SMU kiss of death

[smupony94]

I have many friends who work there and they are a client of mine so I wish them nothing but the best


Arlington-based Wall Homes files for bankruptcy

12:00 AM CST on Monday, January 19, 2009

By VICTOR GODINEZ / The Dallas Morning News

Arlington-based Wall Homes Inc. recently hosted an episode of TV's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, featuring a house built in a week for a needy family.

Now the homebuilder is getting ready to give itself a makeover after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Saturday.

The company, which filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas, said it will continue to build and sell houses as it negotiates with its lenders and other creditors.

It's a dramatic change of fortune for a company that was riding high at the end of 2008.

In November, the SMU Cox Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship honored Wall Homes as the fastest-growing privately held company in the Dallas area from 2005 through 2007.

Then in December, the company orchestrated the construction of a new home for a family in Keller for the ABC home makeover show.

But it's not hard to see why Wall is struggling now.

New-home sales have plummeted over the last year.

Dallas-Fort Worth new-home sales fell 30 percent in the final quarter of 2008, and the yearly total was the lowest in a decade, according to housing analyst MetroStudy Inc. The government will report Thursday on December housing starts across the nation.

President and chief executive Steve Wall launched Wall Homes in 2005.

"The decision to restructure the business through a Chapter 11 filing should provide Wall Homes with the opportunity to strengthen our balance sheet and develop an even more efficient expense structure," Wall said in a prepared statement.

"This will then position Wall Homes to compete more effectively as we pull out of the housing market downturn."

The company builds homes throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area, as well as in Houston, Austin and San Antonio.

Wall Homes spokeswoman Erin Kolp declined to comment on the possibility of layoffs in the wake of Saturday's bankruptcy filing.

"As far as our team members are concerned, we recognize that there is never a good time for individuals to be affected by such changes," Wall said in his written statement.

[friarwolf]

So how much are you getting stuck by the filing????

[smupony94]

So how much are you getting stuck by the filing????

Currently not owed money, but don't need them to stop buying lots from me right now.

[friarwolf]

I am glad you dodged a bullet.............

[smupony94]

I am glad you dodged a bullet.............

I am already riddled with bullets from other builders

[Pony Soup]

I am glad you dodged a bullet.............

I am already riddled with bullets from other builders

sounds familiar