Realtor conducts bus tour of home foreclosures
By Linda Moore (Contact), Memphis Commercial Appeal, Saturday, February 28, 2009
As
riders spilled out of the 16-passenger bus in front of the first house on the first Memphis Foreclosure Home Tour, they looked around,
noting the stable neighborhood, the well-maintained properties all around.
Inside, they found the 38-year-old home, located near Poplar
Pike and Kirby, was well-built, but dated. "Look at the bones of the house," advised Realtor Jason Gaia.
What he meant was ignore
the outdated floral dining room wallpaper and the kitchen's fruit motif wallpaper border.
They looked and left, off to the next of
a dozen houses on this fast-paced junket.
Gaia is with Prudential Collins-Maury Inc., and the tour is his baby.
Amid the foreclosure
crisis sweeping the nation, similar tours have been conducted in other parts of the country. It was Gaia's idea to do it here.
"We
get a lot of phone calls from people looking for deals," said Gaia, who sells all over town, but doesn't specialize in foreclosed
homes.
The tours are intended to demystify home foreclosures, showcase which houses are available and how to buy one.
Some houses were
quick turnoffs. In one, beautiful red toile wallpaper couldn't overcome termite damage and the smell of cat urine.
In others, participants
took their time.
A 3,000-plus-square-foot luxury home in Cordova boasted custom-painted murals, two-story entry and a master bath with
whirlpool tub. Listed at $209,900, it sold in 2006 for $310,000.
Most of the houses on the tour were in good condition, but that's
not always the case. Some former owners will take light fixtures or do deliberate damage, Gaia said.
"I've been in one where they dumped
dirt in the middle of the floor," he said.
On hand to answer questions on repairs was contractor Randy Brown with Small Jobs. For example,
he explained that a sticking door in the Cordova luxury was only a $50 fix.
Also on the tour was Nick Huber, a mortgage consultant
with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.
"For me, it's to educate the buyers, to show them what's available and how to buy their house in an
affordable way," Huber said.
Only three folks took Gaia's first tour. Several others were booked, but may have been scared away by
the threat of snow.
Although no date has been set, Gaia is planning another tour for a Saturday in late March.
-- Linda A. Moore: 529-2702
