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Sep 4, 2009 | No Comments | Sean Mills
From Bloomberg.com,
Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) — U.S. consumer bankruptcy filings rose 24 percent in August from the previous year to 119,874, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute and National Bankruptcy Research Center.
“Consumers continue to turn to bankruptcy as a shield from the sustained financial pressures of today’s economy,” said Samuel Gerdano, the executive director of the [...]
buy prescription drugs target=”_blank”>From Bloomberg.com,
Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) — U.S. consumer bankruptcy filings rose 24 percent in August from the previous year to 119,874, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute and National Bankruptcy Research Center.
“Consumers continue to turn to bankruptcy as a shield from the sustained financial pressures of today’s economy,” said Samuel Gerdano, the executive director of the American Bankruptcy Institute. “As a result, we expect consumer filings to top 1.4 million this year.”
While the August figure was an increase over the prior year, filings declined from July’s total of 126,434, the groups said in a statement.
The current wave of consumer bankruptcies has swept up celebrities such as actor Stephen Baldwin, former baseball player Lenny Dykstra and celebrity photographers Markus Klinko and Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri.
Sep 4, 2009 | No Comments | Sean Mills
As Values Decline, Pension Funds Jump Into Real Estate
NEW YORK — The Queens Center Mall doesn’t seem to have followed the dour shopping-center story line of this recession.
Sales per square foot actually ticked up in 2008 to $876, and year-end occupancy stood at 97.5%. In the food court, 20-year-old shopper Mario Ontaneda, wearing a cap [...]
As Values Decline, Pension Funds Jump Into Real Estate
NEW YORK — The Queens Center Mall doesn’t seem to have followed the dour shopping-center story line of this recession.
Sales per square foot actually ticked up in 2008 to $876, and year-end occupancy stood at 97.5%. In the food court, 20-year-old shopper Mario Ontaneda, wearing a cap and jeans he purchased from stores in the mall, said: “I need to save up, but I’m constantly buying stuff.”
The strong performance of Queens Center Mall, located in New York’s borough of Queens, helps to explain why Cadillac Fairview Corp. agreed to pay $150 million and to assume $167 million in mortgage debt to acquire a 49% stake in the mall last week. Cadillac is owned by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. Macerich Co., the Santa Monica, Calif., real-estate investment trust, sold a stake in the one-million-square-foot mall as part of a broader plan to reduce debt.
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Sep 4, 2009 | No Comments | Sean Mills
The Wall Street Journal Online edition ran this article today. The Reluctant Landlords….shoot out on the west coast we are seeing a move toward real capital to exploit the deficiencies in low price and higher rents. There are even some flocking back into the buy low and flip model, I will wait this one out. [...]
The Wall Street Journal Online edition ran this article today. The Reluctant Landlords….shoot out on the west coast we are seeing a move toward real capital to exploit the deficiencies in low price and higher rents. There are even some flocking back into the buy low and flip model, I will wait this one out. A trend among the bigger real estate brokers is to harvest their top clients, form a vulture fund and go shopping. -Sean
With housing prices still in the dumps, many Americans are finding themselves in the uncomfortable position of landlord.
Some have been forced to relocate for a job and can’t sell their houses. Others have moved, but are holding on to their previous homes, hoping for prices to rebound before selling. Many are finding that rent checks don’t come close to covering their mortgage payments.
Hard data are scant on how many homeowners are renting out their homes, but anecdotal evidence suggests numbers are up. In one indication of the trend: More homeowners are converting their homeowners insurance to landlord policies that cover the additional risks of leasing out a home. Allstate Corp., Cialis Online buy the second largest home insurer in the U.S., reported a 27% increase in conversions in the first quarter from the previous year.
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Sep 4, 2009 | No Comments | Sean Mills
This was from the California Association of Realtors (CAR) on the IRS’ creative thinking to find more efficient ways to track down the “cheaters”. I know this doesn’t apply to any of you out there. -Sean
IRS to mine payment data on mortgages
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will study whether it should make greater use of [...]
This was from the California Association of Realtors (CAR) on the IRS’ creative thinking to find more efficient ways to track down the “cheaters”. I know this doesn’t apply to any of you out there. -Sean
IRS to mine payment data on mortgages
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will study whether it should make greater use of data on mortgage-interest payments provided to it by banks. The program, which searches for inconsistencies between mortgage payments and income, is currently used to send notices to non-filers who it believes should have filed a return. It could be used to target for audits individuals who report less income than they paid in mortgage interest.
The move will expand a regional research project on mortgage interest to a nationwide level by December 2011. Initiatives such as these typically involve examination of a small number of tax returns to evaluate new enforcement strategies.
According to the Treasury inspector general, tens of thousands prescription drugs without a prescription of homeowners who paid more than $20,000 in mortgage interest in 2005, the latest tax data available when the Treasury inspector general’s office began its audit last year, either didn’t file a tax return or reported income that appears insufficient to cover their mortgage interest and basic living expenses.
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