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The real estate bubble burst was probably the one of the hardest realities faced in the last few years. Around the United States the artificially inflated housing market came crashing down. This hard truth hit several people all across the nation drastically. Some lost investments, some lost their jobs, some lost their houses. For Ron Barness, the bubble bursting meant losing everything. Ron Barness was one of the biggest contenders in the real estate market in Pheonix, AR.

The real estate damage was not just from the crash. Several civil lawsuits were filed again Ron and his partner, Alex Papakyriakou. Investors in the area alleged that Ron and his partner were not accurately reporting earnings, or the sales of property. The Maricopa County Superior Court has dismissed all but one of the investor lawsuits to date. With luck, the remaining investor lawsuit will work through the legal system and be dismissed.

The civil lawsuits were not the only hassle Ron faced during this rough economic time. Other outstanding lawsuits against Ron surfaced. These lawsuits were from lenders contending the personal guarantee that Ron made on each real estate investment. The issues came from investors who felt angry they lost money in the real estate market. These investors turned to the legal system to try to recoup some of their losses, at the expense of Ron Barness.

Ron Barness has been in real estate over 27 years. During this career he has acquired, developed more than 300 shopping center investment properties. Most of the work involved nearly 1,000 investors or partners. Ron was very good with investments, prior to the bubble burst in 2007, no investor had ever lost money when dealing with Barness. Statistically speaking, most of the investor returns ranged from 15 to 30 percent each year.

The market turning for the worse negatively affected everyone, including Ron. Each of Ron Barness’ properties suffered vacancies which stemmed the cash flow. In a heroic effort to weather the bubble burst, Ron invested his own personal savings into the investments. This was an effort to salvage some of the investments and protect the investor’s money. Each of Ron’s projects were financed through 27 different lenders. These transactions were personally guaranteed to show how strongly he believed in the investments.

Barness lost almost everything he had strived to create. His family and the majority of the investors have stayed by his side. The real estate bubble burst was more than most people could have weathered. Today, Barness is back at work striving to re-establish what he once owned. The hard lessons he has endured have taught him to be more cautious in the investments. That does not stop him, however, but gives him more strength to go on.