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Cribfinder to list Fizber properties on Facebook® Platform 2008-02-06 23:25:44 Cribfinder to list Fizber properties on Facebook® Platform ...

Make an Entrance: Warm Up Your Entryway This Winter 2008-02-06 23:22:27 Winter. It’s a time of crisp air, gently falling snow, and piles of coats, slushy boots and soggy mittens in your front hall. This season, make your entryway organized and inviting. Here’s how: Make first impressions count. Give your door a fresh coat of glossy paint, and put down a new doormat. Hang a nice winter wreath or plant an evergreen in a sturdy urn. Store your stuff out of sight. If you don’t have enough closet space, add storage by hiding a garment rack behind a curtain, using an armoire, installing a coat tree or hall stand, or by trying one of these storage ideas: - A bench with built-in storage holds your stuff and offers a convenient spot to sit down and put your boots on. - A small bookshelf with labeled baskets is good for storing small items. - A chest of drawers can make your front hall look more like a furnished room, and it gives you a surface for photos, a lamp or incoming mail. Stay in season. Move non-winter items to a different part of your h ...

Housing Starts to Fall Slightly in 2008 2008-02-06 11:31:43 OTTAWA, February 4, 2008 “? Housing starts reached 228,343 units in 2007, an increase of 0.4 per cent from 227,395 in 2006, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) first quarter Housing Market Outlook, Canada Edition report. In 2008, residential construction will decline to about 211,700 units, given higher mortgage carrying costs. Nevertheless, Canada’s housing market remains strong and 2008 will mark the seventh consecutive year in which housing starts exceed 200,000 units.”Despite some global financial instability with regards to the U.S. housing market, Canada continues to experience robust employment levels, ongoing income gains and low mortgage rates,”� said Bob Dugan, Chief Economist for CMHC. “This has strongly supported Canada’s housing markets. However, housing starts are expected to decrease in 2008 mainly due to recent increases in house prices, which will push mortgage carrying costs higher for home buyer ...

Karma is a bitch. Loan Center of California sued. 2008-02-06 10:50:24 The Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter is reporting that the Loan Center of California is the defendant in a class action suit alledging that the company violated the Truth in Lending Act by not clearly disclosing the nature of their negative amortization pay options loans to customers.  The suit alleges that LCC presented the neg-am loans as regularly amortizing loans in the sales process.  (Personal note: this is an all-to-common practice.) From the filing posted ML-Implode on the LCC TILA Violation class action lawsuit:  Defendents failed to clearly disclose to Plaintiff and Class Members, and fraudulently omitted, that there were payment options, instead providing Plaintiff and Class Members with a deceptive payment schedule that indicated borrowers would enjoy low payments without negative amortization. If Loan Center of California rings a bell it’s because they sued ML-Implode for negatively impacting their business by accidentally reporting on the company’s implosio ...

Toronto Commercial Real Estate 2008-02-06 09:30:45 2007 GTA Commercial Market Report RealNet Canada Inc. releases Q4 2007 commercial real estate investment statistics for the Greater Toronto Area. Record fourth quarter investment volume helped boost GTA market to record close in 2007. Fourth quarter sales volume of $3.6 Billion in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) commercial real estate market reflected continued strong activity in investment-grade assets. This tally is the second highest quarterly volume on record since 1995. The quarterly total boosted the 2007 annual total to an all time record of $12.3 Billion, up 4% from the previous year, according to the report. See RealNet Canada’s Q4 2007 GTA Commercial Sales Report » ...

Banks Face Ratings Cuts as Bond Insurers Falter 2008-02-06 05:25:48 I don’t typically cover too much of the backside of the mortgage market - particularly the bond insurers and the pivotal role they play in the secondary market function.  But like the rest of the gang they’ve been getting their lunch handed to them by the poor performance of mortgages that make up the debt obligations that they guarantee. In fact, the carnage is so bad that many of the biggest banks in the world could face downgrades as a result of these bond insurers faltering in the face of the onslaught of delinquencies, foreclosures and other non-performance issues. From Market Watch on how banks may be downgraded as a result of the flailing bond insurers: “Bond insurers are suffering as a result of their roles as guarantors of mortgage-related securities, and downgrading them could affect all markets in which they are active, including the municipal bond, commercial mortgage-backed securities, and other structured finance areas,” Tanya Azarchs, a credit a ...

Beware of “bad” homes 2008-02-05 23:57:54 Homes are more than a set of amenities — four bedrooms, three baths, walk-in closets, etc. They’re really a complex set of systems — plumbing, electric, heat and air conditioning — all integrated by architectural design. A home can look good on the surface and offer all the right features yet have serious systems or structural […] ...

Fremont Downgraded Faces Liquidity Problems 2008-02-05 12:20:52 Fremont General, the parent company of the Investment and Loan that was slapped with a cease-and-desist order for its role in questionable subprime lending, was downgraded by ratings agencies and faces liquidity concerns reports Market Watch. From the article covering Fremont’s downgrade and liquidity concerns: Standard & Poor’s downgraded Fremont General to CCC+ from B- late Tuesday and warned that the Californian lender may not be able to meet its debt obligations. “Liquidity at the holding company has deteriorated substantially,” S&P credit analyst Adom Rosengarten said in a statement. Liquidity remains strong at the company’s banking business. But Fremont has been hit with a cease-and-desist order from regulators which restricts the bank unit from paying dividends to the holding company during the past year, the analyst noted. That’s greatly decreased liquidity levels at the parent company, he said. “We have concerns about the pare ...

Toronto Real Estate Market 2008-02-05 09:57:30 New Year Off To Good Start A strong performance within TREB’s Central districts drove the Toronto area real estate market to a healthy 5,073 sales in January, off just two per cent from last year’s record performance, President Maureen O’Neill announced today. “While sales were strong, price increases remained modest, with the average rising six per cent to $374,449,” said Ms. O’Neill. “There is clearly still a place for the first-time buyer in today’s resale market.” Breaking down the total, 1,940 sales were reported in TREB’s 28 West districts and averaged $351,594; 945 sales were reported in the 14 Central districts and averaged $485,259; 966 sales were reported in the 23 North districts and averaged $410,289; and 1,224 sales were reported in TREB’s 21 East districts and averaged $296,838. Neighbourhood Corner Mississauga There were 647 sales in Mississauga this January, a decline of three per cent over the first m ...

Toronto Real Estate Board reports: 2008-02-05 06:28:13 New Year Off To Good Start A strong performance within TREB’s Central districts drove the Toronto area real estate market to a healthy 5,073 sales in January, off just two per cent from last year’s record performance, President Maureen O’Neill announced today. “While sales were strong, price increases remained modest, with the average rising six per cent to $374,449,” said Ms. O’Neill. “There is clearly still a place for the first-time buyer in today’s resale market.” Breaking down the total, 1,940 sales were reported in TREB’s 28 West districts and averaged $351,594; 945 sales were reported in the 14 Central districts and averaged $485,259; 966 sales were reported in the 23 North districts and averaged $410,289; and 1,224 sales were reported in TREB’s 21 East districts and averaged $296,838. Neighbourhood Corner Mississauga There were 647 sales in Mississauga this January, a decline of three per cent over the first ...

All Real Estate is Local - You Could be Less Screwed than Others 2008-02-04 08:29:37 About a week ago (on my birthday no less) Countrywide sent out a list of Soft Markets (Countrywide Soft Markets PDF) across the country rated from 5 (the worst devaluation in property value) to 1 (less devaluation). They issued this list with changes made to lending criteria for new mortgage loans made in those areas of the country. Areas rated at 5 were seeing reductions in lending limits by 5% of the loan to value guidelines on first mortgages and 10% on second mortgage products (like home equity lines of credit). One famous refrain of Realtors everywhere is that all real estate is local - which of course it is - but in general real estate has been across the board flat or declining regardless of your locality. I recommend having a look at this soft market list if you are considering purchasing a home so that you can get more insight in to that particular area above and beyond the “all real estate is local” smokescreen bandied about by your hometown Realtor. You can use ...

Jackson’s Neverland Ranch Getting a Foreclosure Reprieve? 2008-02-04 05:07:21 The Real Estalker is reporting that supermarket magnate Ron Burkle has stepped in to buy his pal Michael Jackson a few more precious moments to help find new financing for his $23,000,000 loan on Neverland Ranch. From Real Estalker: As for the once beloved Neverland Ranch, well, Mister Friedman’s sources whispered to him that supermarket magnate Ron Burkle might have intervened and convinced the fine folks at Fortress (Mister Jackson’s eager to be paid creditor on the $23,000,000 loan secured by Neverland Ranch) to provide an extension which would allow Mister Jackson to scramble a while longer looking for someone, anyone, to step in and help him refinance the debt. It must be nice to have friends in the right places; but I have to say if I were Fotress I’d give him some extra time too. Do I really want to deal with Neverland Ranch as REO? Who’s going to feed the animals? What a nightmare. Share This ...

Toronto welcomes the world 2008-02-04 04:12:47 Toronto has become a city built in the image of its own people, fed by the many influences of its ever-changing human fabric, one that is constantly unfolding and alive with potential and energy. Torontonians display a level of openness unlikely in any city, let alone a city of Toronto’s size and magnitude. Toronto is metropolitan, yet it feels as intimate as a village. Its welcoming spirit has attracted millions of people from all corners of the world, making up a deep and culturally rich human mosaic. Toronto doesn’t have a Chinatown, it has three of them. It doesn’t just have a Caribbean festival, it has the largest one outside of the Caribbean. Toronto isn’t just diverse, it’s the most diverse city in the world. Toronto is a culture of cultures, a place of infinite opportunities where everybody is appreciated for how they stand out, not for how they fit in. Torontonians don’t look to settle their differences, they are inspired by them. Torontoni ...

UBS No Different than the Rest of the Big Banks 2008-02-04 02:48:21 Back in August as this credit crunch was picking up speed UBS reported earnings that included mortgage write downs on its mortgage backed securities holdings that were applauded by Wall Street for their “conservative” nature.  The general bull’s line was that $3.4 billion was a lot of money but the bank should be applauded for purging the system and over-estimating the potential losses now instead of covering up and taking “best-case” estimates in their write downs. I argued at the time that it was impossible to know the true value of the assets because they weren’t being sold; they were only being marked down internally which of course would lead to a best-case bias in the value. Well I hate to say I told you so, but a week ago UBS wrote off an additional $10 billion in mortgage related losses due to the worsening performance of the underlying mortgage securities.   That’s an additional 300 percent folks.  So much for conservative in their ...

Development Spotlight: Gillette Lofts 2008-02-04 00:00:02 Location: 1085, St-Alexandre, Montreal. Size: 6 floors, 55 units. Prices: $300 a square foot. Architect: Karl Fischer Developer: Mark Dichter & Noam Schnitzer The Scoop: Five floors feature 12- or 13-foot ceilings, and a wide open floor plan that will make is easy to create large open lofts. The units range in size from 650 feet to 1,200 feet, though some buyers have been buying and combining units. Prices work out to about $300 a square foot. The developers are adding a glass and steel penthouse, which will contain five luxurious two-storey units. Prices for those are in the $1-million range. For more information visit: www.gillettelofts.com ...