Foreclosures

joasis

I heard on the radio yesterday that homes in foreclosure nationwide are around 1 in 520 or so...Oklahoma is 1 in 800+.

Now how much of this sub prime crisis and home sales slump is media driven?

That said, I know it is slow for some contractors, but when you look around, what about unemployment? Know anyone actually out of work and cannot find a job? Know anyone who is loosing their home? Why?

In the Great Depression, 1 out of 4 (25%) of the workforce was unemployed on a national average, and the foreclosure rate was nearly 1 in 3 mortgaged properties (depending on source)....so what gives?

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mickeyco

I am so sick of this sub-prime mortgage "crisis", I just saw a show the other day where the "poor" folks bought a house they couldn't afford, it was a new house and in less than a year they had destroyed it, the place was a complete wreck. Now the Democrats are trying to come up with a plan to help these "poor" folks at the taxpayers expense. I have the solution for the "crisis", don't buy a house you can't afford.

The economy goes up and down all the time, I'm surprised it is as strong as it is after 9-11 to today, you can thank Bush's tax cuts for that one. I personally don't know anyone that is really hurting. The only problem I have had is that I'm going to have to wait till the market picks up to sell some rental property but with all the foreclosures I have no occupancies and I'm looking for another house because the market is fantastic for buyers. As far as work goes I have never been busier.



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jcalvin

People are like a young children when they listen to the media. If you ran a story in all the news sources that food is overpriced and not worth the money, most would starve to death. As a RE Broker and an Appraiser, and a Contractor, I see no cause for the slump other than the media. Interest rates are good, building materials are down, and people have jobs. I realize that the cost of living is a little out of whack but it is nothing sizeable enough to make a huge difference. The only thing that I can see is that a market elsewhere does drive a market sometime 600 miles away. For instance, most of WNC's home sales are somewhat driven by the economy in Florida. When Florida homes don't sale, WNC's doesn't.

Our main problem, and it isn't really a problem, is that in the past few years over zealous developers have been able to built a plain run of the mill home and sell it for around $250-$350sq' when the cost is only around $95-$125. The market is overinflated and it is now coming back into check. Instead of cutting their prices to a more realistic price, they are filing backrupcy and letting everything foreclose.

Wait it out. Maybe the American public is waiting for the McCain/OBama/Clinton battle to conclude to get back to business. I think that everything is just is a holding pattern for now.

What do I know? I just make sawdust.

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Cal


You hired WHO

Mike Finley

This is the perfect time to buy a home or any kind. Lowest interest rates ever, tons of inventory, lots of deals to be made. Most people are not that savy and listen to the media and will wait for the opposite to be true before they all move like lemings off the cliff together.

The adage is buy low and sell high, but most people do just the opposite.

joasis

I think beyond the media hype, are the numbers do not support the "bad news".....1 in 500? That is statistically about the "norm" in any economy......I need to read further, since it does sound low. According to economists, we are in a recession since we have 2 down quarters now.....according to the rules.

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A W Smith

It's no surprise that the population reacts to the media. I find myself screaming at the TV "shaddup about the economy already"

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Al Smith
http://www.awsmith.com

Jason Whipple

I tend to see more stories on TV about people finding it hard to pay for there second home. Many people invested in real estate and made good money at it for years. Now that things have slowed down a bit, it is mostly that group that I see on the news and not so much a familly having a hard time paying the mortgage.

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Historic House Restoration, Cincinnati, Ohio
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SelfContract

I'm saving real hard now to buy house later if they come down more & more.... The problem is... when economy hit bottom, it is also DAMN HARD to save$$ FAST too.

Michaeljp86

The problem isnt unemplyment, it finding a half ass job. I can get $8hr jobs all day long but then Ill spend my life living in a trailer park next to my grandma. No jobs have benefits anymore so even if your getting $15hr after you buy health insurence now where are? Thats why I got my GC license, I should be able to make more the $8hr. So far eveyone wants to offer me $10, you man. Then they get upset when you say no it doesnt work that way. Nobody wants to pay you fairly anymore.

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oldfrt

A local headline today was" 60% more homes face foreclosure".
So anyone that doesn't take the time to read through the whole article may get severely spooked!
First rule of Journalism,if I remember right from College,is the headline has to catch your attention.

I'm not saying there isn't a problem in the economy,just that these types of headlines undermine the biggest drive in personal spending,consumer confidence.

I haven't felt any drop here,other than the seasonal lull.
We're actually getting leads for more additions than usual, so I think people are deciding to stay put in locations they are comfortable in and adding value to their properties where they have good equity established instead of venturing off into newer or larger homes on the market that seem to be losing value.

Like jcalvin said:
The market is overinflated and it is now coming back into check. Instead of cutting their prices to a more realistic price, they are filing backrupcy and letting everything foreclose.

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Michaeljp86

[quote=oldfrt;399181]

quote]

I think your right, I drove through a new subdivision not to far, 300+ acres of all new homes. I thought like 1/2 of them would be up forsale. I counted like 10 forsale and these are all brand spanking new. They are still building them fast in there.

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Global warming is a myth, like evolution and the metric system.

oldfrt

[quote=Michaeljp86;399208] You must be in a good part of the state,according to todays article,Michigan was in the top 5 worse states.

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Michaeljp86

[quote=oldfrt;399219]For some reason its more bad spots good spots. This subdivision seems to be a good spot. I know a farmer with a 27acre apple orchard and a realtor said that a hot spot, way out in the sticks and he said I can sell it for $500k + and last I knew he had a buyer.

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Global warming is a myth, like evolution and the metric system.

goose134

Part of the crunch comes from overzealous investors (read flippers). The other part falls on the banks willing to lend the money. A neighbor of mine was working in the mortgage industry and had to go to various states and talk with people about how to get their money. The lending laws are flimsy and allow credit to extend to a point that doesn't reconcile with financial reality.

As for crediting Bush's tax credits for keeping the economy afloat, come on. The man spends more than a sailor on shore leave.

mickeyco

What Bush is spending and the deficit have nothing to do with the economy. For example, Clinton did nothing to stimulate the economy, the internet boom was responsible for the boom, then the bubble burst, he raised taxes more than any time in history and brought the deficit down and left us with a terrible economy. It's really quite simple when taxes are higher people have less money, hence they spend less, thus the economy starts to tank, companies make reductions, overtime drys up and we head toward recession. Tax cuts are tried and tested and we know they work, unfortunately Democrats are a bit dim and haven't figured it out yet and aren't happy if they aren't redistributing wealth to people to lazy work so the can buy big screen TV's to watch Jerry Springer while drinking alcohol or doing drugs.


If you don't mind paying more in taxes just send the money to me I'll give you the same thing the Government does for the extra money, nothing.

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Grumpyplumber

60%...HUH!?!?!?
Are you sure you didn't add a zero there?
I typed the words "foreclosure rates" into my web browser, got this:

"Detroit had the highest foreclosure rate among the nation's 100 largest metropolitan areas. The region was hit hard last year by a slumping housing market and a high unemployment rate. Nearly 5 percent of Detroit homes were in some stage of foreclosure last year — 4.8 times the national average. "

The source:
NPR: Home Foreclosure Rate Surged in 2007

Apparently the nat'l average for 2007 was about 1%.
Unfortunately 1% probably doesn't get attention, sell papers.

oldfrt

Grumpy,
My point was the headline stated 60% foreclosure rate to get your attention,which it evidently did.

The facts are ( once you read the whole article)that this % is the increase in the # of foreclosure rates compared to February of last year.
So if there were 100 foreclosures last February ,than there is 160 this February.

I was just trying to point out the Media's contribution to inflating our perspective of the actual facts at a quick glance,if we just read the headline.

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Grumpyplumber

OK, that makes sense...60% increase on actual foreclosures.
The last sentence in my post was exactly what your point is...sensationalism to get ratings, sell papers.

Michaeljp86

Well said mikey

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I am just a vessel from which genius flows -Homer Simpson

Global warming is a myth, like evolution and the metric system.

oldfrt

I guess another side of the whole foreclosure scenario would be linked to a news segment I caught last night where a lot of Appraisal Firms were asked to give inflated values for the Mortgage Companies.
IF they couldn't come up with the over inflated values they were sent packing.

Here's one link;

http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/2...20131/-1/rss02

And a piece of that article:

Appraisers work in concert with mortgage brokers and real estate agents who buy and sell property. Appraisers use several factors, including comparable properties, to determine the value of real estate. Often, they face pressure from crooked mortgage brokers who want a higher valuation on a piece of property. The appraisers will agree because they rely upon repeat business with a mortgage broker; appraisers do not get paid commissions from real estate transactions.

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