[Shores9]

For many years I have been watching the big and I do mean BIG money and where they have been investing. Private equity firms – other companies like Birkshire Hathaway – investors and the mega wealthy like Warren Buffet, Carl Icahn or Bill Gates.

Suprisingly over the last 6-10 months there have been mega deals in the real estate world.

NEW YORK, October 17, 2006 – MetLife, Inc. announced today the sale of Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town the largest apartment complex in Manhattan, totaling more than 11,200 units in 110 buildings spread over 80 contiguous acres to Tishman Speyer, in a joint venture with BlackRock Realty, the real estate arm of BlackRock, Inc. for $5.4 billion.


NEW YORK: Private equity firm Blackstone Group on Thursday raised its offer to buy Equity Office Properties Trust by 11 percent to $22.3 billion (€17.18 billion), or $54 (€41.61) per share in cash, topping a rival bid from Vornado Realty Trust as it made the second-biggest private equity buyout offer ever.

The successful bidder will ultimately gain control over what Zell has developed into the nation's largest publicly traded owner and manager of office properties



12-18-06 Apollo Management has agreed to buy Realogy Corporation, a large real estate franchisor, in a transaction valued at approximately $9bn

Apollo, said, 'Realogy's powerful real estate brands and their long heritage of leadership in the industry serve as a strong platform for future growth. Realogy formally Cendant owns Century 21 - Coldwell Banker - Sotherby's Real Estate -ERA Real Estate and other real estate concerns

Then today in the Wall Street Journal - Headline... Icahn's Next Gamble: Housing in the Sunshine State

It raised eyebrows on Wall Street when Carl Icahn increased his stake in WCI Communities Inc., a home builder focused heavily on the Sunshine State

Mr. Icahn isn't the only big name buying up shares - The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation disclosed in a SEC filing on Nov. 14 that it had bought a sizable number of shares. This month, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC, a Los Angeles investment firm with more than $35 billion under management, disclosed in an SEC filing that it owned 15.9% of WCI shares

Mr Josh Spencer, an analyst at T. Rowe Price Group Inc., which owns about 400,000 shares of WCI put some perspective on the issue "It doesn't matter that the [housing] market is weak now. If you have waterfront property in Naples, Fla., it's like having office space in midtown Manhattan." Mr. Spencer has a "buy" rating on WCI.

So what is it that they know that we don't???

There are opinions crawling out from under every rock and suddenly the world is an expert but very few of those Band Wagon prognosticators put their money where their mouth is.

On the other hand some very successful people and corporations are betting on real estate and as one analyst said “it is difficult to bet against an investor with a track record such as Mr. Icahn's”

[Shores9]

1/17/07 Some recent foreclosure stats
according to data released Wednesday by Realtytrac Inc. The number of homes entering the foreclosure process fell by 9% last month compared with November

The top five states for foreclosures were Colorado, Nevada, Georgia, Massachusetts and Texas
Vermont the lowest followed by Maine, the District of Columbia, New Hampshire and North Dakota
Cities that had the highest foreclosure rate Greeley, Colo, Ft. Worth, Texas and Detroit with the highest had one for every 250 households

Starts Rise 1/18/2007
Housing starts increased 4.5% to a seasonally adjusted 1.642 million annual rate, while building permits jumped 5.5%, the first increase in that signal of future activity in almost a year
1/18/2007 - WASHINGTON -- U.S. consumer price report shows home construction climbed a second time in a row during December and a sign of future groundbreakings increased for first time in nearly a year, economists are seeing this as reported by the WSJ as more evidence the housing sector might have already reached bottom.

[macguy]

Originally Posted by Shores9

For many years I have been watching the big and I do mean BIG money and where they have been investing. Private equity firms – other companies like Birkshire Hathaway – investors and the mega wealthy like Warren Buffet, Carl Icahn or Bill Gates.

Suprisingly over the last 6-10 months there have been mega deals in the real estate world.

NEW YORK, October 17, 2006 – MetLife, Inc. announced today the sale of Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town the largest apartment complex in Manhattan, totaling more than 11,200 units in 110 buildings spread over 80 contiguous acres to Tishman Speyer, in a joint venture with BlackRock Realty, the real estate arm of BlackRock, Inc. for $5.4 billion.


NEW YORK: Private equity firm Blackstone Group on Thursday raised its offer to buy Equity Office Properties Trust by 11 percent to $22.3 billion (€17.18 billion), or $54 (€41.61) per share in cash, topping a rival bid from Vornado Realty Trust as it made the second-biggest private equity buyout offer ever.

The successful bidder will ultimately gain control over what Zell has developed into the nation's largest publicly traded owner and manager of office properties



12-18-06 Apollo Management has agreed to buy Realogy Corporation, a large real estate franchisor, in a transaction valued at approximately $9bn

Apollo, said, 'Realogy's powerful real estate brands and their long heritage of leadership in the industry serve as a strong platform for future growth. Realogy formally Cendant owns Century 21 - Coldwell Banker - Sotherby's Real Estate -ERA Real Estate and other real estate concerns

Then today in the Wall Street Journal - Headline... Icahn's Next Gamble: Housing in the Sunshine State

It raised eyebrows on Wall Street when Carl Icahn increased his stake in WCI Communities Inc., a home builder focused heavily on the Sunshine State

Mr. Icahn isn't the only big name buying up shares - The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation disclosed in a SEC filing on Nov. 14 that it had bought a sizable number of shares. This month, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC, a Los Angeles investment firm with more than $35 billion under management, disclosed in an SEC filing that it owned 15.9% of WCI shares

Mr Josh Spencer, an analyst at T. Rowe Price Group Inc., which owns about 400,000 shares of WCI put some perspective on the issue "It doesn't matter that the [housing] market is weak now. If you have waterfront property in Naples, Fla., it's like having office space in midtown Manhattan." Mr. Spencer has a "buy" rating on WCI.

So what is it that they know that we don't???

There are opinions crawling out from under every rock and suddenly the world is an expert but very few of those Band Wagon prognosticators put their money where their mouth is.

On the other hand some very successful people and corporations are betting on real estate and as one analyst said “it is difficult to bet against an investor with a track record such as Mr. Icahn's”

What is their relevance to some guy with a sign in his front yard trying to sell his house? Or a couple sitting in an office with minimum incomes trying to qualify for a loan.

[Shores9]

Originally Posted by macguy

What is their relevance to some guy with a sign in his front yard trying to sell his house? Or a couple sitting in an office with minimum incomes trying to qualify for a loan.

The primary relevance for Mr & Mrs Average Homebuyer or Seller is a better understanding of the direction of the market and looking for indicators as to its future movements.

Many of us have “a firm grasp for the obvious” but it is the people who can see beyond the ranting of those who peddle the obvious to find real value and then plunk down billions on what they believe. This is where the rubber meets the road not just some columnist or realtor’s pitch to sell a paper or property.

You can argue that some [of the big investors] may be fools but the pedigree of the names and companies mentioned above have already proven their stature.

Unfortunately for the couple sitting in an office trying to qualify for a loan maybe it’s an indicator that they may need to seek fiscal changes or reconsider their abilities in relation to their current position.

I personally have recalculated my personal financial position and not just based on these facts but on an overwhelming amount of data that suggest Florida will not get cheaper or lose significant ground regarding cost of housing and living but in fact will continue to increase. As such I am looking to make adjustments in lifestyle, work, and housing so that I can continue to afford to live here because I love it here!!

[hiknapster]

Being that you are a realtor, Shores9, this must come as great news!

[Shores9]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Being that you are a realtor, Shores9, this must come as great news!

Being that almost 70% of the nation's households are Homeowners it should come as GREAT news

[Jon F Moss]

maybe it means that couple should consider moving outta here!

[firemed]

Sounds to me that smart money is thinking renters will be the big market. With all the so called condos on the market you can clean up with rentals priced lower than the owners of condos could rent for. Its a great investment. Why buy a home ? With sub-prime loans failing middle income people have to live some place. There is a tax break if you own a home but if its less of a savings than what you would pay by renting its something to think about. On the plus side you can move if you like without worrying about finding a buyer. It seems the only people in denial are realtors and brokers. But if you wish hard enough just maybe the market will change overnight and all the people that are priced out will dig up that cigar box full of cash buried in thier back yard and buy up the over supply of homes by the spring.

[tallrick]

Can someone please explain to me how real estete appreciation benefits homeowners? This is just more tax liability, and restricts future opportunities to grow. A falling market is the best kind, you sell and in a period of time you can buy more for your money. Real estate sucks money out of your pocket, and I think that speculation in real estate means the rest of the economy is weak and the big money doesn't have faith in anything else. All in all a very bad sign.

[summergal]

tallrick - For one thing, real estate appreciation = tax free gain if you stay in the house at least 2 years. Tax free money... That's not a good thing?

I have friends who bought fixers at a very low price, lived in them 2 years while fixing, then sold and moved up to a better one each time. After several years of doing this, they now both live on the beach in million dollar homes.