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The Cogsville Group Acquires 94 Chicago Properties from FHFA Bulk Sale

""The Cogsville Group, LLC"":http://cogsvillegroup.com/home.html picked up 94 Fannie Mae foreclosures in Chicago through the Federal Housing Finance Agency's REO Initiative.

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The Cogsville Group is a private equity firm based in New York with a focus on distressed sales.

The FHFA said in a release that all properties purchased through the program were sold near or above market value.

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The 94 properties sold included 111 units, 68 of which were occupied. The third party valuation for the properties was about $13.7 million, and the transaction value to Fannie Mae is $11.8 million, according to the ""transaction summary"":http://www.homepath.com/sales_history.html.

""With the shifting fundamentals in the housing markets, single family residential is fast becoming an important asset class and we believe our experience and knowledge of local dynamics will benefit us in achieving economies of scale in Chicago and other markets across the country."" said Donald Cogsville, CEO of The Cogsville Group, in a release.

The agency's REO to rental program was first introduced in February, and included about 2,500 single-family Fannie Mae foreclosures in targeted metros such as Las Vegas, Phoenix, Chicago, Riverside and Los Angeles. Through the program, the properties are sold in bulk to institutional investors, who will convert the foreclosures into rental properties. Atlanta was the only metro part of the initiative that did not have a buyer for its properties.

According to the FHFA release, Fannie Mae will continue with bulk sales in markets with a strong demand for rental housing and a surplus of REO properties.

The first winning bidder for the program was Pacifica Companies, LLC, which ""purchased 699 Fannie Mae"":http://dsnews.comarticles/first-winning-bidder-announced-for-fhfas-reo-bulk-sale-2012-09-10 properties in Florida.