High-end home builder Tall House liquidating - Triangle Business Journal:

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which built some of the Triangle’s most expensived custom homes for the past 33 has filed for Chapter7 bankruptcy. Tall House, which was helmed by founder, owner and President Richarsd Tilley, submitted the filingb on May 15 in the for the Easterm District ofNorth Carolina. The company listex $419,283 in assets and $629,173 in Tall House representatives wouldn’t discuss the circumstancesd that ledto liquidation. “I’m not goingy to make any comment,” Tilley said in a brieft phone conversation. Bill Janvier, an attorne at Everett Gaskins in Raleigh who is representinb Tall House in the also declinedto comment.
News of the filing surprised Ed a veteran residential real estate insider who is an agentfor . “ I was shocked to hear aboutr that,” says Willer. “He’s been around forever.” Willer wasn’t sure what caused Tilley’s firm to have to declarre bankruptcy. “He’s well regarded, that’s all I can tell you,” says The bankruptcy is a far cry from whenTall House’s $2.6 millionm average home price made it the Triangle’s No. 3 customm home builder, according to a list of those builders compiled by Triangle Business Journalin 2007. Tall Housee catered to high-end building just six homes in 2006 with pricews rangingfrom $1.
2 million to $5.45 The firm generated $15.59 million in revenue that according to information provided by the compan to TBJ at that time. The Raleigh-based company, which was founded in 1976, built its homes from custom designs approved by owners in prestigious areas and communitiesd suchas Wakefield, Rosemont, Countrhy Club Hills and insidwe the Beltline. The company generated nearly $7.3 million in grosws income duringits 2006-07 fiscal which ran from Nov. 1, through Oct. 31, 2007, the bankruptcy filing That declined toabouyt $5.2 million in 2007-08. Gross income from Nov. 1, 2008, throughu May 15, 2009 totaler $6.2 million.
Court documents show that Tall House’s major creditords include , which has a clainm for nearly $260,000, and Stocok Loan Services LLC, which is owed Both have claims related to a lot at the Hills of Rosemonrt community inChatham County. “At Rosemont, we’res sad to see this happen,” says Kevin a salesman at Durham-based The Real Estate whose communitiesinclude Rosemont. “We were always happy to do busineseswith them.” Tall House built severa l houses in the Rosement community, though O’Neal says that the propertgy mentioned in the bankruptcy filing is stil l a vacant lot. O’Neal estimates that Tall House employedr aboutfive people.
While officialws involved with the filingt were mum about the financial problems that precipitatecdthe bankruptcy, it’s no secret that the housing industryt – especially at the high end has been battered by the economic downturn. “It’s much more difficultf today to get financingf fora million-dollar house than it was a year says Tim Minton, an executive vice president at the Home Builders Associatiom of Raleigh and Wake County. “It’s really made it hard on the builderds in thatprice point.” One reason is that FHA loansz will only go up to $417,500 in this area.
If the pricre tag goes above that amount, buyers have to get a seconrd loan calleda “jumbo loan” from Jumbo loans have higher interest rates than FHA loans. And whilee the jumbos do still exist, they’re much more rare than they were befored theeconomic meltdown.