Talbott and Mencaccy acquired RW Zukin with the intent of growing the company by providing multifamily real estate services based on RW Zukin’s longstanding, successful principals. Talbott as RW Zukin’s new CEO and Mencaccy as the company’s president have combined multifamily experience of over 50 years with a strong background in operations and asset management. They have managed in excess of 80,000 units throughout their careers and have experience with institutional, public, and private owners. Their background also includes other facets of real estate including, but not limited to, asset receivership and repositioning, property management, renovation management, development, ground-up construction, lease-ups, acquisitions, dispositions, and due diligence services.

RW Zukin was previously owned and led by Richard M. Alhona. “In a strategic move to further the evolution and growth of RW Zukin Corporation, I identified Bob Talbott and Scott Mencaccy as the best candidates to lead the company forward,” said Alhona. Alhona will maintain an ownership interest in RW Zukin and will play a strategic relationship role with the company’s long-term stabilized client base.

“Unlike many property management firms, RW Zukin is organized so that the processes of apartment management occur where it offers the highest quality service to the property owner and resident at the most cost-effective price,” said Talbott.

“‘Site level’ activity is focused on leasing and customer service, whereas accounting activities occur at the corporate office and not the property,” Talbott said. “Purchasing is managed at the corporate office through a purchasing agent with true purchase order control. Small properties benefit from a unique facilities maintenance approach that provides highly-skilled maintenance support at an affordable rate. This approach also insures that the process takes place where it makes the most sense and avoids taxing the onsite staff with duties that take them away from servicing the residents.”

Technology advances are changing the way apartments are rented and managed. Residents can use the Internet and mobile devices to find their apartment, apply for that apartment, and sign their new lease all online. Once they have moved in, they can pay rent and request maintenance services the same way. “Today’s renters are coming to expect these services and an owner risks being left behind if he, or she, fails to offer them. It is our goal to have RW Zukin offer these modern advances to the smaller, private owners who are unable to obtain these services cost effectively,” Mencaccy said.

“RW Zukin’s unique management approach, when coupled with resident technology, will offer our owners the same efficiencies that larger property portfolios are able to enjoy,” said Talbott.

Prior to the acquisition of RW Zukin, Talbott, in partnership with Thompson | Dorfman Partners, LLC, acquired and redeveloped two apartment communities. Talbott has also served as vice president and division manager of asset management for BRE Properties and was a partner and COO with Trammell Crow Residential. Talbott holds a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Business Management from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and a Master’s in Business Administration from Saint Mary’s College in Moraga.

As president of Pinnacle Realty Management Company’s west region, Mencaccy was responsible for a portfolio consisting of 46,000 apartment units. Prior to Pinnacle, Mencaccy served as regional vice president with Con Am Management Corporation in Sacramento and managed a $225 million portfolio. Mencaccy holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Pepperdine University.

About RW Zukin Corporation
A privately-held firm based in Menlo Park, Calif., RW Zukin Corp. offers nearly 50 years of experience in multifamily services including property management, asset management and investment management, primarily in Northern California. RW Zukin Corp.’s unique approach enables the firm to create value for its clients and partners in all phases of the real estate cycle. RW Zukin Corp. currently manages nearly 2,000 units with a combined value in excess of $400 million. For more information, see www.rwzukincorp.com.

Article source: http://sanjose.dbusinessnews.com/shownews.php?articletitle=RW%20Zukin%20Acquired%20by%20Multifamily%20Veterans%20Bob%20Talbott%20&%20Scott%20Mencaccy&newsid=242074&type_news=latest&s=sbcn

And they think they have problems?

When the Marin County Assessor’s Office released its records for April, at first there seemed to be reason for celebration in Novato. Overall sales of single-family homes were up 33 percent month-over-month, to 36. Industry veterans who remember the nuclear winter of 2008-2009 will recall months like February 2009, when only 10 homes changed hands in Novato. The market was frozen and looking at a long thaw.

It’s good that homes are again selling in Novato. And if we only look back a few months, we’ll see that prices are rising as well. The average property in Novato has gained back more than 20 percent of its value since January.  As long as we remain focused on 2011, the outlook is good; gotta keep those pesky memories of 2006 and 2007 at bay.

In April 2007, the average single-family home sold in Novato fetched a shade above $900,000. In April 2006, the average price was $952,000. Novato real estate has shed 38 percent of its value in five years. There’s no way to sugar-coat that. In fact, as of January local homes had lost 48 percent of their value in less than five years.

These numbers add up to Novato having a serious negative equity issue, in line with that of California as a whole (33 percent). Still, with cities like Miami experiencing a 25 percent rate not of underwater mortgages but of homes in severe mortgage distress, heading for short sale or foreclosure, the local impact is nowhere near being the worst in the country — or even the state. Novato has suffered more than many other Bay Area cities, but our region as a whole has fared pretty well, comparatively.

For plenty of local homeowners, upside-down mortgages are a reality. Enough of them are suffering that the question now should not be “How many underwater mortgages are there in Novato?” but rather “What should you do if your mortgage slips into negative equity territory?”

As an indicator of a struggling market, negative equity ranks with foreclosures and short sales, but it is not necessarily a precursor to them. One reason foreclosures are up, however, is that a significant number of underwater mortgage holders are choosing to walk away from their properties rather than continue making payments.

A Feb. 2, 2010 article in the New York Times suggests that there is a value-to-loan threshold that owners will not cross before walking away from their home. Once their home’s market value falls below 75 percent of the money owed on their loan, they give up and bug out. While these people are arguably acting with sound financial judgment, they’re also ignoring the many legitimate reasons not to walk away — not all of which are based on emotional attachment to a pile of wood, glass and stucco.

Assuming you are not a speculator, landlord or home-flipper, you purchased your home as a place to live. You did so for a variety of reasons — location, convenience, quality of public schools, square footage, yard — plus the unspoken but understood perk of return on investment. Even if you take away that ROI, you still have all of the other components, plus stability, making a good argument for staying in place. Walk away and what’s the first item on your post-home-ownership agenda? Finding a place to rent, hopefully with a comparable amount of room, convenience and access to good schools. And woe to you if you own pets.

The decision to walk away from an underwater mortgage should not be taken lightly – and should not be made for financial considerations only. Staying in a home burdened with a bad loan requires a paradigm shift. If you can afford your payments and can live with the psychic weight of feeling like an economic patsy, why not stick around and make your house a home, even if it doesn’t make short-term financial sense?

Article source: http://novato.patch.com/articles/negative-equity-doesnt-always-have-to-mean-goodbye