Builders absorb foreclosures left by Corinthian bankruptcy - Business First of Buffalo:

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Celebration Homes bought about 12 lots at bank auction and builr homeson them. The Jones Co. was hired by to completde 13 homes that were left sitting and and bought five lots fromthe bank. “W absorbed some of the lots, Jones Co. took and our sales continued tobe steady,” says Randalol Smith, president of Celebration Homes, which has built more than 120 homed in Riverwalk since the communithy started in 2002. The builder still has 12 home siteas left, some on the Harpeth River.
“Hadd the community stayed with unfinishedx homes for a substantial period of it is my opinio that sales would have suffered much more dramaticallh for the entire community and woul have been much toughetr on those who found themselvea needing to selltheir home,” Smith After some Corinthian homeowners got over the initialp pains of having lien noticesd left on their doors from the builder’s Smith says the neighborhood started to embrace the remainingt builders who were helping to pick up the pieces. “Thew community has been very supportivesof us.
This is the case of when builders and bankerx and developers allwork together,” he Corinthian’s lots were scattered throughout Riverwalik in all three sections, representing three differenf price points. CPS Land, Riverwalk’s has been an important Smith says, in helping the builders pull together. “Ww never gave up on the Smith says, referencing Riverwalk’s billboard advertising on Interstates 40. “We believe in Riverwalk and inits success.” Jonea Co. says its decision to step in and take over some of the foreclosesd homes was about helpingthe neighborhood. “It just made sense,” says Bridget t Wright, marketing director for Jone Co.
“The bank needed someone to step in and help with and we had the personnel with the expertise availablr to completethe job.” “Although we had already completed construction on our other phases of we had a relationship with the people and the existing homeowners in Riverwalk that we wantedd to keep happy about their choice to buildd there,” Wright adds. Jones Co. has sold eighy of the 13 homesw it completed forthe bank. Of the five lots the buildef purchased from the onehas sold, one home is for sale and the othe three lots are left to build on. Wright says homeownerz were relieved thehomes wouldn’t be left unfinished. Jones Co.
had the homesw inspected by engineers to ensure therse were no issues with the construction that had alreadt been completed before they started working to finishthe “Even though they are not technically Jones homes, if we were goinvg to get our good name we wanted to make sure it was done Wright says. Norfolk Homes, a Michigan builder that enterex the Nashville marketin December, complete d four homes that were half-finished Corinthian starts. Those homes were purchased by an investor.
Norfollk also has an option on 15 more lots that Corinthiamn was supposed to buy from CPS The builder, which wanted to expand outside the depressed Michigaj real estate market, has started building in five Middle Tennessee George Schneider, new home sales consultant for Norfolk, says Nashvilles is a solid market to enter. And Rob development manager atCPS Land, says his compan liked Norfolk because it was building homes startinbg in the low $190,000s. “They provide a good value-orientedd house,” Pease says. “We are looking for builderxs who are responding to the market andcan adapt, can offer good which is what the market is demandingv right now.
” Rochford Realty and Construction Co. Inc. has sold 42 home in the Parkview section of the Riverwalk developmentt and has 10 more sites wher it plans to build homew inthe $180,000 to $230,00 price range. Rochford bid on some of the Corinthianm property, but didn’t get the lots, says John Rochford, presidenty of the firm. But Rochford’ds partner Charlie Evans says completing the community has been a positiv e forthe company’s sales.