How Quickly Real Estate Developers Can Unravel
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
The story of Doug Hartmann is not unique. He was a real estate developer working the edges rehabbing buildings and turning them condo. Hartmann worked the recent environment of low interest rates and high appreciation. And to make the serious money in real estate, he was highly leveraged.
And when the market changed and interest rates collapsed, his empire collapsed around his ears. And also the ears of his investors. The following is an excerpt from the original article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch, but please read the whole thing. It is interesting and illustrative of the big profits and also big losses real estate investing can bring.
Hartmann was not in the courtroom that day, but he was the reason they were there.
He was a curiosity to them - a failed boxing promoter turned developer who in a few short years emerged as the busiest rehabber in St. Louis. At his height, he was juggling hundreds of properties, including several high-profile ones, and generating millions of dollars for his dozens of investors.
Then late last year, with little warning, the enterprise collapsed. Fortunes were lost. Property titles were loaded with debts far beyond a property’s value. Development was halted. Allegations of fraud were cast. A dozen local banks were ensnared. Federal agencies were investigating.
Read the rest at the St. Louis Post Dispatch
You're right. If you come from Central Jersey (as the Boss and I do), you go to Florida at some ...
Maybe it was kryptonite...
ECONOMIC REPORT
'Prolonged' recession, higher joblessness seen likely
NABE survey indicates most economists now believe U.S. recession's started
By Mike ...
I couldn't agree more.
The newspaper has always "stuck" it to the real estate agent with rates that were much higher ...
By the way, homeowners trying to get short sale approval should be aware that lenders are comparing the initial loan ...
Ouch! Thankfully I haven't come across anything like that yet. We normally don't have situations like that in ...
well, the guy was here illegally.
serves him right. 
BY USING FIRST CLAIM INSURANCE ADJUSTERS YOU WILL HAVE THE ABILITY TO LOOK AT YOUR INSURANCE SETTLEMENT AND REALIZE FIRST ...
not bad 
I can't speak for the whole state of Nevada, but in the Las Vegas area, homes are still selling, we ...
