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.
Read MoreMaryland-based real estate firm Blue Ocean has expanded its footprint into Howard County, Maryland, with its acquisition of The River Front Apartments in Savage, Maryland. The 144-unit, water-front and gated, residential community is located in Howard County, a few milesfrom downtown Columbia. The purchase of The River Front Apartments aligns with Blue Ocean’s long-term strategyto acquire real estate in Class A locations that provide tangible opportunities to create or add value for its Investors. The seller was represented by Transwestern Mid-Atlantic Multifamily Group of Dean Sigmon, Robin Williams, Justin Shay and Michael D’Amelio.
Read MoreBrett Meringoff, a prominent affordable and mixed-income housing developer has steppedin to help lead Fairstead’s expanding development business across the country. In his new role as senior vice president, he will be based in the firm’s Bethesda, Maryland, office. Fairstead is a fully-integrated real estate firm committed to affordable housing. Meringoff will work on ground-up developments and new acquisitions for both affordable and mixed-income projects across the country. Meringoff most recently served as senior vice president for Winn Companies, where he was responsible for the company’s Mid-Atlantic affordable housing development and asset management activities, as well as its market-rate investments. Under his leadership, his team entitled, developed and completed more than 4,900 units across 19 properties. Before joining Winn, Meringoff founded BEM Companies LLC and BEM Consulting LLC, aVirginia-based real estate organization that specializes in affordable housing development andconsulting services to small-and medium-sized companies in all areas of multifamily real estate.He earlier served as director of development for Coalco International (now operating asCorigin), a global real estate development and investment company. He began his career with The Related Companies in New York City. Meringoff has led several well-known developments throughout his career, including the restructuring and repositioning of the Sursum Corda site in Washington, D.C.; major acquisition rehabilitation affordable housing projects such as Sencit Liberty Apartments in Atlantic City, New Jersey; Venango House and Breslyn House Apartments in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and ground-up affordable housing projects such as Southern Hills Redevelopment in Washington, D.C., and Gordon Mansfield Veterans Village in Tinton Falls, New Jersey.
Read MoreHilltop Residential, a Houston-based multifamily real estate investment company, has brought in Craig Marbach as executive vice president. Marbach will help lead the firm as it extends its portfolio into the Southeast, specifically the Georgia and Florida markets. Craig previously served as managing director at Venterra Realty Management, where he was responsible for acquiring 11,198 units through 40 deals in the Southeast during his 13-year tenure. Since launching in 2017, Hilltop Residential has acquired 15 assets and 4,100 units in major Texas markets, totaling over $600 million. It recently closed Fund IV, which provides an additional $500 million in buying power.
Read MoreNeighbor.com has expanded into Dallas, Texas, the second-largest self-storage market in the nation. The company offers a sustainable alternative to traditional self-storage that allows local residents to rent out extra space in their homes to their neighbors. The arrangement allows homeowners to accumulate monthly passive income. “Texas is the second largest self-storage market in the United States, so it’s fitting that Neighbor’s peer-to-peer storage marketplace has grown organically in Dallas, where many homeowners are looking for reliable passive income and renters want to save an average of 50% on storage,” said Joseph Woodbury, CEO and co-founder of Neighbor.com. “Neighbor.com has been rapidly expanding by word of mouth across the U.S., but now is the right time to build out our community management team in Dallas to bolster access to storage for one of the most in-demand storage regions in the country. This team, along with our increased investment in new front- and back-end technologies, will ensure DFW residents continue to have unmatched access to safe and affordable storage options.” Neighbor connects “renters” in need of storage space with “hosts” in their neighborhood who are willing to lease extra storage space in their home or garage. Renters can store anything from boats to furniture to boxes of extra stuff in nearby basements, sheds and garages for half the cost of traditional storage options.
Read MoreHomesnap has introduced All-New Homesnap Pro, the next generation of its home search platform. Homesnap, which offers a national home search platform that provides MLS data in real time, says that the newest version provides real estate professionals with more than 500 data sources on a single platform. One of the platforms features is Off- Market Marketplace, which uses machine learning to assign homes a “Likelihood to List” score.
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