampton, believed to be the priciest residential transaction in the country.
“It’s hard to imagine there’s a real-estate slump when a number like that is being bandied about,” said one wide-eyed real-estate agent. “What could possibly be next.”
The famed hotel at 25 E. 77th St., between Madison and Fifth avenues, is undergoing a gut renovation that, in addition to hotel rooms, will include residential suites and apartments

Top 10 Hottest Housing Markets in The United States

So the housing market is in the dumps, is it? These 10 communities in the country are telling a completely different story as housing costs are going up. Never forget that while there are macro trends in real estate they do not affect all communities equally. The media will lump this nebulous concept of real estate into 1 big bucket because it makes things easy for them, but do not get sucked into their malaise.

Every real estate market is different, and in each real estate market you will have hundreds of micro trends. If the people in Salt Lake City were listening to the media they would be giving their homes away, but instead they are enjoying a 21 percent increase in value.

You should take that as a lesson and find out exactly what is happening in your town or city before listing, you maybe surprised that the bleak news coming from your television bears no resemblance to the reality of the realty market.


Top 10 Hottest Housing Markets in The United States

Salt Lake City, Utah
Median Home Price: $233,100
One-Year Increase: 21.9%
Binghamton, N.Y.
Median Home Price: $111,200
One-Year Increase: 19.8%
Salem, Ore.
Median Home Price: $227,900
One-Year Increase: 16.7%
Farmington, N.M.
Median Home Price: 201,900
One-Year Increase: 14.0%
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, Pa.-N.J.
Median Home Price: $274,500
One-Year Increase: 12.8%
Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas
Median Home Price: $127,700
One-Year Increase: 11.8%
Reading, Pa.
Median Home Price: $157,800
One-Year Increase: 11.2%
Glens Falls, N.Y.
Median Home Price: $175,700
One-Year Increase: 10.7%
Spokane, Wash.
Median Home Price: $197,700
One-Year Increase: 10.4%
Cumberland, Md.-W.Va.
Median Home Price: $109,300
One-Year Increase: 9.3%

Top 10 Hottest Housing Markets in The United States

So the housing market is in the dumps, is it? These 10 communities in the country are telling a completely different story as housing costs are going up. Never forget that while there are macro trends in real estate they do not affect all communities equally. The media will lump this nebulous concept of real estate into 1 big bucket because it makes things easy for them, but do not get sucked into their malaise.

Every real estate market is different, and in each real estate market you will have hundreds of micro trends. If the people in Salt Lake City were listening to the media they would be giving their homes away, but instead they are enjoying a 21 percent increase in value.

You should take that as a lesson and find out exactly what is happening in your town or city before listing, you maybe surprised that the bleak news coming from your television bears no resemblance to the reality of the realty market.


Top 10 Hottest Housing Markets in The United States

Salt Lake City, Utah
Median Home Price: $233,100
One-Year Increase: 21.9%
Binghamton, N.Y.
Median Home Price: $111,200
One-Year Increase: 19.8%
Salem, Ore.
Median Home Price: $227,900
One-Year Increase: 16.7%
Farmington, N.M.
Median Home Price: 201,900
One-Year Increase: 14.0%
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, Pa.-N.J.
Median Home Price: $274,500
One-Year Increase: 12.8%
Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas
Median Home Price: $127,700
One-Year Increase: 11.8%
Reading, Pa.
Median Home Price: $157,800
One-Year Increase: 11.2%
Glens Falls, N.Y.
Median Home Price: $175,700
One-Year Increase: 10.7%
Spokane, Wash.
Median Home Price: $197,700
One-Year Increase: 10.4%
Cumberland, Md.-W.Va.
Median Home Price: $109,300
One-Year Increase: 9.3%

Blackstone See’s Dip in Real Estate Revenue, Posts Loss For 3rd Quarter

A softer real estate market has affected The Blackstone Groups earnings for the 3rd quarter. Revenue from the real estate division were down nearly 50 percent from 2006 as the company brought in only 109 million. After the buyout of Office Equity and Hilton Hotels, the company is digesting the purchases in a softer commercial market. The company recorded a loss for the quarter of 113 million with most of the expense attributed to the IPO earlier this year.

“Gains in the portfolio were down this quarter compared to last year, because the real estate market isn’t seeing the same sort of price appreciation as last year,” said Stephen Schwarzman, Blackstone’s chairman & CEO, during this morning’s conference call about the company’s third quarter returns. “Indeed, commercial real estate prices are softer in general.”

Nevertheless, Schwarzman put an optimistic spin on things, saying that Blackstone’s portfolio is doing comparatively well. “In major cities on the coasts, commercial rents are increasing,” he said. “In the hotel market, RevPAR (revenue per available room) is holding up, and replacement costs are still rising, with the cost of construction going up.”

Schwarzman also made a point to say that Blackstone owns “very little housing assets–less than half a percent of the total.” That comment came not long after he said that “the mortgage black hole is worse than anyone thought–deeper, darker and scarier than what the banks thought.”

Indiana Offering Free Foreclosure Counseling For Homeowners in Financial Trouble



The Midwest has been mired in a mini recession as manufacturing jobs are leaving the region in droves. Home prices have remained stagnant for a number of years and many homeowners face foreclosure on a regular basis. The state of Indiana has come up with a new program for homeowners that are worried about foreclosure.

Indiana’s new program, “Don’t Let the Walls Foreclose in on You.” is designed to give information to families facing foreclosure and offer free counseling to them before they lose their house. Many times people get into a state of denial when foreclosures loom instead of taking the steps to work things out with the lender. Options that could have saved the house are left on the table and the homeowner loses the property when all participants would have preferred to work something out.

To help financially troubled homeowners, brochures and posters are being distributed urging Hoosiers to call the state’s help line — 877-GET-HOPE — for free mortgage foreclosure counseling, or to visit its Web site, www.877gethope.org.
So many Hoosiers’ American dream of owning a home has become a nightmare that a legislative panel was assigned to study the issue last summer. That panel has now reached consensus on dozens of recommendations to help homeowners that will be detailed in a new report.
The work by the Interim Study Committee on Mortgage Lending Practices and Home Loan Foreclosures was aimed at helping Indiana residents avoid making mistakes when they borrow money to buy a home. via IndyStar.com.

If this program works out it will be interesting to see if it is replicated by other states. The investment in programs like this make sense for the state as property taxes decrease along with property values the more foreclosure occur in an area.

11 Newspaper Companies Partner with Real Estate Giant Zillow.com



Zillow is fast working on becoming the DE facto portal for the online industry. Their latest stab at online dominance is partnering with the 282 newspapers to provide the online listing information and other housing information online. This is a wise move for Zillow as it will further brand the portal in the minds of buyers and sellers as the place to start the real estate sales process online.

What these newspapers give up is their dominant position in the online world for real estate in their local markets. With an estimated 80 percent of home searches started online, very few people are looking in the newspapers for real estate information these days. The pressure to use newspaper classified advertising comes mainly from sellers wanting it as part of the marketing package, not the agents as it is lost dollars due to the utter ineffectiveness of newspaper marketing in selling a home.

So even as Zillow will be a player in a declining market now, they will be sucking the last vestiges of life out of the market for their partner newspapers. One of the benefits for the newspapers is that when people do a Google search for real estate in their local market, they do fairly well. Now they have essentially co-opted their search engine optimization to Zillow and taken themselves out of the online market even further.

Instead of holding the top position for real estate searches online in their local markets and generating traffic and advertising revenue the newspapers will now see Zillow as the top position on Google diverting traffic from their sites. With Zillow developing their brand as they have and the local newspaper giving up their dominant position, all they will see is declining online traffic to match their declining readership in the real estate niche.

Just another reason for real estate agents to tell their clients that they will not pay the high advertising fees to be in a newspaper and just go to Zillow directly. Which I am sure in Zillow’s long term plan.

Is it time for the evil cackle to be heard coming out of Seattle?

Eleven newspapers companies are involved in this partnership, which is an extension of the Yahoo alliance. The companies are the following: Hearst Newspapers, Lee Enterprises, Media General, MediaNews Group, Morris Communications, Paddock Publications, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, E.W. Scripps, Times-Shamrock Communications, Journal Register Co., and the Day Publishing Co.

“We are honored that this consortium of newspaper companies has chosen Zillow as the partner to fast-track their presence in the digital real estate world,” Lloyd Frink, president of Zillow, said in a statement. “Research shows that 80% of home buyers use the Internet in the home-buying process.” via Editor and Publisher

Homes.com and Harmon Homes Magazine Merge To Capitalize On Consumers Move to Internet

We have long followed the transition from real estate marketing from print to online and the leader of the online real estate reporting, Inman News, has the scoop on Dominion Enterprises consolidation. Harmon Homes is the ubiquitous home sales magazine found in every supermarket and Chinese restaurant, or at that is where I see them in Atlanta. Homes.com is Dominion’s online brand. The two will merge and combine forces under the Homes.com brand which will help drive traffic to the website for the listings in the book.

This is a smart move, the cost of production for the web properties is next to nothing and real estate agents are moving away from print advertising to the web where the customers are. This way they can move Harmon into the web side and reduce the risk as the market for print advertising subsides all the time allowing the sales force in place to sell Homes.com.

It is great to see a company “get it”.

As a result of the merger, every real estate advertisement placed in any one of the more than 130 now-rebranded Homes.com free print publications also will be displayed on the Homes.com Web site as a basic listing, according to a press statement.
“Integrating Harmon Homes into Homes.com creates a national portal with a neighborhood presence,” Jamie Clymer, vice president and general manager of Homes.com, said in a statement. “We have created an easier path for home buyers to use both print and online resources to find the information they need. This uniquely robust user experience provides consumers in-depth property information and links buyers directly to brokers and agents.” via Inman Real Estate News

Want To Sell A Property? Include a Floor Plan



Living in suburbia and being a housing junkie, I am always amazed at how rarely homes for resale do not include a floorplan in their marketing efforts. Looking at new construction, these builders almost always have a floorplan available for their clients. Think they are not in the business of selling homes?

But a typical real estate agent will never get near a floor plan in their marketing information. I am sure that this has to do with liability and disclosure, but if I am a buyer, I want to see the whole package. I want to know what I am buying, not a well laid out picture that is enticing but does not tell me about the space I will be in for the next 10 years.

So why are floor plans not included? Are you going to think the client will not notice a lack of closet space when they look at a home? Show them the home upfront and you will be amazed at how many more people will be interested instead of guessing what the property may be, they know what it is.

The builders sure have, and also those who sell apartments in New York.

A floor plan shows the entire unit, not just part of it. In other words, floor plans reveal what photographs often do not: the proportions of rooms, the number of rooms and the traffic flows among them. A buyer can instantly see, for instance, if the kitchen is conveniently situated near the dining room, whether bedrooms open directly onto the living room or whether a trip to the bathroom will involve a walk through a bedroom.
“When you look at a floor plan, it is the apartment standing there naked,” said Gerald Makowski, director of marketing at Halstead Property.
Floor plans are starting to move into three dimensions, a real help for those who have trouble visualizing physical space. Some developers show elevation plans, where you can pick a floor from the side view of a building and then highlight a particular unit. More customization is likely as technology improves.
Outside New York, however, floor plans are rarely used as marketing tools by brokers who are reselling houses, although they are more likely to be used by builders of housing developments, who include floor plans as one of the many tools on their Web sites.

Terabitz Creates Digital Dashboard For Real Estate Transactions

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Entries Tagged 'Real Estate Technology' ↓
Great Primer for Real Estate Professional on Data Back Ups
August 7th, 2007 — Real Estate Technology

Face it, we all could improve our data backup procedures. Fortunately, Brian Davis at Appraisal Scoop has done an amazing post on data backups for appraisers. The focus may be on appraisers and their needs, but the primer could be used for anyone in the real estate business.

Brian goes through the different online backup solutions and provides a great dissection of the pro’s and con’s of the software alternatives. While it is not a topic that gets you all excited, it may be the motivator that will save you a huge heartache in the future.

Brian’s article on Backing Up Data for Appraisers.

Tags: back+up+data
3 Comments

Apartments.com and Yahoo Real Estate Join Forces
July 31st, 2007 — Real Estate Internet, Real Estate Technology

Apartments.com and Yahoo Real Estate signed an agreement to have Apartments.com as their featured apartment listing provider for the online service. The agreement brings over 3 million apartments into Yahoo Real Estate’s portfolio.

One thing I do like about Apartments.com approach is they do not have registration process to view the apartments. Many of the players in the apartment space still try to get demographic and contact information from you to view their inventory. Most renters using these services are fairly savvy so I am sure that the information given is not of the best quality. Those 103 year old renters that are looking for college apartments with a lively party pool are way to common.

“We are excited about the opportunity to bring together two leading destinations in online real estate, and offer a valuable service to both renters and property managers looking to fill vacancies,” said Kevin Doyle, senior vice president and general manager of Apartments.com. “By enabling Yahoo! Real Estate’s users to access our detailed and visual listings data, Apartments.com can build on our goal to reach renters across the country. In doing so, we will provide even more highly qualified leads to our advertisers, thus reducing the cost for an apartment community to fill a vacancy.” via the Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Tags: Apartment.com, Yahoo+Real+Estate, Online+Real+Estate
No Comments

Dubai Real Estate Institute To Develop Programs With USC
July 31st, 2007 — Real Estate Technology

One thing about real estate in Dubai is they do not do things halfway. When they build their buildings the results are world class. Now to increase the level of real estate education, the Dubai Real Estate Institute has joined forces with the noted School of Planning and Development at the University of Southern California.

USC’s school is considered one of the top institutes in the country for real estate and development education and this should help Dubai build their leaders of tomorrow and create and deeper pool of talent in the developing country.

Dubai Real Estate Institute, the region’s first academic institute for real estate studies, yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding with the School of Planning and Development at the University of Southern California in the US. They will work jointly to offer academic as well as executive education programmes and professional training in real estate to address pressing issues in the industry and offer cutting edge ideas and approaches. In addition, the cooperation will extend to cover important research initiatives in the region. via Gulfnews

Tags: Dubai, USC, Development
No Comments

Burj Dubai Becomes World’s Tallest Building
July 21st, 2007 — Real Estate Technology

Burj Dubai has officially become the world’s tallest building after passing the Taipei 101 at 1,680 feet. What once was a small trading town, Dubai is now the center of the universe for new and exotic construction.



Burj Dubai, a tower rising in the booming Gulf emirate, has become the tallest building in the world at 512.1 metres (1,680 feet), surpassing Taiwan’s Taipei 101 which is 508 metres (1,667 feet) tall, developers Emaar said Saturday.
Burj Dubai, or Dubai Tower, now has 141 storeys, more than any other building in the world, Emaar Properties said in a statement.
The skyscraper, scheduled for completion in 2008, is one of a string of grandiose projects taking shape in Dubai, which is part of the United Arab Emirates. via Yahoo! News

Tags: worlds+tallest+building, birj+dubai, burj+dubai, burj+dubia
1 Comment

Terabitz Creates Digital Dashboard For Real Estate Transactions
July 17th, 2007 — Real Estate Technology

Terabitz, new player in the online real estate world, is taking a new tact with it’s 10 million dollar financing package. The company has created a digital dashboard application to help manage all of the facets included in moving to a new home or apartment. Instead of being a one way data source, Terabitz is looking to provide a drag and drop environment for managing all of the information that you will need when you move.

It is an interesting concept and I think it will have legs for the younger set of internet mavens, but for a site that has the potential to be plug and play and easy to use, it still inundates with data. I think if they gave the user a simple wizard to walk through to get started the application would have a better success rate where people could then manipulate the data to their specifications while having a baseline.

In a press release, Terabitz says that its service will do for online real estate what TiVo did for television, eBay did for auctions and iTunes did for music. It also takes a swipe at Zillow, the Seattle online home valuation service that has raised $57 million to date.
“People need an easy way to manage the dozens of sources of information that comprise a move. Companies such as Zillow have attempted to solve this problem, but offer only single, narrow solutions,” says Chief Executive Ashfaq Munshi, the former chief executive of Level5 Networks and father of Kamran Munshi.
The company says its site, which can be customized by each user, will include property listings as well as neighborhood information related to hospitals, libraries, theaters, restaurants and crime statistics. Users can drag information — say fast food restaurants, for sale listings or cafes — into an online workspace.
That information can then be loaded onto a Google Map, so a user could see how close a home is to a McDonald’s (shown as a hamburger icon), an elementary school (shown as a yellow sign), a cafe (shown as a coffee cup) or other neighborhood businesses. Along with homes from the MLS, the site also integrates property listings from CraigsList and Google. It also offers the tax assessment for each property and notes comparable homes that have sold nearby. via John Cook’s

Terabitz Creates Digital Dashboard For Real Estate Transactions

home
archives
about
sitemap
Entries Tagged 'Real Estate Technology' ↓
Great Primer for Real Estate Professional on Data Back Ups
August 7th, 2007 — Real Estate Technology

Face it, we all could improve our data backup procedures. Fortunately, Brian Davis at Appraisal Scoop has done an amazing post on data backups for appraisers. The focus may be on appraisers and their needs, but the primer could be used for anyone in the real estate business.

Brian goes through the different online backup solutions and provides a great dissection of the pro’s and con’s of the software alternatives. While it is not a topic that gets you all excited, it may be the motivator that will save you a huge heartache in the future.

Brian’s article on Backing Up Data for Appraisers.

Tags: back+up+data
3 Comments

Apartments.com and Yahoo Real Estate Join Forces
July 31st, 2007 — Real Estate Internet, Real Estate Technology

Apartments.com and Yahoo Real Estate signed an agreement to have Apartments.com as their featured apartment listing provider for the online service. The agreement brings over 3 million apartments into Yahoo Real Estate’s portfolio.

One thing I do like about Apartments.com approach is they do not have registration process to view the apartments. Many of the players in the apartment space still try to get demographic and contact information from you to view their inventory. Most renters using these services are fairly savvy so I am sure that the information given is not of the best quality. Those 103 year old renters that are looking for college apartments with a lively party pool are way to common.

“We are excited about the opportunity to bring together two leading destinations in online real estate, and offer a valuable service to both renters and property managers looking to fill vacancies,” said Kevin Doyle, senior vice president and general manager of Apartments.com. “By enabling Yahoo! Real Estate’s users to access our detailed and visual listings data, Apartments.com can build on our goal to reach renters across the country. In doing so, we will provide even more highly qualified leads to our advertisers, thus reducing the cost for an apartment community to fill a vacancy.” via the Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Tags: Apartment.com, Yahoo+Real+Estate, Online+Real+Estate
No Comments

Dubai Real Estate Institute To Develop Programs With USC
July 31st, 2007 — Real Estate Technology

One thing about real estate in Dubai is they do not do things halfway. When they build their buildings the results are world class. Now to increase the level of real estate education, the Dubai Real Estate Institute has joined forces with the noted School of Planning and Development at the University of Southern California.

USC’s school is considered one of the top institutes in the country for real estate and development education and this should help Dubai build their leaders of tomorrow and create and deeper pool of talent in the developing country.

Dubai Real Estate Institute, the region’s first academic institute for real estate studies, yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding with the School of Planning and Development at the University of Southern California in the US. They will work jointly to offer academic as well as executive education programmes and professional training in real estate to address pressing issues in the industry and offer cutting edge ideas and approaches. In addition, the cooperation will extend to cover important research initiatives in the region. via Gulfnews

Tags: Dubai, USC, Development
No Comments

Burj Dubai Becomes World’s Tallest Building
July 21st, 2007 — Real Estate Technology

Burj Dubai has officially become the world’s tallest building after passing the Taipei 101 at 1,680 feet. What once was a small trading town, Dubai is now the center of the universe for new and exotic construction.



Burj Dubai, a tower rising in the booming Gulf emirate, has become the tallest building in the world at 512.1 metres (1,680 feet), surpassing Taiwan’s Taipei 101 which is 508 metres (1,667 feet) tall, developers Emaar said Saturday.
Burj Dubai, or Dubai Tower, now has 141 storeys, more than any other building in the world, Emaar Properties said in a statement.
The skyscraper, scheduled for completion in 2008, is one of a string of grandiose projects taking shape in Dubai, which is part of the United Arab Emirates. via Yahoo! News

Tags: worlds+tallest+building, birj+dubai, burj+dubai, burj+dubia
1 Comment

Terabitz Creates Digital Dashboard For Real Estate Transactions
July 17th, 2007 — Real Estate Technology

Terabitz, new player in the online real estate world, is taking a new tact with it’s 10 million dollar financing package. The company has created a digital dashboard application to help manage all of the facets included in moving to a new home or apartment. Instead of being a one way data source, Terabitz is looking to provide a drag and drop environment for managing all of the information that you will need when you move.

It is an interesting concept and I think it will have legs for the younger set of internet mavens, but for a site that has the potential to be plug and play and easy to use, it still inundates with data. I think if they gave the user a simple wizard to walk through to get started the application would have a better success rate where people could then manipulate the data to their specifications while having a baseline.

In a press release, Terabitz says that its service will do for online real estate what TiVo did for television, eBay did for auctions and iTunes did for music. It also takes a swipe at Zillow, the Seattle online home valuation service that has raised $57 million to date.
“People need an easy way to manage the dozens of sources of information that comprise a move. Companies such as Zillow have attempted to solve this problem, but offer only single, narrow solutions,” says Chief Executive Ashfaq Munshi, the former chief executive of Level5 Networks and father of Kamran Munshi.
The company says its site, which can be customized by each user, will include property listings as well as neighborhood information related to hospitals, libraries, theaters, restaurants and crime statistics. Users can drag information — say fast food restaurants, for sale listings or cafes — into an online workspace.
That information can then be loaded onto a Google Map, so a user could see how close a home is to a McDonald’s (shown as a hamburger icon), an elementary school (shown as a yellow sign), a cafe (shown as a coffee cup) or other neighborhood businesses. Along with homes from the MLS, the site also integrates property listings from CraigsList and Google. It also offers the tax assessment for each property and notes comparable homes that have sold nearby. via John Cook’s

Dubai Real Estate Institute To Develop Programs With USC

One thing about real estate in Dubai is they do not do things halfway. When they build their buildings the results are world class. Now to increase the level of real estate education, the Dubai Real Estate Institute has joined forces with the noted School of Planning and Development at the University of Southern California.

USC’s school is considered one of the top institutes in the country for real estate and development education and this should help Dubai build their leaders of tomorrow and create and deeper pool of talent in the developing country.

Dubai Real Estate Institute, the region’s first academic institute for real estate studies, yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding with the School of Planning and Development at the University of Southern California in the US. They will work jointly to offer academic as well as executive education programmes and professional training in real estate to address pressing issues in the industry and offer cutting edge ideas and approaches. In addition, the cooperation will extend to cover important research initiatives in the region. via Gulfnews

Apartments.com and Yahoo Real Estate Join Forces

Apartments.com and Yahoo Real Estate signed an agreement to have Apartments.com as their featured apartment listing provider for the online service. The agreement brings over 3 million apartments into Yahoo Real Estate’s portfolio.

One thing I do like about Apartments.com approach is they do not have registration process to view the apartments. Many of the players in the apartment space still try to get demographic and contact information from you to view their inventory. Most renters using these services are fairly savvy so I am sure that the information given is not of the best quality. Those 103 year old renters that are looking for college apartments with a lively party pool are way to common.