Tycoons in the making - Where are they now?

We profiled some real estate investors when the markets were hot. How are they doing as real estate has cooled?

John Fragnito
John Fragnito
Status: Buying

Stance: Bullish

John Fragnito felt like he had to return to his home area in central Washington to afford to enter into the housing market.

When we profiled him in June 2005, he owned two multi-family buildings with a total of 18 units, a commercial building and had a half-share of a single-family residence. Much of the value of these buildings came as the result of the sweat equity he put in.

At the time, Fragnito intended to add to his holdings, which he has, although only modestly. He bought a couple of lots, one where he is breaking ground on a new house for himself and another on a river a few miles away.

"I've got plans to bring in power, septic and punch a well, then maybe put in a cabin and rent it out," he says.Appreciation has been excellent in Washington State and Fragnito estimates his equity has increased by close to $100,000 as a result. He has also sold an option on a 14-unit building that will provide a big profit if the deal goes through.

He has remained on the lookout for deals, which are less abundant than in the past.

"I'm always looking for a repo or someone selling at a big discount," he says.


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John Fragnito

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.