Write Up in the Kane County Chronicle
This recent write up in the Kane County Chronicle offers a good history of our business and what we are trying to do for our investors. We obviously disagree with the last quote!
STC agent takes a new direction
By JONATHAN BILYK - jbilyk@kcchronicle.com
ST. CHARLES – As foreclosures continue to shake the real estate market, a local real estate investor has decided to up his stake.
Earlier this year, Joshua Blank, a self-described foreclosure specialist, acquired Robert Anthony Real Estate, a small real estate agency formerly located at 330 W. State St. in downtown Geneva.
Blank said the Anthony agency had been “having problems” and he and his associates “bailed out the owner.”
“Robert Anthony was a company name built on service,” Blank said. “But with the market downturn and some other internal problems, it just presented a good opportunity for us to step in.”
Blank had been with a Re/Max agency before, but decided to reduce overhead costs and fees associated with carrying the Re/Max name.
Although Blank will continue the work of a traditional real-estate agency, listing and showing homes, he also has shifted the company to a business model he enjoys: Acquiring and selling investment properties, and helping others do the same.
Blank began buying and rehabilitating homes – a process known as “flipping” – about eight years ago.
“I did my first home, saw the profit and I was hooked,” he said.
And while he will continue to do that in his new role as head of Robert Anthony Real Estate, Blank said his focus had shifted to offering a way for others to get into investment real estate.
As part of that process, Blank said he would continue to specialize in foreclosed properties.
Last year, Blank said he closed on more than 130 foreclosed properties, and this year, through Robert Anthony, he said he is on pace to do even more.
“We’re going to do just about anything our clients might want,” Blank said.
He said his agency can connect investors with contractors, financiers and leasing agents for those who wish to operate rental properties.
“My focus now is on helping others become armchair investors,” he said.
Pete Swaufield, executive director of the Realtors Association of the Fox Valley, said Blank’s ambitions were not surprising.
“Agents have dealt with foreclosures and ‘investors’ since the beginning of time,” Swaufield said.
However, he questioned how successful Blank might be if he focuses on foreclosed properties.
“I’ve never known an agent that was successful dealing exclusively in this type of business,” Swaufield said. “There is just not enough of it.”