Our Founder - Robert McAvoy
The founder of the IAFPP, Robert McAvoy,
has been in the real estate related industry since the 1980's
as;
-
a Realtor,
-
an Investor,
-
a Landlord,
-
a Contractor,
-
a Property Manager,
-
and a homeowner 'ADVOCATE'
|
|
Bob's main reason to buy properties in the 80's was
to keep his construction company crew busy all year round. His technique was to negotiate with the
banks to buy homes that needed a lot of work at a cheap price.
As time went on, people started to come to him when
they got behind in their payments to see if he could help them. Bob added work-out negotiation
techniques to his strategy and helped people by negotiating both their mortgages and their
bills.
In the 80's, this was not a business, it was just a
way to help deserving people and keep his construction company busy, and this was way before the so
called
'FORECLOSURE
EPIDEMIC'
was even a thought.
In those times, he charged a fee and homeowners
were usually happy to pay it to stop their home from being taken by the lender in a foreclosure
action.
In the late 1990's, Bob lived in Naperville,
Illinois. He owned a vintage home that he had spent an entire year restoring so that it would
qualify for a historical plaque.
The restoration was completed and the property was
refinanced to recoop the restoration costs with the appraisal of the property reflecting the
historic plaque value of the home.
The restoration and refinance was completed the
same year as the historic 'Naperville
Flood'.
Bob's house made the news that year.. but not the
way he had planned.
As the home was in a low valley section of
Naperville, when the great 'Naperville
Flood' came, the property was 4 feet under
water. The basement was flooded and there was a foot of water in the first floor of this raised two
story home.
The foundation of this home was stone (as many
vintage homes are), and could not withstand the flood. Further, the entire first floor was
hardwood, and the walls were lathe and plaster.
Without going into unnecessary details, the water damage to this property was
extensive, so extensive, that the property was condemned and deemed
inhabitable.
Yes, he had insurance, but not flood insurance. This was not a flood zone and
flood insurance wasn't even available.
The problem:
Bob had a home that was inhabitable, unsafe, and
condemned.
He had to move into another house, replace all the furniture etc. that had been
lost in the flood.
There was no insurance payout!
He had a home with a large mortgage that he could no longer afford
nor could he sell the property, as the property was now worth less
than the amount owed.
The result:
Foreclosure
The Resolution:
In trying to resolve his situation;
-
Bob quickly realized that nobody wanted to
help
-
everybody had an opinion - but nobody had
facts
-
that this situation was truely not under his
control
-
that there was no place to get knowledgable
education
There were several costly mistakes made,
due to bad and incorrect information,
before he figured out how to accomplish a short
sale.
The end resolution was that he successfully sold the property on a short sale and
thus avoided the foreclosure.
However, this situation was also the prime reason he decided to start a
foreclosure education program to help other homeowner's.
↑ Back to top
|
