Jules Roman, Broker

By julesroman • November 24th, 2009

Background

Jules Historically, the foreclosure marketplace was focused on distressed homeowners with equity. Nationwide, homeowner equity has evaporated and equity must be created through bank negotiations. The short-sale phenomenon offers a unique opportunity to capture a property for months while negotiations take place and months to determine true market value. In the case of a short sale flip, we are able to use the time during a short sale negotiation to find and secure an end user and exit strategy. The goal today is to find the weakest of the lenders and harvest a portion of the equity.

Overview

2004 Launched LeaseOptionProgram.com. LOPcom was initially focused on homeowners with equity but no means of refinance. Clients were matched with investors who would purchase the home and lease back to the clients for a year. To qualify, a homeowner would have to have at least 30% equity. If the home was not repurchased by the client, the equity was then harvested when the home was sold. Dozens of transactions took place leading up to the peak of the market in 2006. As the credit markets tightened, purchases were subsequently made using the subject-to transactions that transferred the deed while reinstating existing mortgages. These types of transactions minimized capital and risks and maximized returns. Since 2008 we have been entirely focused on short sale transactions. We now create the equity by negotiating with the lenders. The short sale transactions are either quick flips (in and out within 30 days) or leasebacks with a 1 year return. Because of our stringent threshold criteria, less than 10% of our short sale transactions will qualify for Disciplined Capital.

Longer term short sale and lease back offer solutions for homeowners that loan modifications cannot meet. Homeowners who purchased homes in 2005, 06, or 07 are very upside down and the only option for them is a short-sale and lease-back. We can purchase these properties for as little as 30% of the note value and lease it back to the client with the ability to buy it back at a 50% premium to today’s short sale purchase price. This is a Win-Win for all parties.

We are currently negotiating over 300 short sales.

Experience

Jules Roman is currently the Owner / Broker of several real estate brokerages; Tarpon Coast Realty, Fiddler’s Green Realty, and Yorkshire Realty. With hundreds of closed transactions, Mr. Roman has the knowledge and experience required to reliably create value for the Fund.

Fiddler’s Green is primarily a property management company; FGRentals.com currently manages well over 100 properties in SW Florida. Mr. Roman is first an investor himself. He has owned and operated a portfolio of 28 rental properties for more than 5 years. He is also the developer of the McCall Professional Center, a 28,000 sqft commercial development in Englewood, FL. Mr. Roman holds both a degree in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA from the University of Michigan. He credits much of his success to his ability to apply his business acumen to Florida real estate industry.

Jules Roman
Owner / Broker
Tarpon Coast Realty
Boca Grande, Fl
941-964-0000
Jules@TarponCoastRealty.com