eBestAgent

Natavia Lowery, 26, the assistant of real estate agent Linda Stein, was arrested on November 9, 2007

A Manhattan personal assistant has told investigators that she bludgeoned her boss, the well-connected real estate agent Linda Stein, in the woman’s opulent Fifth Avenue apartment because Ms. Stein swore at her, waved a stick at her and blew marijuana smoke into her face, the police said today.

The assistant, Natavia Lowery, 26, of Brooklyn, was arrested this morning. At an afternoon news conference, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said Ms. Lowery had told the police that she struck Ms. Stein six or seven times on Oct. 30 with a four-pound exercise stick.

Mr. Kelly said that in Ms. Lowery’s account, Ms. Stein had used “profanity and derogatory language” and refused to stop blowing smoke at her even though the smoke was making her sick. Ms. Lowery had worked for Ms. Stein for about four months, but said Ms. Stein had not verbally abused her until the day of the killing.

Ms. Stein, 62, a real estate broker at Prudential Douglas Elliman, had a varied and storied career. Born in the Bronx, the daughter of a Jewish caterer, she was a pioneer on the punk-rock scene and became a manager for the Ramones. Later, she turned to real estate, working with celebrity clients like Madonna and Billy Joel.

The singer Elton John is preparing a memorial concert in Ms. Stein’s memory.

Citing friends of Ms. Stein, The Daily News reported that the real estate broker might have met Ms. Lowery when the younger woman worked as a secretary at the Rogers & Cowan public relations agency in Manhattan.

The News, citing unidentified sources, reported that Ms. Lowery had been arrested in December on misdemeanor charges of identity theft and petty larceny. She was accused of using a friend’s name to open up a $300 T-Mobile account and a $300 Target account and that Ms. Stein did not know about the arrest.

Ms. Lowery had been accused of stealing a high school friend’s identity and using it to open accounts at Target and T-Mobile and to make additional purchases in Virginia. The charges against Ms. Lowery were eventually dropped and the case was sealed.

On Linda Stein’s Prudential Douglas Elliman real estate web site posted following message.

We are filled with sadness that Linda Stein, our colleague for over 20 years, our friend, and an icon in the industry, passed away in the early morning of October 31. She was a bright light who quickly rose to fame once she entered the real estate business and became known as the “Realtor to the Stars”. Linda loved the challenge of working in the competitive housing industry. Described as feisty, talented, charming, and relentless, she used her many skills and talents to forge a place in this business like no other. And she made a difference, not only to her customers but to everyone who worked with her. More than anything though, Linda was full of life – and to those who had the pleasure of knowing her personally, she was much loved for her wit and humor. We will miss her terribly and our thoughts are with her family at this very sad time.

Linda Stein’s ex-husband Seymour Stein is credited with discovering Madonna, who would become one of Stein’s first clients.

Technorati Tags: Linda Stein, Natavia Lowery

Michael Jackson might lose Neverland Ranch after being delinquent on $23 million loan payments.

Michael Jackson, once “King of Pop” is at risk of losing his 2,800 acres Neverland Ranch in California due to delinquent loan payments.

Jackson owed $23,212,963.00 on a $23,000,000.00 loan he took out in April 14, 2006, according to a foreclosure and notice of default report posted online by the California branch of Fidelity National Financial insurance company.

View Larger Map

Neverland Ranch is 2,800 acres, is located in Los Olivos, Santa Barbara county about 125 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

Notice of Default in California are usually issued when a homeowner misses their third payment.

The eccentric music legend has been struggling to rebuild his career following his acquittal for child molestation charges in 2005.

Jackson left the property in June 2005 after being acquitted of the child molestation charges and has been living in Bahrain, Europe and Las Vegas in the western US state of Nevada.

In mid-July, Jackson was ordered to pay more than $256,000 dollars in overdue fees to a California law firm he employed for work connected to his sex abuse trial.

Technorati Tags: Michael Jackson, Neverland Ranch

Ex-Citi CEO Charles Prince could walk away with as much as $31 million worth of unvested stock, stock options and benefits.

That would be in addition to the nearly $61 million worth of stock holdings he already owns.

Prince, who stepped down on Sunday amid billions of dollars in mortgage-related write-downs at the financial services company, is not believed to have an employment contract so his ultimate exit package would be subject to what he negotiates with the Citigroup board.

The amount is likely to be much less than for other high-profile departures of late, including the $161.5 million that Merrill Lynch & Co Inc. said Stanley O’Neal would get in stock awards and benefits after he was ousted as CEO last week.

Prince could leave with as much as $28 million worth of unvested stock, about $1.28 million in stock options and $1.74 million in pension benefits, according to an analysis of Citigroup regulatory filings by Hay Group, a global management consulting firm based in Philadelphia.

The calculations were based on Citigroup’s closing stock price of $37.73 on Friday.

Prince became CEO in 2003 and was named chairman in 2006. His departure ends a turbulent tenure as company chief that was marked by heavy turnover among his senior managers, questions over the company’s strategy and heavy loan and credit losses.

Because of the company’s falling stock price, many of Prince’s stock options are under water, meaning they have no current value.

The major variable for Prince is expected to be the value of his unvested stock, and whether or not the board will agree to have these shares immediately vest. He could leave with as much as $28 million in unvested stock if a roughly $12 million grant set to vest in July 2008.

Prince also has about 1.7 million stock options that are under water, meaning they have no current value. In Citigroup filings, he has the next two years to exercise them as long as he doesn’t compete with Citigroup’s business operations.

Technorati Tags: Charles Prince, Citi, Citigroup

Led by strong growth in the office and retail segments, commercial property sales hit $401 billion through Oct. 18, outpacing last year’s $359 billion total, according to Real Capital Analytics, a New York based real-estate research firm.

Construction spending on office buildings, shopping centers and other private, nonresidential projects jumped 15.2 percent in August, the Commerce Department said last month.

There are some signs of slowing growth, analysts say, but nothing compared to the residential real estate market, where foreclosures and mortgage defaults are still rising rapidly, mainly from subprime mortgages extended to risky borrowers. Most economists forecast further declines in home sales and prices, making it “the most significant current risk to our economy,” Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said last week.

The commercial market has not been dragged down by the residential mortgage mess because for the most part, buyers and sellers are more sophisticated, and they have more financial flexibility and resources to ride out credit-market turmoil, experts said.

“It’s a different animal than the nonresidential construction business with the direct relationship between banks and business leaders, not banks and homeowners,” said Bernard Baumohl, managing director of The Economic Outlook Group in Princeton, N.J.

If the broader economy stumbles, the commercial real estate market would be vulnerable to “credit-risk contagion,” Wheaton said. Already, the credit crunch that started in mortgages has spread to other markets, including the commercial market, with some sellers asking for more capital upfront when mortgage-backed assets are financing a transaction.

Technorati Tags: Commercial Real Estate, Commercial Real Estate Market

Standard & Poor’s went on a rate-slashing spree on homebuilders Friday

On Friday S&P cut its credit ratings on five homebuilders after
recent quarterly earnings and economic data showed the housing market
deteriorating.

The ratings agency lowered D.R. Horton
(nyse:DHI -news -people). Lennar(nyse:LEN -news -people), and Pulte Homes(nyse:PHM -news - people) to non-investment grade or “junk” status.

It also lowered Centex(nyse:CTX -news -people) to the brink of junk and lowered Standard Pacific(nyse:SPF -news -people)’s ratings as well.

It changed the outlook on Ryland Group(nyse:RYL -news -people) to “negative” from “stable,” which raises the company’s chances of having its ratings lowered in the next two years.

S&P said the homebuilding sector’s problems have been “exacerbated by rising inventory levels, the sharp decline in nonconforming mortgage products, and the determinedly negative sentiment of even well-qualified consumers.”

Ratings, which indicate a company’s ability to repay its debt obligations, determine the cost to a company of borrowing money.

Technorati Tags: Home Builders, Lennar, Pulte Homes