Por CHRISTOPHER BJORK y PABLO DOMÍNGUEZ

MADRID — Dos regiones españolas con problemas de dinero están luchando contrarreloj para cerrar la venta de más de 100 inmuebles a fondos de Reino Unido y Estados Unidos por unos 900 millones de euros, en lo que es la primera gran prueba del apetito de los inversionistas por el maltrecho sector inmobiliario del país.

Estos procesos de venta por parte de los Gobiernos de Cataluña, en el noreste del país, y de Andalucía, en el sur, se enmarcan dentro de un grupo de iniciativas por parte de las regiones para reducir sus elevados déficit presupuestarios y obtener liquidez. Ambas transacciones se han visto retrasadas debido a que los compradores se han encontrado con dificultades para obtener financiación de los bancos, que aún están sufriendo el impacto de la crisis de deuda soberana de la eurozona y de unos mayores requerimientos de capital.

“Hay aún algunas cláusulas que negociar, pero estamos mucho más cerca de lo que estábamos hace un mes”, dice Jacint Boixasa, director de patrimonio del Gobierno de Cataluña, que lleva negociando desde mediados de diciembre los términos de la venta de 27 inmuebles en el centro de Barcelona a las firmas de inversión Moor Park Capital Partners, de Reino Unido, y Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC, de Estados Unidos, por unos 500 millones de euros.

Cataluña, la región española con mayor Producto Interno Bruto, pero también una de las más endeudadas, tiene que cerrar la venta de los inmuebles, incluido el que alberga la Bolsa de Barcelona, antes de la fecha límite del 31 de enero. “Cerraremos la venta para la fecha límite o no se cerrará”, señala Boixasa. “No habrá prórrogas”.

El Gobierno de Andalucía, por su parte, ha retrasado la venta por 400 millones de euros de 76 edificios en Sevilla, Córdoba y otras ciudades de la región por tres meses hasta finales de marzo, indica Manuel Sánchez Galey, director general financiero de Andalucía. “Los mercados financieros se cerraron completamente a finales del año pasado, y no pudimos cerrar la transacción, pero ahora se han retomado las negociaciones” con el finalista, una firma de inversión británica, añade. Sánchez Galey declinó identificar al posible comprador.

Los edificios que pretende vender Andalucía incluyen sedes gubernamentales en varias ciudades, un palacete del siglo XIX en el centro de Cádiz y la emblemática torre Schindler, construida en Sevilla a la orilla del río Guadalquivir para la Exposición Universal de 1992.

Estos dos procesos suponen un raro signo de vida en un sector que se ha visto fuertemente afectado por la crisis económica. Las ventas de oficinas en España se desplomaron en 2009, con una caída del 75% a 1.200 millones de euros, según los datos de la firma de análisis Real Capital Analytics. La actividad se ha mantenido en niveles bajos en 2010 y 2011.

Otras regiones están siguiendo de cerca estas ventas y muchas de ellas tienen las mismas necesidades de liquidez y se encuentran con dificultades para pagar a sus proveedores e incluso a sus trabajadores. Estas operaciones incluyen el compromiso de los vendedores de permanecer en los inmuebles como inquilinos durante 25 años.

“Estas dos operaciones van a servir como referencia”, señala Eusebi Carles, responsable de la consultora inmobiliaria Savills en Barcelona. “Si no se alcanza un acuerdo en Barcelona, probablemente no lo hará en ningún otro sitio”.

Regiones como Valencia y Madrid están entre las que están considerando operaciones similares, de acuerdo con agentes inmobiliarios y funcionarios del gobierno.

El gasto excesivo por parte de las regiones fue la principal causa de que el país incumpliera su objetivo de déficit público de 2011 en dos puntos porcentuales, hasta el 8% del PIB, y el Gobierno central está imponiéndoles agresivos recortes del gasto, lo que intensifica la ralentización. Se espera que el PIB de España se contraiga un 1,5% este año, dijo el lunes el Banco de España, en parte como resultado de la reducción del gasto público.

“Los gobiernos están en un claro proceso de búsqueda de liquidez, por lo que veremos más procesos de este tipo”, afirma Ángel Serrano, director general de Aguirre Newman, una consultora inmobiliaria con sede en Madrid que está asesorando al Gobierno de Cataluña, junto a Jones Lang LaSalle, en la venta de los inmuebles.

Este tipo de operaciones también podrían ofrecer al Gobierno central una opción de obtener dinero. Aguirre Newman calcula que podría captar hasta 8.400 millones de euros con la venta y posterior arrendamiento de ministerios y otros edificios del Gobierno en Madrid.

Para los potenciales compradores, este tipo de operaciones no se basan tanto en el potencial rebote del precio del inmueble, sino en las relativamente atractivas rentas que obtendrán con los alquileres, indican los agentes inmobiliarios. Los contratos estipulan que los nuevos propietarios tendrán una rentabilidad superior al 8%, según los documentos de venta.

Esas rentabilidades podrían ser muy atractivas para los inversionistas dado que los precios de los alquileres en las mejores zonas de las ciudades españolas se han desplomado desde el pinchazo de la burbuja inmobiliaria en el país hace cuatro años. En Madrid, las rentas de oficinas han bajado un 40% desde su máximo de 2007, y la ocupación no ha parado de caer, según datos de la consultora inmobiliaria DTZ. La rentabilidad de las oficinas de Madrid se encuentra en la actualidad alrededor del 5,5%, por encima del 4% de antes de la crisis, indican intermediarios del sector.

Los nuevos propietarios podrían también deshacerse de forma inmediata de los activos más atractivos para lograr beneficios rápidamente. Incluso antes de cerrarse el acuerdo de Cataluña, Moor Park y Och-Ziff han estado intentando encontrar compradores para algunos de los 27 inmuebles de Barcelona, según fuentes conocedoras de la situación.

Representantes de Moor Park no devolvieron las llamadas con las que se pretendía obtener un comentario, mientras que Och-Ziff declinó hablar del asunto.

By EMILY VEACH

Privately-owned Ruckus Wireless Inc. has some tough competition in the design, manufacturing and marketing of wireless technology systems. The 6-year-old California-based company has to fight for clients with the likes of Cisco Systems Inc. and other hardware manufacturers. Under Ruckus’ Hong Kong-born President and Chief Executive Officer Selina Lo, the company has signed up companies including Hong Kong telecom service provider PCCW Ltd., Singapore Telecommunications and Deutsche Telekom AG of Germany. Ruckus has also brought on some significant investors including Sequoia Capital and Motorola Ventures.

Ruckus Wireless’ Hong Kong-born President and Chief Executive Officer Selina Lo discusses her management style and opportunities for businesswomen in Asia.

Kerry Seed/The Wall Street Journal

Résumé:

Education: B.A. in computer science from University of California Berkeley

Career: President and CEO of Ruckus Wireless, founded in 2004. Before that, was with startup Alteon WebSystems, which was sold to Nortel in 2000.

Extracurricular: Taking tennis lessons, enjoys cleaning up the garden and deadheading flowers.

On partnerships: “Nowadays you need the whole ecosystem. You’re not marketing boxes anymore. One of the key reasons partnerships are important to us is that we don’t do direct sales. We do our selling through channels. Being able to maintain the partnership with the channels is very important.”

On women in Asia: “I have never found being a woman in Asia as a disadvantage. Part of it may be that cliché that in a lot of Asian tradition, the woman is really the one behind the scenes pulling the strings.”

Ms. Lo says the company is especially interested in developing countries such as India, where mobile phones are becoming more popular and smartphones and netbooks are less prevalent. When they are equipped with WiFi, they can be a tool for more and more people to become connected to the Internet. Ms. Lo recently spoke with Emily Veach in Hong Kong. The following interview has been edited:

WSJ: A recent post on the Ruckus blog is a rant about Cisco’s WiFi offerings. Do you police what employees are posting?

Ms. Lo: We are a pretty flat and open and transparent company. Sometimes we may be too transparent. We compete with Cisco, so obviously we have an opinion. I admire Cisco as a company. I think it has done an amazing job in terms of its influence over IT. But you do see that there are many things where people would buy Cisco just because of the brand or because of the bundling of all of Cisco’s solutions. We also see a lot of products and services from Cisco that are inferior to others in the market. But they carry a lot of weight just because they’re Cisco. Other people are afraid to comment. In Ruckus there’s almost nothing that we are afraid to say.

WSJ: On the Ruckus website there’s a slogan, “We make WiFi suck less.” Have you tried to push that edgy angle?

Ms. Lo: I didn’t have to. I hired a VP of marketing who is the hip nerd. He really is his personality and his character. I’d take a little credit in terms of my hiring him. Talented people, you kind of have to take some risk. Obviously my shoe cabinet is now online and there are a lot of things that I would not personally do, but people seem to like it.

WSJ: What’s your take on how Steve Jobs handled the iPhone’s antenna problem?

Ms. Lo: I think he has stepped up and confronted it. I’m sure they will come out with fixes. Somehow the market is on the up for Apple. We are willing to forgive a lot at this stage. This is the time to admit the issues and come out with fixes. I think the public is very willing to forgive Apple.

WSJ: You travel a lot all over Asia and in the U.S. How do you make sure you’re on top of managing the business?

Ms. Lo: Especially in the startup environment things happen very fast. There’s a running joke that I am a drive-by shooter. If you end up in my path, you get something delegated to you. That’s somewhat true. The people who work for me know me very well. I don’t hide my personality. Part of how other people can learn to work with you is to be able to know how you are and anticipate what you are going to want.

WSJ: In the past you found that some people didn’t want to work with you. Did that make you want to change your management style?

Ms. Lo: Losing people were wakeup calls. I’ve learned to be a little more patient, I’ve learned to listen better. It’s key to me that I don’t lose my strength while I learn to adapt to others. Part of delegating is you have to walk away sometimes. I know that if I’m in the office I’ll go around and look at what everybody’s doing and tell them what they should be doing. I decided that the people in the office are very capable. Once in a while they want my opinion.

I try and travel more, talk to more customers and partners. It’s a way to capitalize on my strength.]

WSJ: What differences have you found in relationship building in Asia compared to the U.S.?

Ms. Lo: Asia is definitely a lot more relationship driven rather than transaction driven. As much as you think the Internet pulls the world together and you can do everything over email or Facebook, in Asia that’s not the way to go. In the U.S. we almost never do face-to-face seminars anymore. It’s all webinars because people just don’t want the inconvenience of having to travel to a seminar. In Asia, webinar just doesn’t fly. People don’t like it. They really want that face-to-face interaction.

WSJ: What’s your take on cloud computing?

Ms. Lo: I think for consumers, cloud computing is here. As a consumer myself, I can see that there’s a lot of stuff I have to do today that I would love to just put on the net. I travel around still with my laptop. Why? If I really can trust a secure place in the cloud where I can put all my information and it’s always there 100% of the time and I always have enough bandwidth to get to that information, I’d put it in the cloud. For consumers, I definitely think it’s a clear winner. I don’t think everything would move to the cloud. For things that are vital to people’s businesses, I don’t think the security is there yet. I don’t think the comfort level is there yet.

WSJ: You’ve said you’re not a gadget person. How does that work?

Ms. Lo: Sometimes I wonder how I got into high tech. I’m just so not a gadget person. I only learn the tools that I need so that I can do my job. Once I learn it, I really resist changing. It took me so long to move to a Mac. On the IT side, I appreciate products, I appreciate architecture, I appreciate the big picture. I just don’t like reading manuals. They’re really not that related.

By TOM HERMAN

Happy New Year, and welcome to many tax-law changes that became effective Jan. 1.

Most of the changes stem from annual inflation adjustments that affect income-tax brackets and many other provisions.

These changes apply only to 2012. Thus, they won’t affect what you owe for 2011 when you file your return this year.

Here are a few:

• Federal income tax-bracket thresholds for 2012 have risen for each filing status. For a married couple filing a joint return, the taxable-income threshold separating the 15% bracket from the 25% bracket is $70,700 for this year, up from $69,000 for 2011, according to the Internal Revenue Service.
• The standard deduction is up slightly. For singles, the basic deduction amount for this year is $5,950, up from $5,800 last year. For married couples, it’s $11,900, up from $11,600 in 2011. There are additional amounts for those who are 65 or over, blind or both.
• The amount of each personal and dependent exemption is $3,800 for 2012, up by $100 from $3,700 for 2011.
• T he maximum amount of the earned income tax credit for low- and moderate-income workers and working families rose to $5,891 for 2012, from $5,751 in 2011. The maximum income limit for the EITC rose to $50,270 from $49,078 in 2011.
• The foreign earned income exclusion amount rose to $95,100 from $92,900 for 2011.
• The IRS’s optional standard mileage rate for using your car for business will remain unchanged at 55.5 cents this year, the same as in the second half of 2011. This also applies to vans, pickups or panel trucks. Drivers have a choice of using this rate or deducting certain actual expenses. But the rate for using your car for medical or moving purposes is down to 23 cents a mile for this year, from 23.5 cents in the second half of 2011. The rate for using your car to help a charity remains unchanged at 14 cents a mile. This rate is set by Congress.

For more details on the inflation-related adjustments, see IRS Revenue Procedure 2011-52 at www.irs.gov.

By ANNAMARIA ANDRIOTIS

For all the risks that come with investing in 529 college savings plans in a period of market tumult, investors in most states have one certainty: that they’ll receive state tax benefits for their contributions to their home state’s plan. But those tax savings are much richer in some states than in others, as these figures for one hypothetical family show.

Investors make roughly a third of their contributions to the state-sponsored 529 plans during the fourth quarter of each year, and most of that money comes rushing in during December as families look ahead to tax season, says Paul Curley, director of college-savings research at Financial Research Corp. in Boston.

Most states offer a tax deduction. For one child, a married couple’s annual write-off is capped at levels ranging from $250 (in Maine) to $26,000 (in Pennsylvania), says Joe Hurley, founder of Savingforcollege.com, which tracks 529 plans. Four states—Colorado, New Mexico, South Carolina and West Virginia—don’t have annual deduction limits, but cap total deductions over time for each child. The limit can be as much as $318,000 (in South Carolina).

For parents saving for two children’s college education, the annual deduction caps in 10 states double. In Kansas, for example, it’s $6,000 for one child or $12,000 for two.

Instead of deductions, three states—Indiana, Utah and Vermont—give tax credits for a portion of 529-plan contributions.

Sixteen states don’t offer any tax benefits. To be sure, a few are states that don’t have a personal income tax, such as Florida and Texas. But several of those states, including California, Hawaii and Minnesota, have high tax rates.

Beyond tax benefits, some states are offering free cash in their 529 plans. While most have income limits, some give money just for starting a 529 plan. For example, Maine and Rhode Island offer $500 and $100, respectively, for parents who start a 529 plan before their child’s first birthday.

One drawback: Because the tax benefits are typically limited to plans sponsored by the taxpayer’s state, that can stop people from choosing a different 529 plan with better-performing investments, says Deborah Fox, a San Diego-based financial planner and founder of Fox College Funding. The exceptions are Arizona, Kansas, Maine, Pennsylvania and Missouri, where residents can choose a 529 plan from any state while still receiving their own state’s deduction.

Ms. Andriotis is a reporter for SmartMoney.com. Email her at annamaria.andriotis@dowjones.com.

By ELLEN E. SCHULTZ

Is your mother getting shorted on her Social Security payments?

If she is divorced or has been married more than once, or her late husband delayed taking Social Security, she might be entitled to a bigger monthly benefit than she is collecting. That can be important news for someone with a fixed or limited income.

If you are one of the thousands of baby boomers who help their parents with their finances, reviewing their Social Security benefits ought to be at the top of your list.

These days, couples getting divorced likely will hear about the ins and outs of how their Social Security will be affected, often from an attorney or accountant. But people who divorced years—or even decades—ago usually have no clue. This may include your parents.

The rules apply to both genders, but because women typically earn less over their working lives than men, they are more likely to be collecting lower benefits than they might be eligible for based on the earnings history of a former spouse.

The basics: A person can collect Social Security benefits based on her own earnings history, or 50% of her spouse or former spouse’s benefit, if it is greater than her own, and 100% if he is deceased.

Rules for Divorced Couples

For divorced spouses, there are a couple of catches: The marriage must have lasted 10 years or longer, and the person seeking a former spouse’s higher benefit must currently be unmarried, unless she remarried after age 60.

Let’s say your mother was married in the 1950s or 1960s for at least a decade. Perhaps she was out of the work force raising children and subsequently worked at low-paying jobs, so her benefit might be, say, $800 a month.

By contrast, her former husband—with more years in the work force and higher wages—might be eligible for a monthly benefit of $2,000. (Social Security benefits currently max out at $2,366 a month.)

Your mother might not realize she can collect a total of $1,000 a month if her former spouse is alive, and $2,000 a month if he isn’t. If the Social Security Administration determines she is eligible for higher benefits, she also will receive retroactive amounts going back six months. For the woman in the example above, that would be a lump sum of either $1,200 (six times $200) or $7,200 (six times $1,200).

It doesn’t matter whether the ex-husband remarried; collecting on his earnings record doesn’t affect what his current spouse (or any other ex-spouse) will receive. Nor does this require any involvement with the former spouse: The Social Security Administration has information about a former spouse’s earnings history and whether he is alive or not, and makes its determination based on those records.

If your mother is under full retirement age—65 or 66, depending on her birth date—there are other options. If the former husband is 62 or older, then regardless of whether he has begun collecting Social Security, your mother can begin receiving a reduced benefit at 62 based on the husband’s record, provided the divorce took place at least two years prior. She can later switch to her own benefit once she reaches full retirement age, if the benefit is higher.

If the former spouse is deceased, your mother can begin collecting a reduced widow/divorced widow benefit at age 60, then later switch to her own benefit at her full retirement age, if it is greater. Working while collecting Social Security, delaying receiving benefits, being disabled or having a dependent child also can change the equation. The Social Security Administration can answer initial questions about a benefits review over the phone (800-772-1213); the agency’s website

has details.

An Ex-Spouse’s Earnings

Applying for benefits based on a former spouse’s earnings is a legitimate move, unlike the gimmick of taking a reduced benefit at age 62, then paying all the money back and commencing a benefit at full retirement age. (The Social Security Administration has closed this dubious loophole, which affluent people were using to get an interest-free loan from the government.)

Besides family members, others who might want to consider requesting a benefits review on behalf of an older person include legal-aid attorneys and counselors advising people struggling with debt and foreclosures; nursing-home administrators, since Social Security benefits often go to the facility to help pay for the resident’s care; and financial planners who are reviewing clients’ sources of income.

Last year, Chris Walker of J. Mark Nickell & Co., a fee-only advisory firm in Brentwood, Tenn., helped the widow of a client obtain the full value of the survivor benefit to which she was entitled. Because her husband had delayed receiving Social Security until age 68, the widow’s benefit was supposed to be $2,140 month, not the $1,862 that the Social Security Administration was paying her.

It took numerous phone calls and letters over a period of almost five months to get the benefit corrected, Mr. Walker says, but he persisted.

“For widows,” he says, “every dollar of monthly income is valuable and needed.”

Write to Ellen E. Schultz at ellen.schultz@wsj.com

By EMILY MALTBY

Arthur Romanov and Irina Salgan opened their sixth Edible Arrangements fruit-basket shop recently to take advantage of low real-estate prices and easy-to-negotiate contractor bids.

Despite good credit and a strong track record, the longtime franchise owners weren’t able to secure traditional bank financing, as they had for past expansions. Instead, Mr. Romanov and Ms. Salgan used a lease-to-buy program offered by Edible Arrangements International Inc.’s year-and-half-old financing arm, Farid Capital.

As bank lending continues to be sparse, a number of corporate franchisers are providing financing arrangements and other aid to potential franchisees. Though business owners say they’re grateful for the assistance, many of the programs do come with strict terms.

Farid Capital’s lease-to-buy program requires most franchisees to contribute about 30% of the costs. But Mr. Romanov says he wouldn’t have been able to afford the $130,000 in start-up expenses without the $60,000 he requested from Farid. “We need all the help we can get,” he says.

The moves by franchisers to provide more aid come as many former top lenders, including CIT, Comerica and Banco Popular have severely curtailed their lending, says Ronald A. Feldman, chief executive at Siegel Financial Group, a business consulting firm in Conshohocken, Pa., that specializes in business acquisitions and franchise financing. What we’re seeing is that some franchises will now “provide credit enhancement to banks, such as partial guarantees on the loan,” Mr. Feldman says.

Others are helping candidates become more viable before heading into the bank. Dunkin’ Donuts has reduced some of the royalty fees the franchisee would pay, so long as the shop opens in targeted markets. Because franchisees pay those fees on the sales they make, they can show the lender “greater profitability and ability to repay with reduced expenses,” explains Grant Benson, vice president of franchising for Dunkin’ Brands Inc.

At the International Franchise Association, a trade group in Washington, spokeswoman Alisa Harrison says more franchises are brainstorming strategies, such as developing internal financing divisions. “Members have told us some of their highest-quality prospects are still having a tough time getting financing,” she says.

Banks are expected to lend $6.7 billion to franchises in 2010, an amount that is projected to fall some $3.4 billion short of demand, according to a study released in December by the IFA and FRANdata, a franchise research firm.

Not all franchises are in need of a creative work-around system, as the severity of the credit crunch has varied from franchise to franchise. Prior to the recession, franchisees often found start-up capital at lenders that were partners with the franchiser. But lenders are now more wary of those franchises that carry high loss and delinquency rates.

Before the recession, too-lenient franchisers sometimes funneled weak candidates through the start-up process, says Bob Coleman, who collects data on loans backed by the Small Business Administration. According to a preliminary report compiled on loans from the government’s last fiscal year, some franchises had loss rates as high as 27%. As a result, “banks today look at the performance of the franchiser,” he says.

Corporate franchisers lending to potential franchisees isn’t new. Sylvan Learning Inc., a tutoring company, and Firehouse Restaurant Group Inc., a Midwest and Southwest chain that owns Firehouse Subs, established lending arms years ago.

But some of the newer lending models don’t follow the traditional mold. Quiznos, privately owned by QIP Holder LLC, created a lending division earlier this year that allows parties to buy a store with only a $5,000 down payment. Participants don’t pay the franchise back in predetermined amounts. Rather, owners must funnel store profits—80% each month—back to the company until the loan is repaid, which is expected to take two to five years. Initial losses are tacked on to the loan.

John Fitchett, the program’s president, says the company uses different criteria than banks, rating applicants based on experience and personality first, while other factors such as financial history and credit scores are secondary.

“We’re seeking out [candidates] who have a restaurant background, and the savvy to run it,” says Mr. Fitchett.

Until the loan is paid off, the store owners are actually Quiznos employees and the store is legally owned by Quiznos. If the store doesn’t turn a profit in 12 months, Quiznos reserves the right to change ownership, Mr. Fitchett says.

Eight stores have opened and Mr. Fitchett says he expects about 200 to follow by the end of this year. The program is open to new owners or existing ones who want to expand.

Steve and Valerie Mallard, one of the first accepted applicants, opened their Quiznos store in Denver last month and have hired 15 employees. Mr. Mallard, who has a history of working with Subway and Ruby Tuesday restaurants, says he wouldn’t have been able to finance such a store on his own.

Despite being the “guinea pigs,” he explains, “it’s nice to have a low-risk program in this economy.”

Write to Emily Maltby at emily.maltby@wsj.com