Foreclosure pays the bills

Homeowners' hard luck fuels a niche industry

In the cooling Triangle housing market, foreclosures are hot.

"I'm having the best year I've ever had," said Jamie Dawson, a broker with Keller Williams in Raleigh who expects to sell 100 homes this year because he's listing more houses seized by banks.

It's an old business adage: Economic misery and misfortune for some creates opportunity for others.

As foreclosures have surged to record levels, business is booming for hundreds of lawyers, handymen, painters and others who fix, sell and process homes after borrowers default on their mortgages.

It's a small bright spot in the local housing market: Though the situation isn't as gloomy as in the national market, sales continue to decline.

Garner residents Eric and Julia Genther, who repair and paint foreclosed homes, expect their annual income to nearly double to $150,000 this year.

Law firms, including "foreclosure mills" that usher homeowner defaults through the courthouse, are handling thousands more cases -- at $500 a pop or more.

Raleigh locksmith Steve Youmans gets called once a month to change locks after a foreclosure-related eviction.

"I get $85 for two doors and more if I have to kick my way in," said Youmans, manager of All Safe Lock and Key in Raleigh.

Foreclosure filings in the Triangle began rising in 2006 and increased 14.6 percent last year to a total of 7,388.

Foreclosure filings don't always end with owners losing their homes -- some work out arrangements with lenders -- but housing experts say about half of those houses are thrown back onto the market.

The region's housing industry saw 28,804 sales last year, according to the Triangle Multiple Listing Service.

But with traditional closings and commissions declining for eight consecutive months, any increase stands out.

Opportunity in that particular market niche should keep rising as foreclosures continue to climb. During the first three months of the year, filings in Wake, Durham, Orange and Johnston counties were up 19 percent from the same period a year ago. In Wake, filings for the period totaled 1,294, a 26 percent increase.

Other resales are falling, but brokers say demand hasn't waned for foreclosed homes, which are sought by investors and often are discounted below market price.

'I really like what I do'

Raleigh residential broker Dixie Maddrey specializes in selling homes that have been repossessed by out-of-state lenders. Last month, she sold seven homes worth a total of nearly $2 million, one of her best months in more than a decade of sales.

One of the best parts of the job: She doesn't have to do any hand-holding with sellers, who often expect to get unrealistic prices.

"A lot of people say, 'How can you do what you do?' but I really like what I do," said Maddrey, a ReMax Preferred Associates broker who expects more than 100 sales this year. "I don't have to deal with the emotions of regular buyers and sellers.

"If I had a property on the market 90 days that was $10,000 overvalued and [I] told the owner they'd need to lower the price, it would hurt their feelings," Maddrey said. "When you deal with a corporate seller and tell them they need to drop the price, they usually drop it, and you sell it. It's a business decision ... and they don't take it personally."

Maddrey's sales for March included a $25,000 duplex in Durham and a $509,900 house with 4,010 square feet in Wakefield Plantation in Raleigh.

Maddrey now has 16 foreclosure listings, including a five-bedroom, three-bath home with 5,300 square feet priced at $809,000 in North Ridge, a North Raleigh subdivision. Investors typically buy the lower-price houses; higher-priced houses appeal to those who want to live in them, she said.

Banks anxious to sell

Charlotte foreclosure lawyer Bill Kellam said banks don't want foreclosed homes and are motivated to sell them quickly.

"They tell us it costs $35 a day to hold them," Kellam said. With 49,754 foreclosure filings in North Carolina last year, bank costs can quickly add up.

His company, Kellam & Pettit, handled thousands of foreclosures last year. His company, along with three others -- Hutchens, Senter & Britton in Fayetteville, Brock & Scott in Winston-Salem, and Shapiro & Ingle in Charlotte -- have offices all over the state and handle about 75 percent to 80 percent of local foreclosures, according to Wake Assistant Clerk of Court Blair Williams.

Kellam wouldn't divulge revenue, but his firm has 10 lawyers and about 50 paralegals handling paperwork. According to forms filed with the Wake Clerk of Court, firms handling foreclosures get a minimum of $500 to $700 for every home that is sold at auction. If there are competing bids, payments can equal as much as 5 percent of the sales price.

"I've seen checks for $10,000 on one foreclosure" Williams said.

But the work isn't for everyone.

Eric Genther, the Garner handyman, carries a gun.

"I've walked in and had people pull knives," Genther said. "Just today, I found a [vagrant] ... sleeping on the couch."

But the extra money is a boost. His wife, Julia, who paints some foreclosed homes before they are resold, is busier than many competitors.

"I'd go in the paint store and everybody would say, 'I'm slow,' or 'I don't have work,' " she said. "And I have constant work."