DPFG Continues to Grow, Opening Dallas/Fort Worth Office

In order to better serve its increasing client base throughout the fast growing North Texas area, the Development Planning & Financing Group, Inc., is pleased to announce, that effective January 15, 2015, it opened a new office located in the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area.

According to Rick Rosenberg, the Managing Principal for DPFG's Texas operations, "With multiple current assignments underway throughout the DFW area including projects planned for Denton, Oak Point, Waxahachie, Royse City, Mansfield, Celina, Fort Worth and Dallas; having a full time presence in the market can only enhance our ability to continue to provide value added service to our current and future clients."

Concurrently, DPFG is pleased to announce that Meredith Martin will be joining the firm as a Manager in the new DFW office, also effective January 15, 2015.

DPFG (www.dpfg.com) is a national real estate consulting firm with 12 offices in nine states (California, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Idaho, Texas, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina).  Since its inception in 1991, it has focused on providing real estate and financial consulting services principally to residential and commercial real estate developers as well as lenders, public agencies and other institutional investors.  A key emphasis is identifying the lowest cost and the lowest risk manner of financing and funding public improvements and infrastructure such as roadways, utilities, etc. as well as the vertical improvements of a project.

To accomplish this, DPFG typically provides, among others, the following services:

• ·         Assistance in implementation of land secured financing solutions for project development;
• ·         Preparation of financial analyses and projections;
• ·         Preparation of financial feasibility studies including compliance analyses with debt covenants;
• ·         Identification of available and applicable public/private financing alternatives;
• ·         Preparation of fiscal and economic impact studies;
• ·         Negotiation of development agreements;
• ·         Evaluation of development impact fee agreements;
• ·         Tracking of reimbursable development costs; and,
• ·        

DPFG Disclosure Donates $500 to HomeAid's "Full Bellies, Warm Hearts" Event.

San Juan Capistrano, CA July 21, 2014:  The 5th Annual Full Bellies, Warm Hearts event will take place on July 26th at Veronica’s Home of Mercy in San Bernardino and August 2nd at King Hall Family Shelter in Moreno Valley. DPFG Disclosure Services, Inc. has donated a $500 check towards the success of this event along with purchasing school supplies for over 100 homeless children. Kelli Gazich, Business Development Manager for DPFG, will be coordinating the event at Veronica’s Home this weekend which will include makeup artists and hairstylists for the parents in preparation for their family portrait, “we are really excited to play such a big role in the event this year and hope that the canned food, toys and school supplies will keep these families very happy until the next ‘Full Bellies’ in 2015.” The event is planned to have a hosted lunch, mini-horse rides, face painting, water balloon toss and more to keep the kids active throughout the day.

RSI Professional Cabinet Solutions Announces New Director of Contracting Operations

MIRA LOMA, Calif. (April 8, 2014)—RSI Professional Cabinet Solutions (RSI PCS) announced the promotion of Darrin Toop to Director of Contracting Operations. Toop joined RSI PCS in January 2013 as the Sales Operations Manager and brought with him more than 23 years of industry experience as a highly-skilled cabinetry and millwork professional.

In his new role, Toop is responsible for overseeing a quickly growing team of over 100 professionals dedicated to serving customers in new construction and rehabilitation projects within Southern California, where the company is the market share leader. Toop brings extensive aptitude in streamlining processes to improve first pass yield and reduce secondary trips, which are vital elements to customer satisfaction.

“Darrin has been a key part of our success and we are thrilled to promote him to this important position,” said Eric VanDerHeyden, president, RSI Professional Cabinet Solutions. “The Southern California market has recovered quickly and needs even more cabinet experts and installers. I am confident Darrin will successfully grow our service capability so our customers can continue to choose RSI PCS as their preferred supplier.”

In his position as Sales Operations Manager, Toop was instrumental in refining the ordering process, which reduced pre-order errors and improved productivity. His proficiencies in process improvement execution and his extensive field management background will allow him to transition seamlessly into his new role.

The RSI PCS frameless European-inspired cabinetry provides numerous advantages over traditional, framed cabinetry. The frameless cabinets offer functional advantages, such as larger and deeper drawers, wider openings for more storage, easier cleaning, faster access and retrieval, and high quality hardware. Full overlay doors provide a clean, streamlined look with premium crown, light rail moldings, and knobs or pulls accentuating and completing the design. 

About RSI Professional Cabinet Solutions

Founded in 2003, RSI Professional Cabinet Solutions (RSI PCS), is part of RSI Home Products, Inc., and is the leading western supplier of frameless, European-inspired, full access cabinetry. In partnership with top builders, remodelers, dealers and distributors, RSI PCS premium construction cabinets have been installed in nearly 100,000 kitchens and baths throughout the Western United States, and are designed, built and shipped from Mira Loma, Calif.

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For media inquiries, contact Kelly Kemmis

909.614.2948

Southland Housing Affordability Hits New High

Despite Gains, Affordability Still Far Lower Than Most Parts of U.S.

IRVINE – Buying a home in Southern California is within the reach of more families than at any time so far this century, according to the latest Housing Opportunity Index released today by the National Association of Home Builders.

Despite that positive trend, however, housing prices in California remain among the least affordable in the nation, leading the CEO of the Building Industry Association of Southern California to urge local and state governments to work with homebuilders to ease fees and regulations that continue to drive up costs.

“Between state laws that encourage lawsuits to block housing developments and local government fees and requirements that can add anywhere between $20,000 and $100,000 to the price of each new home, it’s always been difficult and expensive to build in Southern California,” said David W. Shepherd.

“In this market, every dollar counts and the competition with foreclosed homes and short sales remains fierce. We look forward to partnering with state and local governments to reduce fees, speed up processing times and craft other measures to make more projects pencil. That will create jobs, generate tax dollars and allow more families to buy today’s exciting new homes. ”

During the first quarter of 2012, 49.5 percent of the homes sold in Los Angeles County could be afforded by a family earning the county’s median income. That was up slightly from the previous quarter and up by more than 6 percentage points from the same period in 2011. In comparison, just 1.8 percent of the homes were affordable at the low point, set in the first quarter of 2006, and the county was the nation’s least affordable housing market.

Affordability also hit new highs for the century in the other metro areas in BIASC’s service territory, ranging from 83.7 percent in Imperial County to 50.7 percent in Orange County. (See table below for details.)

However, L.A. County was the fifth least-affordable metro area in the country during the quarter and Orange County ranked sixth-lowest. The two Southland metro areas joined San Francisco and San Diego in the bottom 10 among metro areas nationwide.

Metro Area	Imperial County				Los Angeles County
				Lowest*				Lowest*
	1Q12	4Q11	1Q11	4Q06	1Q12	4Q11	1Q11	1Q06
Median price (000)	121	132	133	280	295	295	300	523
HOI	83.7	76.5	74	6.8	49.5	48.3	43.1	1.8
Nat’l Rank**	112	59	66	T11	5	6	3	1

Metro Area	Orange County				Riverside/San Bernardino
				Lowest*				Lowest*
	1Q12	4Q11	1Q11	1Q06	1Q12	4Q11	1Q11	3Q06
Median price (000)	384	392	400	608	165	168	175	393
HOI	50.7	47.4	44.8	2.5	77.5	75.7	74.9	6.7
Nat’l Rank**	6	4	5	2	60	56	70	13

Metro Area	Ventura County
				Lowest*
	1Q12	4Q11	1Q11	2Q06
Median price (000)	320	320	333	586
HOI	67	66.1	59.7	8.1
Nat’l Rank**	24	28	19	18

*Lowest – the lowest affordability ranking since 2000 or since data has been collected for that metro area.

**National rank counts from the bottom of the affordability list. The lower the number, the more unaffordable a metro area is nationwide.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index is a measure of the percentage of homes sold in a given area that are affordable to families earning that area’s median income during a specific quarter. Prices of new and existing homes sold are collected from actual court records by First American Real Estate Solutions, a marketing company. Mortgage financing conditions incorporate interest rates on fixed- and adjustable-rate loans reported by the Federal Housing Finance Board.

The NAHB/Wells Fargo HOI is strictly the product of NAHB Economics, and is not seen or influenced by any outside party prior to being released to the public. Please visit www.nahb.org/hoi for tables, historic data and details.

The Building Industry Association of Southern California, Inc., is a non-profit trade association representing nearly 1,000 member companies in the housing industry, construction trades, and affiliated businesses throughout Southern California. Along with its four chapters – Los Angeles/Ventura, Orange County, Riverside County and Baldy View – it advocates on behalf of the homebuilding industry throughout Los Angeles, Ventura, southeast Kern, Orange, Riverside, Imperial and San Bernardino counties. Visit its Website at www.biasc.org.

Apartment Growth Fuels Increase in Statewide Housing Starts, CBIA Reports

Note to editors: Tables have been posted listing housing production by metro area in February and March. More information on the acquisition of CIRB by the Foundation is available here.

SACRAMENTO – Boosted by a major increase in apartment construction, statewide housing starts continued on an upward path during February and March, the California Building Industry Association reported today.

The statistics are the last building permit data to be compiled by the Construction Industry Research Board, which after more than 35 years in operation is being taken over this month by the California Homebuilding Foundation, a CBIA affiliate.

Statewide housing starts, as measured by permits issued, totaled 6,092 in March, up 73 percent from February and up 32 percent from March 2011. Single-family permits totaled 1,922 in March, up 26 percent from February and 5 percent more than March 2011. And multifamily permits shot up to 4,170 in March, more than double February’s total and up 50 percent from the same month a year ago. It was the largest monthly multifamily total since November 2002.

On a quarterly basis, single-family construction during the first three months of 2012 was 3 percent greater than the same period a year ago, multifamily permits were up 37 percent and total housing production climbed by almost 21 percent.

During the first quarter, single-family construction was highest in the Inland Empire counties of Riverside and San Bernardino; Los Angeles County; and the Sacramento region. By far the most multifamily production was in L.A. County, followed by San Diego and Orange counties.

CIRB projects that total production in 2012 will be 57,000 homes and apartments compared to the estimated 47,100 units built last year. That would still be the fourth-lowest annual production in the past 30 years and the second-lowest level in single-family construction.

Mike Winn, CBIA’s president and CEO, said the upward trend is encouraging but urged policy makers at the state and local level to continue working with homebuilders in order to spur economic growth and tax revenue.

“Homebuilding has to really get back on its feet before the state will see real economic growth, and with the number of foreclosures and other distressed sales still high, builders have to be able to compete on price,” Winn said.

“Unfortunately, high government fees and other costly restrictions often mean a project can’t get under way and will remain on the drawing board. State and local officials need to understand today’s market conditions and recognize that building more homes designed for today’s customers equals jobs, economic growth and increased revenue for government programs.”