By JOHN MILLER (AP) – 17 hours ago

BOISE, Idaho — A high-rolling Utah real-estate investor who lost his $5 million private jet and $450,000 Mercedes sports car to bankruptcy says that’s no reason why he can’t put together a deal to revive a bankrupt Idaho ski resort.

James Thomas Bramlette, 32, is leading investors with Salt Lake City-based Pelorus Group who have offered an undisclosed sum to buy the Tamarack Resort, 90 miles north of Boise.

Bramlette, who once claimed assets in the millions but financed his lavish pre-bankruptcy lifestyle by borrowing heavily to buy cars, planes and property, thinks he’s the guy to resurrect the Idaho resort that’s languished for two years under $300 million in debt.

“If you want to refer to me as the comeback kid, you can,” Bramlette told The Associated Press on Thursday. “I’m just part of the team that’s going to pull this off. We have to go in and prove to very smart people, some of whom are fiduciaries, who have to say, ‘Yeah, they can do that.’ We pass that scrutiny.”

Bramlette, who goes by JT, has declined to name his Tamarack investors this week, but said Thursday that their purchase of the Arling Center, Tamarack’s conference center, in late July is a sign of his group’s serious intentions.

“There’s been a lot of cheap talk out there,” he said. “We stepped up.”

His speedy rise in real-estate circles of the Rocky Mountain West seemed to parallel the industry’s mercurial growth over the last decade, fueled by low interest rates, easy money and optimism that home prices would rise forever. The married father of three arrived in Salt Lake City in 2002 from Montana with no job, no formal college education — but high hopes.

“I knew a couple of guys here,” Bramlette told lawyers in 2008. “I was working just any deal that I could.”

Court records show lenders gave Bramlette millions to prop up his lifestyle, which came crashing down in 2008 as creditors came calling.

According to U.S. Bankruptcy Court documents obtained this week by the AP, the Montana-born Bramlette abandoned his $5.3 million Gulfstream III to creditors after October 2008. He says he also lost millions worth of Idaho property, his Mercedes MacLaren, and a $450,000 membership in the Utah Jazz 100 club, the pro basketball team’s exclusive fan club.

The bankruptcy, from which he emerged in February 2009, is just part of Bramlette’s financial woes that includes a federal lawsuit where plaintiffs say they were misled about another Idaho development. A trial is set for October.

Twenty-seven people contend they were duped by inflated real estate appraisals in Teton Springs, among other allegations. Susan Norton, a plaintiff from northern California, told the AP on Thursday she bought into Teton Springs and loaned Bramlette $250,000 for another investment she says was supposed to pay 20 percent interest.

She said she later went on a Caribbean cruise that was paid for by Bramlette’s company to seek her money.

“I said, ‘Why are you paying for this cruise? I’m not even getting payments. I want my money,’” Norton said.

Bramlette said he suffered the most in the deal, adding that his own Idaho holdings were sacrificed in his bankruptcy.

“I got caught in that horrific downturn,” he said.

But Bramlette insists his bankruptcy won’t play a role in Pelorus’s ability to succeed in resuscitating Tamarack’s fortunes.

“I’ll admit freely right now that I’m not the financial strength behind the (Tamarack) project,” he said. “I have investors that have been with me for many, many years.”

Doug Dvorak, a Tamarack Municipal Association board member, said Bramlette’s past financial turmoil is “disconcerting.”

“Hopefully, they are going to be a buyer that has expertise, good management, integrity and is well-financed,” he added.

Tamarack was the first new U.S. resort in decades when it opened in 2004. Its ski lifts have been shuttered since March 2009 after lenders led by Zurich-based Credit Suisse Group refused to pump in more cash as they try to recover hundreds of millions in unpaid loans.

Amid this fracas, tennis star Andre Agassi bailed from a proposed luxury hotel project on the site, and Tamarack’s centerpiece village remains an unfinished hulk, battened down against the harsh Idaho mountain elements. A ski area consultant has said millions are necessary to lift “the smell of death” from the resort.

Jean-Pierre Boesplug, the resort’s French-born majority owner, didn’t return phone calls Thursday.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

According to the following article in the Idaho Statesman, Tamarack has very interested buyers and there is hope that the resort could open this winter.

CB Richard Ellis, based in Los Angeles, the world’s largest commercial real estate firm, is marketing Tamarack, the Valley County ski and golf resort’s bankruptcy lawyer, Randy French of Boise, said Wednesday.

“We’ve had some significant interest,” French said. “We just don’t have a written offer. In spite of the assurances of those buying prospects that they’re very interested, no matter how interested they are, unless and until we get the written offer we don’t have something to proceed with.”

Meanwhile, Valley County has discussed a sheriff’s sale of Tamarack Resort LLC’s furniture, fixtures and equipment to satisfy $83,000 due in personal property taxes, penalties and interest for 2008 and 2009. Tamarack also owes $270,000 in taxes on land and buildings.

Last week, Valley County Treasurer Glenna Young asked county commissioners for direction on the personal property tax debt. Personal property tax is collected on furniture, fixtures and equipment, as opposed to real property tax, which is assessed on land and improvements. Commissioners suggested she pursue seizure.

But French said that would require an order from U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Terry Meyers. That’s unlikely, French said, because property taxes are already first in line for satisfaction of debt. “I think it’s a certainty that Valley County gets paid in full,” French said.

Valley County Prosecutor Matt Williams deferred to French’s expertise, telling the Statesman, “It sounds like the fact they are in bankruptcy changes our ability to collect.”

Cascade Mayor R.W. “Dick” Carter says he’s spoken with Tamarack co-owners Jean-Pierre Boespflug and Alfredo Miguel Afif about sales prospects and is hopeful for a rebound and a 2010-11 ski season.

“My personal opinion is they’ve lost the battle, they have not lost the war” Carter said. “I think they will come back.”

Carter said he can’t be specific about prospective buyers. “A lot of them are foreign. I don’t think they are tire kickers. I think they’re sincere. Jean-Pierre drives a tough bargain.”

Boespflug, who founded the resort, did not reply to requests for comment Tuesday and Wednesday.

Tamarack did not operate last ski season because of the bankruptcy, in which creditors are owed more than $314 million. In 2008, Tamarack defaulted on a $260 million loan from Credit Suisse. In April, Meyers converted the bankruptcy from a Chapter 7 liquidation to a Chapter 11 reorganization, giving Tamarack time to write a reorganization plan and seek buyers.

French said that if the major creditors, a likely buyer and Tamarack’s owners agreed and asked Meyers to sign off, “we could have the lifts up and running even without a sale” this season.

Construction has halted on the resort village, which is fenced off from visitors. Though the golf course is operating and homeowners and renters are at the resort this summer, Tamarack’s troubles have contributed to Valley County’s 11.2 percent unemployment rate, the fifth highest in Idaho.

The collapse of the construction boom prompted population declines in Cascade, McCall and Donnelly, according to census estimates for July 2009. Carter said departures have accelerated since then; he figures Cascade has lost about 200 people from its population of 1,000 in 2008.

“They had to go and they hope to come back,” he said.

Carter said June’s opening of Kelly’s Whitewater Park on the North Fork Payette River has exceeded expectations, with about 10,000 visitors in five weeks. He says Valley County will rebound, even if Tamarack doesn’t. “This is not a boat you’re gonna sink. There’s just going to be a helluva lot more people on the gunwales bailing.”

Read more: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/07/22/1275786/buyers-showing-significant-interest.html#ixzz0uQcVTdMD

Article is by Dan Pokey.

Everyone dreams of owning a vacation lake home!  McCall’s Payette Lake with its deep natural water and beautiful surrounding mountains couldn’t be a better place to buy.  However, there are several things to consider – price, size, age, acreage, and leased or deeded land – before purchasing a home.

Like any beach or lake front home, you will pay a premium to be on the lake in McCall.  Prices range from $265,000 for a 600-square foot studio apartment to $12.5 million for an estate home on 4-plus acres. The average price home on the lake is between $1.5 and $2.5 million. However, beware of the lower priced homes on leased land.  They look great on paper, but could have potential problems in the future, which I will discuss later on.  Also, recently people have been selling half shares for lake homes.  Depending on your price range, fractional or half ownership could be a great way to go as long as you don’t mind sharing your home.

The size of home you want is always important.  Most of the homes on the lake are small beach cottages.  However, over the last ten years many of the small beach cottages have been purchased and torn down for larger, modern homes.  Home sizes on the lake range from 600 square feet up to 8,000+ square feet.  The smaller cottages generally have 2 to 3 bedrooms with 1 to 2 bathrooms, the mid-range/average priced homes range in size from 1800-2000 square feet with about the same number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and the upper end homes, starting at $3.5 million, are 4000-8000 square feet with 4-6 bedrooms and 4-5 bathrooms.

Most of the lower to mid-priced lake homes on Payette Lake were built 20-30 years ago.  They were built as summer homes for families seeking refuge from hot summers in Treasure Valley and beyond.   Although quaint as they may seem, they were not all built for winter.  So, if you are considering using the home in the winter you may need to winterize the home with better insulation and heating.  Also, like any older home, you will definitely need to upgrade the home to your desires.  Make sure you get the home inspected before closing escrow so you know what you are getting into financially.

There are very few homes over an acre on the lake.  Most of the homes on the lake are less than .25 acres with close proximity to your neighbors.   The size of the lot doesn’t always matter.  More importantly is the length of the beachfront.  More beachfront means that the property will have more space between neighboring properties.

As I mentioned earlier, leased land may look good on paper – nice home with a lower price tag – but it could come with a lot of red tape that you didn’t expect.   Recently, the Idaho Land Board voted to raise land rents by 54 percent over the next five years.  Current rents are 2.5 percent of the assessed or appraised value.  The new rental rate will be 4 percent of the 10-year average appraised value.  The new increase will be phased in over five years beginning January 1, 2011.  The board has agreed to continue offering 10-year leases with the new terms beginning January 1, 2011.  The committee has also decided to seek to unify the title to the properties, meaning they could sell or exchange the leased land to one owner.  Cabin owners of Payette Lake leased land have agreed to unite to legally fight against the decision.  If you decide to purchase a cabin on leased land, it is important to not pay a premium for the property and to understand your legal and financial obligations to the Idaho Land Board.

Lake front homes in McCall have historically kept their value because of supply and demand.  So, if you can afford to purchase a home on the lake, do so.  You and generations to come will not regret it.

As we approach the end of the first quarter in 2010, we are already seeing an increase in residential home and lot sales over this period last year. There are fewer distressed properties and inventory for good quality homes are being depleted, which over time should help stabilize home prices.  We continue to see buying interest from outsiders wanting to purchase a second or retirement home in McCall and the surrounding communities.

It continues to be a great time to purchase a home.  We also believe that with the depletion of good quality homes on the market, it is a good time to purchase a lot and build a home.  A 1500 square foot home with lot could be as low as $250,000 in McCall.  This could be a less expensive option than purchasing an existing home that may require repairs and upgrades.  Unlike the boom, there are a lot of qualified builders available to build homes.   Also, the seller of the property will often times carry the buyer on the property.

The following is a comparative analysis of residential home sales from January 1, 2009-March 15, 2009 compared with sales during that same period in 2010.

This comparison does not include Payette Lake or Cascade Lake waterfront homes.  An 1800 square foot home on deeded land sold on Payette Lake during the first quarter of 2009 for $1,200,000 and a 3000 square foot home sold in Q1 2010 for $2,250,000.  In Donnelly on Cascade Lake, a 1400 square foot home sold in Q1 2009 for $500,000 and in Q1 2010 for $600,000.

The following is a comparative analysis of lot sales from January 1, 2009-March 15 compared with sales during that same period in 2010.

This comparison does not include Payette Lake or Cascade Lake waterfront homes and development property.   During this period both in 2009 and 2010 there were no waterfront vacant land sales, and in 2010, there was a 42-acre development property that sold for $190,000.

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal posed some questions about evaluating the market.  We took these questions and answered them based on the current McCall market. 

1. Is the housing marketing getting better?  McCall and the surrounding communities are similar to rest of the nation.  Although there are signs of recovery, it is still tentative and fragile.  Home sales were up over 100% from last year, but home prices were down 50%.   Our unemployment continues to increase as the market declines for new home builds.  However, McCall typically attracts the second home buyer, so unemployment in our area does not always influence homes sales, but it does affect the number of homes that possibly go into to default.  The increase of homes in default or foreclosure could potentially continue to decrease the value of homes in the area for sometime.

2. When will the market bottom out?  There probably won’t be any clear turning point.  It is very dependent on supply and demand.  As inventory depletes in certain areas, home prices in those areas will begin to increase in value.  A good example are lake homes and some of the premier view properties where limited supply is available.  These home values have not decreased as much as some of the other areas in McCall.  Overall, it will continue to be a buyers market until the inventory decreases.  At this point and time, it is difficult to predict when that might happen.

3. What signals should I watch to determine if the McCall market is improving?  One way to get a sense of supply is to ask a good realtor in McCall how many homes are listed for sale in the area and their opinion on how long it would take at the current sales rate to absorb that supply.  Anything over six months is considered high.  So, if you have a home on the market you may want to consider reducing your price or taking it off the market until the market recovers.   Another sign is the number of for sale signs in the area. Also, if properties look like they are not being taken care of, this could be a bad sign that the owners have gone into default or foreclosure.  Demand in McCall also has a lot to do with the overall economy and the number of people that can afford a second home or retire to McCall. 

4. How can I determine the value of my home?  It is always difficult to determine the value of your home until you put it on the market.  We suggest consulting with a realtor to determine the market values in your area before placing a price tag on your home.    As we mentioned earlier, the median price home fell 50% in McCall and surrounding communities.  In some of the high-end areas, such as Whitetail and Tamarack, the prices have fallen even more. 

5. Is this a good time to buy a home in McCall?  Yes.  Prices are down significantly and interest rates are at an all time low.  If you qualify, this is definitely great time to buy, especially with the first time home buyer tax credit.  Also, some people are forecasting that interest rates will go up after the first of the year.  So, even if prices go down another 10%, but the interest rates goes up a point, you may will still be making the same payment.  Something to think about?

6. Can I get a tax credit if I am buying a home in McCall?  If it is your primary resident yes.  Earlier this month, congress passed a tax credit for people who purchase or sign a contract on or before April 30, 2010, and complete the purchase by June 30, 2010.  The tax credit is up to $8000 for first-time home buyers and $6500 for people who have already owned a home for a least fiver consecutive years during the previous eight years.  The credit is available for individual taxpayers with annual incomes of up to $145,000 or joint filers with incomes up to $245,000.

Last week, the Adam’s County Commissioners in Idaho unanimously approved the Brundage Mountain Village.  The Village is a 388-acre development at the base of Brundage Mountain Resort in McCall.  Twenty-five percent of the village will be open space and 75% percent will consist of up to 1200 homes, including ski-in/ski-out homes, and a maximum of 50,000 square feet of commercial space.  The Brundage Mountain Ski Area will also expand to include new chair lifts and a lodge.

The chief land planner for the development stated that it is the owners’ vision to blend the development in with the natural beauty of the area and not bombard people with eight story buildings as they drive into the village.  The owners did not disclose when they would begin the development, but did state that it is dependent on the recovery of the economy.

BOISE, Idaho — A judge will let Tamarack Resort homeowners intervene in a foreclosure lawsuit against the failed Idaho vacation getaway but refused to endorse their plan to use a Mexican real-estate lender’s cash to save the ski season.

In his decision Tuesday, 4th District Court Judge Patrick Owen wrote he’ll allow nine homeowners in the West Mountain Preservation Management Association to make their arguments, despite his “concerns that this is not a proper case for intervention.”

The group wants to tap a $7.9 million loan from Mexico-based Inmobiliaria Las Fuentes, S.A. de C.V. to hire a new receiver to reopen the resort.

Zurich-based Credit Suisse Group and others owed more than $300 million by Tamarack after it defaulted on a construction loan are fighting the plan, on grounds the Mexican firm has made being repaid before existing creditors a condition of the deal. Inmobiliaria Las Fuentes also demands a new deed of trust for 80 acres of platted resort property.

“The decision to permit intervention by this court is not intended to express, and does not express, any view that the court will appoint a receiver as requested,” Owen wrote.

Owen didn’t say when he plans to hear arguments.

He’ll likely have to act soon, however, if for no other reason than winter is fast descending on central Idaho; other ski areas in the mountainous region aim to open in less than a month. Tamarack is about 90 miles north of Boise.

If Tamarack misses the 2009-2010 ski season, homeowners who bought property at the height of the vacation real-estate bubble are fearful the resort will be pushed ever closer to being dismantled and sold off at salvage prices. More than 100 people or organizations have written in support of the group’s plan to reopen Tamarack, including the Idaho Department of Commerce and local businesses that have suffered since Tamarack closed down last March.

Bill Ciraco, a member of the homeowner group, says Tamarack must be reopened, at least on a limited basis, to preserve assets for a potential new investor and to bolster the value of adjacent properties like his own that have taken a beating amid uncertainty over the resort’s future.

“We look forward to coming back and presenting our case as to why we believe the appointment of the receiver is necessary and critical at this point in time,” said Ciraco, a New York City trader. “We believe without a receiver in place to protect, preserve, maintain and operate the assets at Tamarack, that irreparable financial damage will occur.”

Owen has said he’s sympathetic to homeowners’ plight, but the judge’s order this week indicates he thinks their proposal may be a longshot.

The homeowner group “asserts that it has an interest in making sure the resort will reopen for winter operations, regardless of whether that is something that Tamarack or Credit Suisse is willing or able to accomplish,” the judge wrote. “The court has doubts that intervention for this purpose is appropriate.”

Duncan King, a Credit Suisse spokesman in New York, didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Before the resort was shuttered earlier this year by a previous receiver, Credit Suisse said it was producing losses far beyond the bank’s expectations as many vacationers stayed away. In his order on Tuesday, Owen said the new proposal anticipates little change.

“As the court understands the proposal, the resort would not operate at a profit,” he wrote. “In fact, it is projected that operations…would continue to generate significant losses.”

Source AP

Tamarack homeowners fear closing for central Idaho resort if judge doesn’t let them intervene

(AP) 

BOISE, Idaho (AP) – Tamarack Resort homeowners fear lifts and other equipment will be stripped and sold for pennies on the dollar if they can’t convince an Idaho judge to approve their plan to take $7.9 million from a Mexican real-estate investor to save the upcoming ski season.

On Monday, 4th District Court Judge Patrick Owen heard competing salvos from lawyers for homeowners and a lender group led by Zurich-based Credit Suisse Group.

Mexico-based Inmobiliaria Las Fuentes, S.A. de C.V. has offered the loan to reopen the ski resort and to protect unfinished buildings over the next 11 months, but made a deal contingent on being repaid before existing creditors, something Credit Suisse and others are fighting. Tamarack creditors are already owed upward of $300 million.

Without new funding, said Leonard De Los Prados, one of the homeowner group’s leaders, the resort 90 miles north of Boise could share the fate of Colorado’s Stagecoach Ski Area, a major resort undertaking abandoned in 1974 after high hopes of developers and vacation real-estate buyers collapsed. Today, little more than a few lift towers there remain.

“If this doesn’t get approved, Tamarack will be sold as salvage instead of as a resort,” predicted De Los Prados.

He’s the Beverly Hills, Calif., accountant for Alfredo Miguel, the Mexican-Lebanese businessman who the second-largest investor in Tamarack. Jean-Pierre Boespflug, a native of France who controls just over 50 percent of the resort.

The homeowner group said Miguel isn’t involved in the deal with Inmobiliaria Las Fuentes.

After hearing both sides, Owen said he’ll rule soon whether to let the homeowners intervene in the foreclosure case, which he’s scheduled for a trial next March.

But even if he does let them in, it’s no guarantee he’d also approve their plan for the Mexican firm’s loan, especially over objections of Credit Suisse.

“I’m not unsympathetic to the plight of these homeowners whose property values have been undoubtedly affected, not only by the general downturn in the entire economy of the country, but more specifically by the environment of the failed resort,” said Owen. “There’s just very little a court can do about those two overwhelming circumstances.”

Credit Suisse lawyer Randall Peterman contended Tamarack vacation homes aren’t part of the lenders’ foreclosure case, so homeowners should have no legal standing to formally enter the court fight.

“There’s no nexus between the real property being foreclosed on … and the property of the intervening parties,” Peterman said. “This organization has no skin in the game.”

The homeowners fear utilities will soon shut off power critical to heating Tamarack’s unfinished buildings, possibly accelerating decay as winter sets in. They point to damaged resort roofs, dismantled and dirty kitchen facilities, abandoned offices, snow cats parked haphazardly on the mountainside – all things dragging down their investments.

“Everyone who bought anything at Tamarack Resort and continues to own anything at Tamarack Resort has an interest in the entire development,” Steve Lord, their lawyer, told the judge of why the group should be allowed to intervene.

Hans Albert, a native of Hamburg, Germany and a homeowner who was in Owen’s courtroom Monday, said securing the judge’s blessing for Mexican real-estate loan would buy time to attract a new, longterm Tamarack investor who interested in running the resort, not plundering its assets.

“We realize this isn’t a permanent solution,” Albert said. “But in these times we’re in, one year could make a real difference.”

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

RE/MAX Resort Realty is a proud sponsor of the first annual Pink at the Rink Women’s Hockey Tournament in McCall, Idaho, November 6th-8th at the Manchester Ice & Event Centre.  Proceeds from the event will help local women, who otherwise couldn’t afford it, receive cancer screening mammograms at McCall Memorial Hospital’s Breast Care Clinic. The clinic performs 1,000 mammograms a year, of which 75 are paid from grants such as the Susan G. Komen grants. Idaho is the lowest of all fifty states in the percentage of women who receive potentially life-saving mammograms. Hospital staff will be available at the event to educate women about local services, self-examinations, and life-style choices that reduce the incidence of breast cancer.

Corbett Bottles Real Estate Marketing is holding a live property auction at the Shorelodge on October 24 at 12 pm.   Multiple properties will be auctioned, including 17 condominiums. Six of the condos are absolute — no minimum bid.  A 3,835 square foot home is also being auctioned. The home is situated on 61 acres with unbstructed westerly views looking at Oregon mountains and New Meadows Valley below. The minimum bid is $449,000.  Contact RE/MAX Resort Realty for information or representation at the auction.  208-634-5400