News
Growing Troubles with GM Likely to Take Company’s Mortgage Unit Down
Detroit–With shares of General Motors Corp. dipping to their lowest point in 60 years, the company’s mortgage unit of its finance arm may not survive, the company said in a government filing.Delphi Corp., GM’s former parts operation that was spun off as a separate company in 1999, also might not be able to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In this morning’s trading, GM shares tumbled 56 cents, or 17 percent, to $2.80 after earlier falling as low as $2.75. This easily passes Monday’s more than 60-year low of $3.02.According to the Associated Press, JPMorgan analyst, Himanshu Patel said he…
TODAY’S DEALS: NorthMarq Arranges First Mortgage Financing of over $71M, and Other Transactions
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorOverland Park, Kan.–NorthMarq Capital Inc.’s Kansas City regional office recently arranged first mortgage financing of $71.186 million for an eight-property apartment portfolio. These multifamily properties are located in Ohio, Colorado and South Carolina and feature a combined total of 1,529 units. Financing was based on a 10-year term with three years interest only and a 30-year amortization schedule thereafter. NorthMarq arranged the financing through its seller/servicer relationship with Freddie Mac. 33-Unit Rental Property Sold for $4.1MVista, Calif.–Hendricks & Partners has arranged the sale of Meadow Ridge, a 33-unit property located at 415 Plymouth Dr. in…
NWP’s GreenBill Program
NWP Services Corp.’s (NWP) new fully electronic utility cost recovery solution for property owners and residents, GreenBill, includes features such as electronic bill delivery to residents; electronic resident payment capability; online bill images; online property statements; telephonic resident collections activity; electronically delivered training manuals; electronic utility bill transfer from properties to NWP; electronic property process reminders and electronic funds transfer into property owners’ bank accounts.”We feel that GreenBill is a ground-breaking opportunity for multifamily owners and managers who have already begun to embrace environmentally friendly solutions for their portfolios in so many areas,” says Debra Medina, billing programs manager for…
HFC to Develop, Manage and Finance First Privatized Overseas Military Housing
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorPyeongtaek, Republic of Korea—In a move that will mark the first time that private-sector developers, builders, managers and capital providers will create military housing on foreign land, the Department of the Army has chosen Humphreys Family Communities LLC (HFC) to design, build, finance and operate the U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys Housing Opportunity Project in the Republic of Korea.HFC is a joint venture between Irvine, Calif.-based Pinnacle AMS Development Company LLC; El Paso, Texas-based Hunt Companies; and Seoul, South Korea-based Samsung C&T Corporation. “Designing, building and maintaining housing is not [the DoD’s] core mission. The cost to…
Melrose Commons Takes the LEED in Green Urban Design
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorBronx, N.Y.–The South Bronx community of Melrose Commons was recently honored for its pioneering role in the sustainable design and redevelopment of urban neighborhoods. The project was selected as a member of the Focus Group for the new Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) pilot program. Devastated from years of neglect, Melrose Commons was in shambles by the early 1990s. In response to the city’s redevelopment plan, which would have resulted in the displacement of residents, a community development organization, Nos Quedamos, was formed. Nos Quedamos joined forces in 1992 with…
Fannie Mae Faces Record Losses
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.—-Fannie Mae has reported a record loss of $29 billion in the third quarter as the housing slowdown deepened and the agency wrote down a tax-related asset that had buoyed capital.This is the fifth consecutive loss for the company, which has been operating under a government conservatorship since September of this year.According to a Reuters report, Fannie Mae warned in October that it would write down substantially all of its deferred tax assets, which had become a controversial addition to capital as losses mounted. Deferred tax assets can be used to offset future taxes…
PERSPECTIVE: Why Budget for Bad Debt?
By Richard Schreiber, president of SureDeposit and Mark Copeland, COO for Alliance Residential Management LLC As budget season approaches, apartment owners and managers are once again budgeting for bad debt – those monies unrecovered by collections after a resident has damaged a unit or skipped out on rent. According to just-released data from the National Apartment Association (“2008 Survey of Operating Income & Expenses in Rental Apartment Properties’), owners and property managers of market rate properties lost on average $70 per unit last year to bad debt. That amounts to some $2 billion industry-wide, a confounding “cost of doing business”…
Home Sales Fall as Credit Conditions Worsen
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorChicago–Pending home sales (including multifamily and single-family homes) in September fell on the heels of a strong gain a month earlier as credit tightened and economic conditions deteriorated, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in September, declined 4.6 percent to 89.2 from an upwardly revised reading of 93.5 in August, but is actually 1.6 percent higher than September 2007 when it stood at 87.8. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says pending sales have been above year-ago levels for two months in…
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Apartment Sales Market Slows Down
By Keat Foong, Executive EditorThe apartment investment sales market since the financial market crisis occurred in mid-September has “freezed up” as apartment buyers and sellers face deep uncertainty over the future of the nation’s—indeed, the global—economic condition. According to the results of one study, reported here in the previous issue, apartment sales volume has plunged a whopping 69 percent. Indeed, one broker, Kitty Wallace, senior vice president at Sperry Van Ness, says that in her experience in California, multi-housing transactions have dropped 70 to 80 percent. The severe drop in apartment investment sales volume generally is attributed to a combination…
Multi-Housing Executives Update: CPC Appoints Ronald Schiferl as New CFO, and Other Moves
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York–The Community Preservation Corp. (CPC) recently named Ronald Schiferl (pictured) as Chief Financial Officer.In his new role, Schiferl will be responsible for providing overall finance management for the corporation and its for-profit development arm, CPC Resources Inc. (CPCR), encompassing all accounting and treasury functions. Schiferl has more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. Before joining the CPC, he served as Chief Operating Officer of Naterra Land, Inc., a position he held for two years. Prior to joining Naterra Land, he worked at Opus Corp. for eight years as a senior vice…