Living After Foreclosure

Foreclosures are making people sick.  Literally.  It’s possible that there is a link between the West Nile virus and foreclosed properties, particularly properties with swimming pools that become standing water once abandoned and provide a home to lots of mosquitoes.

Falling property values in neighborhoods with abandoned houses makes sense.  Increased crime due to vandalism of abandoned properties make sense.  Increased occurrences of the West Nile virus from abandoned swimming pools makes sense once the pieces are put together, but that was probably beyond most people’s thoughts.  I know it didn’t occur to me.  Makes you wonder what else is down the road as the mortgage mess unravels.  I’m sure there will be more problems.

• Now we have to worry about our neighbor's finances This article by Liz Pulliam Weston, entitled Foreclosure Nearby?  It's your problem, brings up the "friendly fire" aspect of foreclosures:  a foreclosure nearby hurts everyone in the neighborhood, not just the personl foreclosed on. A neighbor who's in financial trouble probably is worried about their house, but it's almost certain......
• Why get foreclosed on when you can "walk away?" If you look at the demeanor on the faces of the people over at YouWalkAway.com, you might think that getting foreclosed on is downright enjoyable.  A walk through the park with your spouse and child, as it were. It even seems a bit empowering.  You don't get foreclosed on; you......
• HUD tips for avoiding foreclosure: Part 3 The US Department of Housing and Urban Development has some good advice for people that are in danger of losing their home through foreclosure. Here are the last three tips from that list, with some discussion. Use your assets. "Do you have assets-a second car, jewelry, a whole life insurance......
• Well, this is one way to get rid of unsold homes If this story is true, this is an ugly development.  (It's a guy with a video camera, so who knows.)  Banks are allegedly paying to destroy new and unfinished homes that they own rather than pay mounting fines imposed by local government for allowing the homes to stay vacant and......

• Skiing with Family When you decide to go on a skiing or snowboarding vacation with your kids, it may feel as if time has simply flown by, and too much time is wasted that should have been enjoyed on the slopes. Here are five simple and helpful tips for maximizing the amount of......
• Understanding Your Home Appraisal This is a guest post from Liz Freeman, who writes about mortgage and finance issues. Freeman is the spokesperson for ShopRate.com, an online tool for finding the lowest mortgage rates since 2000. “If I’m willing to pay X for the home, it must be worth X, right?” There’s a lot......
• Finding Unclaimed and Abandoned Money and Property With years under our belts, baby boomers have had many opportunities to lose and forget about money and other property that belonged to them. This is officially called "unclaimed property" by federal and state government. It makes sense at our age to find out if we have any unclaimed property......
• Teaching Your Child How to Swim [caption id="attachment_451" align="alignleft" width="185" caption="Kid swimming."][/caption] One of these summers you child is going to be presented with the opportunity to go swimming, and you’re going to have to teach him how to do it. You might not be sure what to do, however, as many people learned how to......