President Obama on Wednesday made his latest pitch to lift the nation’s beleaguered housing market, unveiling a series of proposals to help struggling borrowers reduce their monthly payments and to stem the continuing slide in real estate prices. Read full article > >

Here is the original post:
Obama announces new housing refinance plan

The plan for a business improvement district in SoHo would help with the trash problem, but some residents don’t want to cede more ground to tourists and real estate titans.

See the original post:
Plan for SoHo Business Improvement District Generates Debate

All but the last remnant of the Arab neighborhood known as Little Syria is about to disappear from Lower Manhattan. But several young advocates are determined to save what they can.

Go here to see the original:
City Room: Trying to Save Remnants of Arab Life in Lower Manhattan

A steady drumbeat of real estate deals, park restorations, reclaimed piers and new esplanades heralds the remaking of Manhattan’s East Side waterfront.

Continue reading here:
A Greenway Along the Waterfront Will Beckon From the East

Like other scions of powerful New York real estate families, Jed Walentas will play a powerful role in shaping the city.

Read the original post:
Jed Walentas Has Dumbo on His Mind

To hear Donald Trump tell it, “millions of people” are waiting for him to make an endorsement in the Republican presidential primary. And at some point, he says, he’ll likely grace a candidate with one — that is, unless he decides to run himself as an independent. The real estate mogul and reality TV star, who flirted with seeking the Republican presidential nomination but decided to sit out, says he has a “tremendous following of people who are tired of seeing this country get ripped off.” Read full article > >

Here is the original post:
Political endorsements don’t mean a lot — unless you’re Donald Trump

BLACKSBURG — Police are trying to determine why a 22-year-old part-time Radford University student fatally shot a police officer on the campus of nearby Virginia Tech on Thursday afternoon, and then turned the gun on himself. The gunman, identified by police late Friday as Ross Truett Ashley, of Spotsylvania County, had no apparent connection to Tech Police Officer Deriek W. Crouse , 39, who was slain as he sat in his cruiser, police said. A day earlier, authorities said, Ashley is suspected of walking into a real estate office in Radford with a gun, demanding car keys and stealing a white Mercedes SUV. That car was found Thursday on Virginia Tech’s campus. Read full article > >

Read the original post:
Police piece together latest tragedy at Virginia Tech

CHICAGO — A former top fundraiser for ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whose trial exposed Illinois’ pay-to-play political culture, was sentenced Tuesday to 10 1/2 years in prison. He will get credit for time he has already served. Antoin “Tony” Rezko, a former Chicago real estate developer and fast-food entrepreneur, has been in custody for 3½ years while awaiting sentencing. Read full article > >

See original here:
Judge sentences Blagojevich fundraiser Rezko to 10½ years, he will get credit for time served

Owners of New York City condos built under the 421a program are bracing for the day their tax exemptions end, and their now-low monthly real estate taxes surge.

See original here:
The 421a Tax Exemption: Don’t Say You Didn’t Know

Real estate transactions in China have slowed so quickly that in the last two weeks, real estate companies have laid off thousands of brokers and closed hundreds of offices.

View post:
Government Policies Contribute to Cooling of China Real Estate Boom

Washington area real estate developers are eager to again build office buildings speculatively — meaning without having leases signed with tenants — but many are waiting on banks to begin financing them again. Work has recently begun or is scheduled to begin in coming months on more than half a dozen speculative office projects in the area, a situation relatively particular to the region. Developers in most other major office markets are holding off as the commercial real estate industry creeps back from the recession. Read full article > >

More here:
Washington area developers ready to take a chance on new office construction

Washington area real estate developers are eager to again build office buildings speculatively — meaning without having leases signed with tenants — but many are waiting on banks to begin financing them again. Work has recently begun or is scheduled to begin in coming months on more than half a dozen speculative office projects in the area, a situation relatively particular to the region. Developers in most other major office markets are holding off as the commercial real estate industry creeps back from the recession. Read full article > >

See original here:
Washington area developers ready to take a chance on new office construction

After staying put during the economic recession, you might be tempted by stabilizing real estate prices and low mortgage interest rates to sell your house and buy your next place. What you might not realize is how long and complicated the process of buying and selling a home has become. New lending regulations, appraisal procedures and consumer expectations can throw up roadblocks for even the most seasoned flipper. Many homeowners who haven’t sold or bought a home in the past few years will find that many of the old “rules” have changed. Residential real estate experts suggest homeowners become aware of the new rules before listing their current property and searching for a new home. Read full article > >

Go here to read the rest:
Ten things you need to know about buying or selling a home

Let’s face it: It’s been rough the past several years. Any real estate agent will tell you that. Economic growth has been tepid. The unemployment picture is not encouraging. The latest figures on new foreclosure filings are kind of scary. But the Washington area is doing better than most parts of the country, right? Read full article > >

See the original post here:
What $500,000 buys in D.C. area real estate

Lines stretched nearly the full block of 2100 K Street NW Tuesday as Iron Chef-celebrity-restaurateur- ‘Entourage’ guest star Bobby Flay officially joined the D.C. dining scene with the launch of his much-anticipated burger joint, Bobby’s Burger Palace . Hundreds waited as long as an hour during the lunch rush to sample the goods. “My burger was fabulous,” said Clarke Aburn, a senior veep at Greenberg Gibbons real estate development firm, after finishing a “crunchified” Palace Classic Burger, a standard patty topped with traditional fixings and fresh potato chips. “He [Flay] took something people have been doing at cookouts all over the place — putting chips on burgers — and gave it a name.” Read full article > >

See the article here:
Bobby Flay’s burger joint opens on K Street