Smith opened new auto dealership in former Hovey Motor Cars building
The phrase is “Location, location, location.” Every homeowner or buyer, every business owner, every real estate agent knows the phrase, true to heart.
Real estate broker Jeff Smith knows that better than anyone.
Smith, in real estate for more than two decades and owner of San Antonio Elite Realty, decided last year to venture into the car sales business for the first time, after years of personally buying and selling hundreds of vehicles.
So Smith entered the car sales business in October 2024, with Boerne as the selected site for his showroom — Luxury and Classic Cars of Boerne.
And what better location than a site already on people’s radar for classic and luxury vehicles — the former Hovey Motor Cars location on the Interstate 10 East access road.
“That’s exactly why I did come (to this site), he said, “because customers were coming in because (the Hoveys) sold luxury cars to people from here, for years.”
“The first time I ever owned a car dealership is when I opened this one,” Smith said on Monday, from his office inside the former Hovey Motor Cars location.
But what felt so totally attractive in October 2024 became an instant boondoggle for Smith last week, when Richard Hovey Sr. and his son, Richard Hovey Jr., were arrested, charged with theft over $300,000 and misapplication of financial property, and jailed.
“They had already filed the bankruptcy in (May, 2024). But Hovey still owns the building,” Smith said.
Smith was not at Luxury and Classic Cars of Boerne Thursday morning when police detectives rolled in with search warrants, ready to confiscate Hovey computers and paperwork pertaining to the arrested car dealer’s finances.
“My office manager was here. The police wanted to take our computers, but he stood up to them,” Smith said. “He made clear for them, the distinction between Hovey Motors and (Smith’s) Luxury and Classic Cars of Boerne. We’re not them.”
On Monday, Smith employees began covering the “Hovey” sign that has graced the front of the building since Hovey opened the business in 2018.
“The Hovey signs were everywhere; I wasn’t allowed to take them down because Hovey still owns the building. Technically, it’s still their building,” he said.
Smith said he quickly realized, “I’ve got two choices: Either people need to know I’m different, or I need to find another place, and you can’t move this like you can (your average business),” he said.
“I do have a couple of consignments, and of course they came running in here (when the Hoveys were charged),” he said. “But as soon as they realized it wasn’t them, they were fine with us.”
Smith said it was hard to tell whether the Hovey arrests on Wednesday affected his weekend business.
“We did have several people still come in. But it was Easter weekend. And, we’ve had several come in (on Monday),” he added.
Smith said consignments might be the only aspect of his business that “takes a hit” because of what happened. But Smith personally owns all but one or two of the 30-32 cars he maintains on his lot. “Consignment is such a small part of my business,” he said. Smith stood outside the building Monday, watching three employees cover a sign on the front of the building that, for six years, announced the former car dealer’s name.
“That’s what I’ve got to get across to people,” he said. “I’m not them. We’re an entirely different business.
“I have a half-million- dollar investment in the business. It’s my dream that it’ll take off and do well,” he said. “And it will. At the end of the day, it’s not going to hurt my business.”
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