Davenports says that his company represented the lenders-- which are local or regionally-based--in the sale of three small commercial buildings in March and one in February. What this means, he says, is that lenders that have foreclosed on these small properties are now more willing to "meet the market," that is, accept what buyers are willing to pay for these properties.

Lavista acted on behalf of State Bank & Trust of Atlanta in the sale of a 20,000-square foot industrial building in Dawsonville and a 5,900-square-foot office building in Alpharetta; the Norcross-based Excel Federal Credit Union in the sale of a 17,280-square foot, freestanding office building in Cumming and Hiram-based West Side Bank in the disposition of a 9,000-square-foot office building in Satellite Park at Huntcrest in Suwanee. All of these properties are in suburban Atlanta.

Davenport says that most of the properties sold were office buildings because it was in the office sector which had most of the activity in recent years. He declined to give the sales prices or amounts of the loans owned on these properties.

These sales are taking place, says Davenport, because investors are recognizing that this is the best time to buy. "Plus, in a lot of cases, depending on the financial stability and/or their loss-share agreements with the FDIC, lenders are becoming more able to take the losses today than 12 to 18 months ago," he says. Until recently, the FDIC was telling banks that they couldn't write down the loans to the point where the properties would sell, says Davenport. "As a practical matter," he says, banks with a low capital basis can't afford to take too many losses because the FDIC might decide to shut them down, he says.

"We deal in large and small properties," says Davenport, "but the majority of the activity is on smaller assets, because it is difficult to obtain debt on large assets today," he says. "But the first sign of a recovery is that smaller transactions start to move, says Davenport.