News About Properties

In Maricopa, Ariz., a Paradise Found and Lost

Builders rushed into this one-time agricultural crossroads during the housing boom. They put up beige stucco houses on winding streets, with names like Heavenly Place and Good Vibrations Lane. They lured young people who couldn’t afford homes in nearby Phoenix or its costly suburbs. The population soared to 37,000 last year from 1,400 a decade ago, making Maricopa one of the nation’s fastest-growing towns.

Now, it’s become a dead end for some of those people.

“We’re trapped,” says Tracy Campbell, as she watches her 2-year-old daughter romp on a playground.

Foreclosures spark HOA fee hikes

The wave of foreclosures in Florida continues to batter condo and homeowner associations, which have been forced to cut expenses and raise fees.

That’s according to a survey of 1,589 property owners released Monday by Hollywood law firm Becker & Poliakoff.

Becker & Poliakoff attorney Ken Direktor points to the “human cost” borne by unit owners who are still trying to pay their bills - and struggling because their fees are rising.

“The irony of it is that the people who are getting hurt aren’t the ones who were in it to make a quick buck,” Direktor said.

Opportunities abound for tenants, investors [Tampa Bay Area]

The dynamics of Southwest Florida’s office market are delivering healthy doses of caution and opportunity alike.

An abundance of new construction in recent years has supplied the region with a surplus of available space, which has affected absorption and vacancy rates already slowed by economic conditions. While these market conditions may adversely affect net operating income (NOIs), debt coverage ratios (DCRs) and CAP rates, they do create opportunities for tenants and investors. (Debt coverage ratios deal with income to mortgage payment, a key thing lenders look at.)

Expert: Foreclosures to dominate real estate in 2009

Foreclosure filings in Nevada dipped in January, but no one should take that as a sign the housing market is closing in on a recovery.

Nevada continues to hold the top spot in foreclosure filings as a national push is intensifying to do something about the problem.

RealtyTrac posted numbers that show foreclosure filings in Nevada decreased 4 percent in January compared with December, but the total is still 134 percent higher than January 2008.

In January 3,848 homes were foreclosed — 136 more than in December. The reason filings dipped is the 6,064 notices of default filed against homeowners was 402 fewer than in December.

Once high-flying South Florida developer’s properties now unfinished, derelict

Glenn Wright’s fortunes soared with the city’s hunger for luxury real estate. His two-story Georgian homes rose up in older neighborhoods, much to the chagrin of residents who derided them as “McMansions.”

But the developer who once was one of the biggest names in high-end Fort Lauderdale Is your Fort Lauderdale restaurant clean? - Click Here. construction quietly has deeded at least 106 of his companies’ properties to a private firm that says it specializes in debt restructuring and bailing out troubled assets.

Wright has left a trail of lawsuits, unhappy contractors, angry would-be homeowners and unfinished building sites. His development companies are in the red for more than $100 million, according to Blair International, the company that now holds Wright’s properties.

Buckley Towers wins $20M verdict [South Florida]

A Miami federal court jury on Friday awarded Buckley Towers homeowners $20 million in their claim against global insurance giant QBE Insurance, one of the largest condo insurers in Florida.

At issue was damage caused by Hurricane Wilma to the 40-year-old twin towers in North Miami.

During the nearly two weeks of testimony, lawyers for the mostly elderly condo residents claimed the storm’s winds caused structural joints to come loose.

But, attorneys for the insurance company argued that the building’s age and homeowners’ failure to maintain the building caused the damage. The county has be