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First Preston HT Sponsors 10 New Habitat for Humanity Homes

First Preston HT Build

First Preston HT Build

First Preston HT has sponsored 42 new Habitat Homes for families in 11 states. Our most recent project includes the sponsorship of 10 new Habitat Homes for Collin County (Texas) residents.   South Collin County Habitat for Humanity (Habitat-SCC) recently celebrated the completion of the first of the new single family homes in the 11th Street Development.

Habitat-SCC is a local affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International whose mission is to “…provide decent affordable homes to deserving families while building foundations for community.” To volunteer to help build these Habitat for Humanity homes or get involved with Habitat SCC, contact Stacie Salazar at 972-398-0634 ext. 107.

Richards Barrentine Values & Ventures Business Plan Competition

Values and Ventures Competition

First Place: University of Houston

Endowed by Nancy Tartaglino Richards and Lisa Barrentine of First Preston HT, the Values & Ventures Business Plan Competition at Texas Christian University (TCU) presents a unique opportunity for college students to compete for financial support for their businesses. It brings student business teams from across the globe to Fort Worth with plans for profitable businesses that incorporate values, ethics and service. Hosted by TCU’s Neeley School of Business, the second annual competition drew students from 22 colleges and universities, representing five countries and 14 states.

Click here to learn which business plans the judges selected to receive financial support and to learn more about the Values and Ventures Business Plan Competition.  Click here for INC. magazine’s article about the program.

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

Lisa Barrentine Named President and CEO of First Preston HT

First preston htDallas, Texas – May 1, 2012: Nancy Tartaglino Richards, Chairman of First Preston HT, announced May 1, 2012, the appointment of Lisa Barrentine to President and CEO. Starting in 1988, the First Preston HT family of companies, one of the largest real estate asset and technology firms in the U.S., has grown to include First Preston Management, HomeTelos, BidSelect, HomeTracker and Castle Peak Homes.

Ms. Barrentine has a 21 year record of achievement within First Preston HT joining the company in 1991 as Vice President of Accounting. She has also served as Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer and most recently as President. Her leadership has propelled the company from its beginning as a small business to recognition as a national leader in real estate services and intelligent technologies, and one of the largest certified women-owned businesses in the country. A licensed CPA, Ms. Barrentine earned a BSBA degree from the University of Arkansas. She currently serves on the Neeley Entrepreneurship Center Advisory Board at Texas Christian University and is a member of the Board of Directors of Habitat for Humanity – South Collin County.

About the Company: First Preston HT has managed and sold over 440,000 properties for real estate portfolio investors, financial institutions and government entities, representing $40 billion in market value. The company has developed patented and patent-pending technology including: HomeTracker® an online asset and work flow management application in use by over 45,000 real estate professionals; BidSelect® an electronic marketplace and online offer management solution that has generated over one million offers and sold over 250,000 properties; and Lender Center™ an online property preservation system in use by 90 financial institutions in support of their government insured loan portfolios. For more information on our exemplary services and intelligent technologies visit us at First Preston HT and connect via Facebook First Preston HT Facebook and Twitter @FirstPrestonHT.

Contact:
Robbi Rice Dietrich
(972) 788-8600
rdietrich@FirstPrestonHT.com

First Preston HT Sponsors New Habitat Neighborhood

first preston ht sponsors new habitat neighborhoodFirst Preston HT is a longtime supporter of Habitat for Humanity, sponsoring 42 homes for deserving families in 11 states, with many of our employees volunteering to build. On April 7th, we participated in an exciting new project with Habitat for Humanity of South Collin County in Texas.  Several blocks of abandoned duplexes were demolished, and Habitat secured the property to construct 10 new homes in the neighborhood this year.

The rebirth of this neighborhood and the promise of new homes for 10 families is part of First Preston HT’s longtime commitment to give back to the communities in which we live and work.  We have contributed over $10 million to proven programs such as Habitat that help meet the basic needs of women and children and support economic self-sufficiency.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.