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Tuesday, July 6, 1999

Realtors get a new look, name and operating structure

By Andrea Jares
Caller-Times

   After 38 years of recognition as the Corpus Christi Board of Realtors, the professional real estate organization is getting an update. Last week the group unveiled a new name - Corpus Christi Association of Realtors - and a new logo and organizational structure.
   The change is a way to modernize the image of the 74-year-old local real estate organization. It's a trend other Realtor boards have followed, said Association of Realtors CEO Foster Edwards.
   "The public perception is that most people think we're some kind of government division," he said. "'Association' is a more descriptive term."
   Corpus Christi joins the state and national organization as well as more than 20 other Texas Realtor groups making the switch from "board" to "association."
   Back in 1925, when an Ocean Drive manor could be had for $20,000, the organization was known as the Corpus Christi Real Estate Board. The term "Realtor," which describes a real estate licensee who is a member of the National Association of Realtors, was trademarked in the late 1950s. The Corpus Christi group changed its name to the Corpus Christi Board of Realtors in 1961. Today it has 800 members.
   With the name change, the group also is changing its logo to one that is more descriptive of the area that it serves and streamlining its management structure. For example, the number of committees was consolidated from 18 to eight. The management staff has more power, in order to make quicker decisions.
   "The way the world works now in the age of e-mail and faxes, you don't want to wait until next month's board meeting to make a decision," Edwards said.
   Foreclosed land sold
   Land buyers recently flocked to the Nueces County courthouse steps to bid on foreclosed property selling for a fraction of the appraised value.
   The collection of foreclosed land was an assortment of 136 properties throughout the city - ranging from patches of land no larger than a closet to a corner of land not large enough to build on, but not needed when engineers cut a swath for a new road. By the end of the day 94 of these properties went to the highest bidder for sometimes as low as hundreds of dollars.
   The sale is different from the "first sale" done on the first Tuesday of each month on the courthouse steps, when foreclosed property is sold at least for the amount of the back taxes. This sale was a five-year collection of all of the property that did not get a minimum bid during the first sale. The property in this auction could go for as little as 25 percent of the appraised value, said Kathleen Morrison, managing partner for Linebarger, Heard, Goggan, Blair, Graham, Pena and Sampson LLP, the firm that handles the county tax foreclosures.
   This is one of the last chances the county has to collect on the taxes. Throughout the year, the firm collects bids on a list of property that did not sell at the first sale. This auction, which she hopes will occur again next year, was a chance to accelerate the bidding process.
   Morrison said this is no place for first-time homebuyers. It's for people who are experts at researching the complex legal history of real estate property and can brave the buying of land without title insurance.
   Some of the land, for example, might have years of property taxes owed on a house that burned to the ground, she said.
   "Generally speaking, if they're not worth anything, they won't pay (the property taxes)," Morrison said.
   But there are people who, with preparation and research, can walk away from the auction with a decent piece of land at a fantastic bargain.
   "It isn't that there aren't bargains to be found," she said. "It's just drudging through each piece of property and making sure that there aren't any liens against it."
   Sundeen High to be razed
   Students at Sundeen High School said goodbye to their school in 1959 when they moved to Carroll High School as part of the consolidation with the Corpus Christi Independent School District.
   Forty years later, it's time to say goodbye again.
   The building that was part of the Sundeen School District for 15 years, served briefly as the Texas National Guard Armory and then sat vacant until the city ordered it to be demolished last month.
   The school's football team, the Eagles, beat rival Flour Bluff High School 12 out of 13 seasons. One of its students was Red McCombs, billionaire owner of the Minnesota Vikings and auto dealerships.
   After it was abandoned, the building at 1801 Paul Jones Ave. became a hangout for youths and vagrants and a fire destroyed the roof. In the view of some neighbors, the building was an eyesore.
   But to local real estate broker Louise Vickers, who bought the building in 1980 with her husband, Wayne, it was a place she planned to be rebuild into a three-story apartment complex for senior citizens.
   She said she does not know what she will do with the land now.



On Real Estate is published every other Tuesday in the business section. Business writer Andrea Jares can be reached at 886-3678 or by e-mail at jaresa@caller.com