Free Republic

President Joe Biden greenlit the release of Colombian businessman Alex Saab, accused of acting as Venezuelan socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro’s top money launderer, on Wednesday. Saab’s release is allegedly the result of a prisoner swap with the rogue socialist regime that will also allow for the release of unjustly detained Americans in Venezuela, the Associated Press reported. Saab, 51, is a close personal ally of Maduro and is widely considered the socialist dictator’s financial brain. American law enforcement authorities arrested Saab in Cape Verde in 2020 after the Department of Justice indicted him in 2019 on charges of laundering $350...

A New York appellate court is raising questions regarding the penalty and the justification under which AG Letitia James brought the case.Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron ordered in February former President Donald Trump to pay an approximate $450 million penalty in a civil fraud case in which there were no victims. Now, a New York appellate court is raising questions regarding the “troubling” penalty and Attorney General Letitia James’ justification for bringing the case in the first place. James accused Trump of inflating his personal wealth to get better loan terms. Trump, for example, valued his Mar-a-Lago estate at...

Daniel Burrell was arraigned in Nantucket District Court Friday on a fugitive from justice court warrant, according to court records.A former senior adviser to John Kerry’s presidential campaign was arrested Friday on Nantucket on a warrant out of Las Vegas following the sale of his foreclosed mansion on the island, multiple outlets reported. Daniel Burrell was arraigned in Nantucket District Court Friday on a fugitive from justice court warrant, according to court records. He was ordered to be committed to Barnstable County Correctional Facility after not posting bail, which was set at $10,000 cash... Burrell, a businessman in private equity...

As Colorado lawmakers debate over how to confront rapidly increasing housing costs, more than a dozen city and town councils on the Western Slope have voted to support allowing local taxes on vacant homes and short-term rentals. The concepts, pitched by the Colorado Association of Ski Towns, or CAST, would have to be passed by the Colorado legislature and approved by local voters before they could take effect anywhere. “The lack of available and attainable housing for employees in Colorado mountain resort communities has reached a crisis level,” CAST wrote in the legislative policy statement approved by the towns. “The...

Housing affordability in the United States has taken a sharp turn for the worse in recent years, as house prices surged to historical highs during and after the pandemic and mortgage rates have risen steeply over the past three years, as the Fed tried to rein in inflation.It all began with a surge in demand for houses during the Covid-19 pandemic, when many Americans, flush with cash from government stimulus checks, reevaluated their living situation and sought more space amid stay-at-home orders and the sudden possibility of remote work. Further fueling demand were the historically low mortgage rates after the...

Brandon Miller, the high-profile New York real estate developer who took his own life last month, was in even more dire financial straits than was initially revealed at the time of his death. Miller, 43, who flaunted a high-flying Hamptons lifestyle bankrolled by millions of dollars in secret debt along with his influencer wife, Candace, was nearly $34 million in the red, with just $8,000 in his bank account, TheRealDeal reports. Through Candace’s now-defunct lifestyle blog Mama + Tata, Miller presented a fairy-tale life for the world to see, playing the role of the lucky and affectionate head of an...

No matter if the market is hot or cold, they still pop up: For Sale by Owner listings, otherwise known to Realtors as "FSBOs." These are houses put up for sale by the people who own them - without the help of a real estate agent. Homeowners who eschew professional assistance can start the home-selling adventure on their own, but are often unaware of the DIY pitfalls. Here are the pros, cons, and everything else you need to know about these kinds of properties. What to Know About FSBO Listings As a Realtor, I'm very aware of those DIY pitfalls....

The figure is an 143 percent leap from the 8,353 in the same period last year. Almost 90 percent of those for sale are in buildings more than 30 years old. Under the new guidelines, condos older than 30 years or more than three stories will require increased inspections from December 31. Read More REVEALED: The cities offering the most apartment space on a $1,500 budget article image The cost of insurance and Homeowners' Association fees to cover the special assessment requirements has also jumped. 'Condo costs are shocking,' said Juan Castro, a Redfin Premier agent in Orlando. 'Condos that...

The Fed has grossly distorted the housing market and no fix is in sight. A couple of images will explain...Chart data from Case-Shiller, mortgage calculation based on Fannie Mae 30-year mortgage rates, chart by MishHome Price Calculation NotesCase-Shiller measures repeat sales of the same home over time.Case-Shiller is a much better, but less timely measure than median or average home price. However, the measure lags. Recent data is through May representing sales in February, March, and April.The price above reflects the increasing value of the Case-Shiller index over time.Mortgage Payment and Mortgage RateThe above chart represents the mortgage payment of...

Home prices reached a new record in May amid an ongoing housing shortage, even as high mortgage rates continued to push affordability out of reach for millions of Americans. Prices increased 5.9% nationally in May when compared with the previous year, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index showed on Tuesday, down from the 6.4% pace recorded the previous month. On a monthly basis, prices climbed 0.3%, according to the index. "Home prices hit a new high in May," said Lisa Sturtevant, Bright MLS chief economist. "But with affordability a growing challenge for homebuyers and more new listings coming onto the market,...

Romanian businessman Gabriel Popoviciu expected to testify against Hunter Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors allege Hunter Biden was paid by a Romanian oligarch to "influence U.S. policy and public opinion," while his father, Joe Biden, was vice president, according to new documents. The documents were filed by Special Counsel David Weiss in the Central District of California on Wednesday. The filings pertain to Hunter Biden's tax trial in California. The allegations are the closest prosecutors have come to tying President Biden to his son's overseas business dealings. Romanian businessman Gabriel Popoviciu is expected to testify against Hunter Biden in...

(Snip) Haniyeh, a father of 13 who presides over one of the world’s wealthiest terrorist groups, is worth more than $4 billion. He has been photographed with his two adult sons, Maaz and Abdel Salam, living the high life in luxury hotels in Qatar and Turkey, according to a recent social media post from the Embassy of Israel in the US. Last week, Haniyeh traveled to Iran to meet with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran is a longtime sponsor of Hamas. Last month, the Four Seasons hotel in Doha said he was not one of its guests after calls...

Voters in Wisconsin have revealed how crippling house prices have become a key issue for those living in the battleground state. Prices in Wisconsin are now $333,200, with more than half selling for above listing price in June, according to Redfin. The cost of a home has soared by eight percent in the last year, making it the largest increase in any of the swing states.

Building Just Sold at a 97.5% Discount The sale price of 135 West 50th Street in Midtown, which is only 35 percent full, was a sign of how much the pandemic upended the market for office buildings in New York City. COMMENT #1: Mr. Armstrong, I had to write to say thank you so much for everything you do. When Trump was indicted, you said sell and get out of New York. Your advice has always been discussed with our board, and the decision was made to sell in light of your ECM also turning in 2024. We managed to...

As the seller’s market persists throughout most of the United States, prices continue to rise and affordable housing appears to be slipping through the fingers of the average American.(Illustration by The Epoch Times, Shutterstock)The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported the highest ever national median sales price of $419,300 for a single-family home in May.“We’re actually forecasting that home prices will continue to grow based on the lack of inventory and demand for home ownership,” Jessica Lautz, NAR deputy chief economist and vice president of research, told The Epoch Times.A $400,000 price tag translates to a $40,000 down payment—with the...

The national office vacancy rate hit a record 19.8% in the first quarter of 2024, according to a preliminary report from Moody’s Analytics. And it could get worse, as companies continue to lease substantial space despite a decline in the in-office footprint. The 'urban doom loop' cycleWhile the shift to remote work in recent years offers plenty of flexibility to employees, some experts have concerns the decline in office building usage could spell a more sinister problem for big cities. “Everybody’s affected by this issue,” Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, a professor of real estate at Columbia Business School, told CNN. Van...

WASHINGTON – If you rent a house when you would rather own, pin some of the blame on corporate landlords. The 10 biggest institutional investors owned more than 430,000 single-family rental homes at the end of 2023, and they continue to acquire houses to rent out to middle-class families. Corporate landlords seek to dominate the neighborhoods they target, simultaneously reducing the inventory of houses to buy while expanding the stock of houses to rent. Members of Congress have introduced bills to force the largest institutional investors to dramatically cut their holdings. The United States suffers from a housing shortage of...

Did NAIOP get the memo? NAIOP (National Association of Industrial and Office Properties) is a trade group comprised of commericial real estate developers and academics. Lobbying for more office space to be built despite overbuilding, Another chink in the armor of the US economy (not the roaring economy Biden and Yellen keep screaming about). Overbuilding of office space, COVID shutdowns, remote working and urban crime. A recipe for office vacancy. Moody's predicts 24% of office towers will be vacant by 2026! During the first three months of 2023, U.S. office vacancy topped 20 percent for the first time in decades....

he former Los Angeles home of Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe was declared a historic cultural monument Wednesday, preventing it from being demolished by its current owners. The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously – in a 12-0 vote – to approve the motion introduced by Councilwoman Traci Park who represents the 11th District where the Spanish Colonial-style home is located. Monroe bought the one-story home on Helena Drive in 1962 for $75,000. It was the only residence she ever owned. She died there six months later.