Continue Reading Add comment December 4th, 2008
Mortgage applications more than doubled last week, a mortgage bankers’ group said Wednesday, as government bailouts led to sinking interest rates that made refinancing especially more attractive. Read more »
Continue Reading Add comment December 4th, 2008
David Berson of PMI, the private mortgage insurance company, visited BW recently. Today, I got an email from his p.r. person, Mark Lindsey, with a response to Chris Palmeri’s blog entry yesterday, Foreclosures Continue at Banks that Said No More.
At the risk of giving too much free publicity to PMI, I’d like to quote from Mark Lindsey’s email:
I noticed Chris Palmeri posted about collection and foreclosure harassment yesterday, and I thought I’d share some resources we offer that your readers at the Hot Properties blog might find helpful.
In his post, Chris refers to borrowers frustrated with handling foreclosure through a different bank than originally issued the loan. The volatility of subprime loans and adjustable rate mortgages has led to repurchasing and movement of troubled assets, meaning that some borrowers entering foreclosure won’t deal with their original lender. In these cases, it can be difficult to find the contact information for an appropriate person to speak with or to navigate the maze of banks that have acquired each other.
PMI Group (www.pmi-us.com) has a free educational resource for struggling homeowners at Home Safe PMI (www.homesafepmi.com), part of the Hope Now Alliance (www.hopenow.com) of foreclosure prevention resources. We have several sections that can arm your readers with vital information and strategies to make foreclosure more manageable:
Our Get Help section (http://homesafepmi.com/gethelp.html) offers one of the most comprehensive lists of lender and bank contact numbers and websites available online. This includes a list of non-profit foreclosure prevention organizations with 24 hour help lines.
Our new Mortgage Options Assessment (http://homesafepmi.com/bif/) is the only checklist of its kind specifically designed for homeowners seeking a mortgage workout or refinancing solution to foreclosure. This tool allows troubled homeowners to collect all vital finance information in a single place prior to meeting with a lender to discuss a troubled mortgage.
Our Q&A section (http://homesafepmi.com/qa.html) offers basic information on how foreclosure impacts your credit score, what first steps to take and how to protect yourself from distressing collection practices
We also offer video walkthroughs of mortgage workout programs, short-sale solutions to foreclosure and general advice on managing the sale of your home and seeking a new residence that makes sense for your budget and income.
Continue Reading Add comment December 4th, 2008
Lobbyists are pushing the Treasury Department to consider a plan to purchase mortgage-backed securities in the hopes of driving mortgage rates to as low as 4.5%, an industry source said. Read more »
Continue Reading Add comment December 4th, 2008
L.A Live is having a grand opening tonight. The $2.5 billion “content campus” adjacent to the convention center in downtown Los Angeles will feature a couple of concert halls, an ESPN Zone/broadcast studio, a bowling alley, movie theaters and ten restaurants. There is also a music industry themed Grammy Museum. The complex is being called Los Angeles’ Times Square.
The project will also feature 224 luxury condominiums on the top floors of a 54-story Ritz-Carlton hotel that will open in early 2010. Tim Leiwicke, who runs the site’s developer Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), says 140 of the condos are sold. They start at $1.1 million for 1,000 square feet. Asked who the buyers are he said local businesses looking for a corporate suite, some wealthy foreigners from Mexico and the Middle East, fans of the L.A. Lakers basketball team which plays in the AEG-owned Staples Center across the street, and parents of kids who go to the University of Southern California down the road.
Other notable residents will include Lakers star Kobe Bryant, soccer great David Beckham (who plays for the Anschutz-owned L.A. Galaxy team) and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Beckham reportedly paid $8 million for a 3,000 square foot pad. Leiwicke will live there as well. He paid $1.8 million for his two bedroom unit.
Leiwicke said he hasn’t lowered the asking prices on the condos although a number of downtown residential projects have either switched to rental units or sharply cut their prices amidst the housing slump. Leiwicke says he isn’t even actively marketing the properties. He said he’s got a six figure advertising budget but isn’t using it because he thinks it’s just not the time to be selling luxury real estate. Leiwicke can afford to take his time because L.A. Live is ultimately owned by Denver billionaire Phil Anschutz, an investor known for waiting patiently for long shot bets to pay off.
Despite its deep-pocketed benefactor, L.A. Live hasn’t been shy about asking for favors from the government. Last year AEG lobbied successfully to secure money from a $50 million state fund intended to help the homeless. The company is using it for street improvements around L.A. Live. This year AEG sought to get state legislators to lift a ban on electronic billboards alongside highways so they could put some up near the project. That effort was shot down in September. According to the Los Angeles Times, executives affiliated with Anschutz have given $2.7 million to state political funds, including $583,000 to the governor’s campaigns. With friends like that no wonder the Terminator’s moving in.
Continue Reading Add comment December 4th, 2008
Grubb & Ellis Co. announced that 28-year commercial real estate veteran Michael Ross has joined its downtown Los Angeles office as a senior vice president, responsible for investment sales on behalf of institutional and high net worth investors. Read more »
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