It was pretty well publicized when just last month the John Hancock Tower in Boston sold for just over $660 million – when the previous owners paid over $1.3billion for it in 2006. Now more news of other premium classs A properties in major metro areas having similar fates, and investors are showing restraint at picking up these propertis at even half price: Read more of this article »
This news release surfaced today – it seems that Capmark Financial has secured a loan from private sources in the sum of $1.5 billion. CapMark is an investment firm that specializes in CMBS (commercial mortgage backed securities). They currently have a portfolio of investments are beginning to come due in 3Q and 4Q 2009. This loan will stabilize their portfolio of investments for at least 10 months at worst, depending on terms and conditions set forth the the loan documents.
To me, this is a great sign that some of this commercial debt is attractive to large investment banks – and that they are willing to put some of their cash on the street and at risk for the next 12-18 months.
For those of us that aren’t heavily involved in the nuts of bolts of commercial finance, a substantial portion of the US and worldwide bond market consists of ‘commercial mortgage backed securities’, or CMBS. The CMBS market is quite volatile at this time, as so much of that debt will be coming due in the next 12-24 months. We have covered this issue in depth here on Real Estate Jokers – and will continue to do so. We do focus on trying to keep things positive, but on the other hand in order to be successful in any market condition, you need to be up to date on the facts.
There are many news reports about the status of the commercial real estate mortage market – we have even reported on them here on Real Estate Jokers – The Mortgage Crisis May Have a Second Act? – but what is uncertain is exactly how much debt is on the books, and how much is going to mature or come due as the five year notes expire? I read an interesting article on Zero Hedge a while back that estimated the total commercial debt at over $1 trillion: Read more of this article »
Everyone has been conditioned to actually believe there are tons of deals to be had out there for nothing…It seems like everyone has a story about a brother-in-law, cousin, best friend’s ex-roomate, and upstairs neighbor that has purchased, and “flipped”(how much does everyone hate that term now…haha) some real estate with zero money. They love to tell about the house they bought on a 100% mortgage, remodeled on a 0% credit line at the local home improvement warehouse, and sold for a $20k rip.
Well, at the base of everyone one of these stories is a kernel of truth, and if the base truth is 50% as good as the final story then it is reasonable to believe that some of these people actually did make some money on real estate investments with very little of their own hard cash. Read more of this article »
One thing for sure – CoStar is good for reports like this – Tim
Falling Prices Hindering Already-Difficult Ability To Refinance Loans on Time
An uptick in both the number and average loan size of new defaults resulted in a one-quarter point climb in March CMBS delinquencies to end the month at 1.53%, and there are significant indicators that point to record climb in defaults in April as well, according to Fitch Ratings.
So you own a television and a computer – and every time you turn one or both of them on, they instantly spew forth ideas that you should sit tight and keep leasing space for your business. Vacancy rates are on the rise, rents are dropping, banks are foreclosing on properties, distress sales are on the rise still, etc, etc. Well maybe your computer doesn’t “spew” this info – but your fax machine probably does.
The basic point is in order to by in business, you have to have space to conduct that business. Like it or not, you unless you are drop shipping infant toys you sell on ebay, you most likely need a traditional space to operate your business. This could be an office, a retail store, or a manufacturing or industrial space for your going concern. Rent is expensive, possibly the most expensive piece of your overhead after labor and of course the cost of goods sold. While there are no guarantees and I certainly have no crystal ball here in my office, There is a good chance of you being able to recapture Read more of this article »
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Everyone has been conditioned to actually believe there are tons of deals to be had out there for nothing…It seems like everyone has a story about a brother-in-law, cousin, best friend’s ex-roomate, and upstairs neighbor that has purchased, and “flipped”(how much does everyone hate that term now…haha) some real estate with zero money. They love to tell about the house they bought on a 100% mortgage, remodeled on a 0% credit line at the local home improvement warehouse, and sold for a $20k rip.
