Alpharetta Bank Closes

ALPHARETTA -- Integrity Bank's closure Aug. 29 after failing due to bad construction loans coupled with falling real estate value has not jeopardized depositor's money.Regions Bank bought the more than $900 million in deposits of 23,000 customers of the Alpharetta-based bank, including deposits above the insurance limits set by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.Regions reopened Integrity's five bank branches – in Alpharetta, Roswell, Cumming, Duluth and Vinings – Tuesday morning under its own banners.Regions has agreed to pay a total premium of 1.012 percent for the failed bank's deposits. In addition, Regions Bank will purchase approximately $34.4 million of Integrity Bank's assets, consisting of cash and cash equivalents. The FDIC will retain the remaining assets for later disposition.

Glen Abbey Homes

Homes in Glen Abbey subdivision for sale:

http://fmlslistings.marketlinx.com/SearchDetail/Scripts/PrtBuy4/PrtBuy4.asp?emailGUID=a6feb542-e981-406b-a219-b84cd93f9e79&AgentId=MCCORMIB

Alpharetta Real Estate

Need a Buyers Agent?

Buyers feel more comfortable working with an agent they know versus hiring a complete stranger, so wanting to hire a friend is understandable. They feel that a friend or family member will tell them the truth and look out for their best interests, but that type of situation can also create conflicts, in more ways than one.Hiring a Friend or Family Member as a Buyer's AgentThe main problem is an agent who is close to the buyer might decide to save a friendship over delivering hard, cold facts

Team McCormick, Inc. Real Estate

Team McCormick, Inc. Real Estate

Granite Co

Just refinished a new kitchen on a Alpharetta Georgia home. We used this company for the Granite counter tops. Did a great job!

Metro Stone Connection, Inc.
5874 Atlanta Hwy Alpharetta, GA 30004
Phone (678) 366-0996 Fax (770)663-7900
metrostoneconnec@bellsouth.net
ask for Joe

Investors

NEW YORK – Aug. 18, 2008 – A number of hedge funds and private equity funds have begun raising money that they intend to invest in distressed mortgage assets. While there are few direct investment avenues for retail investors, several listed hedge funds, private equity firms, and closed-end distressed asset funds may provide investors with some exposure to these assets in anticipation of a rebound over the medium to long term.Generally, a distressed asset is one that is priced below its intrinsic value. The credit crisis has created a host of assets that may not be distressed for credit reasons, but they are categorized as such because of the type of structure they’re held in, such as a collateralized debt obligation [CDO].In a roundtable discussion in the publication American Securitization, James Callahan, executive director of independent capital markets advisory firm Pentalpha, said, “Some [CDO] assets will be fine on a credit basis, but have been discounted already or may be in the future simply because of the taint of the structure they’re held in. There’s great collateral out there, but it’s languishing in the wrong box.” As the opportunities for leveraged buyouts decline, many private equity funds are looking to distressed asset investing for new opportunities. According to industry tracker Private Equity Intelligence, distressed asset funds raised $28.7 billion in the second quarter of 2008 alone, out of the $161.9 billion raised for private equity funds in general.Blackstone Group (BX), for instance, has raised $2 billion for Bayview Financial, a distressed mortgage servicer and fund manager in which it holds a stake. The money will be put toward buying portfolios of distressed mortgage securities over the course of the next few months. Blackstone started to cover its shorts on subprime in late 2007 and early 2008, and expects the subprime mortgage market to bottom out in the coming months.Other firms have also begun to raise money for distressed investing. Carlyle Group and Private Equity Partners have each raised about $1 billion for debt funds. Private Equity Intelligence reported in April that 33 funds are looking to raise more than $36 billion. While some of this money will be put toward mortgage assets, some will be used to buy leveraged loans that have become cheap.In addition to private equity firms, hedge funds are also looking to make forays into the distressed asset market in the hopes that the subprime mortgage market may finally be close to a bottom. Fortress Investment Group (FIG) established a $2 billion fund at the start of the year to take advantage of opportunities in the distressed asset market, and is reportedly considering raising more money for the fund.Similarly, in June, GLG Partners (GLG), a London-based hedge fund, hired Galia Velimukhametova, a distressed situation expert, to help the firm position itself to take advantage of opportunities as they arise. The hedge fund is looking to deploy capital opportunistically in the distressed asset market over the next 18 months.While alternative asset funds gear up to take advantage of potential opportunities in this market, there are still significant risks of further deterioration that make some alternative asset managers wary of getting into the market just yet. This is particularly true of hedge funds, where investors can take money out on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis. This may make investors unwilling to accept any significant deterioration in performance resulting from a fund holding distressed assets. Private equity, where investors commit for longer periods of time, is seen as a better model since it remains unclear when the mortgage market will finally begin to turn.Additionally, according to Pentalpha’s Callahan, some funds do not have the expertise and infrastructure in place to invest in many of these distressed securities. He also highlights the difficulty in getting enough information on the underlying mortgages to make sound judgment calls on those securities.While it may be some time before distressed asset investors feel comfortable making bets on mortgage assets, over the longer term the activity is likely to be positive for the overall mortgage market, in our view. In that same roundtable from American Securitization, Ed Gainor, partner at law firm McKee Nelson, remarked, “Hopefully, this type of investing will clear out a lot of these bad assets and contribute to jump-starting the market again and providing funding for people who should have home loans.”In addition to the modest exposure an investor might get to distressed assets through investing in the stock of the various listed alternative asset managers with distressed asset funds, there are some closed-end funds that invest in distressed assets as well. A few such funds are the Highland Credit Strategies Fund (HCF), the Pioneer High Income Trust Fund (PHT), and the First Trust Strategic High Income Fund (FHI). One drawback of investing in closed-end funds that we see is that the share price may trade at either a discount or premium to the value of the underlying assets held within the fund. This is different from an open-end fund, or mutual fund, where daily closing prices reflect the net asset values of the underlying securities held in the fund.

Existing Home Sales Rise in February

WASHINGTON, March 24, 2008 -
Sales of existing homes increased in February and remain within a fairly stable range, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – rose 2.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate (1) of 5.03 million units in February from a pace of 4.89 million in January, but remain 23.8 percent below the 6.60 million-unit level in February 2007. The sales pace has been in a fairly narrow range since last September.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the gain is encouraging. “We’re not expecting a notable gain in existing-home sales until the second half of this year, but the improvement is another sign that the market is stabilizing,” he said. “Buyers taking advantage of higher loan limits for both FHA and conventional mortgages will unleash some pent-up demand. As inventories are drawn down, prices in many markets should go positive later this year.”