After making the winning bid on a Hillsboro, Ore., condo, the buyer and seller of premium foreclosure homes celebrates its 1,000th property
EUGENE, Ore. – Gorilla Capital, one of the nation’s leading purchasers of homes sold at foreclosure auctions, celebrated its 1000th property with the recent purchase of a 1,249 square-foot condo in Hillsboro, Ore.
“We’re pleased to have played a role in the evolution of the foreclosure industry, which has gone from an industry nobody talked about to a viable segment of the real estate market,” said John Helmick, Gorilla Capital’s CEO.
Founded in Oregon in 2006 at the height of the housing boom, Gorilla Capital began with the simple motto of “we sell them cheap, because we buy them cheaper.” The Gorilla model of carefully tracking reviewing and assessing thousands of foreclosure homes and buying only the highest quality properties quickly caught fire and the company branched out into Florida, Arizona, Idaho and other states. The company’s rapid growth earned it a spot on Inc. Magazine’s Top 500|5000 list of fastest growing companies, where it was ranked as the 10th fastest growing real estate company in America. Gorilla Capital now operates in eight states and 18 Oregon counties. Over the past six years, during a topsy turvey time in housing, the company has seen it all, Helmick says.
“From the housing highs of 2006 to the steep declines and foreclosure spikes of 2008 and 2009 to the current rebuilding and strengthening of the housing market, this company has been through a lot,” Helmick said. “In recent months, it’s been encouraging to watch real estate rebound and foreclosures decline.”
Helmick’s long-term foreclosure forecast is more of the same – continued strengthening of real estate and steadily declining foreclosures. An outspoken critic of government foreclosure intervention, he believes Gorilla Capital and other private investors are playing a vital role in helping to process the foreclosed properties that have glutted the housing market in recent years.
“As long as there are homes, there will be foreclosures,” Helmick explained. “That said, reducing the number of foreclosed homes on the market benefits homeowners and the economy at large. Gorilla Capital has played a pivotal role in the recovery of the housing market and we will continue to offer premium foreclosure homes at value prices for homeowners and investors.”
Gorilla Capital’s thousandth property purchase was a two-bedroom Hillsboro condo built in 2007. Jeremy Ornelas, a representative for the company, battled three other potential buyers, before winning out with the highest bid. After rehabbing the condo, Gorilla plans to list the property at $149,900.
Because property sales lag behind property purchases, Gorilla Capital is still 90 homes away from its 1,000th home sale. In the meantime, Gorilla made its 1,001st purchase in Utah and its 1,002nd purchase in Arizona, both in late March.
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