New Jersey Real Estate Report » Humor

Mob extorts subprime lender, not sure who the crook is

grim — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:08:55 +0000

From the Post:

It was a hostile corporate takeover — Mafia-style.

The son of jailed former Lucchese boss Nicodemo “Little Nicky’’ Scarfo used the trusted mob technique of extortion to gain control of a cash-rich mortgage company — and then loot it for millions, according to federal prosecutors in New Jersey.

“The [mob’s] criminal activities have evolved from the back alleys to the boardrooms,” said Michael Ward, FBI agent-in-charge in Newark, said of the stunning scheme.

Nicodemo “Junior’’ Scarfo, 46, and 12 others, including an accountant and five lawyers — one, David Adler, from tony Chappaqua, NY — were nailed in the scheme involving Irving, Texas-based FirstPlus Financial Group, authorities said.
…
Instead of targeting a more typical Mafia staple such as a restaurant or illegal-gambling racket, the mobster offspring and his cronies zeroed in on FPFG, which had been raking in millions from its subprime-mortgage business at the height of the real-estate boom, the feds said.
…
“They saw the potential, they saw this small company that was cash-rich, looking to do a restructuring,” one law-enforcement source told The Post. “They saw an opportunity to exploit. It was wrong place, wrong time” for the firm.

The group began threatening the board of directors — and their families — to get them to vote their way, or else.
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In another instance, when Pelullo was trying to get enough directors to vote his way, he allegedly screamed at an associate: “I don’t care if [any voting members] are in a funeral parlor, I don’t care if they’re in a f–kin’ hospital respirator, we’ll send somebody there.

“I want their vote, I want their signature, and I want it done by the close of the day today.”

The scheme netted $ 12 million by bleeding FPFG dry. The money was laundered by manipulating mergers of sham shell companies they owned and engaging in phony consulting contracts, prosecutors alleged.

Cheap Nompounds go Mainstream (huh?)

grim — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 10:01:42 +0000

From the NY Times:

Happily Settling for a More Modest Country Getaway

BUYERS looking for a country house in the Hudson Valley or the Catskills in New York State have settled on a more modest ideal: between $200,000 and $250,000 for a home on a few acres, with a picturesque town not too far away.

“That’s what I think of as the ‘little black dress’ of the second-home market,” said David Knudsen, an agent with Catskills Buyers Agency in Sullivan County. “During the peak of the market the price expectation for that house was probably around $300,000, plus or minus $25,000.”

Although sellers have not all lowered their list prices to meet buyers’ expectations, brokers estimate that the price for the typical weekend retreat has dropped at least 20 percent since its peak in 2007. That has lured some city dwellers to take the plunge on a getaway home, even as economic worries, snowstorms and tighter lending standards provided a chilling backdrop for the real estate market this winter.

Some common themes emerge among people who have recently bought houses west of the Hudson River for less than $250,000. These shoppers are paying close attention to property taxes and heating costs, are not particularly interested in renovating and want a second home that is a manageable size. The ease of researching homes and price trends on the Internet has also given shoppers a clear idea about what they expect to pay.

“Buyers from the city are out in the market, but they want a great deal,” Mr. Knudsen said of his clients from the New York City area. “I think one of the big challenges we have right now is a wide gap between buyer expectations and seller expectations, unless there is some distress element on the seller side.”

That distress element is often divorce, death or debt, but two years into a grim economy the motivating factor for a price reduction can also be time.

Frat House Bordello

grim — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 10:17:55 +0000

From the LA Times:

Foreclosure auction of Nicolas Cage’s mansion is a flop

Nicolas Cage is leaving Bel-Air. And not by choice.

The fate of the sprawling Tudor mansion owned by the actor, who won an Oscar for his role in “Leaving Las Vegas,” was decided Wednesday far from the baronial estate.

It was up for auction Wednesday morning — along with a handful of other foreclosed properties — on the steps of the county courthouse in Pomona.

After a rapid-fire spiel by the auctioneer, the bidding was opened at $10.4 million, far less than the $35 million that Cage had tried unsuccessfully to sell the house for.

To put it mildly, the house, though impressive, was not to everyone’s taste. Real estate agent Bret Parsons, who toured it most recently in October, described the interiors as “fascinating and bizarre.”

“The design was ‘frat house bordello,’ ” Parsons said. “There must have been 300 comic book covers elaborately framed and hanging on the walls.”

Model train sets on raised tracks a couple feet below the ceiling circled the inside of the breakfast room and two bedrooms.

There were also no takers in the courthouse sale, and in less than a minute the auction closed, with ownership reverting to the foreclosing lender — just one of six holding a total of $18 million in loans on the property.

Shore rentals in demand for the Summer of ’10

grim — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 11:00:18 +0000

From the NY Daily News:

Want to roll in Snooki’s sheets? ‘Jersey Shore’s’ Seaside Heights, N.J., house is $1,800 a night

How about a roll in Snooki’s sheets?

For $1,800 a night, you can grace the ground zero of Guido – and that includes the bed where the grand Guidette laid her head.

The Seaside Heights, N.J., house where Snooki and the rest of the cast of MTV’s sleeper hit “Jersey Shore” partied the nights (and days) away is up for rent – and the Daily News decided to go take a look.

Lucky housemates can sit at the very table where Vinny and The Situation cooked up a lobster dinner or chat on the same duck phone that was the source of many a hookup for Mike and Pauly D.

“Oh, God, this place is sick,” said Kristen Steinhardt, 15, who drove more than 100 miles from Garden City, L.I., for a look at the summer-share Shangri-la.

“Snooki. The Situation. This house just blows my mind,” Kristen said as she walked around the rental – which comes complete with a New Jersey State/Italian flag-themed garage.
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Loundy said he has received “hundreds” of calls to rent out the seaside party house – owned by brothers Paul and Daniel Merk – since first putting it on the market about a month ago.
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“The demand to stay in the ‘Jersey Shore’ house is amazing. It’s booking up fast,” Loundy said. He even recently rented it out for a Guido-themed sweet 16 party and claims he has had some celebrities save a date or two.
Finding your inner Guido doesn’t have to break the bank. A group of 12 can rent the hair-gel palace for $150 a night per person, Loundy said.

Renters must stay a minimum of three nights, and the price goes up as the summer heats up. Popular dates, such as the Fourth of July, can run as high as $15,000 a night.

Own a priceless piece of history (at its 1987 price)

grim — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:49:24 +0000

From the Star Ledger:

Whitney Houston unloading Mendham estate

Whitney Houston has put the 5-acre Mendham estate where she married singer Bobby Brown on the market for $2.5 million, far less than its assessed value of $5.6 million.

The 12,561-square-foot home, which she bought in 1987 for $2.7 million, is described in its listing as modern, full of natural light, with three fireplaces, walk-in closets, a bar (uh-oh), floor-to-ceiling windows, and a four-car garage. The (quite frankly rather dated-looking, and we’re not the only ones who think so) home has Frank Lloyd Wright-style stained glass in the entry, an enormous kitchen, and what appears to be a custom-made bed in the center of the master bedroom.

From the Examiner:

Whitney Houston’s ‘crack is whack’ New Jersey mansion for sale

Whitney Houston’s “Crack is Whack” house is on the market. The Grammy winner is asking $2.5 million for the Mendham Township, NJ house. While she commuted back and forth between this mansion and the house in Georgia, the reality show Being Bobby Brown was filmed for Bravo.

During this time, while Whitney Houston’s handlers were denying she was doing crack, she told Diane Sawyer…
…
This is the home where she married Bobby Brown in 1992. Whitney Houston has the mansion listed for $2.5 million. That’s less than half its $5.6 million assessed value.

From WPIX:

Whitney Houston Places NJ Mansion For Sale

Whitney Houston has put her multi-million dollar New Jersey home where she married Bobby Brown on the market for $2.5 mlllion.

The couple got hitched at the $5.6 million dollar home in Mendham in 1992 and then separated in 2007.

The real estate website describes the residence as a modern-styled home full of natural light and containing “circular-themed interior spaces,” as well as four-car garage, three fireplaces, walk-in closets, a bar, skylights and floor-to-ceiling windows.

Houston nearly lost the home in 2006 after Mendham tax officials claim the 46-year-old singer and former reality star failed to pay taxes for four straight quarters and ignored delinquent notices.

From the Philly Inquirer:

Whitney Houston’s NJ mansion for sale

Whitney Houston’s New Jersey estate, where she married Bobby Brown in 1992, is for sale.

The five-bedroom, 12,561-square-foot house in Mendham Township is listed for $2.5 million. That’s less than half its $5.6 million assessed value.

The Coldwell Banker Web site estimates a buyer would have monthly mortgage payments of $10,819 based on a down payment of $500,000 and a 5 percent interest rate on a 30-year, $2 million mortgage.

Look at the bright side, at least they got multiple offers

grim — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 23:20:40 +0000

NYC Comp Killer

151 East 58th St Unit 34C, One Beacon Court
(aka the Dreier Residence, aka Bloomberg Tower)
Purchased: 2007
Purchase Price: $10.4 Million

Sold: 7/21/2009
Sale Price: $8.2 Million
21% below 2007 purchase price!
(Not to mention numerous remodels, new kitchen, home automation, etc)

There were over 40 bidders and the best they could do was 21% under the purchase price?

This sets one hell of a comp.

From Bloomberg:

Marc Dreier’s Manhattan Condo Sold at Auction for $8.2 Million

Con man Marc Dreier’s luxury Manhattan condominium sold today for $8.2 million, 21 percent less than what he paid two years ago, in an auction that attracted more than 40 bidders.

The buyer at the auction at U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan declined to identify himself. A broker who attended and who declined to be identified said the purchaser was Ajit Jain, head of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s reinsurance unit. Jain didn’t return a call for comment.

The buyer of the 3,000-square-foot apartment at One Beacon Court got the apartment at a discount to the most recent comparable sale there. The last recorded sale at Beacon Court was a 3,058 square-foot unit on the 49th floor. It sold in May for $12 million, city records show. Proceeds from the transaction will be used to pay creditors in Dreier’s bankruptcy case and victims of Dreier’s fraud, said Salvatore LaMonica, trustee in the Chapter 7 bankruptcy case.

From Curbed:

Marc Dreier’s One Beacon Pad Auctioned for $8.2 Million

When it was all said and done, fresh penitentiary inmate Marc Dreier’s One Beacon Court condo (and pretty much everything in it) was scooped up at auction by an anonymous bidder for $8.2 million. Dreier reportedly paid $10.4 million for the 3,000-square-foot apartment in 2007

“Here’s the reality: the Gotti’s gotta go.”

grim — Tue, 12 May 2009 10:14:48 +0000

From Newsday:

Moving out Gotti? LI mansion again in foreclosure

Victoria Gotti is boiling mad.

The daughter of the late mob boss John Gotti may lose her sprawling Old Westbury mansion after all, according to a state Appellate Division ruling.

The four-judge panel ruled last week that JPMorgan Chase bank can proceed with foreclosure on the home often featured on the television reality series “Growing Up Gotti.”

The show gave Gotti enthusiasts a glimpse into the daily lives of Victoria Gotti and her sons – Carmine Jr., John and Frank Agnello – in the five-bedroom, 5 1/2-bath white brick house they call home. “I’m bitter,” she said. “The house, all the marital assets, are part of a divorce package (settlement) I have never seen yet.”
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Gotti, who is also a former New York Post columnist and author, wasn’t sure what legal move she would make next. She said her ex-husband, Carmine Agnello, took out a loan secured by the property for about $700,000 without her knowledge. She said that although she had the right to bring charges against him for taking out the loan, he agreed to payments.

Gotti said he made about three payments before stopping and she thought that the family had lived in the house 15 years without any mortgage.

A Century 21 Laffey Associates listing agent, Anthony Piscopio, said the home is available. It’s been on the market before. Victoria Gotti tried to sell it in 2002 for $4.7 million, but lowered that a year later. In 2004, when “Growing Up Gotti” was broadcast on A&E, she relisted the house for $4.8 million. From 2005 to 2006, she asked $3.995 million; in 2008, the asking price was $3.899 million.

Victoria Gotti relisted the property in December, asking between $3.2 million and $3.5 million. Earlier this year, Piscopio said Gotti wanted to move to a smaller property within Old Westbury. “The boys are getting older now,” he said. “She’s not going to stay there forever.”

From the Post:

BANK FORECLOSES ON VICTORIA GOTTI’S ESTATE

Here’s the reality: the Gotti’s gotta go.

The bank has been given the go-ahead to foreclose on Victoria Gotti’s palatial estate on Long Island — the same used in the TV reality show “Growing Up Gotti” — saying she owes a whopping $650,000 in mortgage payments, according to court paper made public today.

Gotti’s lender, JP Morgan Chase, claims the daughter of the late Gambino crime family boss John “Dapper Don” Gotti — owes them the staggering amount after she failed to make payments for two years starting in September 2006, court records reveal.
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The bank said in court records that the mafia princess owed them $25,000 a month — and that she never made all the payments.

How much hideousness do you get for $9.5m $6.75m?

grim — Fri, 01 May 2009 19:51:45 +0000

Presented without comment in lieu of the “Weekend Open”

242 Hartshorn Drive, Millburn NJ
Original List Price: $9,500,000
Current Asking: $6,750,000

Propaganda Points

grim — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 10:13:34 +0000

Ever wonder why every Realtor seems to be parroting the same asinine lines? Below is a media talking points document distributed by a local Realtor board. Board details redacted, but you’ll get the point. I’d estimate a good three quarters of Realtors would ever question the statements contained in these documents and would simply repeat them when questions, as directed by the Board.

Has it ever been a bad time to buy?

grim — Mon, 05 May 2008 21:20:11 +0000

According to the National Association of Realtors, the answer is no, it has always been a good time to buy…

…even during the darkest depths of the Great Depression. Unemployment was nearing 16% and approximately 8 million Americans were unemployed. Banks were in turmoil, with roughly 2,000 banks failing in 1931, including the New York Bank of the United States (the largest bank failure in the history of the nation at the time). You might think that in the midst of the worst economic downturn the world had ever seen the Realtors might would show some restraint.

Nope, it’s a great time to buy a home!

Realtor (R) Magazine, May 2008

New Jersey 2008 Job Market Outlook

grim — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:38:26 +0000

From Screaming Frog Productions:

http://www.screamingfrog.com

More information about this clip can be found here:

http://www.thejobtheshort.com/

Hat tip to chicagofinance for this gem.

Always a great time to buy or sell!

grim — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 10:35:49 +0000

From the New Jersey Association of Realtors:

Realtors say New Jersey home sales are healthy

Sales volume of existing single family homes, condominiums and co-ops in the fourth quarter of 2007 are stable.

According to statistics released by the National Association of Realtors last week,“New Jersey’s real-estate market continues to offer a number of tremendous opportunities,” said NJAR 2008 President Drew Fishman. “With extremely low mortgage interest rates and large selections of homes for sale, conditions are good right now for people to enter the housing market.”

Fishman noted that the fourth-quarter statistics show that home sales in New Jersey remain healthy and that New Jersey does not follow national housing trends. New Jersey’s seasonally adjusted annual rate of home sales equaled 128,400 in the fourth quarter of 2007.

“While other states have seen home sales plummet, New Jersey’s housing market remains stable,” added Fishman. “Some housing markets in New Jersey have even experienced a slight appreciation in home sales prices.”

After Binghamton, New York, fourth quarter median sales price of existing single-family homes in the Atlantic City area showed the largest increase in the entire Northeast region.

The median sales price grew from $251,900 in fourth quarter 2006 to $278,800 in 2007, an increase of 10.7 percent. The Trenton-Ewing market also experienced an increase in median sales price. The median sales price rose from $289,000 in the forth quarter 2006 to $306,800 in 2007, an increase of 6.2 percent. In the Newark-Union area the median sales price increased by 5.3 percent and in the metropolitan Philadelphia area prices rose by 1.1 percent.

“Looking at national statistics or even statewide statistics doesn’t paint the full picture,” Fishman said. “All real estate is local, and that it is why it is so vital to contact a Realtor. A Realtor can help explain local housing trends and give you better understanding of what is truly happening in your local market.”

Real Estate Bubble Poster Child

grim — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 10:09:36 +0000

From the SF Gate:

A would-be real estate mogul follows boom tips straight to bust

Real estate, also a world where appearances often trump content, operates according to a similar couching of reality. “Putting together” a loan package, for instance, or “writing up” an offer or “leveraging” your investment — all these practices have their customary manipulations that many insiders give the nod to — even when the practices are illegal, unethical or sometimes just stupid.

So when some loudmouth neophyte comes along with the sordid blow-by-blow of his real estate dealings — from the “get real estate quick” seminars to the credit card-funded down payments, the stated income loans (a.k.a. “liar loans”) to the over-leveraged portfolio, all collapsing in multiple foreclosures — it’s a confession worth listening to.

Welcome to the world according to Casey Serin, a 24-year-old real estate investor and author of the self-flagellating blog Iamfacingforeclosure.com. If Robert Kiyosaki was the pin-up patriarch for the real estate boom, Casey must be the poster child for its fall.
…
What does Serin tell us about his situation? Basically everything. The ins and outs of his deals, how much he paid, what went wrong and how he is now going begging to the banks for approval to do a short sale (to avoid foreclosure by selling the houses at less than the amount of the debt). He expresses worry about whether he will go to jail for mortgage fraud and posts the distress letters he’s written to his lenders. He even explains his strategies for avoiding creditors’ nagging phone calls.

What Serin reveals about himself is that he’s a sucker for every real estate myth that the industry has been feeding us for the past 10 years: that the market will always go up, that if you buy at a discount you’re safe from financial risk, that gurus are doling out useful advice for the beginning real estate investor — and that if you make enough deals, you’re sure to come out ahead.

Home Seller Strategies

grim — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 02:03:30 +0000

From the Onion:

Home Sales Dropping

For the third straight month, sales on preexisting homes dropped, leading realtors to call it a “buyer’s market.” Here are some strategies sellers are using to entice buyers:

Dropping price by 50 bucks

Carrying around wad of money; acting like owning this house got them that money

Pointing out dishwasher several times

Explaining to potential buyers how fulfilling it is to make mortgage payment on time

Telling long, touching story about how grandmother needs $312,500 for kidney operation

Letting third blouse button go

Drowning out sound of noisy furnace with soulful vocals of Michael McDonald

Reassuring buyers that people purchase things they can’t afford all the time

Discuss this in the forum