NWP’s Pay by Cash SolutionOrlando, Fla.–NWP Services Corp. recently launched its enhanced Resident ePay electronic rent payment processing service with its new Pay by Cash solution. Powered for NWP by CheckFreePay, now part of Fiserv Inc., Pay by Cash enables residents to pay their monthly rent balance with cash at retail locations in their area. CheckFreePay has more than 15 years’ experience providing walk-in agent cash payments. Their network of agent locations, more than 12,000 nationwide, includes grocery stores, convenience stores, mail and shipping centers and other convenient locations. The new program eliminates the need to take cash and money…

By Teresa O’Dea Hein, Managing EditorOrlando, Fla.–“Every building deserves a brand,” noted Christopher Lee, president & CEO of CEL Associates Inc., during his seminar yesterday morning at the 2008 National Apartment Association Conference & Exposition, held at the Gaylord Palms hotel just outside Orlando, Fla. “You need to develop a differentiating story and brand the quality for each multifamily property in your portfolio,” Lee pointed out in his session, titled “Stay Grounded during Tumultuous Times.” Indeed, when renovating value-add properties, keep in mind that “being the same as everyone else is no way to differentiate yourself,” advised Dan Lieberman, founder…

By Rachel Block, reporterFlorence, ITALY–Italian architect Dr. David Fisher has recently designed Dynamic Tower, a building that is literally in constant motion.    Fisher, who studied architecture in Florence, Italy, did not get his idea for the “building in motion” until he moved to New York City. Fascinated by the intense skyscrapers, Fisher came up with the idea to construct the first “digital building,” a structure that would change shape every second. Each floor will rotate independently, creating the continuous change in shape of the building.”Everything is moving around us and changing,” says Fisher. “The building will be changing every moment……

Jamie Woodwell Named VP of MBA’s Commercial/Multifamily Research Washington, D.C.–The Mortgage Bankers Association has promoted Jamie Woodwell (pictured) to vice president of commercial/multifamily research. In this role, he will continue to lead the research on commercial finance and multifamily finance issues, and will be responsible for providing economic and policy analysis of legislative and regulatory proposals. He will also serve as the industry’s lead source of information and interpretation on macroeconomic and capital market trends to meet MBA’s commercial/multifamily members’ needs and the needs of the association.Prior to joining MBA in 2004, Woodwell was manager of Data Initiatives for the multifamily…

Chicago–After declining for two months, sales of previously owned homes grew 2 percent in May, the Chicago-based National Association of Realtors said Thursday.Single-family home sales increased 1.6 percent; sales of apartments and condominiums rose by 5.5 percent, according to the New York Times. In the Midwest, sales increased 5.5 percent; in the Northeast, sales grew 4.6 percent. Sales increased 2 percent in the West but fell 0.5 percent in the South.Home prices for single-family and multifamily homes also rose. The median home price increased from $201,200 in April to $208,600 in May. Compared to a year ago, sales were 16…

San Francisco–Two years ago, the annual Pacific Coast Builders Conference and trade show in San Francisco drew 35,000 building professionals; this year, housing market woes cut attendance to just 18,000 to 20,000, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.Sinking home values, foreclosures, hesitant buyers and credit issues have slowed home sales–and demand for new homes, which has reduced business for homebuilders.”Why sugarcoat it?” said John Frith, spokesman for the California Building Industry Association, which represents more than 7,000 homebuilders, remodelers, subcontractors, architects, engineers, designers and other industry professionals. “It’s ugly; it’s brutal [in the housing market now.] People need to know that,…

Miami–Lennar Corp.–the second-largest U.S. homebuilder–announced its fifth consecutive quarterly loss Thursday, Bloomberg said.The Miami-based company was forced to reduce prices to attract buyers. Its fiscal second quarter net loss was $121 million, compared to $244 million a year earlier. Revenue declined 61 percent to $1.1 billion. Deliveries fell 60 percent to 3,830 homes; new orders dropped 45 percent to 4,396. In the quarter ended May 31, the company’s cancellation rate was 22 percent; a year earlier, the cancellation rate was 29 percent. Lennar’s supply of under-contract homes still for sale declined 56 percent to $1.25 billion.In a statement, the company…

Washington, D.C.–U.S. gross domestic product rose in the first quarter, indicating that the U.S. did not enter into a recession in the beginning of 2008, according to revised government figures released Thursday.The Commerce Department said that gross domestic product increased 1 percent at an annual rate, The Wall Street Journal said. The previous GDP estimate was 0.9 percent”Upward revisions to exports, to consumer spending and to business fixed investment were partly offset by an upward revision to imports and a downward revision to inventory investment,” the Commerce Department said.Consumer spending–which comprises 70 percent of GDP–also was revised upward for the…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News Editor San Francisco–The Pacific Coast Builders Show 2008 (PCBC) opened here on June 25 with developers, contractors and architects coming together to find solutions to the problems currently facing the real estate industry.Whether it was former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina’s keynote speech, which emphasized the need for seeking out new opportunities, or author Malcolm Gladwell’s session on how judgment will play a crucial part in the industry turning itself around, the underlying message to troubled developers was that they need to change. “Now is the time you need to seize those opportunities,” said Fiorina. “Innovation is…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorIndianapolis–Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services has acquired the exclusive listing for the Premier EPM Portfolio for $242.95 million.The portfolio is comprised of 10 properties and 2,704 units in the neighboring areas of Indianapolis; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Omaha, Neb. and Gainesville, Ga. They are being offered either separately or as a portfolio.Matthew Friedman, associate vice president of investments and director of Marcus & Millichaps’s National Multi-Housing Group in Encino, Calif., is representing the seller, Empire Corporate America, a private investor.The portfolio includes the 256-unit Avon Creek in Avon, Ind.; the 224-unit Brownsburg Crossing in Brownsburg,…