Category Archives: Real Estate

Controversial Ads on Homes Helping Pay Mortgage

Economy, Real Estate, , , , ,
Billboard Homes Pay the Mortgage

On an otherwise quiet, ordinary street in a suburb of Los Angeles one house seems to have gone crazy. Painted in neon bright colors with several ads is the house of Scott and Beth Hostetler, a couple who are otherwise good neighbors, say their neighbors.

Tacky Look in Exchange for Bucks

Some neighbors were so shocked at the Hostetler’s home’s new look that they even considered calling the police; others were merely angry and confused, but the explanation, given the state of the country’s economy is really quite simple. In exchange for turning their house into a giant billboard the Hostetlers will receive $2,000 per month from the marketing company behind the scheme, Brainiacs From Mars.

Romeo Mendoza, the CEO and founder of Brainiacs explained that his goal is to turn at least 1,000 homes across America into gigantic ads for his marketing firm. For every one of his endeavors he will pay the mortgage, for up to one year.

"If we roll it out to scale and impact the foreclosure crisis, that would be amazing," Mendoza, 42, said.

Overwhelming Repsonse

In April 2011 Mendoza floated his idea on his website. Since that date ten months ago he has gotten 38,000 applications to participate, from even places as far away as Japan and Russia.

Mendoza says he picked the Hostetlers because they are nice people, and he decided to choose the most deserving families, even if their homes are not on the busiest streets. Mendoza checks all relevant zoning laws to be sure advertisements and brightly painted homes do not violate any local codes of law before he puts up his ads.

The majority of applicants are from Nevada, California and Florida, the three states in the US hardest hit by the housing crisis. Mendoza says his idea can help people who are struggling to keep their homes.

"The response has been overwhelming," Mendoza says. "People are hurting, and struggling to stay in their homes. If we can help some of them, that would be great."

Attracting Attention

Mendoza says his plan is to advertise his company’s name and social media marketing tools in front of people’s homes in the hopes of getting the attention of some big companies, who he hopes will hire him based on the originality and quirkiness of his scheme. Brainiacs, says Mendoza is indeed already negotiating with some large companies to run their ad campaigns.

The neighbors however are not happy. One neighbor is willing to put up with the new look of the house for one month, even though the Holstetlers want to keep the ads there for six. Another neighbor, 80-year-old Bob Pancoast, said: "All the neighbors were a little upset at first. We thought they had gone off their rocker. But I guess it's a good idea for them."

"I don't think the program will be a success. It will be akin to graffiti – that's how people are going to look at it. They are going to run into zoning problems everywhere," said housing industry finance expert Charles Mclaughlin.

Mendoza answers:

"There are definitely zoning issues in some cities, and we realize that. But we have really hit a nerve, and we can't let that stop us. Once people start seeing how it works, once they get it, the moment they realize it is paying people's mortgages, they are always on our side, because of this economy."
 

Obama Announces Expanded Refinancing Plan for Homeowners

Economy, Real Estate, , , ,
President Obama

In an attempt to help boost the sluggish economy’s growth President Obama announced a proposal which will allow all homeowners to refinance their mortgages at more attractive rates, even if what they owe on their mortgages is actually more than the worth of the house. This is a crucial issue in many states which are pivotal to Obama’s re-election.

Details

Obama wanted to outline more specific details of the proposal he only outlined in his State of the Union Address concerning finding a way for homeowners to cash in on the nation’s record low mortgage rates. It is estimated that the average homeowner could save about $3,000 a year by re-financing.

Will Congress Agree?

The proposal, however, will need to pass through Congress, which is not necessarily in favor of such a plan if it would allow homeowners to refinance even if they own more to the bank than the actual value of the house, a situation which many homeowners find themselves in today due to the housing slump.

Not As Popular as Predicted

The plan is an enlargement of an already existing program, the Home Affordable Refinance Program. This plan lets borrowers who have government affiliated mortgages from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to refinance at more affordable rates. A disappointing one million people have use the plan, much fewer than the 4 to 5 million the Obama administration was predicting. The new plan also expands to include “underwater” borrowers; those that own more than the value of their homes.

Economists in the private sector believe that if the plan is expanded to all borrowers, then about 10 million homeowners would be qualified to refinance, giving the economy a jumpstart not to be underestimated. The Federal Reserve has been more conservative in their assessment of the plan’s impact, saying closer to 2.5 million additional Americans would be eligible to refinance under the terms of the expanded program.

CoreLogic, a real estate data firm, notes that about 11 million Americans are “underwater,” about 1 out of 4 homeowners who have a mortgage.
 

Hotel Industry Optimistic About Coming Year

Economy, Investments, Real Estate, , ,
Arthur de Haast of Jones Lang LaSalle

Movers and shakers from the hotel industry were gathered together last week in Los Angeles for the Americas Lodging and Investment Summit, where they discussed the prospects for business this coming year.

Bracing for Better Business Climate

Real estate companies as well as hotel businesses are looking towards the coming year with hope despite the fears they have about the European economic situation and challenges finding debt financing.

The economic recovery has been business-led, which has given a boost to US hotel occupancy rates. Nevertheless development of new projects seems to still be stalled as credit conditions remain tight, making the building of new hotels difficult. Yet, the hoteliers remain optimistic.

“People are expecting 2012 to be a pretty positive year, with solid performance by the industry in terms of the demand for hotel accommodations and the ability to get deals done,”

Arthur de Haast, chairman of Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, said at the summit.

Billion Dollar Industry

Jones Lang, a hotel investment services firm, predicts that hotel deals in the Americas will at least do as well as last year’s level, reaching about $15 billion in value.

Hotel deals increased in their activity in the first two quarters of 2011, but substantial slowing down occurred at the end of last year due to the economic troubles in Europe began to make headlines.

Even though Europe has by no means recovered from its woes, most people at the three-day hotel summit believed that a further recovery which includes room-rate rises, will make the hotel sector seductive for investment.

“There’s a lot of money on the sidelines waiting to pounce and find opportunities,”

said Christian Charre, president and chief executive of the Charre Group, a Florida-based hotel brokerage and consulting firm.

Transcendent Investment Management and Flexibility in the Market

Real Estate, ,

Transcendent Investment Management, a real estate investment firm based in Florida, was founded by real estate professional Jordan Kavana in 2008. Opening with $35 million, TIM’s initial fund now manages in excess of $75 million, and is currently closed to additional investments.

Designed to offer investors rich exposure to a single investment option through several approaches, the Fund’s portfolio now contains numerous value-prices properties and real estate related assets. Now, TIM has teams in more than fifteen markets throughout the United States.

Westwood Country’s Most Expensive College Town

Real Estate, , , ,

The area of Los Angeles where UCLA resides, known as Westwood, is the costliest college town in the United States, in terms of the cost of housing according to a recent report.

The average cost of a three- bedroom, two-bath home in Westwood costs $1.27 million. Compare that with the nation’s cheapest college town, Memphis, the home of the University of Memphis, where the average price of a three bedroom home is just under $90,000.

According to the College Home Listing Report, based on a survey of 117 of the 120 “football subdivision schools”, two thirds of the towns in the survey offered homes for under $200,000.

“I love the College Home Listing Report because it highlights the amazing affordability of the college towns that define the fabric of America,” said Coldwell Bank CEO Jim Gillespie.

“Our report underscores the home ownership opportunities in many of these vibrant, affordable communities that are known for their high energy, educational systems and often stable job markets.”