Texas company with local ties targets foreclosures

Florida sure has its share of distressed properties, and newly-formed Houston, Texas-based ActivoFirst Savings Association wants to profit from them.

ActivoFirst, which is linked to a high-profile name in Tampa Bay real estate, plans to capitalize on the down market by acquiring assets from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and troubled financial institutions.

The strategy is to manage the portfolio's performance and then sell the assets. The portfolios will consist of both residential and commercial properties.

It's structured as a wholesale savings association, similar to a savings and loan, and chartered in Texas.

"The charter gives us the ability to buy throughout the U.S.," said Jim Fatheree, president and CEO of ActivoFirst. "Florida was one of the first ones to enter the downturn, and we feel it's a good place for us to spend our time."

The group's local representative is Anthony Everett, son of the well-known Toni Everett, who specializes in luxury real estate in Tampa. Anthony Everett also serves as president of Everett Realty Services and has directed the management and acquisition of more than 20,000 multi-family residential units.

Florida, which has the nation's fourth-highest foreclosure rate, is a natural place to start - both in buying properties and in drumming up support.

Everett and Ben Lee, a principal of the Schifino Lee advertising agency, are hosting an invitation-only event Thursday in Tampa to line up investors. ActivoFirst's goal is to raise $36 million.

It may be a tough sales pitch since the deposits are uninsured. But Everett and Fatheree say the returns could make the risk worthwhile.

The upshot for the community, they say, is that the group will take distressed, often vacant, properties out of the hands of lenders. Without such investors, they say, the properties could linger for years before going through the foreclosure process and selling to end-users.

The venture is intriguing, said Bob Saltzman, an area manager with Academy Mortgage and a long-time banker in Tampa.

"Anytime someone will come in and take these properties off the market, it's a good thing," he said. "This also makes it feel like the market is nearing a bottom."