Fulton Homes Files for Bankruptcy

Pin It

From the Phoenix Business Journal:

Fulton Homes Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization Tuesday.

“It is confirmed,” said Rosaria Glasco of Knoodle Shop, the home builder’s public relations firm. “Fulton Homes Corp. filed for Chapter 11 protection today this morning. This does not affect home warranties or customer service.”

“Back in the day” (of the real estate boom — you know, way back in 2005 / 2006) builders in Phoenix went nuts. And they over-built in this writers humble opinion.

Now they are facing the consequences of over-building and a depressed real estate market.

Fulton Homes was big around here. They are “restructuring”, not going away, but this is still a big deal.

I suspect that they won’t be the last home builder to hit the bankruptcy courts…

More from the Mainstream Media:

ABC15 – Major Arizona home builder files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

KTAR – Fulton Homes files for Chap. 11

East Valley Tribune – Fulton assures homeowners after bankruptcy

AZ Republic – Customers can relax, Fulton’s Chief says

Like, Tweet, share...

Pin It

 

Other things you can do...

Search for Homes
Email Updates
RSS

About the Author
Jay Thompson

I'm a real estate broker in Phoenix, Arizona and the publisher of the Phoenix Real Estate Guy blog. I tend to drive too fast and scream at the University of Texas and Denver Broncos football teams. My two kids are smarter than most adults I know and my wife is simply amazing.

The Phoenix Real Estate Guy runs on AgentPress

AgentPress is a specialized WordPress theme for real estate agents and brokers, powered by the industry standard Genesis Framework. With AgentPress on your team, you're empowered to get the most out of WordPress for online marketing.

Genesis provides the secure and search-engine-optimized foundation that powers any successful website. And AgentPress provides the specific listing and lead-generation functionality real estate pros need to succeed.

Find out more about AgentPress here.

Comments

We always appreciate your comments! Phoenix Real Estate Guy uses two commenting systems, Facebook and LiveFyre. LiveFyre is the most robust system (and easy to use!). It allows you to login with Twitter, Facebook, Google+ LinkedIn, OpenId, LiveFyre and as a "Guest". I recommend getting a LiveFyre account, it has some great features (just click the LiveFyre button when you write your comment).

 

BLOG COMMENT POLICY: We respectfully ask that you use your real name (first name only is fine) and not use keywords (Why no keywords?). The only real "comment rules" are be civil -- no personal attacks -- and no advertising. (See the full comment policy here). Opinion and debate are welcome, but attack the idea, not the person.

 

LiveFyre Comments

Comments have been disabled for this post.
Sort: Newest | Oldest

Once the foreclosure stage is over then the economy will turn around and start to boom again. I agree; everybody jumped in the water swimming for easy money. Businesses need to see trends and be prepared for downturns in the economy. The strong will survive the storm. Once this storm is overwith their will be others. Hopefully, people will learn from this storm to see future storms.

**CashFlowCindy´s last blog post..Real Estate Investing - Robert Allen - Creative Down Payments</abbr></abbr>

oh..to whom it may concern...I have nothing personal with the owner of Fulton. I just don't believe they've practiced business with the consumer at heart. Just worried about the dollar, and when that happens everything else happens for its own reasons...just my 2 cents...but what would I know I'm no financial expert.

...One of the Good Guys please...good guys don't keep consumer Deposits and say "oh well too bad"

When it was a gold rush the builders were building several houses at one time. Since the market was HOT; new builders started to pop up due to easy money. Nobody looked ahead or started to see the downturn cycle coming.

**cashflowCindy´s last blog post..Real Estate Investing - SixMinutestoSuccess</abbr></abbr>

Raleigh, NC has been a reliable and stable market for years and has weathered slow downs in the past but this time around the crunch is too much for many of our regional home builders. It's easy to point fingers but it's smarter to learn lessons...

You may read about the Raleigh market on our blog called Raleigh Real Estate News

Crazy the amount of business' going belly up these days. Let's hope it starts to turn around quickly.

Sharon

Phoenix builders are not alone, we're seeing legacy builders in Atlanta that have been around for years facing bankruptcy and some completely closing. There is still a tremendous amount of new construction inventory that has to sell before we see improvement.

**Tina Fountain´s last blog post..1513 Jones Road - Roswell Luxury Home</abbr></abbr>

Well, whatever the reason may be, yes the economy stinks, but I agree that Ira wouldn't take the money back either. Hopefully they re-do their loans and come out standing

**scott´s last blog post..Bloomfield NJ Real Estate</abbr></abbr>

That is a shame, but I have to agree that over building for incomes higher than most people made was the problem.

**Linda Craft-Raleigh Realtor´s last blog post..Raleigh Homeowners Struggling With Their Real Estate Investment</abbr></abbr>

Builders here in Wisconsin are caught in the Real Estate down turn also. The mistake these builders made was building homes only 1% of the population can afford. These builders all got caught up in the gold rush. Great Management earns a profit when times are tough.

@John - I agree that Ira Fulton is one of the good guys. No one an argue about the Fulton's philanthropic good deeds.

I have a feeling that he wouldn't take that money back, even if he could.

Hi Jay,

Times are tough for new home builders here in Denver as well. In the past new construction sales was a large percentage of both my own production as well as that of my team members. In fact since a few of us have previously worked as sales consultants for builders around Denver, for years we marketed ourselves as new construction experts. Now days we barely mention that skill set at all since it so infrequently applies to our Buyers needs... In the past few months we have lost both Centex and Beazer home builders from the Denver market and virtually all other builders continue to struggle. Our Buyer clients benefit from huge incentives though! Virtually all of the builders have reduced prices and offer further reductions ranging from 2% up to 5% for "seasoned" inventory.

I have a new luxury loft in LODO (lower downtown) Denver that I am marketing at $300,000 less than I initially planned to sell it for!

-Bob

**Bob Maiocco in Denver Real Estate´s last blog post..Denver Luxury Homes in the Mountains of Golden</abbr></abbr>

Ira Fulton is one of the good guys.

Criticizing Arizona homebuilders is a bit of a hobby horse on my blog but I respect Fulton Homes. Their sales reps have always treated me well when I walked in with a client.

More importantly, Ira Fulton is a huge philanthropist. He donated a fortune to the ASU College of Engineering, now the Fulton School of Engineering. That's money he may wish he had back now.

One of his foundations gives grants to undergraduate students to do research. Full disclosure; my older son received one of those grants and is working about 15 hours a week at the Biodesign Institute on some nanotechnology thing to diagnose diseases earlier (which allows for earlier treatment and better outcomes).

I wish Ira Fulton the best.

**John Wake´s last blog post..Phoenix home appreciation/depreciation by price range</abbr></abbr>

I would not be surprised if this thing stretches out to see some of the big guys of the new construction home business heading for the protection of bankruptcy.

**James Boyer´s last blog post..Morris County New Jersey School Closings</abbr></abbr>

I have been seeing this a lot where I live as well. There are several developments that builders started working on, but then never finished, which results in a few houses in the middle of a muddy construction site.

I agree with Colleen above that I think them filing bankruptcy is much better than getting a bailout.

I love to make an example of Continental Airlines. They filed Chapter 11 BK TWICE!! Now, they are one of the strongest airlines out there and going strong. It all has to do with proper management. Apple Corp. will never, IMO, go BK because of its strong leadership. Anyway, Cont. Air did not get a bailout. They made adjustments, put the pedal to the medal and moved on. I fly them all the time because of it.

**Scott Allan´s last blog post..Is NOW Time To Buy?</abbr></abbr>

I do not mean to be insensitive, but I would rather see a company file bankrupcy than get bailed out. What will happen is the companies that are making prudent business decisions will rise to the top and be rewarded for the decisions they made responsibly.

Of course, when government starts giving away money, who knows where it's going to go anyway. But that's another blog entry!

**Colleen´s last blog post..What Is “Bacn?”</abbr></abbr>

I guess everyone has their nuisances. Up here in New Jersey, I am 3 miles from the Meadowlands (Giants Stadium) where there are landfills and swamps. We don't get our nickname as the "armpit of America" for nothing!

**Scott Allan´s last blog post..Explanation of Sub-Prime Crash</abbr></abbr>

@Scott - there are many areas in Phoenix metro that can get a bit odorous. They come (primarily) from dairy farms -- of which there are many, particularly in outlying areas like Maricopa.

But they are becoming fewer and fewer as they are plowed under for development.

@everybody else, thanks for your comments! The health of many developers, particularly smaller local ones, will be interesting to watch...

Jim, I think I visited a by Fulton project in Maricopa. I went to a D.R Horton community very close to the casino. My question is (and please forgive me if readers read this)...but did the obvious smell of cow dung deter buyers from building there? I just remember the stench and I couldn't deal with that. Are communities over there suffering more than other areas? I've always wondered.

**Scott Allan´s last blog post..Jan 28 Fed meeting & Rates

The same thing is happening in Bend. During the boom, builders from all over moved into Bend. They built, and built, and built. Now there are subdivisions half finished, (or some with only 1 or 2 houses built). I hope we learn from this boom. Our city and county governments need to keep things under control. Just because the city is booming doesn't mean that you have to allow hundreds of new building permits to be issued each month. Put a cap on it and hold your ground.

I agree that we will see even more builders in need of bankruptcy protection, possibly even a major nationwide builder. The "easy money" was just too good for them to not continue building until they were forced to stop. We moved From Phoenix to Austin amidst the housing boom in 2004 and became a Realtor. Austin didn't experience a major boom like other cities did, and as a result, prices here are stable compared to cities like Phoenix. I enjoy reading your blog posts -- keep up the great work!

I surprised to hear of the filing. I hope that it will allow them to get reorganized and come out healthy.

Aloha,

Keahi

**Keahi Pelayo´s last blog post..View Honolulu House $815,000</abbr></abbr>

Fulton Homes Sales Corp., which handles home sales and warranties, is a separate entity that was not included in the bankruptcy..alquiler piso madrid

Fulton Homes Sales Corp., which handles home sales and warranties, is a separate entity that was not included in the bankruptcy..alquiler piso madrid

Very interesting article, as are some of your other posts. I have bookmarked your great site for future visits.

Once the foreclosure stage is over then the economy will turn around and start to boom again. I agree; everybody jumped in the water swimming for easy money. Businesses need to see trends and be prepared for downturns in the economy. The strong will survive the storm. Once this storm is overwith their will be others. Hopefully, people will learn from this storm to see future storms.

**CashFlowCindyu00c2u00b4s last blog post..Real Estate Investing - Robert Allen - Creative Down Payments</abbr></abbr>

oh..to whom it may concern...I have nothing personal with the owner of Fulton. I just don't believe they've practiced business with the consumer at heart. Just worried about the dollar, and when that happens everything else happens for its own reasons...just my 2 cents...but what would I know I'm no financial expert.

...One of the Good Guys please...good guys don't keep consumer Deposits and say "oh well too bad"

When it was a gold rush the builders were building several houses at one time. Since the market was HOT; new builders started to pop up due to easy money. Nobody looked ahead or started to see the downturn cycle coming.

**cashflowCindyu00c2u00b4s last blog post..Real Estate Investing - SixMinutestoSuccess</abbr></abbr>

Raleigh, NC has been a reliable and stable market for years and has weathered slow downs in the past but this time around the crunch is too much for many of our regional home builders. It's easy to point fingers but it's smarter to learn lessons...

You may read about the Raleigh market on our blog called Raleigh Real Estate News

Fulton Homes is a great builder; I purchased one in Maricopa and had a great experience from ground breaking to the Final Inspection. Chapter 11 will help them survive the current housing marker. They just have too many expensive projects like Fulton Ranch.

Crazy the amount of business' going belly up these days. Let's hope it starts to turn around quickly.

Sharon

Phoenix builders are not alone, we're seeing legacy builders in Atlanta that have been around for years facing bankruptcy and some completely closing. There is still a tremendous amount of new construction inventory that has to sell before we see improvement.

**Tina Fountainu00c2u00b4s last blog post..1513 Jones Road - Roswell Luxury Home</abbr></abbr>

Well, whatever the reason may be, yes the economy stinks, but I agree that Ira wouldn't take the money back either. Hopefully they re-do their loans and come out standing

**scottu00c2u00b4s last blog post..Bloomfield NJ Real Estate</abbr></abbr>

It is so sad to hear of good companies and good people having to file; it sounds like Ira Fulton was a really great guy in the community and I hope he is able to pull through

That is a shame, but I have to agree that over building for incomes higher than most people made was the problem.

**Linda Craft-Raleigh Realtoru00c2u00b4s last blog post..Raleigh Homeowners Struggling With Their Real Estate Investment</abbr></abbr>

Builders here in Wisconsin are caught in the Real Estate down turn also. The mistake these builders made was building homes only 1% of the population can afford. These builders all got caught up in the gold rush. Great Management earns a profit when times are tough.

John - I agree that Ira Fulton is one of the good guys. No one an argue about the Fulton's philanthropic good deeds.

I have a feeling that he wouldn't take that money back, even if he could.

Hi Jay,

Times are tough for new home builders here in Denver as well. In the past new construction sales was a large percentage of both my own production as well as that of my team members. In fact since a few of us have previously worked as sales consultants for builders around Denver, for years we marketed ourselves as new construction experts. Now days we barely mention that skill set at all since it so infrequently applies to our Buyers needs... In the past few months we have lost both Centex and Beazer home builders from the Denver market and virtually all other builders continue to struggle. Our Buyer clients benefit from huge incentives though! Virtually all of the builders have reduced prices and offer further reductions ranging from 2% up to 5% for "seasoned" inventory.

I have a new luxury loft in LODO (lower downtown) Denver that I am marketing at $300,000 less than I initially planned to sell it for!

-Bob

**Bob Maiocco in Denver Real Estateu00c2u00b4s last blog post..Denver Luxury Homes in the Mountains of Golden</abbr></abbr>

Ira Fulton is one of the good guys.

Criticizing Arizona homebuilders is a bit of a hobby horse on my blog but I respect Fulton Homes. Their sales reps have always treated me well when I walked in with a client.

More importantly, Ira Fulton is a huge philanthropist. He donated a fortune to the ASU College of Engineering, now the Fulton School of Engineering. That's money he may wish he had back now.

One of his foundations gives grants to undergraduate students to do research. Full disclosure; my older son received one of those grants and is working about 15 hours a week at the Biodesign Institute on some nanotechnology thing to diagnose diseases earlier (which allows for earlier treatment and better outcomes).

I wish Ira Fulton the best.

**John Wakeu00c2u00b4s last blog post..Phoenix home appreciation/depreciation by price range</abbr></abbr>

I would not be surprised if this thing stretches out to see some of the big guys of the new construction home business heading for the protection of bankruptcy.

**James Boyeru00c2u00b4s last blog post..Morris County New Jersey School Closings</abbr></abbr>

I have been seeing this a lot where I live as well. There are several developments that builders started working on, but then never finished, which results in a few houses in the middle of a muddy construction site.

I agree with Colleen above that I think them filing bankruptcy is much better than getting a bailout.

I love to make an example of Continental Airlines. They filed Chapter 11 BK TWICE!! Now, they are one of the strongest airlines out there and going strong. It all has to do with proper management. Apple Corp. will never, IMO, go BK because of its strong leadership. Anyway, Cont. Air did not get a bailout. They made adjustments, put the pedal to the medal and moved on. I fly them all the time because of it.

**Scott Allanu00c2u00b4s last blog post..Is NOW Time To Buy?</abbr></abbr>

I do not mean to be insensitive, but I would rather see a company file bankrupcy than get bailed out. What will happen is the companies that are making prudent business decisions will rise to the top and be rewarded for the decisions they made responsibly.

Of course, when government starts giving away money, who knows where it's going to go anyway. But that's another blog entry!

**Colleenu00c2u00b4s last blog post..What Is u00e2u0080u009cBacn?u00e2u0080u009d</abbr></abbr>

I guess everyone has their nuisances. Up here in New Jersey, I am 3 miles from the Meadowlands (Giants Stadium) where there are landfills and swamps. We don't get our nickname as the "armpit of America" for nothing!

**Scott Allanu00c2u00b4s last blog post..Explanation of Sub-Prime Crash</abbr></abbr>

Scott - there are many areas in Phoenix metro that can get a bit odorous. They come (primarily) from dairy farms -- of which there are many, particularly in outlying areas like Maricopa.

But they are becoming fewer and fewer as they are plowed under for development.

@everybody else, thanks for your comments! The health of many developers, particularly smaller local ones, will be interesting to watch...

yea definatly there will be more builders going under. I dont think we have seen anything yet.

Jim, I think I visited a by Fulton project in Maricopa. I went to a D.R Horton community very close to the casino. My question is (and please forgive me if readers read this)...but did the obvious smell of cow dung deter buyers from building there? I just remember the stench and I couldn't deal with that. Are communities over there suffering more than other areas? I've always wondered.

**Scott Allanu00c2u00b4s last blog post..Jan 28 Fed meeting & Rates

The same thing is happening in Bend. During the boom, builders from all over moved into Bend. They built, and built, and built. Now there are subdivisions half finished, (or some with only 1 or 2 houses built). I hope we learn from this boom. Our city and county governments need to keep things under control. Just because the city is booming doesn't mean that you have to allow hundreds of new building permits to be issued each month. Put a cap on it and hold your ground.

Facebook Comments

 

The ARMLS logo indicates a property listed by a real estate brokerage other than Thompson's Realty.
All information should be verified by the recipient and none is guaranteed as accurate by ARMLS.

Copyright 2012 Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service, Inc. All rights reserved.

Data last updated 2/3/12 5:24 PM PST.

This IDX solution is (c) Diverse Solutions 2012.