Clark County real estate roundup March 2

Nu 2 U Consignment & Thrift Store has leased 1,528 square feet of space at Orchards Market Center, 11505 N.E. Fourth Plain Road, Suite F-1, Vancouver. KC Fuller of Eric Fuller & Associates represented the tenant; Deborah Ewing of Eric Fuller & Associates represented the lessor. The move-in date is March 15.

PT On Call has extended its lease at Park Tower I, Mill Plain One, 201 N.E. Park Plaza Drive, Suite 246, Vancouver, for an additional five years. Adam Roselli and Byron Roselli of Eric Fuller & Associates represented the tenant.

Signature Nails & Spa has leased 1,400 square feet of space at Orchards Market Center, 11505 N.E. Fourth Plain Road, Suite F-3, Vancouver. KC Fuller of Eric Fuller & Associates represented the tenant; Deborah Ewing of Eric Fuller & Associates represented the landlord. The move-in date is April 1.

Former Portland real estate broker faces mortgage fraud charges

Kamau Herndon was arraigned in federal court Tuesday on charges the former mortgage broker put together three fraudulent home sales surreptitiously, taking thousands of dollars for himself from each of them.

Herndon, 37, of Portland is the third former employee of Lighthouse Financial Group, a large Vancouver mortgage brokerage, to be charged with federal crimes. He is the son of Ron Herndon, a prominent community activist and director of Albina Head Start.

The Herndon case illustrates the powerful downward pull on property values exerted by the wave of mortgage fraud. The defaults and foreclosures that generally follow a phony home purchase can dramatically cut a home's market value. With mortgage defaults now surging in Oregon, the combined impact of the resulting foreclosures on housing prices could be formidable.

CBI Group to Host Arizona Real Estate Investment Seminar in Vancouver

CBI Group, an Alberta based real estate investment company, will be hosting a real estate investment seminar in Vancouver to educate the public about real estate investments in the Arizona; an area experiencing some of the lowest real estate prices in recent history. The seminar will focus on their Arizona Acquisition Fund; an opportunity allowing individual investors to participate in the bulk purchase of homes in the Phoenix area.

"Last week we bought a house that was nearly $300,000 at the peak and closed it for $87,000. We're seeing distressed sales such as this on a daily basis. And because we are paying cash, closing quickly and, in some cases, negotiating directly with banks, we are able to purchase homes at lower prices than individual investors can." said Jarrett Zielinski, VP of Acquisitions at CBI Group who is managing the purchase of the 175 homes the group is acquiring for the Arizona Acquisition Fund. "Individual investors may not understand the amount of due diligence and logistical hassles that are imminent when making a cross-border real estate purchase. Our seminar will show investors exactly how they can participate in the tremendous profit potential without the challenge of finding their own way in a foreign real estate market."

Vancouver housing slump evident with cancellation of $500M Ritz-Cartlon project

VANCOUVER, B.C. — The cancellation of a $500-million luxury hotel and condominium project in downtown Vancouver is the latest in a string of troubled developments in Canada's most expensive real estate market which experts say is in a serious slump.

"Vancouver's market is already crashing, it's no longer a question," said Brian Ripley, CEO of consulting group Oakes Ripley & Associates Inc.

Ripley believes Vancouver will be one of the hardest hit in the current reversal of housing prices across Canada because its prices ran up the most and is now the least affordable city in the country.

The credit crunch and economic downturn are wreaking havoc in Vancouver's real estate market where sales are on a steep slide and prices are falling.