photo credit: TheTruthAbout…

Source: LA Times

 
While all the buying with the help of foreign investors is gaining popularity, American buyers are having difficulties to qualify for the loans, even thought rules are relaxed and banks are said to be willing.

At the same time “Hope for Homeowners” program is not working as well, as it was supposed to. It attracted only 312 people.

 
“…The three-year program was supposed to help 400,000 borrowers avoid foreclosure. But it has attracted only 312 applications since its October launch because it is too expensive and onerous for lenders and borrowers alike…”
“What most people don’t understand is that this program was designed to the detail by Congress,…and unfortunately it has made this program tough to use.”
The goal of the program, run by the Federal Housing Administration, was to allow borrowers who owe more than their homes are worth to refinance into more affordable 30-year fixed-rate mortgages insured by the government…But part of the problem is that the program’s success hinges on the lenders’ willingness to participate”.

 
…Congress originally allowed the FHA to insure new loans for only 90 percent of a home’s value.” Unfortunately, many homeowners simply don’t have any equity in their homes.
Later, HUD increased the insured amount (by grant of the Congress) and the department decided to guarantee up to 96.5 percent of the value of new loans. So far not much changed. Lenders are still balking.

Source: Washington Post

 

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Easy sounding sales job has broken and bankrupted many hopefuls.  The workforce full of retired teachers, full time moms, ex-executives, ambitious housewives and optimistic students, all claiming the knowledge and the finesse of the trade, regardless of the experience, are in full drove scouring “Open Houses” and RE listings, burning energy and fuel just to quit six month later.  The industry is a gold mine and a mine field combined in one.  Many, who bought or sold homes, come out of the battle scarred for life, but those who manage to understand and play the treacherous game, firmly grab the fortune for its neck and ride into the promised land of wealth and security.

 
If you were looking for a house would you work with a real estate agent who is 21 years old and looks very much his age?  Would you give this agent enough time to prove himself?  Would you listen to his assumptions, prognosis and recommendations?  Would you be comfortable to be guided into a RE transaction, where you might successfully unburden yourself of your entire lifetime savings, just so in return you could get a small, high-priced condo?  Would you try to teach this barely out of his teens man how difficult it is to make and manage money and how he can’t possibly know a thing about spending it, about rational thinking and the famous rule of buying low and selling high?

 
Well, if you answered “Yes” to at least 1 of the first 3 questions and “No” to the last one, you probably like taking risk, learned how to benefit from it, don’t discriminate on the subject of age and successful enough to know, that it’s perfectly acceptable to listen and take seriously a very young person.  You, of course, may be as young and know, that it’s all right to let a young , resourceful and talented RE agent to unearth for you a suitable place to live in the heart of NY. 

On the other hand, it could be, that you know, that all this preliminary dancing around these tricky questions, was to lead you to the introduction: Vice President of Corcoran, Jared Seligman. The fastest rising star on the New York’s dense starry “skydome”, the new breed of the businessman, who invents his own rules; the wunderkind, employing the benefits of technology to its fullest: he is all that and more. Working with Olsen twins selling a multi-million listing, NY runway models and other famous or close to them people buying properties in a prestigious or trendy location, he’s got a reputation of fast, discreet and smooth transaction closer.

 
His profile at Corcoran doesn’t list any of the Ivy League Diplomas, yet the list of his achievements is impressive.Read the Source: Curbed.com, where you may find out more about the work and business style of the rapidly ascending celebrity, the new leader in his own right: “the real estate agent to the stars”.

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Mostly unoccupied for the last 10 years, it’s ready to open its doors to a new owner who, reportedly, paid for this privilege £26m (approx $50 million), which is £3m over asking price.
Trained as a chef, Arkady Novikov, known as the “blini baron of Moscow” owns a chain of finest restaurants and cafes for the elite in Russia. Restaurants are are famous for their unusual decor and excellent food.

 
He “…is credited with transforming the restaurant scene in the Russian capital. He has introduced sushi, caribou and nachos with deep-fried onion blossom to the menus of a culinary empire that includes 47 restaurants and a chain of cafes. He starred in the Russian version of the reality-television show The Apprentice.”

 
Mr. Novikov and the representatives of Real Estate agency, involved in the marketing of the property, had declined to comment on the  sale.

 
For more details read the original article at: Times Online

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The townhouse in question is located in Manhattan, NY in close proximity to 5th Avenue, and is for sale for $64 million dollars.

 
The house boasts 17 bathrooms, 15-bedrooms, a ballroom, some more rooms, marble staircase, rooftop garden, seven fireplaces and an elevator. Also, the five-story, limestone house also has a stained-glass skylight and a wood-paneled ballroom with original oil-painted murals. Many original details.
All of it contained in 18,500sq ft.

 
Here is a little bit of the history:
The mansion on E.68th St. belonged to Henry T. Sloane.
“Heir of a luxury furniture emporium that decorated the White House, Sloane had the townhouse constructed in 1905, shortly after his marriage to Jesse Sloane ended in a scandal when she remarried five hours after their divorce.

 
Sloane, who never married again, lived in the townhouse with his two daughters, who he barred from seeing their mother until they turned 21.

 
A developer bought the house in 2003 for $7.6 million. It was sold last year for $39 million to the investment group, which restored it to a single-family home.”

 
If you click here NY Daily News, you may see a picture of the house and a magnificent ballroom.

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Since the project was granted a planning permission only last week, not much info is available. But this is what was published by the www.thisislondon.co.uk of “Evening Standard” in London.

 
“The £700million (double that number for dollars) Trinity EC3 development in Aldgate will house more than one million square feet of offices, shops, restaurants and public spaces. Due for completion in 2014, it will be located in three glass buildings, ranging from 12 to 24 storeys and linked by glazed canopies.”

 
The pictures provided do reflect the future glass sparkle. Click on the link to see it: Crystal Cluster

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To find out the latest on the Faberge eggs market, and to learn more about the recent treasure that sold for a record price of $18.9 Mil,  click here: Faberge Egg

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