It took 90 minutes for Daily News to ’steal’ the Empire State Building - Daily News - William Sherman - 2 December 08
In one of the biggest heists in American history, the Daily News “stole” the $2 billion Empire State Building.
And it wasn’t that hard.
The News swiped the 102-story Art Deco skyscraper by drawing up a batch of bogus documents, making a fake notary stamp and filing paperwork with the city to transfer the deed to the property.
Some of the information was laughable: Original “King Kong” star Fay Wray is listed as a witness and the notary shared a name with bank robber Willie Sutton.
Continued…
Posted in Real Estate Investing.
Perhaps I’m too conservative but rather sounds like “quick shoot yourself before we run out of bullets.”
Why Contrarian Investors Should Consider Detroit - National Real Estate Investor - Matt Valley - 3 December 08
Although its economy is mired in a deep trough, Southeast Michigan is the “best buy-side story” in U.S. commercial real estate investing today, if you believe the market is poised for a rebound, says Steven Chaben, regional manager of the Detroit office of Marcus & Millichap. A graduate of Wayne State University and the Detroit College of Law who has spent his entire 25-year business career in the local market, Chaben knows a good deal when he sees one.
Continued…
Posted in Real Estate Investing.
Dear Sirs,
In view of what seems to be happening internationally with banks at the moment, I was wondering if you could advise me correctly… If one of my checks is returned marked ‘insufficient funds,’ how do I know whether that refers to me, or to you?
Posted in Finance & Economics.
CITY OF BOATMEN, FRANCE?
Map Reveals the Secrets Behind Place Names - Spigelonline - Charles Hawley - 11 November 08
If you’ve got a date in New York, she’ll be waiting in New Wild Boar City, according to a new etymological map of the world….
Called the “Atlas of True Names,” the new map traces the etymological roots of European and global place names and then translates them into English. The “City of Boatmen” is also known as Paris. Should you travel to the Land of the Fire Keepers, you’d find yourself in Azerbaijan. And Italy comes from the Latin word vitulus, which means “calf.”…
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Posted in Other Interesting.
Linguist says US intelligence spied on Blair - Financial Times - 24 November 08
David Faulk, a former employee of the National Security Agency, alleges that Washington eavesdropped on the former UK prime minister and Ghazi al-Yawer, the first Iraqi president
Why did they need a linguist? Didn’t they know that Blair spoke english?
Posted in Other Interesting.
Room rates in Dubai see drop of up to 30% _ The National - Amena Bakr - 23 November 08
…Four- and five-star properties in the emirate have cut room rates between 10 per cent and 30 per cent… many Dubai hotels had removed their surcharges.
…Among the hotel operators Lama Tours deals with is the Jumeirah Group, the Dubai-based luxury chain, which Mr Singh said had reduced its rates by 10 per cent from last year’s levels. A spokesman from the Jumeirah Group said in an e-mailed statement that most of the chain’s Dubai hotels were enjoying occupancy rates of 90 per cent and above.
Continued…
Posted in Real Estate Investing.
Sand Castles - Half-Price Mansions - Barron’s -Karen Hube - 24 November 08
LUXURY-HOME SHOPPERS HAVE COME DOWN with a bad case of cold feet. From Malibu to Manhattan, would-be buyers of $5 million-and-up properties are pulling out of pending deals and suspending their searches out of concern over jarring drops in the stock market and dire economic news…The market has slowed to a crawl. Properties that once took a few weeks to sell are now taking months and months, even as prices continue to fall. Luxury-home prices are down an estimated 20% since peaking last year, and some savvy pros think they’ll drop another 10% to 15% before bottoming in 2010. That would be later than the likely bottoming of the general housing market; Barron’s has maintained that a leveling-off of the broader housing market is imminent in many regions (”Bottoms Up,” July 14). But the luxe downturn also began much later than the general slump. Until the second half of last year, most of the $5 million-plus market looked to be headed ever skyward.
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Posted in Real Estate Investing.
There have been a number of articles about young US and UK bankers relocating to the Gulf. They think that they are surfing the financial waves to a new safe harbor but they may only be the flotsam and jetsam floating on the crest of the financial tsunami flooding the financial world (talk about bad writing.)
Amlak freezes home loans - The National - Rupert Wright and Sarmad Khan - 20 November 08
Amlak, the country’s largest home lender, is suspending new loan applications until further notice as it carries out a full review of its portfolio…
Continued…
Posted in Real Estate Investing.
When I started this blog way back in May - one of the first items I posted was a warning that the commercial real estate market would follow in the footsteps of the residential market. Unfortunately I was right.
UPDATE 3-Economy, TARP hits US commercial property debt, stocks - Reuters - Al Yoon and Helen Chernikoff - 19 November 08
The prices of bonds and stocks with exposure to commercial real estate plunged on Wednesday on fears the weakening U.S. economy could lead to a wave of defaults on loans for office buildings, retail stores, and hotels. Continued…
Posted in Real Estate Investing.
Report: Two Major Commercial Mortgages Near Default - CalculatedRisk - 18 November 08
…The $209 million Westin Portfolio loan and the $125 million loan for Promenade Shops at Dos Lagos … of loans bundled into bonds are about to default on their debt, according to Credit Suisse Group AG…
The analysts note that these were “pro forma” loans, and were based on significantly higher operating income in the future. Pro forma loans were the “stated income” loans for commercial properties… Continued…
Posted in Finance & Economics, Real Estate Investing.
