News Updates

Largest Subsidized Rental Provider in Arizona Launches Raamp REIT for Investors

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Real estate development executive Michael Johnson has launched Raamp REIT (Real estate Asset Acquisition Management Portfolio). Raamp REIT is Arizona’s first exclusively multifamily, real estate crowdfunding platform and asset management company. Raamp REIT is structured as a real estate investment trust (REIT). It has a minimum investment of $2,500, and the fund is open to nearly all investors, including casual investors. By investing in the REIT, investors gain access to a diversified pool of commercial real estate investments with a single investment. The fund intends to invest in commercial real estate with a specific eye on multifamily. All rents are guaranteed by the Housing Authority of Maricopa County. Through this program, Johnson has become the State of Arizona’s largest subsidy rental partner. In addition to providing for adequate and affordable housing for those who are less fortunate, this fund is also designed to have low fees for investors. By offering Raamp REIT exclusively on its platform, Raamp.io affords investors direct online access to the product with no sales commissions. Offering expenses are capped at 3%. Johnson’s real estate team takes a relatively conservative approach when selecting transactions to offer for investment, investing only in cash-flowing properties. This approach will carry through to Raamp.io. “Through our focused investment strategy, we can invest in both debt and equity in our specific property types and it will allow us to be very opportunistic,” said Johnson. “We have two objectives for the fund: one is providing investors with both consistent cash distributions and two, the opportunity to benefit from potential appreciation in property values.” The launch of Raamp.io and the new REIT add to the wave of opportunity to invest in real estate. Until recently, private investment markets have been off-limits to many retail investors. Legislation such as Regulation A+ and Title III of the JOBS Act has leveled the playing field by allowing non-accredited investors making less than $200,000 a year to access these investment opportunities through online crowdfunding. Through Reg A+, Raamp REIT gives nearly all investors a new entrance to curated and pre-vetted private real estate investing. In February 2020, Johnson announced that his firm had surpassed $8 million in crowdfunded real estate equity and debt transactions since its inception in 2016. By the end of February 2020, Johnson’s real estate investment portfolio consisted of 13 multifamily properties, a boutique hotel and The Bread & Honey House Restaurant.

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ATTOM Data Solutions has launched its Building Permit data solution containing more than 200 million residential and commercial building permits nationwide. ATTOM’s building permit data provides users with insight into the life of residential and commercial properties, allowing for predictive analytics and decision-making. The data is updated monthly and covers 94% of the nation’s top cities. “Building permits identify key events in a property’s history,” said Sean Mooney, vice president of product management at ATTOM Data Solutions. “Knowing the types of construction or remodeling projects that have occurred on a property—as well as the cost and completion dates of that work—really empowers anyone who is assessing risk or providing valuation services to make more informed decisions.” ATTOM’s Building Permit data includes more than 30 permit classifiers (e.g., solar installation, foundations, roofing), permit status, cost of job, description of job, contractor information and more.

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Land brokerage firm The Hoffman Company has hired Patrick Simons to lead the company’s expansion into the multifamily sector. Simons, a 25-year veteran in multifamily development, will join the firm as senior vice president and managing director of multifamily markets. “Although The Hoffman Company has occasionally assisted multifamily clients over the years, our core business has always been single-family lots for home-builders. We believe our firm has much to offer multifamily clients as well and are excited to have Patrick here to lead that effort,” said company president and co-owner Norm Scheel. Among the services Simons will offer are land acquisition tailored to the specific needs of multifamily clients as well as strategic disposition for owners of sites that either are or can be entitled for multifamily use. Simons has held executive positions with publicly traded and privately held apartment investment and development companies. He founded an international consulting practice advising both large institutional and small private clients on multifamily assets.

Which U.S. Housing Markets Are Most Vulnerable to Coronavirus Impact?

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Nearly half of the 50 most vulnerable counties are in New Jersey and Florida. ATTOM Data Solutions released a special report on April 7 spotlighting U.S. housing markets at the county level to show which areas are more vulnerable to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. According to the report, the Northeast region of the U.S. has the largest concentration of the most at-risk counties, with clusters in New Jersey and Florida. On the other hand, the report indicates the West and Midwest regions are least at risk of housing market challenges. Markets are considered more or less at risk based on the percentage of housing units receiving a foreclosure notice in fourth quarter 2019, the percent of homes underwater (LTV 100 or greater) in fourth quarter 2019 and the percentage of local wages required to pay for major home ownership expenses. Rankings were based on a combination of those three categories in 483 counties in the U. S. with sufficient data to analyze. Counties were ranked in each category, from lowest to highest, with the overall conclusions based on a combination of the three rankings. The full methodology can be found on the ATTOM Data Solutions’ website. “It’s too early to tell how much effect the Coronavirus fallout will have on different housing markets around the country. But the impact is likely to be significant from region to region and county to county,” said Todd Teta, chief product officer with ATTOM Data Solutions. “What we’ve done is spotlight areas that appear to be more or less at risk based on several important factors. From that analysis, it looks like the Northeast is more at risk than other areas. As we head into the spring home buying season, the next few months will reveal how severe the impact will be.” Northeast Vulnerabilitiy Housing markets in 14 of New Jersey’s 21 counties are among the 50 most vulnerable in the country, according to the report. The Top 50 also include four in New York and three in Connecticut. The 14 counties in New Jersey include five in the New York City suburbs: Bergen, Essex, Passaic, Middlesex and Union counties. New York counties among the Top 50 most at risk include Rockland County, in the New York City metropolitan area; Orange County, in the Poughkeepsie metro area; Rensselaer County, in the Albany metro area; and Ulster County, west of Poughkeepsie. Additional High-Level Findings The 10 counties in Florida are concentrated in the northern and central sections of the state, including Flagler, Lake, Clay, Hernando and Osceola counties. Other southern counties that are in the Top 50 are spread across Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana and Virginia. Among the counties analyzed, only two in the West and five in the Midwest (all in Illinois) rank among the Top 50 most at risk. The two western counties are Shasta County, California, in the Redding metropolitan statistical area and Navajo County, Arizona, northeast of Phoenix. The Midwestern counties are McHenry County, Illinois; Kane County, Illinois; Will County, Illinois and Lake County, Illinois, all in the Chicago metro area; and Tazewell County, Illinoic, in the Peoria metro area. in the Top 50 with a population of at least 500,000 people include Bergen, Camden, Essex, Middlesex, Ocean, Passaic and Union counties in New Jersey; Lake, Will and Kane counties in Illinois; Delaware County, Pennsylvania; Prince George’s County, Maryland; and Broward County, Florida. Texas has 10 of the 50 least vulnerable counties from among the 483 included in the report, followed by Wisconsin with seven and Colorado with five. The 10 counties in Texas include three in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area (Dallas, Collin and Tarrant counties) and two in the Midland-Odessa area (Ector and Midland counties). Eighteen of the 50 least at-risk counties have a population of at least 500,000, led by Harris County (Houston), Texas; Dallas County, Texas; King County (Seattle), Washington; Tarrant County (Fort Worth), Texas; and Santa Clara County, California, in the San Jose metro area. where median prices ranging from $160,000 to $300,000 comprise 36 of the Top 50 counties most vulnerable to the impact of the Coronavirus. with median home prices below $160,000 or above $300,000 make up 14 of the Top 50 most vulnerable to the impact of the coronavirus. Those with median prices below $160,000 are among the most affordable in the nation to local wage earners, while those where median prices exceed $300,000 have some homes with the highest equity and smallest foreclosure rates.

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CBRE Group has been named the top global brand in commercial real estate by The Lipsey Company. This is the 19th year in a row CBRE has achieved this recognition. CBRE’s development services subsidiary, Trammell Crow Company, was the top-ranked development company for the third consecutive year. Lipsey is a training and professional development firm specializing in commercial real estate. It has surveyed commercial real estate professionals on their perceptions of the industry’s leading brands since 2002. CBRE has been ranked No. 1 every year Lipsey has conducted its survey. The survey is open to U.S. and international professionals, including property owners, investors, lenders, occupiers, brokers and property managers. Earlier this year CBRE was the top real estate company on Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies list and was ranked #13 on Barron’s list of the 100 Most Sustainable Companies in the U.S.

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First American Financial Coporation announced in mid-February that it has reached an agreement to purchase Docutech—a provider of document, eClose and fulfillment technology for the mortgage industry—for $350 million. Docutech’s management team, including President and CEO Amy Brandt, will continue to lead the company’s operations. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of March.