News About Properties

Home builders up ante to lure buyers

Incentives, discounts are pervasive as market slows and inventories climb

Large home builders are dangling out more incentives to reluctant buyers as the roof caves in on the U.S. housing market. To entice customers, companies are serving up deals that include a free pool, a fancy kitchen or even a new car. But real-estate brokers say all buyers want is a cheaper house.

In September about 77% of home builders were offering some sort of sales incentive in response to spiking inventories, compared with 58% a year earlier, says Gopal Ahluwalia, staff vice president for research at the National Association of Home Builders.

Putting a value on investment property

Although you may not think so from reading the newspaper or watching television, people are continuing to invest in real estate as part of their financial plan for the future.

Yes, we may not see the double-digit appreciation numbers of the past several years here in the Napa Valley, but the other benefits of owning real estate have hardly gone away.

The ability to borrow 80 percent of the value of an investment property will turn a modest 5 percent appreciation in value into a 25 percent return on your initial investment.

Deal to tear down Hyatt has been called off [South Florida]

A deal to tear down the 297-room Hyatt Sarasota and its connected conference space is dead, a victim of the less-than-crying need for more luxury high-rise condominiums in Southwest Florida.

While it might feel like a canceled $65 million check to the hotel’s owners, the demise of the year-old sales contract with WCI Communities Inc. was greeted with enthusiasm by those whose job it is to attract visitors to the region.

Make investment property pay

Investing in real estate most likely won’t produce the get-rich-quick results promised by many a late-night infomercial.

But for investors willing to do some homework, make a good purchase and properly manage a piece of property, the rewards can be substantial.

Various strategies can be used on the road to real estate wealth.

Bankruptcies likely to spike, experts warn

Adjustable-rate-mortgage payments are rising, forcing unpleasant options.

In the year since a tougher federal bankruptcy law took effect, personal-bankruptcy cases have plummeted, and consumers must clear more hurdles than ever to get a financial fresh start through the courts.

That’s a stark contrast to previous years, when personal bankruptcies hit record levels, peaking last October as hundreds of thousands rushed to file before the stricter law took effect Oct. 17.

All in the Family [New York City]

Emily T. Frick and Dr. Henry Clay Frick II, the grandson of the legendary steel magnate, have bought a co-op at 3 East 77th Street.

The $3.9 million purchase comes eight months after the couple sold their 7,000-square-foot house in Alpine, N.J., for $58 million.

How does one get into a building like 3 East 77th?