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By Keat Foong Is this one more nail in the coffin for low-interest, long-term, mortgages for homeowners? The Obama Administration says it is taking further action to facilitate the eventual closing of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Treasury Department announced three steps: -An increase in the rate of reduction of the GSEs’ investment portfolio: from 10 percent to 15 percent -The GSEs will submit an annual plan on actions to reduce taxpayer exposure to mortgage credit risk – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will forward all profits to the Treasury. They will no longer need to submit 10 percent of dividends…

Starpoint CEO Paul Daneshrad blogs on the best locations for multi-family property investment.

Real Capital Analytics recently released their Top Property Sales list for the first half of 2012, and we are proud to announce that RDM advised on 10 out of the top 16 office property sales on the list; valuing over $2 billion.

Dan Probst, Jones Lang LaSalle   In passing legislation requiring building owners to benchmark energy and disclose the information prospective tenants and investors, Philadelphia joins the ranks of cities like New York City, Washington DC and San Francisco in trying to leverage market forces to reduce carbon emissions. Actually, Philly has gone a step further by also mandating water reporting. Measurement of energy and water will be done through ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, so it will cost owners nothing. In fact, we have found that the process of getting an ENERGY STAR score—even without disclosure rules–often leads to energy improvements,…

Starpoint CEO Paul Daneshrad blogs about the world economy and its impact on the multi-family market.  

In a recent report from Forrester Research, analyst Frank Gillett predicts tablets will become the primary computing device for millions of people around the world by 2016

By William Jenczyk, CPA Many property owners are unsure how to properly treat expenditures for the maintenance, upkeep and repair of their property. Are these costs for routine maintenance, in which case they are deductible against the current year’s income? Are they capital expenditures, which must be capitalized and depreciated, resulting in a deduction that is spread out over many years? Or are they in a gray area somewhere in between? The IRS has recently released temporary regulations to clarify how taxpayers should treat these types of expenditures for income tax purposes. Although the regulations are not yet finalized, they…

Success, Satisfaction and Salaries – Women in Commercial Real Estate By Diane Butler 2012 CREW Network President President and CEO Butler Burgher Corporation While commercial real estate is a field dominated by men, more women than ever are now entering the field, despite the fact that pay and promotion disparities remain obstacles. Why? And what can we do to help break the glass ceiling? In its recent white paper, Success and Satisfaction of Women in Commercial Real Estate: Retaining Exceptional Leaders, CREW Network, interviewed 20 senior industry executives to discuss a key finding from its 2010 industry benchmark study –…