The Hamptons at Holly Ridge is up and running!

IN reference to one of our earlier posts, The LMC Group placed Robuck Homes into a deal back in 2011 which enabled Robuck Homes to enter the marketplace into the Holly Ridge subdivision with a committment to build quality homes at an affordable price.  Well, Robuck Homes sure has delivered!  WOW!  I was in there the other day and it is unreal how beautiful these new homes are.

Instead of me attempting to describe these homes, here….. take a look…………  Then do yourself a favor and go look for yourself………..

The Hamptons at Holly Ridge!

After previewing and touring several properties CEO Phillip Clark and Operations VP Pam Stanley decided the location at Progress Point not only met the target market demographics but also fell within the economic parameters that the Financial Services company sought.  The new office allows for some future expansion while fitting the companies immediate needs in opening a regional office catering to Southeast North Carolina.

NorthStar plans to open the new office doors in October.  LMC representative PJ Doherty states, “we are looking forward to working with NorthStar, and certainly feel they can be a valuable contributor to our economic turnaround”.

Robuck Homes is based out of Raleigh, North Carolina and has been seeking a presence into the local market for quite some time.  Established in 1926, they are one of the premier home building companies in the Triangle and have an unparallel reputation for quality homes.  In seeking to expand their operations down into the Wilmington surrounding area, Robuck hired The LMC Group in June 2011 to bring them into the market.  After meeting with The  LMC Group and going over an extensive market profile look, LMC located a place for Robuck Homes to begin their entry into the marketplace.  With over 75 years experience in custom home building, Robuck Homes will be entering the market in the highly successful community Neighborhoods of Holly Ridge subdivision located just down from the Surf City bridge onto Topsail Island.  New homes will begin under $200,000.

This is yet another accolade in The LMC Group’s successes as they continue to bring jobs and activity to the local area.  New  construction for the area has been hit the hardest, and any and all new business is a welcomed site to our area.  The addition of Robuck Homes into our area is expected to create an economic impact of over $15 million.

For more on Robuck Homes, please go to their website at www.RobuckHomes.com

The LMC Group announced today that Loadmatch Logstics, LLC  has signed a long term lease with Ashes Drive, LLC to occupy the building located across from Mayfaire Town Center off Sir Tyler Road and Military Cutoff, Wilmington, NC.

LoadMatch Logistics arranges the transportation of shipping containers from ocean ports in the Southeast for import clients and then utilizes those containers for export shipments when they are returned to the port instead of being returned empty. Without LoadMatch Logistics services, a truck driver would pick up a shipping container of imported freight at the Port of Wilmington and transport it to an N.C. distribution center. The truck would then return to the port with no container. The cost for the round trip transportation was paid for by the importer. With LoadMatch’s service, this empty truck would be matched with a container bound for the port. The service saves the importer money, increases revenue for truck drivers and reduces the number of empty trucks that are traveling on the state’s highways. LoadMatch Logistics has developed a proprietary web based system to match imported shipping containers with those bound for export. It automatically notifies clients of delivery and pickup appointments, pickup and delivery confirmations and generates paperless invoicing, all via email. “Many times per day there are empty containers passing each other on the highways and our goal is to eliminate that,” said Winstead. Fuel efficiency for the typical container tractor is about 5 miles per gallon. Every matched container results in one round trip eliminated, thus saving 80 gallons of diesel fuel and related emissions. LoadMatch Logistics does business with the largest exporters of containerized cargo out of the US as well as the largest shipper of forest products from the US, Winstead said. LoadMatch Logistics also manages containers in the Southeast for the largest global transportation company in the world, DHL Global Forwarding. “We have just begun to serve the Southeast. We think we can grow to 10,000 containers per month.”

The LMC Group completed it’s search for space for Loadmatch Logistics near the end of July with leases in place the first week of August.  ” We have great clients searching for good quality space, and we were pleased to be able to deliver the space needed by Loadmatch Logistics in a timely fashion” stated Roy Holdford, CEO of LMC.  “Our guys work really hard, and it is imperative that we pull out all the stops to satify the needs of the real estate client today.”

The LMC Group is growing rapidly on the scene in this up and down economy.  “We are determined to serve the needs of the community, and constantly remind ourselves that our focus is creating and keeping jobs by providing solutions to the challenges in today’s real estate market.  If we can facilitate or provide a solution for any problem or venture, you can count on The LMC Group getting the task at hand completed” stated Holdford.

The LMC Group is a Commercial Real Estate Firm with strong ties to Development, Commercial Investments, Resurgence and Recapitalization of Residential Communities, Funding and Special Asset Structuring.

Thanks to Stevens Fine Homes for producing this video for us.  Enjoy!

As the federal government has doggedly worked through concerns about foreclosure documentation practices, federal financial agencies have aggressively resumed their sale of foreclosed properties.

Through the first half of the year, the FDIC has sold $1.073 billion in foreclosed properties. This compares to $974.7 million in the first half of last year and
$482.2 million in the first half of 2009. More importantly, the amount of commercial real estate being sold by the FDIC has jumped more than 12 times in that time frame. Just
$39.8 million of FDIC property sales in 2009 consisted of commercial and multifamily properties. This year, more than half of the sales ($540.3 million) have been commercial real estate. In addition, land sales have increased from $86.1 million in 2009 to $310.6 million this year. Also, as commercial sales have been increasing, the number of single-family residential sales being handled by the FDIC is falling from $307.7 million in 2009 to $219 million this year.

While there has been some anxiety in the marketplace over the potential impact that a surge of distressed CRE properties coming into the marketplace may do to sales values, CoStar Group senior real estate strategist Chris Macke says there is an upside to the trend.  “The increased disposition activity is good for the industry,” Macke said. “The sooner we clear troubled assets the sooner the market will return to normal.” However, Macke warned, “with funds available to deal with troubled assets depleted and no appetite from Congress to provide additional funds, regulatory agencies do have limits on how quickly they can clear out all the troubled transactions there are to deal with.”

The nation’s government-sponsored enterprises are also increasing their REO property sales. Through the first three months of the year, Fannie Mae sold 37 multifamily properties on which it had foreclosed compared to 13 in the same period last year. At the same time, the number of multifamily properties it has picked up has remained fairly consistent, 50 in the first quarter of this year and 47 a year ago.  Overall, Fannie Mae sold 62,814 properties in the first three months of this year vs. 38,095 in the same period a year earlier. Those sales have produced proceeds of $11 billion in the first quarter of this year compared to $7.7 billion the year-ago period.

Through the first three months of the year, Freddie Mac has sold 31,628 properties vs. 21,969 in the same period a year earlier. Freddie Mac did not break out its multifamily property dispositions separately but it was holding only 15 multifamily repossessed apartment properties on its books as of March 31.  According to the Dept. of Housing & Urban Development, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) acquired 7,667 REO properties in June and sold a record 13,609 properties (breaking the record of 12,671 properties sold in May).

The FHA REO inventory has declined from 69,958 at the end of the first quarter to 54,645 at the end of June.

BOA Special Asset Sold in 30 Days

The LMC Group announced today the collaboration with the Special Assets regional division of Bank of America in an effort to provide an outlet for some of its special assets  inventory.  BOA is in the process of identifying certain properties in their REO portfolio for liquidation and The LMC Group has a heavy presence in the area of revitalizing broken projects and asset portfolios.  LMC Group’s commercial consultants, Dennis Musser and PJ Doherty, after having numerous discussions with BOA’s special assets division, determined the feasibility of providing long and short-term solutions for the banks REO and pre REO departments.  “Bank of America unfortunately has properties in our area that are sitting out there depreciating and not showing any signs of movement.  They have a tendency to need some TLC and management along the way to disposal.  We are very active in today’s market, and LMC is here to provide solutions to matters of real estate hiccups”, stated Mr. Doherty.  “For example, they had a commercial property on one our barrier islands that had been taken back in default, had seen no activity and was beginning to deteriorate.  We took this property, analyzed exactly what the market would bear, recommended a suitable price that they could expect to realize in today’s market, compared this to the valuation on the lenders books, coordinated and agreed upon a good number and went to work on this.  In less than 2 weeks, we had a full price contract on it and closed it out all within 30 days.”  Real Estate in this area has seen periods of no activity since the financial meltdown and certain areas are hit harder than others.  Mr. Musser states: “It is a win win for everyone involved.  The property now can generate income for its new owners, the city and county benefits from its revenue in taxes collected, and the bank has one less headache on its books.”

The LMC Group continues to provide support to its business leaders, local municipalities, individuals, and lenders with their real estate worries.  LMC is a real estate solutions company that specializes in workouts for individuals, companies, corporations, developers (commercial and residential), and lenders.  You can google The LMC Group and find past projects completed on the web.  Currently, LMC is actively involved with numerous workouts from Morehead City to Myrtle Beach, SC.  For more information, please inquire on the website: www.lmcrealestate.com or call 910-383-1540

The LMC Group’s resurgence of stalled community developments continues on in first quarter 2011 bringing new and completed successes to light.  LMC  announced today that the balance of the first phase of lots placed under contract in 2010 within the Saltwater Landing Community have been completed and closed out.  H&H Homes will immediately begin construction of new homes on these sites.  H&H Homes has also just opened their New Showcase Model in Saltwater Landing for viewing and tours.  The model will be open daily and staffed by the Christina Pitz Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty Team, be sure to drop in and take a look!

Stay tuned, more to come – multiple purchases in the works and new floor plans in the making…………..

Later this week, the Treasury Department will issue a report recommending changes to the structure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  This is the latest development in a years-long debate over what the government’s role in housing should be.

We all know better than anyone else just how vital housing is to families and to our nation.

Fact:  For every additional 1,000 home sales, about 500 jobs are added to the economy.  Those are real jobs that give our families, friends and neighbors a chance to work.

Fact:  Every home purchase pumps $60,000 into the economy.

Fact:  Housing accounts for more than 15 percent of the national gross domestic product.

Fact:  Home owners pay 80 to 90 percent of ALL federal income taxes.

We need to change the dialog.   Critics say housing is a drain on federal resources.  We know better.  Housing is the engine that drives our national economy. Eight of the last ten recessions have ended as a result of robust housing markets.  The other two ended as a result of war spending.  The choice is easy.  America needs a healthy housing market to thrive. 

In the days ahead, NAR will be reaching out to Congress and the White House to emphasize the clear connection between housing, jobs and the economy.  Rather than limit support for housing, and the availability of credit, NAR is calling on Congress and the White House to advance policies that will move the housing market back to a healthy 5.5 million sales, where it SHOULD be. 

We will be asking lawmakers to:

• Preserve the mortgage interest deduction at current levels.
• Move the credit pendulum to equilibrium, defined by a median credit score of 720.
• Maintain government backing in the mortgage market as part of GSE Reform.

These three steps would help bring the housing market back to a normal level, possibly generating an additional 1 million home sales and 500,000 jobs.   

As the voice for real estate, we hope that Congress and White House gets the message:  real estate is all about jobs.

 Ron Phipps, 2011 NAR President