Archives Admin User

23February

Big Money REO/Rental Initiatives Launched Waypoint | GI Partners Launch Expansion Initiative

Big money REO RentalLarge scale real estate firms are forming alliances to fund expansive purchases of real estate owned (REO) properties. On Wednesday, January 11, Waypoint Real Estate Group and GI Partners announced that “GI has made a significant equity investment in Waypoint to fund its expansion.  The GI investment will initially enable the acquisition of more than $250 million in single-family rental homes, and is anticipated to ultimately support the acquisition of more than $1 billion in single-family rental homes over the next two years.”  The press release details were reported in an article by Yahoo! Finance.

Waypoint, founded in 2008, has reportedly purchased nearly 1000 housing units near the San Francisco Bay Area and the Inland Empire in Southern California.  Waypoint buys and renovates distressed properties and leases them to tenants. This alliance will enable Waypoint to take its business model national.

Carrington and Oaktree Launch Initiative

One week after the Waypoint/GI launch announcement, (Wednesday, January 18) another major expansion campaign was launched.  “Carrington Holding Company LLC., announced that it has entered into an agreement with certain investment funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. that will fund an initial purchase of up to $450 million in distressed single-family homes across the country.” The announcement was published in an issue of DSNews.com in a story by Carrie Bay.

Carrington Holding Company LLC manages “over 3000 single-family rental homes” as the manager of Fannie Mae’s Tenant-in-Place and Deed-for-Lease programs.

Carrington Founder and CEO, Bruce Rose, stated that “We believe that reducing the number of distressed properties for sale will stabilize home prices and help neighborhoods that have been damaged by foreclosures begin the restoration process.”

For additional information, please join us at FirstPrestonHT.com or on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

21February

Freddie Mac Begins the Year with ‘Cautious Optimism’

  • Comments Off on Freddie Mac Begins the Year with ‘Cautious Optimism’

Freddie Mac - Housing MarketFreddie Mac’s chief economist, Frank Nothaft, recently released the GSE’s “U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook for January.”  The report is positive and predicts modest, but steady growth.  The key points as presented in a DSNews.com article are:

  1. According to a survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association, “80 percent of households say now is a good time to purchase a home…”  However, only “7.6 percent say now is a good time to sell.”
  2. Mr. Nothaft expects “a 2 percent to 5 percent increase in home sales in 2012 amid moderate economic growth over the year.”
  3. “There are some positive signs in the job market and consumer confidence; housing is starting to raise hopes for continued gradual economic recovery.”
  4. “The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index posted its highest rate since April at the end of the year—64.5.”
  5. “The housing market finished the year with seasonally subdued prices, rising home sales in November, and a decline in inventory to a six to seven-month supply.”
  6. “Freddie Mac expects the economy to grow about 2.1 percent over the first quarter of this year and real gross domestic product growth to total 2.7 percent for the year.”

The report noted counter-balancing concerns, including the fact that December’s job growth and consumer confidence levels may be seasonal and therefore could be reversed in January.

Overall key indicators demonstrate positive movement in a positive direction. For the first time in a long time, economists and analysts are cautiously using the words “gradual economic recovery.”

For additional information, please join us at FirstPrestonHT.com or on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

16February

First Preston HT Spotlighted for Innovation

  • Comments Off on First Preston HT Spotlighted for Innovation
Giants of Innovation

Nancy T. Richards and Lisa Barrentine

First Preston HT is honored to be included in Giants of Innovation, a publication released by HousingWire magazine on January 25 as part of the 2012 American Securitization Forum Conference.

First Preston HT, led by Founder and Chairman, Nancy Tartaglino Richards, and President, Lisa Barrentine, were recognized for their patented Lender Center™ platform, a cloud-based solution linking lenders to their loan servicer network and incorporating the unique property conveyance guidelines of each lender.  In use by 98 mortgage servicing institutions, the system has supported 3.8 million government-insured loans to date, streamlining the process for receiving and responding to servicer requests for approval of property preservation expenses.

Lender Center™ increases efficiency and quality by reducing the resubmission rate of requests on average by over 70% and significantly decreasing the response time for property preservation responses from ten to two days.

“We create the solutions and services to help our clients achieve their goals. Lender Center™ delivers the efficiency, transparency, cost savings and auditable review that are essential in today’s business environment,” according to Richards.

The Giants of Innovation publication is being distributed to mortgage servicers, lenders and investors.”  An online version will be made available at a later date. For more information contact HousingWire.

For additional information, please join us at FirstPrestonHT.com or on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

9February

Phoenix Leads the Nation – Rising To Recovery

  • Comments Off on Phoenix Leads the Nation – Rising To Recovery

Phoenix Housing MarketAt its most extreme point, the Phoenix housing market value was down 55 percent with over two-thirds of homeowners underwater. The state lost an estimated 324,000 jobs in three years, of which approximately 33 percent were in construction, according to Lee McPheters, Director of Arizona State’s JPMorgan Chase Economic Outlook Center.  The Phoenix metro area endured five years of decline before realizing an astounding turnaround. According to S&P/Case Shiller, the Phoenix metropolitan area was the “only gainer” amid 20 markets surveyed in October 2011.

Market dynamics appear to have purged Phoenix of its glut of REO and other residential inventory. Sales rose in November for the twelfth straight month on a year-over-year basis, according to stats from DataQuick.  A staggering nine percent increase in property value is projected for this year, according to Alex Villacorta, director of research at Clear Capital, Inc., a real estate data firm.

Pending foreclosure rates in Mariposa County (Phoenix area) have declined by almost two-thirdsin two years, said Mike Orr, publisher of the Cromford Report, a local housing service in the Phoenix area.  In December, first-time foreclosure filings in Arizona fell 41 percent from the previous month to the lowest since 2007, according to data from RealtyTrac Inc.

The recovery has been fueled by Canadian buyers and the expansion of the economic infrastructure from primarily real estate construction to growth industries such as healthcare and semiconductor manufacturing. Growth in these industries is creating construction demand resulting in a 66 percent forecasted increase in single family construction permits in 2012.

Companies like American Residential Properties LLC, have played a role in reducing vacant property inventories.  According to Laurie Hawkes, president of the Phoenix-based American Residential Properties LLC, said her company has purchased 800 area homes and is now teaming up on a proposal to purchase Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac properties and manage them as rentals. “Phoenix appears to be leading the nation in terms of major metropolitan areas that are recovering,” Hawkes said. “It’s considerably faster than many people thought.”

The comeback story was written by Dan Levy and John Gittelsohn and published by Bloomberg on January 18. It was also featured in The Vancouver Sun on January 19.  The first segment of the article showcases the perspective of a specific Canadian investor who laments that “Now you can’t bargain nearly as much.”

For additional information, please join us at FirstPrestonHT.com or on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

7February

Housing Industry Projections Bullish for 2012

Housing Industry Projections Bullish for 2012Two major economists expect big gains in housing in 2012.  David Crowe, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders, published his forecast calling for a 17% increase in housing starts overall and 17% increase in single-family starts as well. Crowe anticipates a “significant increase” in new home sales in 2013.

An even more optimistic view is from Moody’s Analytics, as published by Julie Schmit at USA Today.  Moody’s predicts that “existing home sales will rise 12% this year, and new home sales, coming off a horrid year, will jump 74% this year.”

Moody’s is upbeat about single-family housing starts, forecasting that “they will rise 37% this year, after falling 9% last year.”

The preceding thumbnail recaps were compiled and reported by Calculated Risk, a noteworthy finance and economics analyst firm, via their blog at calculatedriskblog.com.

Are you bullish or bearish on this year’s projected housing trends? What do you think of the projections of the analysts?

For additional information, please join us at FirstPrestonHT.com or on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

3February

Wells Fargo Seeks to “Lift” Atlanta, Los Angeles Homebuyer Prospects

  • Comments Off on Wells Fargo Seeks to “Lift” Atlanta, Los Angeles Homebuyer Prospects

Wells Fargo First Preston HTHomebuyers who are on the fence may soon find reason to buy a house. Wells Fargo recently made headlines by announcing plans to launch “Neighborhood LIFT”.

According to a Krista Franks DSNews article, “The bank established a goal of lending $10.5 billion to Los Angeles homebuyers and $1.3 billion to Atlanta buyers. In addition, Wells Fargo designated $15 million to assist homeowners with down payments in Los Angeles and $8 million in Atlanta.”

Launch plans call for two-day events to “bring important resources and information to prospective homebuyers” according to Franks.

DS News indicated that the Los Angeles event is set for “February 3 and 4.” The Atlanta launch is scheduled for “February 10 and 11.”

Important details for consumers, real estate professionals and non-profit organizations can be found at NeighborhoodLift.com.

For additional information, please join us at FirstPrestonHT.com or on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

2February

Price Gains Predicted for 50 Major Metro Markets

Price Gains Predicted for 50 Major Metro MarketsClear Capital’s latest monthly Home Data Index™ indicates market stability is forecasted for 2012. If prices turn upward as predicted, this will be the “first time since 2006 that the change in annual home prices has landed in positive territory.” DSNews.com published a recap of the study on January 8.

The major metro markets that have seen some of the most extreme pricing swings are:

2011 Positive Price Growth:

  1. Dayton, OH     11.5%
  2. Orlando, FL        6.7%
  3. Miami, FL           5.6%

 2011 Price Declines:

  1. Atlanta, GA       18.3%
  2. Seattle, WA       15.1%
  3. Birmingham, AL 11.1%
  4. Detroit, MI        10.8%

The key conclusion:  In 2012, Clear Capital is forecasting U.S. home prices to show continued stabilization, with a slight gain of 0.2 percent across all markets.  That would put national home prices near levels not seen since 2001.

For additional information, please join us at FirstPrestonHT.com or on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

31January

Increase Your ‘App-ti-tude’ – 5 Budget-Friendly Apps You May Have Missed

Increase your Apptitude 5 Budget Friendly AppsWe enjoy sharing insights on apps that provide the most bang for the buck. (Four out of five of these are free.) We found this segment at Realty Biz News, the author is Willene McGlawn.  The sections are short and packed with power points that describe key features — the author closes each description with a pertinent benefit. You may have discovered some of these affordable influence boosters.  Willene finds they are top-notch time-savers, because they help to organize her day.  The posting is entitled, 5 Great Apps for Real Estate Agents.

The final paragraph also highlights a service that helps tenants to transition out of their leases by locating replacement tenants. It’s called TenantHunter. Enjoy the short, but powerful original story.  Hopefully this small package of apps will generate big returns for you in 2012!

For additional information, please join us at FirstPrestonHT.com or on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

26January

60 Brands “Poised to Dominate” 2012

  • Comments Off on 60 Brands “Poised to Dominate” 2012

brands poised to dominate 2012Industry experts at AGBeat have analyzed hundreds of companies to identify those on track to make a major impact during 2012. Many of the companies offer products or services that target the real estate industry.

Check out the thumbnail descriptions to see why they are on the fast track. When a prospect or customer rattles off one of these “movers and shakers,” you’ll be in the know.

Which are “most likely to succeed” from your perspective?

For additional information, please join us at FirstPrestonHT.com or on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

24January

Top 10 Housing Predictions for 2012

top ten housing predictionsRE/MAX Co-Founder and Chairman, Dave Liniger, sees positive possibilities ahead for 2012. His top 10 predictions are explained in a three minute, sixteen second YouTube video.

Liniger anticipates opportunity on the horizon as college graduates gear up to exit parental nests. Changing market conditions are expected to have a positive impact on consumer reliance on real estate professionals.

What residential real estate trends do you foresee in 2012?  How will you capitalize on them?

real estate predictionsFor additional information, please join us at FirstPrestonHT.com or on our Facebook and Twitter pages.