Foreclosure Recap – Week #22
The New York Daily News reported on a Mortgage ring that had been busted by the federal government. It reportedly a $10 million dollar scam that has left folks in both New York City and on famed Long Island facing eviction. Essentially the company would approach people facing foreclosure of property worth between $200 and $500 thousand dollars and convinced them to sell the property to people that they had recruited. They told the homeowners that the buyer would make the payments and allow the homeowners to stat in the homes until they could be sold for a profit. The company then took out mortgages for more than what was owed on the homes leaving the homeowners with no property and no money. If you are interested in reviewing this, the full story can be found and read here:
Today many people are considering bankruptcy as an option to the financial crisis that they are sharing with the country. There is a lot that needs to be considered before anyone takes this step due to the impact that it can have on your long term financial well being and credit worthiness which can affect getting a new home and even jobs these days. Anyone facing foreclosure that is considering this as an avenue to try and salvage the house needs to review the option very carefully and should start by reading the article that is posted here:
A newspaper in Annapolis is quoted as saying that in the second wave of foreclosures sweeping that area, the numbers of foreclosed property has tripled in the month of April. A representative in that area is quoted in the article as saying that this rate is expected to continue at least throughout the rest of this year and another source says that the elevated foreclosure rate will indeed continue for several years to come. The article also goes on to say that when people are leaving a foreclosed property, that they are sometimes taking things like the chandeliers and other items that can be sold for cash. This leaves a fairly large and sometimes costly mess for a person buying the property to handle. The
full article can be found here:
This particular article tells us what we already know, foreclosure rates are continuing to increase and that the prices are continuing to drop. In fact, the article went on to predict a large flood of foreclosures is expected to happen this coming summer as jobs are lost and the economy hits a new low in part due to things like the auto industry and the impending implosion therein. Options were once very limited for first time home buyers but now with this depressed market there is a wide range of options available and the prices are so low that people who once had little to no chance of owning a home, may just be doing so. The details make for interesting reading here:
This is an area that we don’t think of when thinking about foreclosures. As people vacate homes where they have been foreclosed on they tend to not be so tidy about things and the yards of the foreclosed property that they are leaving tend to get cluttered with debris. While it is unsightly, it can also be dangerous. The article points out that in places like Florida, which is prone to being hit by hurricanes this left over junk can become flying weapons that can kill and maim folks as it is tossed about by the hurricane force winds that come as the storms move in. It is also not actually clear who has the responsibility for preparing those homes in the event of an impending storm. The article raises a lot of valid points and is well worth a few moments time to review it here:
The Miami Herald reports that in a bizarre turn around, the projects in and around Dade County Florida have become prime sellers in this foreclosure market. This is due to the fact that the banks have slashed the prices of the property to the bone in order to facilitate a quick turn around sale trend on the units. Most lenders think that the prices are going to fall even farther on these condo style dwellings and as a result financing is hard to get and the sales that are happening are of the cash and carry variety but even given that stipulation, they have been brisk indeed. The folks that control most of these units are the banks and at the moment the banks are highly motivated to unload these units before another price drop. Foreclosures and short sales in this market accounted for 60 percent of the sales. This is an article that should be reviewed if you are at all interested in the market in this area. The article can be accessed here:
Here’s another one of those make you think stories that most people would not have even given a second thought unless they read it first. Foreclosures buyers need to beware of a certain type of unwanted pest. The mosquito. The vacant property is a perfect place for the insect to breed due to standing water and anything with any type of swimming pool can be an excellent breeding location for them. So if you are in the market you might want to consider having these pests looked at while readying the location to be inhabited by humans. The story is located here:
According to the Associated Press, the federal government is trying to make the best of the situation by alluding to the fact that foreclosed homes, in the event of catastrophes such as another hurricane like Katrina, could actually provide temporary shelter for evacuees from that storm. The story goes on to indicate that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, also known as FEMA thinks it would be a perfect solution to the problem should it arise. There are so many homes in the state of foreclosure here that they could literally house thousands of families and keep them safe in the even of a major hurricane or other such disaster. In April there were 278,287 homes in the state of Florida in some form of foreclosure proceeding. The somewhat lengthy article can be found and read here:
This is nice and uplifting. The Habitat for Humanity has begun flipping foreclosed houses in Menlo Park to be used to help the homeless and lower income people of the area. It is a short but uplifting article that may be found here:
Victoria Gotti, daughter of mafia crime boss John Gotti is close to striking a deal to save her Long Island home from the foreclosure arena. Last month the bank got the clearance to foreclose on the $700,000 outstanding loan. Since then Gotti has had her lawyers working round the clock to try and salvage the home. They are reportedly close to ironing out the details that will allow that to happen. If you are interested in reviewing the details the article along with supporting photos and related links can be found at Long Islands Newsday online here: