Real Estate Foreclosures for Sale Make Oregon Investors Rich

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Real Estate Foreclosures for Sale Make Oregon Investors Rich
James Foxx • January 26 2010 01:06PM

Investors looking to make money from real estate foreclosures for sale can learn from 51-year-old John Helmick and 32-year-old Ben Bazer who started buying homes one at a time at public foreclosure auctions and are now owners of a $23-million real estate investment firm called Gorilla Capital.

Today, the company is still focusing on foreclosure homes and is still buying houses at public auctions, although it has expanded to other states – Arizona, Florida, Idaho and Washington – and has grown to a 30-employee company.

According to Helmick, his firm has been succeeding because of its proprietary foreclosure search and acquisition model and its focus on foreclosure auctions. He said his firm is selective in its purchases, buying only one unit in about 200 units sold at auctions.

Gorilla also buys only houses in the lower end price range — $100,000 to $200,000 – and avoids markets where there are only few of these lower-priced properties, such as Portland.

Helmick said that Bazer, now the chief operating officer of Gorilla, has developed a database system that makes easier the search for profitable properties out of hundreds of real estate foreclosures for sale. The system analyzes more than 30 features such as number of bedrooms, square footage and type of structure.

Helmick, a financial lawyer, related that he met the then-24-year-old Bazer in 2002 in Eugene where Bazer was buying homes at foreclosure auctions, repairing them and selling them. Bazer impressed Helmick as intelligent, well-organized, hardworking and well experienced in foreclosures. Bazer’s father bought and sold distressed properties in California, so Bazer learned at an early age.

Helmick began financing Bazer in his foreclosure investments, and in 2005, they formed Gorilla Capital together. Today, the firm has become one of the biggest foreclosure investment firms in Oregon and has expanded into four other states.

It has also helped a lot of contractors, having contracted with over 50 trades people for the repair and renovation of fixer uppers. It also takes care of its employees, giving them salaries ranging from $30,000 a year, with agents earning much more depending on the number of houses they buy, repair and resell. Employees also get health and dental benefits and are helped with a retirement plan.

Indeed, Gorilla Capital has come a long way. Having proven its success during both up and down markets, the firm is expected to continue making money from real estate foreclosures for sale in the years to come.
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