BUSINESS & PROFESSIONAL

entrepreneur

Home Sweet Home

Partners create innovative, low-risk programs
to assist foreclosure victims, investors.

Carolyn Krieger-Cohen
Special to the Jewish News

home repair when the economy slowed.
This has been so beneficial for my own
family. I see a long future here."
"The Home Store brings the familiar-
ity and accessibility of a retail format
to a targeted audience with few other
options," said Frederick Marx, a partner
in Farmington Hills-based Marx Layne &
Co, a marketing and public relations firm.
"Beyond the success this concept
is already enjoying in this market, The
Home Store format is certainly transport-
able as a franchise across the country."

0

n Dec. 31, 2008, Kathy
Atwood, 56, of Troy, wel-
comed the New Year with
an unwelcome layoff notice
from the company she'd been with
38 years. She and her husband, Bill,
also 56, a landscaper, did their best to
make ends meet while she looked for
another job. But after several months,
they could no longer make their house
payments and were at risk of losing the
home they loved and the life they had
built for their family.
When a neighbor aware of their situ-
ation told them about a Ferndale-based
company called The Home Store that
helped people in financial distress stay
in their homes, they immediately placed
a call. After meeting with The Home
Store's partners, Bradley Cohen and
Phillip Ben-Ezra, the Atwoods were
relieved to discover that the two men
truly cared about their plight and felt
they could help them.
"Brad and Phillip have been so con-
siderate and done so much for us,"
said Kathy. "They actually bought our
home from us and we now rent it from
them at a very fair rate with the option
to buy it back when we get on our feet
financially. At our April closing, I was
pretty emotional. But they congratu-
lated us and said we didn't lose the
house. They give people real hope."

Better Homes, Better Prices

Cohen and Ben-Ezra, both 40, have
been friends since they were sixth
graders at Birney Middle School in
Southfield. In 2007, they formed The
Home Store to assist people displaced
from their homes due to foreclosure or
other economic hardships. Both pos-
sess strong real estate industry back-
grounds. Ben-Ezra spent more than 20
years in his family's business, Empire
Windows and Doors, was a partner at
Kaye Financial and is a licensed mort-
gage originator, builder and real estate
broker. Cohen was director of property
management for Kaftan Enterprises,
Inc., chief operating officer for Sterling
Commercial Group, and is a licensed
real estate broker.
Through referrals from their personal
network of family and friends, they have

'STORE,'

Assisting Other Investors

FOR SALE

or

LEASE

23365 Woodward Ave. Ferndale, Ml
Main Office: (248) 414-5211

Phillip Ben-Ezra and Bradley Cohen

developed a large pool of both ten-
ants and buyers looking for affordable
housing solutions during the current
recession. At the same time, they have
shopped for and purchased a large port-
folio of vacant, foreclosed, single-family
homes of all types from the banks, pri-
marily in Oakland County, at low prices
that match their prospective clients'
needs. The full-service renovation arm
of The Home Store then completely
updates and renovates the properties
with personal input from the future rent-
ers. In addition, the company manages
and maintains the properties and pro-
vides two-year home warranties.
"We have been able to accumulate a
lot of foreclosed homes in these tough
times with very low risk because prior
to any purchase, we have already quali-
fied prospective clients who are seek-
ing more affordable housing," explained
Cohen.

"Once we find a home, our clients are
completely involved in our renovation
process so that the home feels like their
own when they move in. We are really
proud to be assisting struggling families
to remain in their own home at a new,
affordable rate or to get into another,
affordable house. It's exceptionally
gratifying."
In addition to helping to stabilize the
local real estate market by purchasing,
renovating and occupying previously
foreclosed homes, they are also creating
jobs. The Home Store's team of 15 con-
sists of experienced real estate agents,
mortgage brokers, property managers,
foreclosure investors and renovation
experts integrated under one roof.
"I've been working full-time for over a
year doing complete interior and exte-
rior renovation for The Home Store,"
said Jeremy Deron, 38, from Westland.
"I was a union brick layer and got into

The Home Store

Foreclosure Investment Seminar for new
and seasoned investors, Thursday, Oct.
15, 7- 9 p.m., Jewish Community Center,
West Bloomfield. No charge. To reserve
a spot and for more information, (248)
414.5211 or info@thsalliance.com .

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Cohen and Ben-Ezra are now shar-
ing their successful business strategy
with others, offering opportunities for
investors to become involved in the
foreclosure market by following The
Home Store's unique systems, like their
Investment In A Box program.
"Our system works and is made so
easy for investors," said Ben-Ezra.
"When they invest through us, they
simply determine their investment
amount and criteria for their investment
home. They don't have to shop for it,
fix it up or find tenants. We find the
property, coordinate the closing, reno-
vate the home, put a tenant in place,
manage and maintain it. And because
we provide a two-year home warranty
and guarantee rental income for two
years, we take almost 100 percent of
their risk away."
The Home Store is holding a foreclo-
sure investment seminar Thursday, Oct.
15, at the Jewish Community Center
in West Bloomfield (see box below).
Dan Parsons, 36, of Bloomfield Hills
attended the July seminar and bought a
foreclosed home using the Investment
In A Box program.
"It was painless," said Parsons.
"Brad and Phillip did everything for me.
Now, I'm collecting income on a totally
refurbished rental house that I own to
supplement my full-time job. These are
standup, trustworthy guys who want
to keep good people in good homes.
They're filling a great niche for both
investors and tenants."
Brad Cohen resides in Huntington
Woods with his wife, Lonnee, and their
two children. Phillip Ben-Ezra lives in
Farmington Hills with his wife, loana, and
their four children. They are members of
Keter Torah in West Bloomfield. II

October 8 2009

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