–  8 on Center hasn’t been on the radar in a while – the project you loved to hate.  From the day they started sales, there were already a couple “sold” units.  One of them was 894 S Center, which sold for $495,000 in May 2007 and set the comps for the project.  Now listed as an REO for $189,900.  Given the Holcomb Townhouses sold out quickly at $160K and a resale recently closed at $199K, $190K might just move this unit.

The unit next door at 890 S Center sold for $475,000 in February 2008 to the same owner as 894, and is also in the advanced stages of foreclosure.  Both units were sold by the project’s developer to her partner in what were definitely not arms length transactions meant to prop up the project’s value.  It is ironic that the “Midtown Renascence” that was touted in the early days of  9 on Center has really taken hold lately.

–  As far as I know, there is only one manufactured home in the Old Southwest, 1059 W Plumb.   I just shook my head in disbelief when this one was installed in 2007.  Don’t get be wrong, I am a true fan of modern manufactured housing if done well like the LV House or the Breeze House.  But an Elko Special on Plumb?  That was always just wrong.

The house sold for $380,000, and it appears that the owner then undertook an aggressive remodel and upgrade project that remains “unfinished”.  Now listed at $96,800, just $2000 over lot value in 2007.

–  OK NRES fans, here is the latest update on their activity from June 20 until 4 November 2011.  A couple new TD purchases from the 4th are missing., and a couple of bad data entries have been corrected.  In June, bought 25 sold 26.  July bought 14 sold 24.  August bought 24 sold 19.  September bought 24 sold 21.  October bought 12 sold 18.  Overall, bought 99 sold 108.  Their gross margin continues to run at just over 40%.  They are running at a gross profit of $1,000,000 per month.  In addition, they are also buying a few properties as REOs and under the names of relatives or other aliases.  But I think their net margin is shrinking.  There is definitely more competition in the low end TD arena as the “investors club” is augmented by the amateurs.  And painting a 2000 SF $100K TD costs just as much as painting a $300K TD.

–  I wrote about the Boomtown lands for sale in the Western Gateway post a while back, and the land use map there will help clarify the Boomtown sale this week.  $12.9M for the hotel casino, parking, presumably the gas station / car wash is a pretty good result compared to $3.9M for the Siena and $40M for the GSR.  The buyer M1, has a solid management that came out of the Hard Rock and Stations Casino groups.  The surprise was St. John Properties moving in on all the undeveloped land for $9.3M.  SJP is based in Baltimore, so they were a bolt from the blue. Where was local DP Dermody Properties?   My guess is that SJP will end up with the RV park, though that is only an educated guess.  I’m guessing that the land attached to the additional $3.8M option is the properties south of I-80 including the Sierra Fire Station and the residential land that wraps towards Belli Ranch (yikes!), though it is not clear which party has the option.  Part of this land is actually zoned for another casino.

–  This one is a puzzler, not that it sold for $9.8M with $45M owing , but how it all came down.  Here’s the TD recording document – the time stamp is important.  The Trustee’s Sale occurred at 2 PM on November 8 on the courthouse steps, with Western Title as the Trustee.  The sale had been postponed the maximum 3 times.  There is no requirement to publicly post what the bank’s initial bid will be at a TD, and Western is notorious for not publishing this information.  So who knew $9,800,000 exactly would be the number?  Who happened to be carrying around a $9.8M cashier’s check just in case?

The buyer was Rising Tides (raises all boats) LLC.  They are a new entity that filed with the Secretary of State the day before the sale, and did not choose to post their initial list of officers, totally legal but not often done.  Their Registered Agent is located in 89519 Caughlin Ranch.  If the RA was planning on picking up any correspondences at the PO, they would have used the convenient Caughlin Ranch PO.  But Rising Tides LLC chose a PO box with a 89570 zip code – the main post office facility on Vassar.  My take is that the actual purchaser is local and plans to pick up their own mail.

Kiley Ranch / Lazy 5 was just on the losing end of the TD, but anyone buying this property for $9.8M would have some a butt load of due diligence.  Kiley knows these people.  The old boy developer   supports each other.

The timing is disturbing.  This was a transaction involving at least 31 parcels with at least 19 having property taxes owing (penalties for a late payment – due on Oct 3, received on Oct 19).  With all this schmutz going to  get through including getting a cashiers check to the county to cover the Property Taxes, the TD closed at 3;30 PM on November 9, 26 hours after the TD (somewhere in my mind, I recall RNS requiring at least 7 days and no more that 30 days to record a TD, but I may be wrong).

I always liked the mixed use mission of Kiley Ranch, but it was the wrong project at the wrong place at the wrong time.  It is very hard for me to believe that the current Trustee’s Sale was not prearranged by the  lender and the buyer, who ever they turn out to be, and it is a Felony to rig or influence  a Trustee’s Sale.  This is one to follow.

So an anonymous entity seeming local closed on a TD late in the day knowing the information won’t populate on the Recorder’s site for a day, and then all county would be closed when the information became public, using a Title company who religiously shields public information.  This one just stinks.  Anyone have additional info?

Let’s get real.