News

While today's turbulent market conditions have led some investors to put on the brakes, that's not the case with international real estate investment and services firm Kennedy Wilson. The company hasn't pulled back on its aggressive acquisition strategy, acquiring over 1,600 residential units and over 60 loans secured by real estate within the past year.

A group of real estate developers and partners in the Southeast have announced the launch of a new venture - SunBelt Capital Solutions. The firm, headquartered in Atlanta, is focused on acquiring distressed commercial real estate loans and property in the southeastern part of the country.

The Fisher Law Group, PLLC, located in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, announced Thursday that it has completed the acquisition of Specialized, Inc. of Virginia, from the CBCInnovis family of companies. Specialized, Inc. of Virginia is a trustee company that has been transacting foreclosure business in Virginia since 1992 for both residential and commercial loan servicers and lenders.

Morningstar, Inc., a Chicago-based provider of independent investment research, announced Wednesday that it has completed the previously announced acquisition of Horsham, Pennsylvania-based Realpoint, LLC, a nationally recognized statistical ratings organization that specializes in structured finance. As a result of this completed acquisition, Realpoint will become business unit within Morningstar's equity and credit research business. And over time, the company will be rebranded under Morningstar.

Valuation Partners, LLC, a national real estate valuations provider based in Sugar Land, Texas, recently announced that it is providing Appraiser Proximity Certifications on all new orders that provide proof that the appraiser chosen for a specific job has the local knowledge and expertise to complete the assignment. Through the use of geo-coding technology, each Appraiser Proximity Certification includes an automatically generated map showing the location of both the subject property and the appraiser's place of business. And prior to accepting the order, the appraiser is required to acknowledge that the distance between his or her office and the property is correct.

Sen. John McCain and two other Republicans have introduced an amendment to the Senate's reform package that would wean mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac off of federal funding over the next five years and completely dissolve them after 15 years. McCain called the two GSEs ""synonymous with mismanagement and waste"" and the epitome of too big to fail. ""The time has come to end Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's taxpayer-backed slush fund and require them to operate on a level playing field,"" McCain said.

QualityFirst Real Estate, a San Diego-based real estate company specializing in REO properties, recently launched a new company Web site, providing real world expertise regarding short sales and foreclosure sales to homebuyers, buyers, and the lending community. Through this new site, buyers looking for great opportunities on a home can directly access QualityFirst's online listings of bank-owned homes for sale, the company said. And buyers looking for a home loan can take advantage of the site's mortgage information and loan calculator pages.

Short sales are being touted by some as the ""go-to"" alternative to foreclosure, but that doesn't mean there aren't risks involved in completing these transactions. In order to warn consumers and real estate agents about the potential perils and pitfalls of short sales, the California Department of Real Estate (DRE) has issued a consumer alert, Jeff Davi, DRE commissioner, announced Thursday.

Fannie Mae announced Thursday that it has entered into a new partnership with the Orlando agency of Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Central Florida and the Florida Gulf Coast (CCCS) in order to accelerate response time and provide financial counseling to struggling Florida homeowners whose mortgages are owned by Fannie Mae and serviced by SunTrust. Under this partnership, CCCS will initiate a grassroots mail and telephone campaign focusing on eligible homeowners who are delinquent in their mortgage payments.

After holding steady for two weeks straight, mortgage rates fell to their lowest level in a month and a half this week, both Bankrate and Freddie Mac reported Thursday. Bankrate's market analysis shows that the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage has dropped to 5.12 percent. A separate study by Freddie Mac puts the 30-year rate at a flat 5 percent. Rates on 15-year mortgages and adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) also headed lower.