Foreclosure Recap – Week #32
Filed Under (Foreclosures) by admin on 13-08-2009
Number five in the nation in foreclosure activity has been announced for the first six months of the year and the award goes to the Inland Empire area with Las Vegas Paradise taking the honors for the number one most active location in the United States of America. This is certainly not an honor that I am sure the people in the area are fond of taking but one that they are none the less going to be stuck with.
In the New York Times this week we found the story of folks on the upper end of the real estate food chain that are hitting on hard times and having to liquidate the mansions that they have owned. One gentleman, Mr. Jack Warner watched as his $14 Million Dollar Mansion near Key West, Florida overlooking the Gulf Coast was sold at auction for $2.5 Million which was less than he needed to keep himself out of bankruptcy proceedings.
Renting in order to own a home was the way a lot of families attempted to latch onto the American dream prior to the problems that we have seen lately with the market. The theory worked well. The owner held the mortgage note and the folks paid him and a predetermined amount of each payment went towards the purchase of the home. Well, when the crisis came down, the people that actually owned the homes were left unable to pay the mortgage and defaulted on the loan and left the people who were renting to own holding an empty bag as tenants and as a result they were forced into eviction from the foreclosed home.
California was always known in the United States as the Golden State. A Place where dreams came true. People moved here to attempt to make it big in Hollywood on the silver screen and business was good and the beaches were sunny and warm. Since the real estate crash California has turned into a land of broken dreams and unemployed people, a lot of who used to be in the movie industry and are now simple a part of the states massive unemployment rate of over 12 percent. Businesses are closing, homes and property is being repossessed and the state government is trying to take care of the bills with the shrinking tax revenue by handing out I.O.U. notes to people.
Lady Lake Florida appears to resemble a tropical jungle lately more than a piece of paradise. That is because with all the lost homes and foreclosures there the places are just getting too overgrown for the county to keep up with and as a result there are un-kept yards looking more like an abandoned shack than a former nice neighborhood. As a result the government is looking into options and laws, much as the rest of the country is, to hold the banks and other foreclosure entities accountable for the clean up or the cost of county enforced clean up. The process seems to be effective and having a positive impact on the problem. You can assess the details by logging in and reading the story here:
The Fox station in Chattanooga, Tennessee reports this and as strange and stupid as this one is, a family in Michigan, is in danger of losing their house to the Bank of America for missing a total of seven cents on a mortgage payment in February. It was apparently the error of a Postal clerk who rounded out the amount on a money order for the payment and missed the .07 amount and the family didn’t catch the discrepancy. As a result the bank purchased the foreclosed mortgage for less than forty three thousand dollars and they now need to figure out what to do and they have six months to get it taken care of. Local media and legal entities are getting involved. It just seems like something should be able to be done for small amounts that appear to be an honest oversight. The story is available to read here:
Anyone that might be looking into purchasing a foreclosed home should take a quick read on this story because is points out something that you don’t really think about when you are buying a home. It is the mold infestations that seem to be becoming more prevalent in these foreclosed houses. The houses stay empty for a period of time, it gets wet and humid out when these places were used to having climate-controlled interiors and mold takes hold and grows rapidly. Unfortunately some folks are deathly allergic to mold and even a healthy person can become ill if the mold concentration is high enough. This one is work a few moments to investigate and you can read it here:
The star of the Bravo television stations series “Real Housewives of Atlanta” Lisa Wu-Hartwell is the third set of folks from that show to fall victims to the recent real estate issues and end up losing a home to foreclosure. It looks like they have re-settled in another place on ten acres and own it free and clear but it does go to show that there is not anyone that is immune to this crisis. The story is found here:
While purchasing a foreclosure, many times for far less than the actual value of the property can be a tempting investment for people. There can be a whole series of possible problems and downfalls that the person or persons need to take into account before they sign on the proverbial dotted line and purchase one. Remember one thing that will ring fairly consistent is that these are foreclosed homes and the people that vacated them for the most part left under bad scenarios and as a result there may be costly repairs and damages that will need to be addressed. Also you need to make sure that there are no loans or liens outstanding that you might end up assuming. This article points out a lot or possible issues and problems that you might want to consider and should be read by anyone looking to purchase a foreclosure. It is located here:
Another interesting approach to the blight of foreclosed homes that are affecting the country comes from Tampa Bay. The city here has started buying the foreclosed properties with city money and then sending in the bulldozers and leveling the homes where they will rebuild new homes to rent. They are also slating money to purchase and revitalize more of them. This is an unusual approach but one that is being watch by other cities to see how it fairs. The article is worth a once over and can be found and read here: