A 12,891-SF medical office building in west Little Rock weighed in at $4.4 million.

Store Master Funding X LLC, an affiliate of the Store Capital real estate investment trust in Scottsdale, Arizona, purchased the Arkansas Diagnostic Center at 8908 Kanis Road.

The seller is Williams ADC-GCA Building LLC, led by Dr. Alonzo Williams.

The 1.57-acre development previously was tied to a May 2009 mortgage of $2.27 million held by BancorpSouth Bank of Tupelo, Mississippi.

Williams acquired the location for $366,000 in August 1988 from BH&G Properties.

The BH&G investors included Dr. Samuel Boellner, Dr. Coburn Howell, Dr. Robert Galbraith, Dr. Jan Sullivan, Dr. Gordon Gibson, Dr. Morrison Henry, Dr. John Bornhofen and Dr. Elaine Wilson.

Warehouse Buy I
A 50,240-SF warehouse in west Little Rock tipped the scales at $1.68 million.

10 Clearwater Holdings LLC, led by Ryan Ketola, bought the Triton Stone facility at 10 Clearwater Drive. The seller is Ardoin Management Inc., led by Peter Ardoin.

The transaction was financed with a 20-year loan of $1.68 million provided by Peter and Jana Ardoin.

The 4.4-acre site was purchased for $116,200 in December 1991 from Big K Development Corp., led by Kelton Brown Sr.

Warehouse Buy II
An 18,122-SF office-warehouse in west Little Rock rang up a $1.2 million sale. James E. Whitley acquired the 10600 Otter Creek East Blvd. project from Little Rock Warehouse Associates LLC of Fort Smith.

The 1.62-acre development previously was linked with an August 2006 mortgage of $1.5 million held by BancorpSouth Bank. The site was bought for $150,000 in June 2006 from Shelly King.

Serial Acquisitions
Four commercial projects in Little Rock changed hands in a series of transactions totaling more than $1.1 million. Haybar Properties LLC, led by Bryan Hosto, purchased:

• An 11,144-SF office-warehouse at 1200 Spring St. for $425,000 from Walker-Wisdom LLC, led by Warren Walker and Bobby Wisdom.

The 0.34-acre development previously was tied to a May 2006 mortgage of $284,000 held by Arvest Bank of Fayetteville. The property was acquired for $150,000 in June 2001 from Tennessee Valley Electric Supply Co.

• The 7,500-SF Cantrell View Plaza at 1900 N. Bryant St. for $300,000 from PDC LLC, led by Gene Pfeifer.

The 0.34-acre development was bought for $343,000 in March 2000 from Hillcrest Properties Inc., led by Kelley Johnson.

• The 4,754-SF Harkey Building at 721 W. Second St. for $270,000 from the Virginia H. Atkinson Revocable Trust.

The 0.12-acre project was purchased for $44,000 in July 1972 from D.B. and Hermina Cheairs and Elizabeth Wenger.

• A 4,080-SF office-warehouse at 6519 Murray St. for $130,000 from Martin Instruments & Supplies Inc., led by Clifton Martin Sr.

The 0.4-acre development previously was linked with an October 2005 mortgage of $151,000 held by Twin City Bank of North Little Rock. Martin Instruments acquired the property for $151,000 in October 2005 from Ernest and Sharon Northern and David J. & Betty J. Jones Family Ltd.

Ranch Land
Undeveloped property in The Ranch project of west Little Rock sold for $750,000.

Pinnacle Ridge Development Co., led by George Petrov, bought the four lots and 32.7 acres bordered by Ranch Ridge Road and Ranch Boulevard. The seller is Ranch Properties Inc., led by Ed Willis.

The transaction and construction are backed with three-year loans of $750,000 from Ranch Properties and $800,000 from First Security Bank of Searcy.

The land was purchased in August 1984 as part of a $2.15 million land deal with Johnson Land Co., led by Glenn H. Johnson.

Apartment Purchase
Neighboring multifamily properties in west Little Rock are under new ownership after a $210,000 transaction.

J. Hoffman Properties LLC, led by James Hoffman, David Rapp and Brian Teeter, acquired the six units at 11015-11019 Mara Lynn Drive. The seller is CRJ-Wass LLC, led by Nikki Wass.

The deal is funded with a one-year loan of $297,479 from Tricore Capital LLC of Little Rock.

The combined 0.37-acre development previously was tied to a January 2010 mortgage of $801,636 held by Eagle Bank & Trust of Little Rock.

The four-unit project at 11015 Mara Lynn Drive was purchased for $105,000 in November 1998 from W.M. and Virginia Barrier.

The duplex at 11019 Mara Lynn Drive was bought for $69,000 in August 2000 from Anderson J. Ward.

Country Club House
A 3,380-SF home near the Country Club of Little Rock drew an $895,000 sale.

Nancy Phillips purchased the house from R.L. and Nancy Qualls.

The deal is financed with a 30-year loan of $700,000 from Bank of Little Rock Mortgage Corp.

The Qualls family acquired the residence for $847,000 in May 2013 from Ben and Nelda Johnson.

Heights Home
A 3,458-SF home in the Heights area of Little Rock changed hands in a $730,000 transaction.

Barbara and David Pryor bought the house from Tom and Paige Rystrom.

The residence previously was linked with a January 2007 mortgage of $480,000 and a November 2015 mortgage of $50,000 held by Centennial Bank of Conway.

The Rystroms purchased the property for $600,000 nine years ago from Kevin and Dianna Huchingson.

Overlook Residence
A 5,528-SF home in Little Rock’s Overlook Park neighborhood rang up a $700,000 sale.

Iden Cowan acquired the house from Anthony and Janet Dillon.

The deal is backed with a 10-year loan of $712,183 from Simmons Bank of Pine Bluff.

The residence previously was tied to a November 2007 mortgage of $340,000 held by Bank of America in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The Dillons bought the land in June 2006 as part of a $180,000 deal with the Fay Pfeifer estate.

Downtown Condo
A 2,408-SF condo in downtown Little Rock is under new ownership after a $675,000 transaction.

Jim Workman purchased the seventh-floor unit in the Arkansas Capital Commerce Center at 200 River Market Drive from Crain Investments Ltd., led by Larry Crain Sr.

The deal is funded with a five-year loan of $675,000 from Bear State Bank of Little Rock.

The space was acquired for $348,000 in July 2002 from 3rd & Commerce LLC, led by Jimmy Moses and Rett Tucker.

Cypress Point Abode
A 4,109-SF home in west Little Rock’s Cypress Point neighborhood sold for $530,000.

Kenneth and Rosa Parrish bought the house from Tracye Thomason.

The deal is financed with a 30-year loan of $417,000 from Wells Fargo Bank of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The residence previously was linked with an April 2012 mortgage of $294,450 held by Quicken Loans Inc. of Detroit.

The location was purchased for $88,000 in August 1998 from Ranch Properties.

Woodland’s House
A 4,142-SF home in west Little Rock’s Woodland’s Edge neighborhood drew a $520,000 transaction.

Kyle and Jamie Sheffler acquired the house from Joy and Jason Ruple.

The deal is backed with a 30-year loan of $280,000 from Wells Fargo Bank. The residence previously was tied to a December 2011 mortgage of $400,000 held by Citibank of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

The Ruples bought the property for $475,000 in December 2011 from Jacob White Construction Co.

Commercial property in Conway and farmland in Lonoke County form this week’s five-piece of multimillion-dollar transactions.

• Barbara Younger Woolsey Family Ltd. of Santa Rosa, California, acquired the 13,490-SF CVS Pharmacy at 825 Oak St. in Conway for $7.6 million from an affiliate of CVS.

• Indian Bayou Farms LLC, led by Joel Whicker and Stephanie Rae Smith, sold 857 acres about 5 miles north of downtown Keo on the east side of Highway 15 for $4 million.

Buyer? Hitch Land & Cattle Co. of Guymon, Oklahoma.

• Villa Mille Rose Vineyards LLC of San Francisco bought the 4,600-SF Verizon store at 975 E. Oak St. in Conway for more than $3.1 million.

Seller: 915 East Oak Street LLC of Edmond, Oklahoma.

• Randall and Margaret Gammill sold 320 acres for $1.3 million. The property is on the north side of O’Cain Road about 6 miles northeast of Lonoke.

Buyer: Lee Agricultural Investments LLC of Guymon, Oklahoma.

• DeBoard Asset Management LLC, led by Charles DeBoard, purchased a 6-acre parcel in Conway on the north side of Dave Ward Drive between German Lane and Harkrider Street for $1 million.

Seller? Covington Commercial Park South LLC, led by George Covington Sr.

Did you know a west Little Rock boutique hotel development is in the works near The Promenade at Chenal?

James and Terry Barnes and their Promenade Hospitality LLC bought the 3-acre site with an eye toward a 2018 opening.

They paid Deltic Timber Corp. nearly $2.3 million for the land.

Watch for more details to check in.

The financial tale of Texarkana’s competing convention centers continues.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Texas on Wednesday approved the sale of Dr. Hiren D. Patel’s hotel in Texarkana, Texas, for $2.9 million to James J. Naples.

Patel and his wife, Dineschandra Patel, live in Texarkana, Texas, and own Country Inn & Suites through their company, Krishna Associates LLC.

The Patels’ attorney, Bill F. Payne of Dallas, did not return a call Thursday for comment. He has been instructed to file the order approving the sale by Jan. 25.

A draft of the order states that proceeds of the sale will be paid to MidSouth Bank of Lafayette, Louisiana, on the closing date. MidSouth is the lead creditor in the case.

Six other parties submitted bids by Nov. 25, according to the motion the court approved, and Naples’ was the high bid.

Krishna’s is one of three bankruptcies linked to the Patels, their companies and MidSouth.

The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in November, when it listed $5.3 million in debts and $3.2 million in assets. The filing halted the foreclosure sale of Country Inn & Suites.

Patel also filed for bankruptcy reorganization in March for his Texarkana Hotels LLC, which owns the combination 27,000-SF, $18 million Arkansas Convention Center and Holiday Inn on the Arkansas side. The center and hotel have been marred by controversy since they opened in 2013, about a year after a convention center on the Texas side of the city.

That filing also halted a foreclosure, initiated by MidSouth. The bank said Patel’s company defaulted on $10 million in loans on the Arkansas side alone.

MidSouth is also seeking payment from the Patels because they personally guaranteed the debts, but that has been slowed because the Patels filed for personal bankruptcy reorganization in April.

(A correction has been made to this article. See end for details.)

The owners of the 30-story Regions Center in downtown Little Rock weren’t able to refinance a $32 million loan before it matured on Sept. 1.

That put the owners on the road to bankruptcy court.

The insight comes from Lori McGhee, a consultant for the buildings’ owners who is working for Moses Tucker Real Estate of Little Rock. She provided a statement last month in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware about the events that led to the Chapter 11 reorganization filing.

In the nine-page statement, McGhee said “improper actions” by a pool of investors prevented the owners from refinancing the loan that was used to buy the building in 2006. She didn’t provide details. Wells Fargo Bank is the trustee for the investors, which has the legal name: the Registered Holders of COMM 2006-C8 Commercial Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates. 

McGhee said being unable to refinance triggered a default under the loan documents, and it led to the building losing a “significant new tenant.” It also diminished the value of the property and its “much needed cash flow for its operations.”

The property owners also had to dip into other operating funds to pay for tenant improvements, which also hurt the cash reserves.

After Wells Fargo filed a foreclosure lawsuit in Pulaski County Circuit Court in November against the 32 LLCs with ownership interests in the building, there was no choice but to go to bankruptcy court, McGhee said. Wells Fargo also wanted a receiver appointed.

Going to bankruptcy court allowed the owners to sidestep the “inherent cost and expense” of defending the foreclosure and receivership proceedings.

And it gave the owners “an opportunity to resolve their issues with [Wells Fargo] for the benefit of all” parties, McGhee said.

In the statement, she also asked that the utilities be kept on. She said the monthly utility bill for the 547,000-SF building is nearly $90,000. She said the owners expect to have enough cash to cover that expense.

When the owners filed for bankruptcy protection, they listed estimated debts of between $10 million and $50 million. A more detailed filing is expected later. The owners’ assets also are estimated at between $10 million and $50 million.

If McGhee’s name sounds familiar, it’s because we told you several weeks ago that she retired from Moses Tucker. In the filing, however, she said she has been “re-engaged” by Moses Tucker to help with the bankruptcy.

(Correction, Jan. 23, 2017: The original version of this story said Wells Fargo Bank was the lender. It is the trustee for a pool of investors.)

The Little Rock Technology Park announced Thursday that Ritter Communications of Jonesboro has signed a five-year lease for its new facility, set to open in downtown Little Rock in March.

"We're thrilled to be involved in a progressive environment where innovative solutions are being created," Scott Tollett, the company's senior vice president and general manager of Enterprise and Wholesale, said in a news release.

Ritter will occupy 1,328 SF on the fifth floor of the building at 417 Main St. for $2,500 per month, making the contract worth $150,000 total. The monthly fee includes furniture leased from the park, and Ritter's private suite has a dedicated conference room. 

Ritter will be the company's first location in Little Rock. It has offices in Searcy, Blytheville, Marked Tree, Jasper and Harrison; Millington, Tennessee; and Munford, Tennessee.

The Tech Park said the company is its first long-term tenant for an unfurnished upper floor. The announcement follows last week's news that Blue Sail Coffee Roasters of Conway has signed a three-year lease.

"Being a part of the Little Rock Tech Park will help us establish and maintain relationships with thought leaders in the area," Ritter President Alan Morse said. "It will also give us the ability to support tech startups and provide a consultative approach for their communications services. It's a great fit for us.”

The Tech Park said its goals specifically align with Ritter's product development group, which creates communication and information technology services for customers.

"The momentum created before we ever open our doors is validating not only Little Rock's need for a facility to house the area's burgeoning tech industry but also to the quality of startups and tech-focused companies we have in the area that are ready to climb the ladder of success," Brent Birch, the park's executive director, said. "Little Rock is making huge strides to become relevant in the regional tech community, and we are just getting started."

In June, the Little Rock Technology Park Authority Board approved a five-year, $66,0000 contract with Ritter for high-speed internet.

WASHINGTON — Americans pulled back sharply from buying new homes in December, but sales for all of 2016 were the highest since 2007.

(Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Thursday announced the following appointments.

Lona McCastlain, Austin, to the Parole Board. Appointment expires Jan. 14, 2024. Replaces James Wallace.

Ray Dillon, Little Rock, to the Arkansas Forestry Commission. Appointment expires Jan. 14, 2026. Reappointment.

Dee Holcomb, Pine Bluff, to the Arkansas Real Estate Commission. Appointment expires Dec. 31, 2019. Replaces Monica Freeland.

Bob Walker, Jacksonville, to the Arkansas Real Estate Commission. Appointment expires Dec. 31, 2019. Replaces Lesia Johnson Ford.

Eric Jackson, Hot Springs National Park, to the State Parks, Recreation and Travel Commission. Appointment expires Jan. 14, 2023. Replaces LeRoy Dangeau.

John Gill, Little Rock, to the State Parks, Recreation and Travel Commission. Appointment expires Jan. 14, 2023. Reappointment.

David Bazzel, Little Rock, to the State Parks, Recreation and Travel Commission. Appointment expires Jan. 14, 2023. Replaces Jay Bunyard.

Dr. Steven Cathey, North Little Rock, to the Arkansas State Medical Board. Appointment expires Dec. 31, 2022. Reappointment.

Dr. Sylvia Simon, Monticello, to the Arkansas State Medical Board. Appointment expires Dec. 31, 2022. Replaces Joseph Beck.

John Newcomb, Osceola, to the Board of Trustees of Arkansas Northeastern College. Appointment expires Dec. 31, 2022. Reappointment.

Clifton Chitwood, Osceola, to the Board of Trustees of Arkansas Northeastern College. Appointment expires Dec. 31, 2022. Reappointment.

Dr. Thomas Westbrook, Blytheville, to the Board of Trustees of Arkansas Northeastern College. Appointment expires Dec. 31, 2022. Reappointment.

Dr. John McAllister, Little Rock, to the Board of Trustees of the Arkansas School for the Blind and the Arkansas School for the Deaf. Appointment expires Jan. 14, 2022. Replaces Mary Weeks.

David Leech, Stuttgart, to the State Banking Board. Appointment expires Dec. 31, 2021. Replaces Elizabeth Bowles.

Dr. William Hewat, Fayetteville, to the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission. Appointment expires on Jan. 14, 2024. Replaces Monty Henderson.

Mayor Mike Gaskill, Paragould, to the State Aid Street Committee. Appointment expires Dec. 31, 2020. Replaces Mayor Mark Stodola.

Michael Hocutt, Little Rock, to the Contractors Licensing Board. Appointment expires Dec. 31, 2021. Reappointment.

Larry Brewer, Conway, to the Arkansas Fire Protection Services Board. Appointment expires on Oct. 14, 2019. Reappointment.

Dr. Vern Green, Jonesboro, to the Arkansas State Board of Registration for Professional Soil Classifiers. Appointment expires Nov. 1, 2021. Replaces John Harrington.

Dr. John Fleming, Little Rock, to the Department of Human Services State Institutional System Board. Appointment expires June 30, 2018. Replaces Douglas Kidd.

Thomas Wofford Jr., Jonesboro, to the Arkansas Department of Aeronautics. Appointment expires Nov. 9, 2021. Replaces William Morgan.

James Dawson, Clinton, to the Arkansas Department of Aeronautics. Appointment expires on Nov. 9, 2021. Replaces William McKenzie.

Barry Ball, Blytheville, to the Blytheville-Gosnell Regional Airport Authority. Appointment expires Nov. 1, 2022. Reappointment.

Russell Crowell, Manila, to the Blytheville-Gosnell Regional Airport Authority. Appointment expires Nov. 1, 2022. Replaces Oscar Ford.

Thomas Spillyards, Rogers, to the Board of Directors of the Arkansas Development Finance Authority. Appointment expires Jan. 14, 2021. Reappointment.

Gregory Stanfill, Rogers, to the Board of Directors of the Arkansas Development Finance Authority. Appointment expires Jan. 14, 2021. Reappointment.

Katelyn Busby, Monticello, to the Board of Directors of the Arkansas Development Finance Authority. Appointment expires Jan. 14, 2020. Replaces Sarah Capp.

Stephanie Ellis, Russellville, to the Board of Directors of the Arkansas Development Finance Authority. Appointment expires Jan. 14, 2021. Replaces Charley Baxter.

Larry Tate, Little Rock, to the Board of Directors of the Arkansas Development Finance Authority. Appointment expires Jan.14, 2021. Replaces Anthony Brooks.

Robert Moore, Arkansas City, to the Governor’s Advisory Council on Cycling. Serves at the will of the Governor.

Dr. Michelle Smith, North Little Rock, to the Governor’s Advisory Council on Cycling. Serves at the will of the Governor.

David Roberts, Maumelle, to the Governor’s Advisory Council on Cycling. Serves at the will of the Governor.

Joseph Jacobs, Little Rock, to the Governor’s Advisory Council on Cycling. Serves at the will of the Governor.

David Knight, Little Rock, to the Governor’s Advisory Council on Cycling. Serves at the will of the Governor.

D. Jim Dailey, Little Rock, to the Governor’s Advisory Council on Cycling. Serves at the will of the Governor.

Michael Chaffin, Little Rock, to the Governor’s Advisory Council on Cycling. Serves at the will of the Governor.

Dr. Jennifer Conner, Portland, to the Governor’s Advisory Council on Cycling. Serves at the will of the Governor.

Paxton Roberts, Fayetteville, to the Governor’s Advisory Council on Cycling. Serves at the will of the Governor.

Cherry Stewart, Hope, as a Justice of the Peace for the Hempstead County Quorum Court, District 2. Appointment expires Dec. 31, 2018. Replaces Billy Rook.

Kandice Bell, White Hall, as a Special Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Arkansas. CV-16-435 Samuel A. Perroni v. David Sachar, executive director. Replaces Justice Karen Baker, who has disqualified herself from the case.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy lost momentum in the final three months of 2016, closing out a year in which growth turned in the weakest performance in five years.

(Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Land for a 113,941-SF Lowe’s store in west Little Rock was assembled in four deals that added up to $6.1 million.

Lowe’s Home Centers LLC of Mooresville, North Carolina, acquired about 17.2 acres at the northwest corner of Kanis and Bowman roads in four transactions with:

• AJMATS-DT AR LLC, led by Stephen LaFrance Jr., 9.94 acres for $3.95 million. The land was bought in January 2004 as part of a $2.5 million deal with Jerry and Juanita Gibson.

• AH Development Inc., led by Bryan Austin and Keith Harper, 7.01 acres for $1.83 million.

The property was purchased for $980,000 in January 2005 from Kanis/Otter Creek Properties Ltd., led by Ralph Bozeman.

• Sam’s Real Estate Business Trust of Bentonville, a 0.57-acre parcel for $250,000.

The land was acquired in December 1992 as part of a $6.7 million deal with Aronov Realty Inc. of Montgomery, Alabama.

• HCB LLLP, led by Henry Browne, a 0.18-acre parcel for $63,944. The land was bought in July 2007 as part of a $2.4 million deal with Stephen L. LaFrance Pharmacy Inc.

Municipal Buy
A 48,062-SF office building in downtown Little Rock tipped the scales at $3.35 million.

The city of Little Rock purchased the Cromwell Building at 101 Spring St. from No. 1 Spring Street Building Ltd., led by Charles Penix.

The 0.4-acre development previously was tied to a December 2015 mortgage of $2 million held by IberiaBank of Lafayette, Louisiana.

The limited partnership acquired the location for $149,000 in January 1974 from the Housing Authority of Little Rock.

Artisan Acquisition
An undeveloped 2.1-acre commercial site in downtown Little Rock weighed in at $1.7 million.

Artisan On Collins LLC, led by David Thompson, bought the one-block property bound by Collins Street on the east, Fourth Street on the north, Rector Street on the west and East Capitol Avenue on the south.

The seller is Industrial Realty Co., led by Sarah Brown Hopkins.

The deal is backed with an $854,440 loan from Gateway Bank of Rison.

The property was assembled by the Brown family and their Arkansas Foundry Co. in three deals with Theo and Annette Sanders and Grace Wentworth, $3,500 in November 1944; and the Missouri Pacific Railroad Co. of St. Louis, $16,100 in March 1952 and $50,000 in December 1958.

Innovation Purchase
West Little Rock property is under new ownership after buys totaling $1.02 million. Innovation Valley LLC, led by Bruce Murphy, acquired the land on the western end of Wilson Lake from:

• Rocket Properties LLC, led by Lisenne Rockefeller and Ron Tyne, 10.89 acres for $750,000.

The limited liability company provided a two-year loan of $500,000 to finance the deal.

• Elgor Inc., led by Pattye Wilson Lassiter, 2.83 acres for $275,000. Elgor provided a two-year loan of $175,000 to fund the deal.

Rocket Properties purchased its land in April 2005 as part of a $2.6 million deal with Elgor Inc.

The Wilson family, led by Eleanor and Gordon Wilson, bought the other property in November 1946 as part of a $2,500 transaction with Royce and Alma James.

Retail Sale
A 10,730-SF retail project in Little Rock changed hands in a $775,000 deal.

AAR 2016 LLC, led by Baljinder and Laddie Singh, purchased the EZ Food Mart Center at 4401-4421 12th St. from Chong and Une Kim.

The deal is backed with a five-year loan of $628,946 from Regions Bank of Birmingham, Alabama.

The 0.84-acre development was acquired for $485,000 in November 2010 from Jung Rhee.

Motel Transaction
A 47-room motel in Little Rock rang up a $760,000 sale.

Mody Hospitality Inc., led by Ramesh and Kunai Mody, bought the Hometown Return project at 5301 Asher Ave. from Ritz Motel Inc., led by Jitendrakumar Patel.

The deal is financed with a 15-year loan of $560,000 from Ritz Motel.

The 1.77-acre development was purchased for an undisclosed sum in October 1968 from J.S. Farms Inc., led by James Sawyer.

Liquor Deal
A liquor store near Maumelle drew a $310,000 transaction.

Satguru LLC, led by Jagdav Singh and Baljit Kaur, acquired Sody’s Liquor at 26607 Hwy. 365 from Garry and Peggy Glover.

The deal is funded with a $200,000 loan from Centennial Bank of Conway and a $57,666 loan from the Glovers.

The Glover family bought the 0.14-acre property in March 1985 as part of a $305,000 deal with Harlan Thornton Jr. and his wife, Rosemond.

Downtown Flip
A 2,889-SF commercial project in downtown Little Rock was flipped for $250,000.

Margaret Roy purchased the McGehee Piano location at 1608 Main St. from Brett Pitts and Kevin Walsh.

The 0.09-acre development was acquired for $209,000 in September from Tomcat Holdings LLC, led by Spencer Elman and Steven Curtis Wait.

Office Property
Four office condos in west Little Rock sold for $205,000.

Thomas and Lori Schneider bought the units at 2024 Arkansas Valley Drive from TJS Properties LLC, led by Timothy Ridge, James Scruggs and Stephen Milliken.

The deal is backed with a five-year loan of $164,000 from Simmons Bank of Pine Bluff.

TJS purchased the office space for $220,000 in August 2005 from Bob and Lorraine Roberts.

Hickory Pointe House
A 5,074-SF home in west Little Rock’s Hickory Pointe neighborhood is under new ownership after a $620,000 transaction.

Clinton Fuller III and his wife, Susan, acquired the house from Conkin Enterprises Inc., led by Jeanette Flemister.

The deal is financed with a one-year loan of $500,000 from One Bank & Trust of Little Rock.

Conkin bought the property for $500,000 in September 2010 from the Robert B. May Revocable Living Trust.

Kandi Hughes has been hired as an attorney at Southwest Power Pool of Little Rock in the company’s corporate legal department.

Hughes was also recently appointed to the Little Rock School District Community Advisory Board. She previously served as associate general counsel to the University of Central Arkansas.

Todd E. Brown has been promoted to partner at the CPA and consulting firm EGP PLLC. He is a CPA specializing in individual and small to medium-sized business tax issues, oil and gas taxation and accounting services with an emphasis on construction and contractors.

Brown has been with the firm in Heber Springs since 2005. The firm has offices in North Little Rock, Heber Springs, Jonesboro and Bryant.

Pat Hitt has been hired as an associate at Re501 Realtor Partners. She joins the company with more than two decades of experience.

See more of this week's Movers & Shakers, and submit your own announcement at ArkansasBusiness.com/Movers.

A Van Buren investment group bought a 268,000-SF office-warehouse in Rogers for $4.8 million.

Breeden Robinson LLC, led by Larry Breeden, bought the facility from Superior Industries International Arkansas LLC, a subsidiary of Superior Industries of Van Nuys, California.

The facility at 1301 N. Dixieland Road was built in 1989 and includes about 229,000 SF of warehouse space and 12,000 SF of office space.

Marshall Saviers of Sage Partners in Fayetteville represented the buyer, and Holmes Davis of Binswanger represented Superior Industries.

Upchurch Electrical
The president and CEO of Upchurch Electrical Supply bought the company’s Fayetteville headquarters.

Double DMC Holdings LLC of Fayetteville, led by David McConnell, paid $2.15 million for Upchurch’s 24,704-SF office and warehouse at 2355 N. Gregg Ave.

McConnell became sole owner of the company when he was named president and CEO in 2007.

Upchurch, a wholesale supply company, was founded in 1955 and has locations in Fayetteville, Rogers and Fort Smith.

Fayetteville’s Signature Bank of Arkansas assisted the purchase with a loan of $1.72 million.

The seller was KMW Holdings LLC, led by former President and CEO Jeffery Koenig, who retired in 2007. KMW Holdings acquired ownership of the facility for a bit more than $2 million in 2005.

Fayetteville Car Wash
Speedy Splash Car Wash Arkansas LLC of Owasso, Oklahoma, paid $1.05 million for the Auto Magic Car Wash at 3274 N. College Ave.

Speedy Splash is led by Tony and Lori Fitch.

The seller was DCE Inc., led by Drew and Ella McGee of Pea Ridge. Speedy Splash also acquired an adjacent half-acre lot on North Lee Avenue.

United Bank of Springdale assisted the purchase with a loan of $1.24 million.

Adams Street Townhouses
A housing complex in Fayetteville sold for $775,000.

Fayetteville Fund LLC, led by Philip Schmidt and Jordan Jeter, who are partners at Flake & Kelley Commercial Northwest, bought Adams Street Townhomes at 601 Adams St.

The complex has seven units of more than 9,500 SF.

The seller was CRR Properties LLC of North Little Rock, led by Arby Smith.

Bear State Bank of Little Rock assisted the transaction with a loan of $610,000.

Price Cutter
Harps Food Stores Inc. of Springdale bought its Cutter Food Warehouse in Springdale.

Harps paid $1.12 million for the 48,450-SF facility at 1101 S. Thompson St. The property is a little more than 1.5 acres.

The seller was Harp, Harp & Van Hoose General Partnership, a group composed of the Reland Harp Family Testamentary Trust, the Gerald Harp Family Trust and Jerre Max Van Hoose.

The general partnership group and Harps terminated a lease agreement before the sale.

Harps Food Store
A Springdale investor acquired a 7.5-acre property that includes a Harps Grocery and the Plaza Shopping Center at 1300 N. Thompson St. in Springdale.

Almaraz SPE LLC, led by Antonio Almaraz, paid $2.65 million.

The seller was Harp’s Properties of Little Rock.

Ohio National Life Insurance Co. of Cincinnati assisted the purchase with a loan of $4.2 million.

Springdale Dunkin’ Donuts
The site of a future Dunkin’ Donuts in Springdale went for $585,650.

Hyde Park Properties I LLC, led by Jack Goehring IV and Greg Vasey, bought the 0.7-acre lot on Elm Springs Road.

Goehring and Vasey are partners in Hyde Park Ventures, which operates Dunkin’ Donuts franchises.

The lot is adjacent to the Whataburger restaurant at 4172 Elm Springs Road.

The seller was Elm Springs Center LLC, led by John and Joyce Pak.

First Fidelity Bank of Oklahoma City assisted the transaction with loans of $1.03 million and $213,750.

The story of Dogpatch USA is a meandering one that now covers half a century. Its course resembles the winding, up-and-down path of Scenic Highway 7 that brought hundreds of thousands of visitors during its 25-year run.

(Editor’s Note: This is the latest in a series of business history feature stories. Suggestions for future Fifth Monday articles are welcome. Please contact Gwen Moritz at (501) 372-1443 or GMoritz@ABPG.com.)

Jordan Jeter led an investment group that paid $1.1 million for a 32,000-SF building at 271 W. Main St. in Farmington in June and hopes to announce a tenant in the next six weeks.

Jeter, a partner with Flake & Kelley Commercial Northwest, said the prospective tenant has agreed to a long-term lease but declined to identify the company. He did say it was a regional home-goods and furniture retailer that should prove a great fit to the growing Farmington area.

Much as Centerton has grown farther north as a spillover area to Rogers and Bentonville, Farmington has seen growth just west of Fayetteville. The previous owner, Emily Tan and her business partner Tony Reeves, operated Oops, a home-goods store at the location, before selling to Jeter’s group.

Before Oops, the location was the longtime site of a Marvin’s IGA.

“It’s the perfect setup for the retailer,” Jeter said. “We got a lot of calls on it. There were a lot of [potential] tenants who had good ideas. Farmington is a super hot market.”

When Jeter’s group bought the Oops building, it also bought two adjacent private residences with the idea of converting those spaces to fast-food restaurants or some other commercial outlet. Jeter said the group has concentrated on renovating the Oops building and fixed up the residences as rental properties with the idea of converting them to commercial at a later date.

“There’s a need for more retail out there,” he said. “There’s a ton of traffic. Ideally, we’d like to put some food there. I’d love to see some kind of chicken place.”

Time to crack open a six-pack of multimillion-dollar transactions courtesy of Pulaski County.

• LLArk Properties LLC of St. Louis Park, Minnesota, bought the 40,000-SF collision center at 10005 Col. Glenn Road in Little Rock for more than $2.5 million.

Seller? Aimco Equipment Co. LLC, led by Frank, Herren and Todd Hickingbotham.

• Markham Square Holdings LLC, led by Jason LaFrance, sold its namesake 25,400-SF retail center in west Little Rock for $1.8 million.

Buyer: 9801 West Markham LLC, led by Justin Muller and Andrew Holbert.

• BlueCoop LLC, led by Robert Bluejacket, Marcia Cooper and Glenn Petkovsek, purchased the 45,860-SF warehouse at 4949 W. Bethany Road in North Little Rock for $1.6 million.

Seller: JWJ Investments LLC, led by Steve Jenkins.

• D&S Mini Storage LLC, led by Sharon and Donald Wood, sold its 358-unit project at 3210 E. Cleland Road in Cabot for $1.6 million.

Buyer? Tabot LLC, led by Terry Bean.

• Parker Investments Group LLC, led by Ricky Parker, bought the 33-unit Cantrell Valley Apartments at 7201 Kentucky Ave. in Little Rock for $1.2 million.

Seller? Jarrett Property Management EYBJ LLC, led by Emery Jarrett.

• James and Terry Barnes sold a 17,082-SF office-warehouse at 12123 Kanis Road in west Little Rock for $1.1 million to Madina Institute Inc., led by Muhammad Nino.

The owners of the 30-story Regions Center in downtown Little Rock have filed a more detailed account of their debts and assets for the building in their Chapter 11 reorganization case.

The total debt is listed at $30.4 million, according to documents in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. The building, the owners said, is appraised at $40.5 million. There are 32 LLCs with an ownership interest in the building.

The largest debt, which is secured by the property and the assignment of leases and rents, is to Wells Fargo Bank, a trustee for a pool of investors who made the loan to the building owners in 2006 so they could buy the property.

The investors have a legal name: the Registered Holders of COMM 2006-C8 Commercial Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates. (In last week’s Whispers, Wells Fargo was incorrectly identified as the lender.)

The gross revenue for building owners was $8.3 million in 2015, up 10 percent from the year before. The revenue, though, had fallen to $6.65 million from Jan. 1 through Dec. 9, 2016, the date they filed for bankruptcy protection.

The bankruptcy filing also showed that in March the building was struck by lightning, causing $250,000 in damage.

In the initial filings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware in December, the owners listed estimated debts of between $10 million and $50 million.

The bankruptcy filing put a hold on all legal proceedings against the property owners, including the foreclosure lawsuit filed against them in November in Pulaski County Circuit Court.

An attorney for Regions Center’s owners, Mark Rubin of Florida, told Arkansas Business in December that the owners expect to be out of bankruptcy in the first or second quarter of 2017.

“We have a plan to reorganize the property and pay off the loan and to finance it with a new lender,” he said.

Trouble is brewing for Joanie White-Wagoner, administrator and vice president at the new $150 million Baptist Health Medical Center-Conway.

She and her husband, Darren Wagoner, are facing foreclosure on a 45-acre Conway horse ranch and restaurant complex that they bought less than a year ago.

In a complaint filed last month in Faulkner County Circuit Court, Centennial Bank claims that the Wagoners and their Inception Management Group LLC are in default on about $2.7 million in debt connected to the Back Achers Ranch and Legends Bar & Grill at 3725 College Ave. The complaint says that Wagoner and White-Wagoner failed to make payments on a $2.5 million mortgage they assumed in buying the property from Letitia McMaster in May, as well as a $200,000 business loan from the same time.

The property, including the restaurant and a 47,000-SF arena, appears to be out of business. The restaurant’s listed phone number has been disconnected, and repeated calls to the ranch number drew a busy signal.

White-Wagoner was named to lead the Conway hospital a year ago, long before its opening in September. Previously, she served as the administrator and chief operating officer of Texas General Hospital near Dallas. She is an Air Force veteran and longtime rider, according to various interviews.

The Centennial complaint, filed by Sherwood attorney Vaughan Hankins, says that the Wagoners personally guaranteed the loans, and that as of Dec. 22 they owed $2.5 million and accrued interest of $46,780 on the mortgage alone. “The Bank’s right of foreclosure has become absolute” on both loans, the complaint says.

White-Wagoner did not return a call to her office at the hospital on Thursday, and no response had been filed in court.

A Camden real estate agent stands accused of pushing her teenage daughter into the arms of a survivor of the Deepwater Horizon explosion, and then, after he died in a car accident, faking his will to leave his nearly $2 million estate to the daughter.

The fraudulent will for Matthew Seth Jacobs, who was 34 when he died two years ago, left nearly all of his assets to his purported fiancée, Jordan Alexandra “Alex” Peterson, daughter of Donna Herring. The will left Jacobs’ son and only child, Jordan Jacobs, just $50,000.

The alleged scheme almost worked. It wasn’t until after the assets were distributed in December 2015 that “new evidence” was discovered that showed the will was a forgery, according to a filing in the Probate Division of Ouachita County Circuit Court by Jordan Jacobs’ attorney, Adam Reid of Little Rock.

In November, Herring was indicted by a federal grand jury in El Dorado on charges of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. The indictment was under seal until last month.

A new filing in the case lists Peterson, now 21, and Herring’s sister and brother-in-law, Marion “Diane” Kinley and John Wayne Kinley Jr., as co-defendants, but their indictments have not been made public.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office for the Western District of Arkansas declined to comment. A filing in Herring’s case last week, though, said Herring had been charged with the additional count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, perhaps hinting at the charge filed against the others.

The federal government has seized assets from Jacobs’ estate from Herring, including nearly $720,000 in cash, four homes, a 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe and other pieces of property. If Herring is convicted, the government asks that the property be forfeited.

Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said in an email to Arkansas Business last week that the department’s Criminal Investigation Division has an open investigation “arising out of the death” of Matt Jacobs, but it was unrelated to the one-car crash that killed him on Jan. 19, 2015. Sadler said he couldn’t comment further until a case file is submitted to a prosecuting attorney.

Herring, 50, has pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court. She referred questions last week to her criminal defense attorney, Erin Cassinelli of Little Rock.

“We look forward to the opportunity to bring the truth to light and provide accurate information as it pertains to the allegations,” Cassinelli told Arkansas Business.

Reid, the attorney for Jacobs’ son, Jordan, provided this email statement to Arkansas Business: “We are doing everything we can to uncover the truth, and are hopeful for a full and timely resolution; however, with respect to the decedent and the privacy of his family, we are unable to comment at this time.”

Survivor Gets Settlement
The suspect will led to multiple civil filings in Ouachita County Circuit Court, including challenges to the probate of the will and a civil tort case filed by Matt Jacobs’ estate. Case files from Ouachita County and additional pleadings in the federal criminal case against Herring provide a glimpse into the events that led to Herring’s indictment.

An avid hunter, Matt Jacobs was working as a roustabout on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig off the coast of Louisiana in April 2010. His job duties included working with the crane crew and handling the maintenance of the deck, according to a video interview he gave to John Konrad, CEO of gCaptain, a maritime and offshore news website. The video is posted on Vimeo.com.

Jacobs said he was in his room around 9:30 p.m. on April 20, 2010, when he heard a loud hissing noise that sounded like a helicopter. But the sound kept getting louder. An explosion soon followed.

“The pressure in my room, ... it was just like a gust of wind come in there and sweep you off your feet,” he said. “The percussion was so intense.”

He managed to get to a lifeboat and escape. Eleven people who were on the rig died, and the damage to the oil well allowed petroleum to leak into the Gulf of Mexico for months. The event was dramatized in last year’s film “Deepwater Horizon” starring Mark Wahlberg.

Jacobs was done working on rigs.

“God gave me a chance to get off that rig and he got me off safely,” Jacobs said in the interview. “I’m going to keep my feet on dry land now.”

Deepwater Horizon Interview - Matthew Jacobs Roustabout from gCaptain.com on Vimeo.

Jacobs eventually received a multimillion-dollar settlement for his injuries, and those payments began paying in April 2012.

Jacobs returned to Camden, where his family lived. There he wanted to use settlement money to buy a home and invest in other properties.

He turned to Century 21 Campbell & Co., a Camden real estate agency, and Donna Herring was the agent who assisted him, according to the pleadings by Reid, Jordan Jacobs’ lawyer.

Herring began her career in real estate in 2006 at the Campbell firm after completing a real estate course from the National School of Real Estate of North Little Rock.

At that time, she still went by Donna Peterson, even though she’d been divorced from James Peterson since 2000. That marriage produced daughter Alex, who was born in April 1995. In 2007, at age 40, Donna married 53-year-old Charles “Doug” Herring in Hot Springs.

The first property Herring helped Jacobs buy, in May 2012, was a 2,410-SF brick house in Ouachita County for $234,848. His house was less than a 5-minute walk from Herring’s home, proximity that proved beneficial.

A Fatal Car Accident
After Jacobs moved into the house she sold him, Herring “became closely involved in Matthew’s life,” according to Reid’s filing. For example, she arranged for her daughter, who was in high school, “to regularly visit Matthew’s house as a housekeeper.”

Herring also arranged for Jacobs to work for her husband at his business, Meeks Pest Control in Camden.

At Herring’s urging, Jacobs began dating Peterson in 2013, the year she turned 18, Reid said in the filing.

They purportedly were engaged in 2014, but never married. Alex Peterson lived in rental property owned by Matt Jacobs while she attended Henderson State University in Arkadelphia. When not in school, she lived with Jacobs, according to the civil case.

The filings don’t indicate what happened in their relationship.

On the night of Jan. 19, 2015, Jacobs was believed to be on his way to visit a girlfriend, who wasn’t Peterson, according to a lawsuit filed in August 2016 in Ouachita County Circuit Court on behalf of Jacobs’ estate by attorney Bruce Tidwell of Little Rock.

Jacobs wouldn’t make it.

At 9 p.m., driving a two-door, 2005 Chrysler Crossfire on Highway 79, Jacobs lost control, crossed the oncoming lanes of traffic and, without braking, slammed into a tree, according to a traffic report from the Arkansas State Police that was included in the probate filing. Jacobs, who wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, died at the scene.

Search for the Will
Immediately after his death, Jacobs’ son and brother, Lance Reed, scoured Jacobs’ house — including the gun safe — looking for a will, but found none.

Gerry Beyer, a law professor who teaches wills and trusts at the Texas Tech University School of Law in Lubbock, said a will should be kept in a safe place, where it would not be found by someone who would want to destroy it and substitute it with a forged will.

“So maybe you leave it with a trusted friend, a trusted family member, a trusted lawyer,” he said. “You have to protect it.”

With no will, Jacobs’ entire estate, which was valued at approximately $1.7 million, would have passed to his son. Peterson would have received nothing.

Just before midnight on Jan. 24, 2015, Herring slipped into the Century 21 office in downtown Camden and created a will for Jacobs, according to an affidavit filed by FBI Special Agent Tonja Sablatura that was filed in U.S. District Court.

The will named Peterson as executor and gave her the majority of the estate. An attachment indicated that Diane and John Kinley, Herring’s sister and brother-in-law, had witnessed Jacobs signing the will on May 13, 2014.

The next morning, Herring told Reed that she had found a “large sealed envelope with the initials ‘MJ’ written on the front, located in her office,” according to court filings.

It was a copy of the will that Herring allegedly created after Jacobs’ death, and Herring had it delivered to attorney Paul Lindsey of Camden.

Lindsey didn’t return a call from Arkansas Business.

But the original still needed to be found.

So Dennis Davis of Camden, a friend who grew up in the same neighborhood as Donna Herring, was asked for a favor, according to his statement filed in the estate’s civil case in Ouachita County.

Herring said she needed “someone who the family knew and trusted” to meet her, her husband and her daughter at Jacobs’ home around lunchtime on Jan. 27, 2015, and be present while she opened the gun safe to see if a will was inside.

Davis arrived at Jacobs’ house and watched Donna Herring open the safe and pull out a sealed, white letter-sized envelope.

He then delivered it to Lindsey’s office and never thought much about it after that.

“I had no idea what was going on, nor did I care,” Davis told Arkansas Business. “It’s none of my business.”

Will Challenged
In addition to what was being represented as the original of Jacobs’ will, the envelope contained a love letter from Jacobs to Peterson. The letter, Reid said in his filing, was used to “invoke sympathy and understanding as to why Matthew left everything to her and virtually disinherited his only child.”

The will named Peterson as the executor of the estate. But since she was 19 and state law requires an executor to be at least 21, Jacobs’ brother, Reed, became the executor.

The will left Jordan Jacobs, who was 17 at the time, $50,000 for his education.

The boy’s mother, Tina Nutt of Bearden, sought a review of the will. In June 2015, she filed a petition asking the probate judge to interpret the will and suggesting that a proper division would benefit Jordan Jacobs and Alex Peterson equally. Nutt’s petition didn’t challenge the authenticity of the will.

A settlement reached in August 2015 gave Jordan more of his father’s assets. Still, Peterson kept about 85 percent of his estate.

Beyer, the law professor, said a probate judge wouldn’t normally have reason to suspect that a filed will was a forgery. Still, he said, “It’s very difficult to get away with a forged will because there’s always the people who would receive the property if the will is set aside. So they always want to show up and prove that the will is forged.”

He said the forging of wills is a crime that dates back hundreds of years.

‘I Knew It Was Wrong’
After the assets were distributed in late December 2015, Peterson gave away or traded several pieces of Jacobs’ property, including cars and boats. In March 2016, Herring bought a 2012 Lexus using $26,600 from Jacobs’ estate, according to the criminal indictment.

Sometime after the assets were distributed, it was discovered that the will was allegedly created through the legal document drafting website Formswift.com days after Jacobs’ death, Reid said in his filing. The filing doesn’t say how the discovery was made or by whom, nor does it say who first contacted the FBI, which started investigating in April 2016.

Sablatura, the FBI special agent, said in an affidavit prepared in September that she noticed differences between the will filed in probate court and one that had been faxed on Jan. 27, 2015 — mainly inconsistencies in what was supposed to be Jacobs’ signature.

In interviews with law enforcement officers in July, Herring admitted creating the wills after Jacobs’ death, according to Sablatura’s affidavit.

The FBI agent said Herring’s brother-in-law, John Kinley, also told law enforcement officials that Herring had brought the will to him and his wife to sign as witnesses after Jacobs’ death.

“I knew it was wrong because it was illegal,” Kinley allegedly said.

His wife, Diane Kinley, “was interviewed by law enforcement and provided statements that are not believed to be truthful,” Sablatura said in the affidavit. She asked for an attorney and the interview was stopped. The Kinleys couldn’t be reached at the phone numbers that they listed on the will.

Herring’s daughter, Alex Peterson, told law enforcement officials that she knew her mother created the will after Jacobs died, according to Sablatura’s affidavit. An attorney for Peterson, Allen Roberts of Camden, didn’t return a call for comment.

There’s no indication in any files that a true will has been located, but there’s reason to believe one exists: Jacob’s life insurance policy beneficiary designation reads: “Estate of Matthew Jacobs per last will and testament — 100%,” according to Sablatura. The date of the policy wasn’t included in her affidavit.

Meanwhile, Herring’s trial had been set for Feb. 6. Her attorney, Cassinelli, asked last week for a continuance because the discovery is “voluminous and still on-going.” The new trial date is April 3 in U.S. District Judge Susan Hickey's courtroom in El Dorado.

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump signed an order on Monday that will seek to dramatically pare back federal regulations by requiring agencies to cut two existing regulations for every new rule introduced.

"This will be the biggest such act that our country has ever seen. There will be regulation, there will be control, but it will be normalized control," Trump said as he signed the order in the Oval Office, surrounded by a group of small business owners.

Trump's latest executive action will prepare a process for the White House to set an annual cap on the cost of new regulations, a senior official told reporters ahead of the signing.

For the rest of fiscal 2017, the cap will require that the cost of any additional regulations be completely offset by undoing existing rules, the official said on customary condition of anonymity.

Trump, a businessman turned politician, campaigned on a promise to reduce federal regulations that he said burdened American businesses.

Major regulations are typically reviewed by the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) before they are issued. That review will continue under this new measure, but agencies will also have to identify what two regulations will be repealed to offset the costs of any new rule.

The new order does not require that the repeal of the two regulations be done simultaneously with the release of additional rules, the official said.

"This vests tremendous power and responsibility in the OMB director to ensure the president's direction in how we manage this across the government," the official said.

Certain categories of regulations will be exempt from this new policy, including those dealing with the military and national security. The OMB director will also have the ability to waive this policy in certain instances.

Trump has tapped U.S. Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-South Carolina, to lead the OMB.

WASHINGTON — More Americans signed contracts to buy homes in December. The increase possibly reflects more people scrambling to purchase homes as mortgage rates have been rising and increasing the costs of ownership.

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