Tag: Foreclosures

Churches
02/04/10 11:13am

The Empty Dome of St. Agnes: Bank Shuts Down a Houston Megachurch

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Foreclosures, Leasing, Openings and Closings, Southeast Houston
14 Comments

Private security guards were stationed outside the premises of the St. Agnes Missionary Baptist Church south of the Loop yesterday, and an attorney for the bank that owns the property confirms to Fox 26 reporter Isiah Carey that the church has closed. The guards were originally under orders from Herring Bank not to allow anyone to enter or remove any furniture or equipment from the church building off Scott St. near Sims Bayou. However, bank attorney Dwight Jefferson told Carey late last night that

church workers have been given approval by the bank to remove certain personal items and belongings from the building. Just to make sure that’s all they take security guards outside the building are also video taping all activities.

What’s all the fuss?

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Apartments
01/06/10 11:44am

And the Second Tower Too: The Montage Foreclosure

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Bankruptcies, Condos, Financing, Foreclosures, Hermann Park, Highrises
8 Comments

Real estate agent Sandra Gunn informs us that the Montage, the second glass Almeda St. tower across from Hermann Park, was foreclosed on yesterday. Originally named Mosaic to match its adjacent twin directly to the north, the Montage has been a rental property since it was completed.

Almost exactly a year ago, the developer of both buildings — a limited partnership between Phillips Development & Realty and Florida Capital Real Estate Group — declared bankruptcy in order to avoid foreclosure on the Mosaic, which at the time was officially a condominium tower. And Florida Capital’s chief operating officer expressed hope that the Montage’s separate $71 million loan with Corus Bankshares could be renegotiated.

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Bankruptcies
12/08/09 9:55am

Wonmore in Bankrupt Endeavour

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Buying and Selling, Clear Lake, Condos, Highrises, Pasadena, Quicklink
2 Comments

WONMORE IN BANKRUPT ENDEAVOUR The sale of 44 unsold condos in high-flying developer Robin Parsley’s bankrupt Endeavour highrise on Clear Lake in Pasadena was approved by a court last week. “The winning bidder was a partnership named Wonmore Ltd. The group agreed to pay $9.5 million plus past-due taxes and interest, according to Houston attorney Walter Cicack, who represented Wonmore. The group also said it would pay normally budgeted homeowner assessments for 2010 for any condo owner current on their assessments for 2009. . . . The 30-story Endeavour, at 4821 NASA Parkway, had been in legal limbo since earlier this year when its developer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection the day before the building was scheduled to be sold in a foreclosure auction. Regions Bank was listed as a creditor in the bankruptcy with a claim of $20.8 million.” [Houston Chronicle]

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Disaster Aftermath
11/20/09 8:04am

Houston Real Estate Market Doing Much, Much Better Than Last October

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Forecasts, Foreclosures, Houston Data, Price Trends
11 Comments

Swamplot’s chart-wielding analyst is back with a few comments on the Houston Association of Realtors’ latest report and media push:

Median and average home sales prices fell $7,200 from the prior month. This was including increased activity to get the $8,000 home buyer tax credit in under the wire! Now it is not fair to compare month to month numbers as seasonal factors are working against the housing market this month.

So we get some good spin from the realtors: “Home prices up 5%” “Sales up 13.8%” …this maps directly over to the mainstream press with no research: “Home sales rise for second month,” “Home prices up 5%,” “Sales up 13.8%” Homeowners in this town should be proud that such a hardworking PR machine still gins out great product!

Why would you call those year-over-year increases spin?

The realtors get to make a press release every month and every month something is a “record” and the press is under deadlines and it gets copied in verbatim. This is home prices up 5% and sales up 13.8% from HURRICANE IKE with no caveat in the headline going out to 200,000 print readers and as many web readers!  Not bad for a days work.

Oh, yeah. Forgot about that whole Ike thing. So what’s the market looking like really?

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Bankruptcies
11/05/09 12:23pm

Dilick: Pay No Attention to Chapter 11

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Foreclosures, Lancaster Place, Land for Sale, Neighborhood Disputes, Quicklink
1 Comment

DILICK: PAY NO ATTENTION TO CHAPTER 11 A well-timed bankruptcy filing earlier this week by the entity that owns Wilshire Village did in fact prevent the almost-8-acre vacated property at West Alabama and Dunlavy from foreclosure: “Matt Dilick, whose name is listed on the Secretary of State’s web site under registered agent for Alabama & Dunlavy Ltd., said his role is that of development manager. His company, Commerce Equities, ‘is proceeding with its development plans on the property and continues to market the property,’ Dilick said. He recently told me that the property was being offered for sale, but there was a chance he’d still build something on the land.” [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot]

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Financing
10/30/09 2:52pm

Inside the Dilick Pickle: Those Trustee Sale Documents for Wilshire Village

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Foreclosures, Lancaster Place, Land for Sale
No Comments

By popular demand — and in hopes that even more exciting or sordid detail might be gleaned from the legalese therein — we’re making available the trustee’s sale notices for Wilshire Village that were sent to Swamplot yesterday. The notices describe the foreclosure peril faced by Alabama & Dunlavy Ltd., the limited partnership apparently controlled by Matthew Dilick of Commerce Equities. That partnership owns the 7.68-acre now-vacant property at the corner of West Alabama and Dunlavy.

Here they are:

Think there’s more — or less — to these documents than meets the eye? Find any clues, factoids, or muck hidden between the lines? Think any of it helps explain the bizarre sequence of events that’s taken place at Wilshire Village over the last few years? Let us know!

Photo of Sign at Wilshire Village, 1701 West Alabama St.: Swamplot inbox

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Comments
10/29/09 5:36pm

Comment of the Day: Sweet Ass Wilshire Village Park

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Financing, Foreclosures, Lancaster Place, Parks, Quicklink
6 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: SWEET ASS WILSHIRE VILLAGE PARK “Some quick math… 7.68 acres = 334,541 SF. Amegy loan = $10,742,000 = 32.11 PSF. Wedge loan = $3,000,000 = 8.97 PSF. Total loans = $41.08 PSF. It seems to me that the dirt should be worth a lot more than $41 PSF. . . . Amegy doesn’t appear to have a lot of risk of loss in the deal. . . . It’s clear they’ve decided to force the owners hand rather than sit back and let the owners try to sell for max $$$, which ain’t easy in this market. A BK by the owner will only delay the process for so long. Amegy obviously wants their cash back. Even without a foreclosure, it seems that this parcel is going to trade hands soon. Somebody needs to round up some cash real quick and buy this prime piece of dirt and turn it [into a] sweet ass park.” [Bernard, commenting on Surprise! Wilshire Village Facing Foreclosure]

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Demolitions
10/29/09 1:34pm

Surprise! Wilshire Village Facing Foreclosure

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Development Strategies, Financing, Foreclosures, Lancaster Place
19 Comments

The Wilshire Village soap opera continues: A source sends Swamplot two trustee’s sale notices for the now-demolished 7.68-acre apartment complex at the corner of W. Alabama and Dunlavy.

How deep into it is the owner? There’s a first lien of $10,742,000 to Amegy Bank, now “wholly due and payable”! That lien dates from January 31, 2006 — the same date, according to HCAD, that the owner, a limited partnership named Alabama & Dunlavy Ltd., took over the property.

The second notice documents problems with Alabama & Dunlavy Ltd.’s separate mezzanine financing with Wedge Real Estate, in the amount of $3 million. That separate promissory note appears to date from May 30th of 2008. Both trustee’s sale notices are dated earlier this month.

Our source comments:

It is rather interesting that Wedge Holdings is the mezz lender, with Wedge being Mayor Bill White’s former company. I feel certain that Matt [Dilick] will avert foreclosure by filing bankruptcy, if he has not already done so.

Oh but if if if foreclosure somehow isn’t averted, where and when might eager Swamplotters be able to snap up this fine scraped property?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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Comments
10/26/09 2:29pm

Comment of the Day: The Value of Failed Developments

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Condos, Development Strategies, Financing, Hermann Park, Highrises, New Construction: Residential, Quicklink
10 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE VALUE OF FAILED DEVELOPMENTS “The financial failure of Mosaic is not related to zoning or neighborhood protection. Mosaic represents a massive mixed-use project that will (eventually) fill up and further the civic goals of increasing population density and adding positively to the streetscape. In the mean time, the FDIC and out-of-state investors are paying the property tax bill on units that aren’t occupied by people that would stress our infrastructure. Where’s the downside in that? If the alternative were a vacant lot, Mosaic is far preferable from a civic perspective. . . .” [TheNiche, commenting on Only the Towers Remain Standing: Mosaic and Friends Break the Bank]

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Apartments
10/23/09 12:22pm

Only the Towers Remain Standing: Mosaic and Friends Break the Bank

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Bankruptcies, Condos, Financing, Foreclosures, Hermann Park, Highrises, New Construction: Residential
42 Comments

With its most recent achievements, the Mosaic earns its place in Houston’s spec-development record books: Last month the 29-story condo tower near Hermann Park — wedged between Almeda and 288 — scored the loan-default trifecta, having notched a bankruptcy, mass foreclosures, and an attendant bank failure to its credit all within a single calendar year.

Chicago’s Corus Bankshares, which held a $71 million loan for the Mosaic, foreclosed on all 271 unsold units (out of 394 total in the building) in September, just days before the bank itself was seized by the FDIC. A few weeks later, the federal agency sold 40 percent of the bank’s real estate loans to a team of private-equity firms calling itself Northwest Investments and led by Starwood Capital Group — for 60 cents on the dollar.

Any further fun at the Mosaic will be courtesy of the FDIC, reports Nancy Sarnoff:

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Buying and Selling
10/20/09 5:32pm

Houston Real Estate Postseason Wrapup: Foreclosures Still Hanging Around

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Forecasts, Foreclosures, Home Prices, Houston Data, Price Trends
6 Comments

HAR is out with its September home-sales figures, giving Swamplot’s spreadsheet-side correspondent a chance to eulogize the spring-summer selling season:

Home prices and volumes are flying south for the winter. With this volume downturn for the year, we have most likely seen the highs and sales volumes will now complete their third year of contraction. Prices were down 2-3% in the month, depending on whether you follow the median price or the average price. Pending sales are well below sales for the month, suggesting a further seasonal contraction in October.

This month featured an upturn in foreclosure sales as a percentage of the total. Foreclosure sales were 18.6% up from 16.7% the prior month. Luckily, foreclosure sales are still way down from the 32% peak in January.

But aren’t all those foreclosures going away soon?

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Foreclosures
10/14/09 11:31pm

What You Can Get with Bad Credit: West Main Foreclosure Second Chance

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Home Design, Homes for Sale, Townhomes, Upper Kirby
10 Comments

A reader accustomed to shaking his head when he drives along Greenbriar just north of Richmond informs us that the recently built “big, expensive monstrosity” for sale on that corner is now advertising its bank pedigree:

This long-on-the-market house/thingy now has large for-sale-by-bank sign slapped all over the very nice fence. This has all sort of ridiculous written over it: four car garages, pool, etc.

If a 7,976-sq.-ft. villa with 4-car garage for less than a million in that location sounds cheap, it’s because the building is actually 2 separate “townhomes” — each roughly half that size — with a “common element.” The $959K price tag is for the foreclosed unit at 2201 W. Main.

After a year-long run on MLS, that front unit is now listed as “pending continue to show.” Which in light of the ready-to-loan listing copy maybe isn’t so surprising:

FORECLOSURE!!BANK WILL FINANCE FOR 4.5% WITH 10% DOWN(BAD CREDIT OK)

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Foreclosures
10/08/09 2:59pm

Trolling the Town for Trump Chumps

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Hazards, Quicklink, Real Estate Investing
9 Comments

TROLLING THE TOWN FOR TRUMP CHUMPS “The seminar, one of seven held in the Houston area this week, attracted people hoping to find a gold lining in the economic downturn. Banking on the Trump name to draw crowds, the classes promoted a method of house-flipping some Houston financial advisors call a high-risk sleight of hand, difficult to pull off without a measure of deception. Trump didn’t make an appearance: the class was taught by his ‘No. 1 instructor,’ Stephen Goff, who says he has flipped 200 properties with great success. ‘People ask me, “Steve, if you’re making so much in real estate, why do you travel the country teaching people?”’ said Goff, wearing a charcoal suit and a button-down shirt the color of money. ‘If it was in your heart to help people, and Donald Trump asked you, what would you do? I got on the first plane.’ Goff led the seminar in the call-and-response style customary to revival meetings. . . . [Retired real estate agent Jayne] Pace said Goff reminded her of Houston’s ‘prosperity preacher,’ Joel Osteen, but without the same megawatt smile.” [Houston Chronicle]

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Bolivar Peninsula
09/14/09 4:34pm

Comment of the Day: A Boost for the Bolivar Buyout?

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Comments, Disaster Aftermath, Flooding, Foreclosures, Quicklink
3 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: A BOOST FOR THE BOLIVAR BUYOUT? “A large part of Bolivar is going to be turned into a nature preserve. FEMA is buying out many of the properties. . . . I suppose that buyout was made easier by the rate of foreclosures. . . .” [Raj, commenting on Where the Action Was: Houston Summer Foreclosure Map]

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Foreclosures
09/10/09 1:55pm

Where the Action Was: Houston Summer Foreclosure Map

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Houston Data
11 Comments

Just in from real-estate data firm First American CoreLogic: This handy map of the greater Houston area, showing foreclosure rates by Zip Code. And yes, compared to this time last year, the numbers are still up:

. . . the rate of foreclosures among outstanding mortgage loans is 1.20 percent for the month of July, an increase of 0.30 percentage points compared to July of 2008 when the rate was 0.80 percent. . . . Foreclosure activity in Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown is lower than the national foreclosure rate which was 2.80 for July 2009, representing a 1.60 percentage point difference.

Also in Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, the mortgage delinquency rate has increased. According to First American CoreLogic preview data for July 2009, 4.80 percent of mortgage loans were 90 days or more delinquent compared to 3.30 percent for the same period last year, representing an increase of 1.60 percentage points.

Map: First American CoreLogic

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