News
CAS Financial Advisory Services Launches Product to Meet Green Planning Needs of Residential Buildings
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorBoston–CAS Financial Advisory Services (CAS FAS) has launched its Green Capital Needs Assessment (CNA), the first product on the market to meet the green planning needs of residential building owners and managers. Each Green CNA is based on a detailed building inspection and a building cost database, and provides quantitative cost-benefit analysis of green improvements, with numbers and recommendations. “In the United States, buildings consume 65 percent of the electricity and create 30 percent of the greenhouse gasses,” says Jed Lowry, director of capital planning for CAS Financial Advisor Services. “Owners want to do the…
TODAY’S DEALS: Walker & Dunlop Closes $23.8M Refi Loan For 24 Apartment Communities, and Other Transactions
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorAlbuquerque, N.M.–Walker & Dunlop provided a $23,790,000 refinance for Cottonwood Ranch located in Albuquerque, N.M. The loan was structured with a 10-year term and a 30-year amortization. The loan was underwritten to a 65 percent loan-to-value with a 1.48x debt-service coverage ratio. Cottonwood Ranch is a garden-style community built in 1999, featuring 24 apartment buildings and one office/clubhouse. Common amenities include two swimming pools and a Jacuzzi; basketball, tennis and volleyball courts; a putting green and a playground. ARA Negotiates Sale of 17-Unit Property for Over $1MDenver–Apartment Realty Advisors (ARA) recently brokered the sale of…
Fannie Mae Supplies $10.1B in Liquidity to Multifamily Industry in First Half ’09
By Keat Foong, Executive EditorWashington, D.C.—Fannie Mae announced that it has provided $10.1 billion in debt financing for the multifamily rental housing market in the first half of 2009. “Fannie Mae and its DUS lenders had a very strong first half of the year,” said Phil Weber, senior vice president of Fannie Mae’s Multifamily division. “The company remains committed to providing liquidity and bringing stability to the multifamily industry, especially during this volatile market.”Of the 10.1 billion in financing, Fannie Mae’s DUS lenders and affiliates delivered $9.9 billion of the company’s total investment in multifamily housing. Fannie Mae says that…
Rental Syndication Service Now Offers Video Content Free of Charge to Customers
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorGrover Beach, Calif.—RentShout, an online rental marketing service that allows property managers to create syndicated online advertisements, has launched a rental video creation to provide managers increased online visibility. (Click here for MHN’s coverage of RentShout’s launch.)“These videos receive hundreds of views from these video portals and oftentimes show up in the top of Google organic rental searches,” notes Misty Lackie, CEO of Go Smart Solutions LLC, the company that created RentShout and that provides self-serve advertising solutions.The new feature will automatically create a property video from customers’ rental listing photos on RentShout.com, which will be…
Bayer’s Suspend SC Insecticide for Bed Bugs
Bayer’s Suspend SC is a broad-spectrum insecticide that is labeled for use in all the places bed bugs like to hide, including mattresses, box springs, upholstery, carpet edges and furniture. It is known to leave no visible residue, is odorless, knocks down bed bugs quickly and remains effective over time. Bed bugs make their way into apartments via luggage, used furniture and other personal belongings. For apartment communities, bed bugs can mean serious problems, including lost residents, long-term damage to an establishment’s reputation, the potential for lawsuits and the high cost of pest management service required to eliminate this difficult…
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s Multifamily Due Diligence Requirements
Getting a loan from Freddie or Fannie? Then you need to know about what they will require in their due diligence—and what their ‘hot buttons’ are. Due diligence expert Evans Howell of Partner Engineering provides an exposition. By Evans Howell, Partner Engineering Every day we see the headlines, “Foreclosures are on the rise,” “Another bank fails,” and “The stock market is plummeting.” In a time of such economic turmoil, many investors and lenders are sitting on the sidelines waiting to see how the economic crisis will turn out. Notwithstanding the apparent slowdown, it is not all doom and gloom. Despite…
Vacancy Rates for Rental Housing Highest Since ‘96
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–National vacancy rates for rental housing in the second quarter 2009 were 10.6 percent, a 0.4 percent gain from the previous quarter, according to the latest report by the Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau. The Census Bureau found that the rental vacancy rate was higher than the second quarter 2008 rate (10 percent) and higher than the rate last quarter (10.1 percent).For rental housing by area, the second quarter 2009 vacancy rate in principal cities (11.2 percent) was higher than in the suburbs where it was 10.0 percent, but not statistically different from outside…
Budget Deficit in California Will Lead to Reduced Production of Affordable Housing
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York–Even though affordable housing has been one of the priorities of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), some states are facing challenges when it comes to funding. One such state is California. In the face of immense budget deficit problems, the state has had to cut back on funding for affordable housing.To balance the state budget, the Legislature and the governor are poised to cut $1.7 billion from redevelopment agencies throughout California. For example, L.A.’s agency would lose $72 million and Daly City would lose $1.9 million. “I am very concerned that…
Award-Winning West Coast Multifamily Communities Demonstrate Green Building Trend
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorSan Francisco—This year’s Gold Nugget Awards were recently announced at PCBC (Pacific Coast Builder’s Conference), a regional trade show and conference of the real estate development industry. This year’s multifamily winners demonstrated a number of trends, including green and sustainable design, seniors and affordable housing, specialty designs, and site and land planning. Del Mar Development’s Yanonali Court (pictured at right) in Santa Barbara, Calif. was awarded Project of the Year. With five homes, each less than 2,000 square feet, the infill neighborhood scored LEED Platinum certification and has become a pilot for the city’s “Built Green”…
MULTI-HOUSING EXECUTIVES UPDATE: Alliance Residential Appoints Gregory N. Signer as VP of Operations for Southeast Region, and Other Moves
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorPhoenix, Ariz.–Alliance Residential Co., has appointed Gregory N. Signer (pictured) as vice president of operations for the company’s Southeast Region. Before joining Alliance, Signer served as senior vice president of McKinley Properties in Orlando where he was responsible for overseeing 13,000 multifamily homes and the day-to-day operations of a five-state area. In this role he was responsible for the management of nearly 500 associates. Prior to McKinley, Signer worked as vice president of property assets for Archstone Smith. Signer began his career at Trammell Crow Residential as a leasing consultant in 1992. Signer has served…