Purchase of ‘Ugly’ Houston House Puts HomeVestors Over 35,000 Mark

RISMEDIA, May 30, 2008-Despite the subprime mortgage fallout and real estate market woes, HomeVestors® of America, Inc., the company famous for its “We Buy Ugly Houses”® billboards, has marked the purchase of the 35,000th house by its franchise network.

The house was purchased by Advantage House Buyers, Inc., a HomeVestors franchise in Houston owned by Eddie and Debbie Gant and comes less than one year after the company passed the 30,000 milestone.

“This is another huge landmark for our company,” said John Hayes, president and CEO of HomeVestors. “With the current crises in the credit markets and housing, the purchase of the 35,000th house by a franchisee reaffirms that our franchisees provide a valuable and needed service to people all over America in any kind of real estate market. There are thousands of ugly real estate situations in America and many consumers know that HomeVestors is a brand they can trust when they need help.”

According to the company, HomeVestors is one of the nation’s only franchises that specializes in buying, rehabbing and selling single-family homes. Today, the company includes more than 230 franchised offices in 35 states, and it recently sponsored meetings with legislators in Washington D.C. to inform politicians of the role that real estate investors are filling in today’s economy. The 35,000th house is a textbook case.

The Gants joined HomeVestors nine years ago and said this recent purchase was a perfect example of how their business helps customers out of ugly real estate situations. The three-bedroom, two-bath, 1,681 square-foot home, located at 8501 Camay Drive in Northeast Houston, was in need of repairs. Initially, the people who owned the property were planning to rehab the house, but due to financial constraints they needed to sell quickly. That’s when they contacted HomeVestors.

Gant purchased the home and decided to rehab it. After a “kick-off meeting” between Gant and his contractors to go over the specifications of the project, the contractors will spend the next month fixing leaky pipes, replacing rotted wood and damaged drywall in the house, repainting the interior and adding landscaping.

“We know the Northeast Houston area very well,” said Gant, who consistently ranks among HomeVestors most productive franchisees. “In the last nine years, we have purchased and rehabbed almost 30 homes here and we are happy to continue making the neighborhoods a better place to live, one house at a time.”

“The story of our 35,000th house is the perfect illustration for everything that’s important about HomeVestors,” Hayes said. “For the last 12 years our franchisees have changed the landscape of residential real estate. And with so much attention surrounding foreclosures and troubled homeowners, we are happy to showcase how we are helping people out of ugly real estate situations when they need our services the most. We are buying and transforming eyesores into beautiful homes that people are proud to own.”

For more information, visit www.homevestors.com.