Posted on 12/06/2006 6:24:53 PM PST by GodGunsGuts
Hundreds of Georgians lost their homes Tuesday.
The houses, taken from debt-laden homeowners, were sold to bidders on courthouse steps statewide.
The increasingly busy monthly auctions show that not all of the residential market is in decline.
Foreclosures are rising.
More than 115,000 properties across the country were in the foreclosure process in October — up 42 percent from the same month a year earlier, according to RealtyTrac, a California company that tracks foreclosures.
Foreclosures in Georgia are up a stunning 99 percent in the past year...
(Excerpt) Read more at ajc.com ...
Plenty. It's one reason the sub-prime, no-docs lending market exploded in recent years.
why would there be a Gorelick wall 'tween the real condition of the house/property and the bidder having that knowledge prior to a fair like minded bid ?
From what I've heard illegals have a better than average record of paying for their houses. They often have several people paying the mortgage. Not to mention the habit of renting out every room, the garage, and sometimes the yard to other illegals. This is the behavior that turns neighborhoods into slums and permanently infuriates any American that is subjected to it.
When the bank then has the choice of getting $400,000 or nothing, they'll have no choice but to take the $400K ... they can't keep the property on the books as a non-performing loan forever.
"Otherwise, it is a good thing, as it stimulates the market by making more product available"
It can also drive prices down when speculators flip the house at a discount to beat the competition. Some neighborhoods have more foreclosure and flip sales than normal arms-length transactions.
I live in Georgia too, and the problem is exactly these sub-prime, risky mortgages offered in the last few years. Just today I got a come-on letter from a predatory lender who wants to pay off all my debts and leave me with $42,000 cash in hand, and an unbeleivably lower monthly payment. It says no income verification is necessary. Thousands of people took these offers only to find out that the payment is interest-only or even less, and their mortgage actually grows each month at that payment. The lenders don't care if I get in trouble, apparently.
Which Freeper told you Georgia foreclosures didn't jump by 99%?
just read the rocky mountain news
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/real_estate/article/0,1299,DRMN_414_5191248,00.html
I had no idea. How did you guys let that get through???
If a home is on a foreclosure list it means the borrower is seriously in arrears on the payments and the lender has decided to wait no longer to liquidate the property to cure the defaulted loan. This rarely happens before the lender has given the borrower some number of chances to cure the arrearage...AND, there are are different procedures and time periods from state to state.
That said, foreclosure buying is not especially for the faint of heart. Your money has to be in cash on the barrelhead, which IS possible if you can arrange a purchase loan in advance. Another poster said that no inspection is available, I'd adjust that to say that VERY LIMITED inspection is possible. You certainly cannot make an offer subject to the various contingencies you'd write in on a normal purchase.
It's also common for a small group of local sharks to work foreclosure auctions, essentially taking turns letting one or another buy the property without much competitive bidding. The idea of swooping into a town and buying up foreclosures for cash is probably not a good one.
And finally, in some states, there is a right of redemption for a significant period of time for the deadbeat borrower. Some states are done-finished-end at the foreclosure auction, some states give a forclosed borrower a year to redeem the loan. During which time YOU, the swift borrower can have your money tied up with NO right to occupy or rent the premises. HUD foreclosures are an excellent way to probe the market and see some of the action. HUD foreclosures very tyically go for about 95% of the asking price, so nobody is grossly stealing anything. HUD foreclosures are also placed into a more-than-minimally repaired state pre-auction. Those props have to meet a lot of points on an inspection punch list. Hence, they fetch a higher value.
Smarter investors, IMO, work to find these props BEFORE the actual foreclosure auction, where there are many, many other financing options AND, there is some chance of working a more comfortable deal out with a semi-cooperative seller. Often, a lender will be delighted to let you assume the loan, just as one example. But...the property may not support the value of a badly defaulted loan with a ton of neg am built up.
In short, it's not a game for rank amateurs. Mucho research req'd.
This is the part of the article that concerns me:
"I think (the metro area's record foreclosures) are very significant for the rest of the country," he said.
If your house is paid off, use the equity to move and buy a house elsewhere where you can make living.
You don't need to sell your house to move.
Talk to a realtor in an area you're interested in. After you find a house to buy, hire an attorney to read the contract and explain it to you.
Remember, you're one of thousands of people packing and leaving Michigan.
Good luck.
Yes, in a market that is grossly over built that is a wonderful thing. I bet you made an "A" in Econ 101. (sac.off)
If the real estate markek was so bad, why would anyone want to buy a forclosed home?
May I ask where all the Michigan people are going, CA, FL, AZ?
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