Archive for July 22nd, 2008
Continue Reading July 22nd, 2008
The Los Angeles Times reported today that Candy Spelling, widow of TV producer Aaron Spelling, paid $47 million for a condo at the Century, a new building being built by New York City-based Related Cos. The price is a record for a condo in the city. It works out to be $2,800 a square foot.
Ms. Spelling is taking offers for the famous 123 room mansion in LA’s Holmby Hills neighborhood that she and her husband built in the late 1980s. It has 11 bedrooms, 16 bathrooms, a bowling alley, gift-wrapping room and a doll museum. She’ll soon be living in just a third of the former space at 16,500 square feet. Sooner or later we all have to downsize.
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Continue Reading July 22nd, 2008
This appeared today as a comment on Anyone have an agent horror story like this one? but I’m highlighting it here because it’s so appalling.
I have a horror story for you - I am a first time homebuyer - young single woman. I just closed on a condo one week ago. I moved into my condo 48 hours after closing, and while actually driving to my new condo with the movers in tow, I get a phone call from my agent who says he has “bad news” - the owner of the condo directly below me called and said water was coming into his condo from above (my condo). Of course I freak out as I have not even moved in yet. We later find out that the entire a/c is “shot” and will need replacement. Keep in mind it is July and I live in New Orleans…so an a/c is a necessity. Of course my inspector did not pick up on this - and my a/c guy is quite astonished by that given the horrible condition and age of the a/c. Another really terrible thing is what my agent did to me (1) he did not tell me anything about a home warranty (2) he did not even suggest a final walk through of the property, even though the place had been vacant for months. Now not only am I going to have to come up with the money to replace the a/c, I am also liable for the damage to the condo below me - which began occurring before I even moved in the place. My closing attorney asked me why I did not do a final walk through, and my answer was that I trusted my agent to guide me and he did not ever advise me to do this. Had we done a final walk through, perhaps we would have picked up on the water that was flooding the unit below me. I really feel like this was the agent’s duty to inform me of these things, and he failed 100%. As a 1st time homebuyer I am not familiar with all of this, which he plainly knew, yet he still was negligent with me. If I had known about a home warranty, perhaps I could have gotten some relief there as well. Of course I also have beef with my inspector for not picking up on this - and I am confronting him as well. In the end who knows how much this will cost me and drive me into debt. I contacted the agent yesterday to give him all this news and the best he could do was say he was sorry and felt “really bad”. He tried to put blame on everyone but him - he said he thought about doing a final walk through, but the seller’s agent was out of town and would not return his calls. He also said he “thought” he told me about a home warranty, which he most certainly did not. I am a young attorney and I know what can happen - I most certainly would have opted to purchase one. Bottom line is he made some serious money off of me for not doing his job.
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Continue Reading July 22nd, 2008
Magellan Development Group, a Chicago-based residential developer, has created a consulting service – Magellan Project Services – to assist financial institutions coping with development challenges or underperforming assets in the current difficult real estate environment. Read more »
Continue Reading July 22nd, 2008
Whelan Associates L.L.C. sold One Washington Place, an office building in Easton, Mass., the company said today. Whelan Associates retains property management of the building following the sale. Read more »
Continue Reading July 22nd, 2008
Kennedy Funding Inc. closed a $11 million loan to National Retail Development Partners for site development and construction of a mixed-use office and retail complex in Scottsdale, Ariz. Read more »
Continue Reading July 22nd, 2008
Opus West Corp. has announced five new office tenants at the 1-million-square-foot Pima Center, an office campus located at the Loop 101 freeway at Via de Ventura in Scottsdale, Ariz. Read more »
Continue Reading July 22nd, 2008
The City of Los Angeles has joined forces with Enterprise Community Partners to establish the $100 million New Generation Fund, the city’s first multi-million-dollar financing tool for the development and preservation of affordable housing. Read more »
Continue Reading July 22nd, 2008
The 274,000-square-foot office building at 180 Madison Ave. in Manhattan has officially come under new ownership, courtesy of a transaction between two New York City-based real estate companies. Read more »