Private Equity Has Too Much Money to Spend on Homes

Funds planning to invest more than $6 billion to buy and rent foreclosed homes are finding it easy to raise money. The difficulty is spending it.

The number of low-cost foreclosed homes coming to market has dropped, bulk sales have been slow to materialize and prices are recovering in markets such as Phoenix, making it hard for private-equity firms, hedge funds and pension systems to buy as many homes as they need.

“The folks that raised capital are worried about under- accumulating properties and how to get capital out in an efficient way,” Richard Ford, a managing director in the real estate investment banking group at Jefferies Group Inc., said in a telephone interview. “A lot’s being raised. Less than $2 billion of institutional capital has been spent.”

via Private Equity Has Too Much Money to Spend on Homes – Businessweek.

Can your board inspect your condo or home?

Prior to selling or renting your condominium or home, can board members demand to inspect your home inside and out to make sure your property is not in violation of community rules? Can an association demand its own down payment from a potential renter or buyer?

These are questions from Sun Sentinel readers. And we have answers with help from South Florida attorney Russell Robbins of the community association law firm Mirza Basulto & Robbins. If you have a question about Florida shared community law you would like answered in print, please send an e-mail with your full name and city name to dvasquez@SunSentinel.com.

via Florida condo law – Sun Sentinel.

Former downtown property owners want cash: Lau family due $700K in failed condo deal

The former owners of a key Pacific Avenue parcel leveled by the Loma Prieta earthquake have threatened to re-open a six-year-old lawsuit involving the city if they don’t receive money or property outlined in a condemnation settlement that has cost developers more than $2 million.

The demand from the Lau family for $700,000 or two condos in a housing project yet to be built on the site is the latest twist in the tortured history of 1547 Pacific Ave., a 25,000-square-foot parcel that remains the only empty lot downtown since the 1989 quake. The Sentinel has learned there is an interested buyer for the prized site, one who could be left holding the bag.”We will certainly pursue them and we certainly feel entitled to them under the agreement,” Eric Lau said of the funds he and his father, Ron, and sister Lani, are due under a 2005 settlement that ended a city suit to take the long-blighted property by emminent domain.

via Former downtown property owners want cash: Lau family due $700K in failed condo deal.

KKR Makes Push Into Real Estate

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., one of the original buyout shops, has long resisted getting into real estate. But after years of watching rivals invest billions of dollars in property, KKR finally is making its own big push.

The firm’s $196 million acquisition last week of a Chicago-area shopping mall kicked off what is expected to be a flurry of deals in the months ahead.

KKR recently paid $60 million for part of a real-estate-related loan from a European financial institution, and it is in contract to provide a $25 million mezzanine loan to a hotel operator for a property renovation.

via KKR Makes Push Into Real Estate.

For Some, ‘Frustration’ Over Mortgage Settlement

Earlier this month, a judge approved a settlement between five major banks and nearly all of the state attorneys general. The banks admitted to taking shortcuts — or “robo-signing” documents — as they pushed through some foreclosures.Most of the $25 billion settlement is supposed to go toward reducing mortgage payments for some troubled homeowners. But lots of other programs have promised to help struggling homeowners in the past, and results have been disappointing.So this latest plan is generating some new hope — and lots of skepticism.

via For Some, ‘Frustration’ Over Mortgage Settlement.

New State Property Tax Rule May Surprise Homeowners

Thousands of Florida homeowners may soon be in for a rude awakening: appeals to reduce their property assessments will be automatically tossed out if they have not paid most of their property tax bill by March 31.

A new state law passed last year requires homeowners who challenge their property tax valuations to pay at least 75 percent of the disputed bill before the end of March. The penalty: automatic disqualification from the appeals process, which thousands of Floridians have used to save hundreds of dollars in taxes during the housing downturn.

“Most people on the street don’t even know this is coming,” said Barry Sharpe, president of Property Tax Appeal Group in Miami-Dade County, where the change will have the biggest impact. “I have a feeling that people are going to flip when they find out about this.”

via New State Property Tax Rule May Surprise Homeowners.