Archive for April 2009
Growing Number of Builders Seek Certified Green Professional Designation to Distinguish Themselves From Competition
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorWashington, D.C.—The National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) Certified Green Professional (CGP) designation is growing in popularity, with over 2,700 home building industry professionals having achieved this status.”It is designed to give those who achieve it a better understanding of what green building is and allows them to separate themselves from…
Read MoreIncreasing Number of Renters are Taking Energy Conservation Measures, Study Finds
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorChicago–The availability of on-site recycling programs at multifamily communities has increased by 16 percent and that of energy-efficient windows by nine percent since 2007, according to a recent study conducted by Apartments.com.Simultaneously, it seems that renters are becoming more conscious of the environmentally friendly measures they can take in their…
Read MoreNWP Services Corp. Announces Agreement With BluTrend to Offer CSASecure
Irvine, Calif.–NWP Services Corp. (NWP) has signed an agreement with BluTrend LLC to offer the CSASecure service to NWP’s utility billing clients in Texas and Georgia.“CSASecure extends our processing capabilities to prevent occurrences of utility theft by apartment residents and expedites recovery of all costs for our clients’ multifamily communities that would otherwise be lost,”…
Read More“The Green Picture” with Matt Voorhees: Water Conservation is Really, Really Easy and Doesn’t Need to be Expensive
You don’t need to own or manage multi-housing units to see how effectively today’s high-efficiency conservation fixtures work. Even in a single-family unit, the results of retrofitting with high-efficiency products can be impressive. But when you begin to do math for the multiple units, the results can be downright awe-inspiring. If you are prone to…
Read More‘Foong on Finance’: Prognosis for TALF: Not Good?
The Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) was extended by the Obama Administration in February to provide government financing to private investors for the purchase of CMBS in addition to other types of asset-backed securities. At this point, signs that TALF would have a positive effect in reviving the conduits market may not be good.…
Read MoreHistoric Affordable D.C. Community Re-Opens in Logan Circle Neighborhood
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate Editor Washington, D.C.—This Friday, National Housing Trust-Enterprise Preservation Corp. (NHT-Enterprise) and The Hampstead Development Group will celebrate the grand re-opening of R Street Apartments, a 124-unit green, affordable housing community in Washington D.C.’s Logan Circle neighborhood.“To be able to preserve these apartments in that neighborhood is just huge,” Rob Richardson, senior…
Read MoreTODAY’S DEALS: Walker & Dunlop Closes $7M Refi Loan for Garfield House, and Other Transactions
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–Walker & Dunlop provided a $7 million refinance loan for the Garfield House (pictured top) located on Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, D.C. The loan was structured with a 10-year term and a 30-year amortization and was underwritten to a 52 percent Loan-to-Value with a 1.56 Debt-Service Coverage ratio. Walker…
Read MoreQ&A with Rob Käll: Vacation Rental Industry is Fragmented and Has Opportunities for Consolidation
Rob Käll is a ‘technopreneur’, who in 2008 founded Bookt, a provider of search engine optimization, as well as marketing and other professional services to the global vacation rental industry. He has over 12 years of experience in developing and implementing real estate and property Web sites. He is knowledgeable about emerging Web technologies, especially…
Read MoreMyNewPlace Signs Up for OpsTechnology eInvoicing, Enables eBilling for Customers
Carrollton, Texas–MyNewPlace, one of the largest apartment Internet Listing Services with more than 6 million apartment listings nationwide, has joined the OpsTechnology Supplier Community to enable eBilling for its customers. With the OpsTechnology invoice management solution, customers will receive eBills from MyNewPlace, eliminating the paper handling associated with invoice processing to improve accuracy, and save…
Read MoreMulti-Housing Starts Fall 42% Since February’s Slight Uptick
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–The latest starts figures are out, and multifamily starts for March are down again after a slight uptick seen in February. Starts, which were 119,000 units in January, went up slightly to 202,000 in February and are now down to 116,000, according to the latest report released by the…
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