Insigniaresidential - FSBO

A few years back I remember hearing about the National Harbor development - a development which will include retail, office, residential, hotels, and convention space - an entire mixed-use development which is going to be built on the banks of the Potomac, steps from Washington DC. I don't know if it is just forgetfulness on my part or what - but up until a few days ago, I thought the whole development was being put together by Gaylord Entertainment - I mean, in a way it would make sense.. Gaylord's portion is one of the largest single contributors to the project, and if you look at all the other Gaylord Entertainment projects through out America - they don't build a small convention hotel and convention space, its almost a destination unto itself; thus I thought it only logical that Gaylord was behind the entire National Harbor development. Its actually a company called the Peterson Companies that is behind the National Harbor project.

National Harbor

Last week I wrote about Starwood Hotel's development pipeline extending with two hotels within the National Harbor development - an aloft, and a Westin. The Westin which should be opening in a few months with the aloft opening in early 2009. In the article I was surprised that Gaylord would allow another hotel brand into their development - but I was corrected earlier today by a representative from National Harbor's PR team. He pointed me to National Harbor's website, and I realized that there is more to National Harbor than the Gaylord Convention Center and Hotel. If you have not been to National Harbor's website - take a look - its very well put together and offers a lot of concrete information on the project, background information, renderings, etc. The renderings are especially interesting because when a project is being developed there is not much information on what the buildings will look like except for a few shots - but National Harbor's site has pictures of every building currently being constructed, floor plans, and what will be in the building. Very useful when trying to get an understanding of what the project is made up of.

Aloft National Harbor

Westin National Harbor

In addition, they have a progress website that shows the progress (Id assume its updated every month or so) on each one of the buildings that are currently being built in this phase.

National Harbor is a community within itself - complete with a name "National Harbor, MD" and Zip Code (20745) which is being shared with Oxon Hill. National Harbor is being built by the Peterson Companies, one of the largest mixed use developers in the Fairfax, VA/Washington DC area, although this is the largest product that they have tackled to date.

National Harbor, when completed, will consist of over 7.3 million square feet of hotel, retail, restaurant, convention center, residential, and office space - all on undeveloped land - no eminent domain needed here! In addition to the Gaylord National complex - the anchor of the development which will contain 2,000 hotel rooms and an 18 story atrium within the convention center space, 6 other hotels will complete the development, Starwood's Westin & aloft, a Residence Inn, Hampton Inn, Wyndham Vacation Ownership, and another still unannounced hotel. National Harbor will have 4 piers - enabling visitors or convention hosts to bring boats directly up to the property - a huge selling point for the convention sales dept, and it will also contain 2 marinas for typical docking needs.

The purpose of the National Harbor project is mainly to attract businesses - via the office space and convention center space, as that is what most of the development is going after (at least right now), but with the residential components currently being built and on the drawing board, its also being promoted as an alternative to living just outside the main business centers of the area - Fairfax, Alexandria, Washington DC, etc.

For those who decide to call National Harbor home, there will be plenty to do - they are having nightly light shows, and one of the components will be a movie theater.

This project excites me because I love master planned, mixed-use projects. I think there is something to be said for things that are pre-planned, and designed around a common theme for a common purpose, especially real estate when you are trying to build up a large area very quickly. A lot of people feel that planned communities are a bad idea, that they conjure up an image of standards which have to be met, and the inability to grow or expand outside the community bounds. I think the National Harbor project will succeed because of a number of things in its favor - it is in a great location, a very important metropolitan area of the United States, it fulfills a niche that hasn't been completely filled before (a large conference facility in Washington DC) and it has a great mix of buildings - office, retail, residential, hotel, entertainment, restaurants, open/park space which will allow a much wider variety of people to utilize its services.

I think it also shows a lot of persistence by the Peterson Companies - they have owned the property for almost 10 years before they even broke ground (purchased it in 1996) and they were finally able to do what most other people had tried, but never finished. Not only that, but the National Harbor that you see now is only about 1/3 or 1/2 of the entire project - there is more to be announced at a later date.

I'll be keeping an eye on the National Harbor project - I'm very interested to see the finished results and the reception it receives within the community.

andrew@alconic-inc.com

"The number of U.S. homes that slipped into some stage of foreclosure in 2007 was 79% higher than in the previous year, a real estate tracking company said Tuesday. Many homeowners started to fall behind on mortgage payments in the last three months, setting the stage for more foreclosures this year.

About 1.3 million homes received foreclosure-related warnings last year, up from 717,522 in 2006, Irvine-based RealtyTrac Inc. said. Foreclosure filings rose 75% from the previous year to 2.2 million.

More than 1% of all U.S. households were in some phase of the foreclosure process last year, up from about half a percent in 2006, RealtyTrac said."

To read the rest of the article from USA Today, click here.

One out of every one hundred homes you see when you drive to the mall, go to work, or fly over in an airplane is now in foreclosure. And some pundits think the U.S. can avoid a recession.  Yeah, right.  Sure.  And Rosy Scenario just won the lottery.

This figure is staggering. These are Great Depression of the 1930s foreclosure levels.

Even Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf believes the current U.S. residential real estate crisis is at Great Depression levels---and getting worse.

Is there money to be made by investors in foreclosures these days? Sure. If you are buying a home for yourself to live in with your family you can pay a whole lot less than you did a year or two ago.  That's good news for homeowners.  This is because home ownership is NOT an investment decision. It is a personal one. If your home falls in value, even temporarily, it doesn't matter a whole lot since you are living in it and aren't likely to move.

But as an investor the same scenario is a disaster. There is an old Wall Street expression that warns against attempting to catch a falling knife.

People, this market is falling like a chain saw with the blade spinning so fast it makes the wings of a hummingbird look geriatric.

Robert J. Abalos, Esq.

investinginland@yahoo.com

Eto pa po ang karagdagang units:

Wellington Circle
Wellington Circle 1.8K 3BR (viewing tomorrow at 8PM)

Hougang Blk 630 2K (viewing today at 5PM)
Hougang Ave 8 3+1

TG Pagar Plaza, Blk 3
2.3K 2+1 (Viewing at 4pm tody)

Boon Keng Rd (View to Offer)
3+1 Furnished Aircon

PASIR Ris St 21 2.3K
available by March 1. Viewing by end of February

Edgefield Plains (2.2K)
Available anytime(arrange for viewing)

242 Bishan St 22
2.5K 3 BR (Viewing at 4pm today)

Tawag na!=p

I found this article by Bob Waun titled "If you're thinking about a 2nd home, the answer is Now!" very interesting as many of the points discussed apply to the Brian Head real estate market.

There two distinct people that are attracted to Brian Head, Las Vegans and baby boomers. Most of them are probably in the same group. According to this article, boomers are going to inherit over $40 billion over the next 35 years. People who inherit money usually spend it. Las Vegas' population is not getting any smaller. Because Brian Head is Las Vegas' playground, it's predicted that Brian Head will grow even more popular than it is as a vacation and second home destination for 2nd home buyers in Las Vegas.

There are no master planned communities in Brian Head...wait there will be one, Summit at Brian Head (click here). This will be the largest in Brian Head development at total build-out. I can't wait to see their progress and results once they can get out of the ground which is expected this spring.

As most people know and have experienced, there has not much of a declining market in Brian Head. In Cedar City, 35 miles away from Brian Head, some developers are dropping pricing 14%, however, there are exceptions. Cedar Crossing is a development that I personally am working on and we refuse to lower prices. We sell a master planned town-home community with amenities which most places don't offer. Prices are still as low as $157,900. As talked about in this article, developers who can withstand the down markets will do better in protecting their customers who have already purchased. When the market turns, everybody wins...at least those who trusted in the developer.

Historically the incumbant party is blamed for the "State of The Union". This happen every election cycle. How soon we forget!

How much of the recession is the fault of the up comming election?

In the Atlanta area we are affected, but not as much as other parts of the country.
Jobs continue grow and homes are are being sold.

As a whole the market is off by only 6% for resale and about 18% for new construction. 

Are you looking for a Deal? Yes, that's a rhetorical question. Now is the time to buy. Foreclosures are at an all time high, Home sellers are willing to make a deal, Interest rates are low and may even go lower.

Everyone is looking for the bottom. Don't wait to long. We are standing in the forest... do not let the trees get in the way.

Fox 24 News ran a story tonight where they asked a local real estate agent whether it's smarter to rent or buy in our "declining" market right now. I wanted to call my buyer clients who have been sitting on the fence and tell them to watch - the answer to me is obvious: buy! Boy am I glad I didn't - that agent was advising people to rent! Read the rest of this entry »

The town of Huntersville at Lake Norman is just 20 minutes north of the city of Charlotte and is part of the Lake Norman shoreline. Part of one of the hottest Real Estate markets it really has is all! You can live on beautiful Lake Norman, hang out at Birkdale Village (most popular shopping and night time entertainment in the area), you are just 1 hour from the mountains, just 3 hours from the ocean and best of all great weather. If you like new development, nice people and plenty to do, this is the place for you.The average sale price of a home in the Huntersville area is $277,662. Homes are selling for 99.48% of the list price and are on the market for an average of 53 days. If you would like information on Lake Norman living click here.......

Zip Codes: 28070, 28078

Other Charlotte Area Standouts: The Home of most of the top NASCAR Teams, Charlotte Bobcats (NBA Basketball), Carolina Panthers (NFL Team), University of North Carolina/Charlotte, Lowes Motor Speedway.

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For additional information about Lake Norman area Homes contact Lake Norman Home Specialist: Craig LePage, Broker / Realtor of Keller Williams Realty, Cornelius N.C. 704-618-2412

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Magandang umaga!

Available units po:

Ang Mo Kio Blk 564
Ang Mo Kio Ave 3
1.7K 2 BR + 1 utility (viewing tonight at 8pm)

Blk 523 Serangoon North Ave 4 2.2K 3+1 (viewing today at 2pm)

Toh Yi Dr Blk 19
3+1 2K (viewing today at 12nn)

Marsiling Rd,Blk 141 #07 2.2K 3+1 (call for appointment)

Ang complete details po ay idadagdag ko mamaya (i.e. how far is the MRT, buses na dumadaan, etc). I posted lng po para sa mga available mag-view. The owners want to close this asap. Ambilis po kseng nas-snatch ang mga units ngayon kaya grab dapat tayo kagad kung gusto natin. =)

Noena
Associate Manager (HSR)
81804135

Here's some good news:

1. I might have a potential buyer for the old homestead. This may go down as the fastest real estate transaction in (my) history. The buyer has narrowed it down to three places, and mine is one of them. Judgement Day is Thursday.

2. I got a raise! Whoopee! My days of Ramen and Lucky Charms may finally be numbered, though I'll still go slumming every once and a while.

3. That's it. I'm only allowed two good things per month.

Addendum: I'm back on the Veg Train, though it derailed last week in a violent crash of Popeye's turkey, Chick-Fil-A, a McDonald's cheeseburger for Christ's sakes (in my defense, I was completely wasted), a chicken taco and other meat-related items. So sue me.

My backtracking was well-intentioned though. I was losing weight, which most people would see as a good thing, but I'm tiny enough. As my aunts would say, I needed some meat on my bones. That and I really didn't do any research about how to healthily maintain protein before diving in.