U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20549

FORM 4

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP

Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or
Section 30(f) of the Investment Company Act of 1940


[_]  Check this box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5
     obligations may continue. SEE Instruction 1(b).

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1.   Name and Address of Reporting Person*

Basic Capital Management, Inc.
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   (Last)                           (First)             (Middle)

1800 Valley View Lane, Suite 300
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                                    (Street)

Dallas                                TX                  75234
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   (City)                           (State)              (Zip)


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2.   Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol

American Realty Investors, Inc. ("ARL")
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3.   I.R.S Identification Number of Reporting Person, if an entity (Voluntary)


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4.   Statement for Month/Year

January 2003
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5.   If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Year)


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6.   Relationship of Reporting Person to Issuer
     (Check all applicable)

     [_]  Director                             [X]  10% Owner
     [_]  Officer (give title below)           [_]  Other (specify below)

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7.   Individual or Joint/Group Reporting (Check applicable line)

     [X]  Form filed by One Reporting Person
     [_]  Form filed by More than One Reporting Person
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           Table I -- Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of,
                             or Beneficially Owned
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                                                                                                 5.
                                                                                                 Amount of      6.
                                                                 4.                              Securities     Owner-
                                                                 Securities Acquired (A) or      Beneficially   ship
                                       2A.          3.           Disposed of (D)                 Owned          Form:     7.
                            2.         Deemed       Transaction  (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)             Following      Direct    Nature of
                            Trans-     Execution    Code         ------------------------------- Reported       (D) or    Indirect
1.                          action     Date, if     (Instr. 8)                   (A)             Transaction(s) Indirect  Beneficial
Title of Security           Date       any          ------------                 or              (Instr. 3 &    (I)       Ownership
(Instr. 3)                  (mm/dd/yy) (mm/dd/yy)    Code     V      Amount      (D)    Price     Instr.4)      (Instr.4) (Instr.4)
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Common Stock                01-24-03                  P                100        A     $ 8.05                   D
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Common Stock                01-24-03                  P                900        A     $ 8.00                   D
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Common Stock                                                                                     6,666,744       D
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*  If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see instruction
   4(b)(v).







FORM 4 (continued)

TABLE II -- DERIVATIVE SECURITIES ACQUIRED, DISPOSED OF, OR BENEFICIALLY OWNED
         (E.G., PUTS, CALLS, WARRANTS, OPTIONS, CONVERTIBLE SECURITIES)

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                                                                                                          9.
                                                                                                          Number    10.
                                                                                                          of        Owner-
                                                                                                          deriv-    ship
                                                                                                          ative     Form
             2.                                                                                           Secur-    of
             Conver-                            5.                              7.                        ities     Deriv-   11.
             sion                               Number of                       Title and Amount          Bene-     ative    Nature
             or                                 Derivative    6.                of Underlying     8.      ficially  Secur-   of
             Exer-            3A.      4.       Securities    Date              Securities        Price   Owned     ity:     In-
             cise             Deemed   Trans-   Acquired (A)  Exercisable and   (Instr. 3 and 4)  of      Follow-   Direct   direct
             Price   3.       Execut-  action   or Disposed   Expiration Date   ----------------  Deriv-  ing       (D) or   Bene-
1.           of      Trans-   ion      Code     of(D)         (Month/Day/Year)            Amount  ative   Reported  In-      ficial
Title of     Deriv-  action   Date if  (Instr.  (Instr. 3,    ----------------            or      Secur-  Trans-    direct   Owner-
Derivative   ative   Date     any      8)       4 and 5)      Date     Expira-            Number  ity     action(s) (I)      ship
Security     Secur-  (mm/dd/  (mm/dd/  ------   ------------  Exer-    tion               of      (Instr. (Instr.   (Instr.  (Instr.
(Instr. 3)   ity     yy)      yy)      Code V    (A)   (D)    cisable  Date     Title     Shares  5)      4)        4)       4)
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Explanation of Responses:





         /s/ Robert A. Waldman                          January 27, 2003
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      Robert A. Waldman, Secretary                            Date
      **Signature of Reporting Person

** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal
   Criminal Violations. SEE 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).


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