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Foreclosures High in Idaho’s Treasure Valley

Julie Parker — Mon, 31 May 2010 13:10:14 +0000

The US economy is on a tailspin. Unemployment is at its peak. As people lose jobs, even those with sound credit history are faltering on mortgage payments. Hence, foreclosures have become common.

In Idaho’s Treasure valley, sale of foreclosed homes have increased. The region encompasses Boise, Weiser and Mountain Home. Homes in the region are also being increasingly taken over by banks. The number of bank-owned properties is now 1734.

However, the pace of listing slowed down in the region in February by almost 16.8 per cent compared to the previous month. 2,167 foreclosures were posted in February. Of this, the number of REOs was 338. This marked a decrease from the number of homes taken over by lenders in January – 509.

It may be pointed out here that the Federal government had come up with a program to stem the tide of foreclosures. As part of this program, loans of homeowners are being modified, first on a temporary basis, and then permanently. However, the program has had little impact on homes that have negative equity. Homeowners owe more on these homes than they are actually worth. Hence, they find it better to walk out of these homes rather than stay in them.

REOs made up for a total of 19.55 per cent of 2,603 foreclosures in Idaho. In February, the number of foreclosures comprised 15.6 per cent of the total foreclosures filed. This plunge in the number of foreclosed homes shows that banks are delaying the process of foreclosures. Repossession, however, shot up in Ada and Canyon. Real estate developers say that there can be a deluge of foreclosures once again as repossessed homes increase.

The combined postings in the two counties have just shot up. Whereas Canyon registered 352 foreclosures, Ada had 597 filings. This represented a huge increase of 30 per cent from that of February.

Short sales have also shot up. Such sales occur when owners are willing to accept less from what their houses are worth. Homeowners find it better to walk out of the homes in order to maintain their credit scores.

Experts observe that foreclosures will be high throughout 2010. A major stumbling block in the path of improvement of the real estate scenario is the employment issue. Until and unless, people find jobs, they will not be able to pay loan installments on time. Foreclosures would continue to rise.

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Banks are Closing in on Foreclosed Homes

Julie Parker — Tue, 18 May 2010 22:09:15 +0000

The US is in the throes of a recession. Unemployment is at its peak. As people lose jobs even those with sound credit history are faltering on mortgage payments. Hence, foreclosures have become common.

The Federal government had come up with a scheme under which loans of homeowners are being modified, first on an experimental basis, and then permanently. The program took off on a slow pitch. However, now the banks have stepped up activities. Hence, many homes have been foreclosed upon. The number has jumped by 35 per cent to encompass 257,944 homes.

Does this mean that the market would be inundated with low-priced properties? Would the real estate scenario be so depressing? A realtor thinks otherwise. Tom Adams, who owns Century 21 Adams & Barnes, says, “I think lenders are smarter than that.I think they’ve been gauging the absorption rate for some time so they could determine how many to release at a time.”

“Banks know there’s a shortage and they’re taking advantage of this window to go out into the market as much as they can without hurting things,” he said.

In the first half of 2010, the number of homes facing foreclosure increased by 16 per cent.

California is one of the states with very high foreclosure rates. “We’re right now on pace to see more than 1 million bank repossessions this year,” observed Rick Sharga, a RealtyTrac official observed

Prof Ahmed Ispahani of University of La Verne, said that the banks are hesitant to inundate the market with troubled loans. Verne said, “If they release a large number of homes, prices will go down and their income will go down. They are acting very smart. They want to release as few as possible so demand exceeds supply.”

He continued, “I have some friends who are eager to buy, but they say other buyers are offering more than what the homes are priced for. It’s a very controlled market.”

Homeowners are also complaining that the banks are not fast in responding to their pleas for mortgage modification. Another trend that can be observed is a lot of first time home owners are buying homes because of credit being offered by the Federal government. Marty Rodriguez of Century 21 Marty Rodriguez said, “There are still a lot of first-time buyers trying to get that federal tax credit. But when that tax credit is gone, it will change things.”

Banks Get Rid of Phoenix AZ Foreclosure Listings

Kevin Simpson — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 12:00:23 +0000

When you are on the search for real estate that’s worth buying, it is in fact a good idea to have a look at Phoenix foreclosure listings. These are a comprehensive record for those in and around this area, and for those that hope to purchase property in this area. Such foreclosure lists put up details of all real estate that is up for sale, very much like listings that are accessible at real estate brokers. The primary distinction being they are put up by banks. You may want to know why banks because such institutions are chiefly concerned in wealth trade, so why would they be involved in the real estate business. Truly banks still for the most part deal with money matters, but of late, there have been definite development of alternate business plans that can’t all together be ignored.

The logical reasoning why banks opt to put up Phoenix AZ foreclosure listings is that they do not have any use for such property. All this is part of a chain reaction. Once ability to repay, leads to defaulting and as per bank laws, defaulting suggest that banks exercise their ownership rights on a piece of property. Banks give out home loans so that we are able to get ownership of a property. Nevertheless, ownership rights are not transferred to borrowers till the final payment.

Over the years, it has been observed, that an increasing number of people are defaulting on their home loan payments and as a result, banks are forced to lay claim to a lot of property that they have been financing themselves. Because there is an assortment of foreclosed homes in the hands of financial institutions, their top choice is to put all of this property up for trade with the help of Phoenix AZ foreclosure listings. Phoenix AZ foreclosure listings permit individuals to be aware of what’s to be had. If you leaf through these listings, along with databases that are offered by private realtors, you will have comprehensive information regarding all types of property that’s categorized as saleable property.

These listings are obtainable online with no difficulty whatsoever, and it shouldn’t take a great deal time to focus on real estate that meets your need. It is wise, that you take your time when going through these listings because real estate isn’t a venture that you take on too many times, in fact this could be your only attempt at purchasing real estate. Per se, take time to locate what’s good for you.

Fraction the Value with the Tax Foreclosed Homes

Kevin Simpson — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 12:24:28 +0000

U.S. Real estate business has unique features made available for those who wish to buy their first-ever homes, those who are seasoned in investing “flip” activity of buying low and selling high as also those investors who wish to buy homes for continued income. The hot topic in present day U.S. real estate market is home buying from foreclosure properties. Of these foreclosure properties, Government tax foreclosed homes offer great opportunity to buy homes for a fraction of the amount of their real value and save the buyer thousands of dollars. Government taxes like property taxes and tax on mortgage loans are payable by the property owners regularly as and when they receive the demand notice from the taxing entities – county administration or federal government authorities. Government tax foreclosed homes are warranting penal action by the authorities because of the ignorance or indifference by the respective home owners in defaulting the payment of taxes mentioned above.
Tax foreclosed homes are available for buying in large numbers and according to the national statistics there are 629,325 tax foreclosure homes listed for sale through public auction.

Tax foreclosed homes are scattered over the country in all the States, counties and metropolitan areas. Collection of taxes due to the Government is of predominant priority in respect of real estate properties for executing the welfare measures of local governance with the finance accrued of them. Therefore it is legally permitted for the government tax collecting authorities in indulging methods for the collection of tax dues in accordance with the laws prevailing in the State. Tax foreclosed homes come up for disposal by public auction after appropriate notices of demand being served on the home owners to clear the dues, grace time given for such clearance and only after the response not forthcoming from them the authorities are compelled to resort to legal proceedings of attaching the properties of the defaulter, filing a default notification in the respective courts and publicizing the same through various media available for the information of the common public. Tax foreclosed homes are brought to a distressed sale, not with a motive of profit but for the stringent collection of the tax dues only. Therefore the minimum bid stipulated for these tax foreclosed homes is only the taxes due on them, the administrative charges and interest thereon for the period of lapse. It goes without saying that these tax foreclosed homes are earmarked for a price which is just a fraction when compared to the assessed values they would fetch in the open real estate market. Thus for a home buyer for his own occupation or investing the money for renting out the homes or for resale, the tax foreclosed homes are made available with a saving incomparable with any other way of home buying. By searching the details of such tax foreclosed homes and engaging an agent locally through the help of the website mentioned above, these tax foreclosed homes can be bought cheaply. Good and sound properties also fall into this category of tax foreclosed homes by unforeseen circumstances of death, bankruptcy and financial inability of the home owners in failing to pay the taxes due and investment on these tax forecloses homes is worth the efforts of cost-conscious home buyers.

At St. Paul, Officials are Learning the Hard Way about Lessons in Selling Foreclosed Homes

Kevin Simpson — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:59:27 +0000

What is the next step for a homeowner who cannot sell any foreclosed homes? That decision is a hard one and may require advisement before the next step is made.

At St. Paul, city officials are learning the hard way about lessons in selling foreclosed homes. They have been involved in a project for four long months trying to sell a group of houses owned by the city from prices starting from $50,000 going down all the way to $1.

Last August the Housing and Redevelopment Agency of St. Paul City organized a string of open houses for properties owned by HRA stretching from the western end of 4th Street to Dayton’s Bluff. City officials said that they would sell to only those purchasers who could prove they had the ability to make extensive repairs that would observe the rules of the city as well preserve the guidelines for preservation of historic architecture.

There was a strong turnout at the open houses but, so far, the city only has 3 applications, said Sheryl Pemberton-Hoiby of the Department of Planning & Amp; the Economic Development of St. Paul. Of these 3, only one is likely to be put up for resale. She added that people want garages.

The skyrocketing foreclosure numbers in the Twin Cities and other similar cities has caused city officials to take over the management of purchasing houses in order to contain the spiraling spike in vacant houses. These empty houses are triggering off decreasing prices in other houses throughout the locality.

As a consequence, St. Paul is saddled with not merely 11 houses in Dayton’s Bluff but other properties (59%) dotted across it. Nearly 30% of these face demolition. However, officials are planning to sell off the rest and sponsor the redevelopment endeavors of other neighborhoods.

The program focusing on Dayton’s Bluff is known as the Fourth Street Preservation Project. It was meant to test this strategy in order to find out how capable the city would be in selling these units. The important lesson gleaned so far is that more investment is required in repairing the houses in order to make them fit for habitation. Otherwise, buyers will remain remain elusive to marketing strtegies.

St. Paul is taking initial steps in pointing out to prospective purchasers how off-street parking zones can be created for some of the properties on Dayton’s Bluff. Improvements on the exteriors and mechanical outlays of these houses are also being considered.

Demand for Low-End Foreclosed Homes in St. Paul Spurts

Julie Parker — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:07:48 +0000

The US is in the grip of a deep recession. As unemployment reaches its zenith, people are faltering on mortgage payments. Hence, foreclosures are common. Now there is a demand for low-end foreclosed properties in St. Paul. In August, there were a total of 1,811 vacant spaces in the area. This means a decline of 12 per cent vacant homes from the corresponding period of last year. It may be noted that in August 2008 there were 2,047 vacant spaces.

The empty properties are both residential and commercial spaces. The decrease in their numbers is a reflection of the real estate scenario. This was revealed by director of the Department of Safety and Inspections, Bob Kessler. The demand for homes has received a boost because of several factors. First, the price of foreclosed homes has seen a decline making it attractive for ordinary buyers. Second, the government has announced a federal tax credit for those who buy homes for the first time.

The number of foreclosures has decreased because the lenders are delaying legal proceedings. As Kessler observes the buildings are being struck off the list in greater numbers than they are being added. Also home owners are willing to palm off the properties at very low rates – as low as $15,000 to $20,000. Hence, buyers are grabbing the properties, revamping them and again selling them off, thereby making a small margin.

One such renovated property has been put on display by an investor. This house at Lawson Avenue will be viewed by buyers. The St. Paul Area Association of Realtors and Wells Fargo have organized the tour for the home buyers of the region. The tours are important because there are many vacant properties in the region. Even three years ago, there were 900 vacant buildings in the area. A building is usually labeled as vacant if it is unoccupied and meets any of the seven criteria like being not safe.

It’s not possible for anyone to know how many vacant buildings are there in the city. Registration is not compulsory and done only under certain circumstances. However, real estate developers want to believe that their numbers are fewer than before. Whatever be the case, experts say, that the real estate scenario will not improve until and unless, more jobs are created. Unless people have the purchasing power and are able to make the mortgage payments, foreclosures will continue to plague the American market.

Private Agencies Step in to Collect Overdue Taxes and Foreclosed Homes

Julie Parker — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 13:23:02 +0000

The US is going through one of its most challenging phases. Unemployment is at its peak and people are faltering on mortgage payments. Hence, foreclosures have become common. At this juncture, private investors are stepping in and buying tax liens from government agencies. That means the private agencies have the onus of collecting taxes from defaulting customers.

These agencies are paying cash to the government, who are using the money to renovate parks and other public spaces. The agencies are charging a lot of interest from defaulters and if they cannot cough up the amount, they are foreclosing the properties. Housing experts say that the private agencies are more stringent than government bodies and as they ruthlessly foreclosed homes, many regions are being converted into wasteland. Many areas are riddled with foreclosed, empty homes.

Of course, there are no records of how many tax liens have been sold nationwide. Three years ago, Lucas County sold its tax certificates that were overdue to a company based in Plymouth. The name of the company was Plymouth Park Tax Services. It was a subsidiary of JP Morgan Chase. Also operating under the name of Xspand, it is a very big player in the tax lien business.

The company has filed above 1,000 foreclosures against defaulters. This is the largest ever but Plymouth Park maintains that it has foreclosed only 56 of these properties. The company has bought $2 billion worth of tax liens since last year.

It may be pointed out that foreclosure filings in Lucas increased to 4,093 in 2008. In 2007, the figure was 3486. That means foreclosure filings have at least increased by 7 per cent in that year. John Garzone, Plymouth Park’s president, said the company always entered into negotiations with property owners. It foreclosed properties only if all channels of payment have failed.

Garzone also said the government would have foreclosed many of these homes. The company’s main interest is not to foreclose but to get the homes back into the tax paying mode. However, there is the lurking fear amongst homeowners that they may lose their homes. Take, for instance, 57-year old Christopher Clark who lives on a monthly disability earning of $674. He fell behind on taxes worth $6,450 and also has to cough up $1,853 as interest charges. His home has been filed for foreclosure and he has no idea what to do. To him, it’s just not a house but a home.

Maintenance of Foreclosed Homes Spawns Big Business Opportunities

Julie Parker — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:46:17 +0000

The American economy has been one of the worst states this country has ever seen. With unemployment at its peak, people do not have the resources to pay off their mortgage bills. Subsequently, banks have been taking over houses left and right, which has foreclosed homes to rise in places like Nevada, California and Michigan. However, the worst thing of all is that foreclosed homes are empty now because owners have fled from them.

Maintaining foreclosed properties is a difficult proposition but has become good business in recent years for people like Matt Johnson. Of course, it leaves his hands dirty most of the time.

His company – Tri-County Property Preservation – maintains foreclosure homes on the behalf of major financial institutions. He, along with his five other employees, remove snow, cut grass and carry away the trash that is left behind after owners leave their homes. The company also treats pipelines and defrosts them in the winter. Besides the company’s other onerous duties, they have to make sure vacant properties are kept clean all the time.

Johnson says the job of cleaning and maintaining vacant properties can be quite disgusting as well. There are some vacant homes whose carpets have been stripped off, lights in the homes ripped apart and the heating system pulled out of the circuit. Almost everything that needs to be fixed can be found inside a foreclosed home.

Johnson charges a fee of $35 to $50 to mow lawns, $35 to $50 for removing snow and $400 to $450 for removing garbage in a 10-cubic yard area. There is much competition in his field of work and he has had to cut down on prices in order to stay in the competition. Last month, his company maintained nearly 500 foreclosed homes in Clinton, Ingham and Eaton counties. However, he expects the number to climb down to nearly 300 this month. The decline in foreclosures, Johnson says, can be attributed to the 90-day ban on foreclosure filings in March. “With the freeze on foreclosures currently being lifted, there will be a rise in inventory now”, Johnson says.

In Michigan, Florida and Arizona, maintaining foreclosed properties is big business for many people. These three states have been hit hardest by the foreclosure blight. Property Shield proprietor Scott O’Berry says his company often gets notices to maintain 12 foreclosed properties overnight. After all, vacant homes are the favorite hunting ground of thieves, vandals and sometimes even animals.

O’Berry also believes that foreclosures usually have a bad impact on neighborhood’s housing values. His company, which consists of 45 people, charges $3,500 for the maintenance of each property they take on.

Despite Stimulus Florida Is Facing Budget Crunches

Julie Parker — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 15:10:51 +0000

Despite the stimulus rolling in, Florida is facing budget crunches and the situation is grim. Although there have been cuts in property taxes, changes in insurance rules as well as foreclosure relief attempts, it is a tough job for budget writers. The boom years have receded to a foggy past.

On Tuesday 3rd March the lawmakers will start the legislative session (60 days) with the prime task of trying to find ways to pay bills for the services rendered by the government with less number of dollars.

The options before them are severe. Spending on education, health-care as well as transportation would have to cut by $8 billion. The funds coming in from the federal stimulus could only work out a temporary quick fix. The other alternative would be to increase taxes on various items like alcoholic drinks, cigarettes, Internet vendors, motorists as well as companies that deal with bottled water. The immediate current deficit is about $700 million. Within a span of two years this would be the seventh recurring budget cut.

In the forthcoming year starting from 1st July, the situation is worse for Florida with the gap exceeding $5 billion. The frustration is visible in the Capitol. The revenue collected for December 2008 and January 2009 was $216 million less than what was expected. Steve Wise (Republican) chairperson of Senate PreK-12 Education Appropriations said, “When we come out with a budget, it’s going to be a disaster and everybody’s going to be not happy.”

Governor Charlie Crist is offering a bagful of federal money to stimulate the flagging mood of the economy. His department plans to plug the deficit hole for the next 16 months with $8 billion from the $787 billion that has been granted by the Congress. Crist explained that since the state was passing through a critical time the money is much needed. According to his plans over $3 billion would see through the following four months. $4.7 billion would make patchwork repair to the damage done to education, health care and transportation. It would lead to a balance of $3.8 billion as Florida’s share of the stimulus grant for the fiscal year of 2010-2011. This will hardly cause the economy of Florida to star to recover.

However certain vital categories like health, education and transport would get some reprieve. This would be of help to the poor, the seniors and those who are disabled or caring for foster children.

Governor of Florida Working With Bankers for Moratorium on Foreclosures

Julie Parker — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 11:18:22 +0000

Charlie Crist, the governor of Florida, is working with bankers to put a moratorium on foreclosures at least during the Christmas and New Year holidays. He hopes that by the beginning of next month he will be able to make the moratorium announcement. Crist held the meeting with top banking officials, including the president of Florida Banker’s Association, Alex Sanchez.

Sanchez’s group is the biggest and most powerful banking institution in Florida. He said that they were willing to consider modifying loans of house owners but not those of speculators. After the meeting Sanchez said, “Anyone who’s behind in payments please contact your bank ASAP. The banks will work with you to keep you in your home. If you have three Lexuses or three Mercedes in the driveway, we can do nothing to help those folks. Sanchez was of the view that those who purchased houses to speedily ‘flip’ them for sharp profits had been instrumental in creating the current foreclosure related crisis.

The governor commented that if the foreclosures were put on hold temporarily then the ball would be in the court of the lenders. The governor will have to say what will be done when the time expires. He added, “But at least during the holidays I think it’s important that we show compassion to Florida’s families as much as we can.”

Many of the borrowers in Florida are already benefiting from a moratorium that has been declared in the previous week by the mortgage giants – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They have also put on hold during the holidays foreclosure proceedings. After January 9th, they would again take up the matter in due course.

Crist is not yet sure as to whether foreclosures can be forcibly halted by means of an executive order or whether a court injunction would be required. But he said that he would be happy if the lenders came forward to help of their own accord. He added, “That’s why I wanted to meet with Alex this morning and get an opportunity to take their temperature on their willingness to help us out, help Florida out.” However he admitted that the moratorium would extend to only those who were current occupant/owners of the houses and not to investors and speculators seeking to get a profit.

Florida ranked third with the highest foreclosure rate in October 2008 with the proportion being 1:157. In Nevada and Arizona, the foreclosure rate is approximately 1:74 and 1:149 respectively.