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 [...]
Virulent foreclosure side effects
August 16th, 2008 · No Comments
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Do you have any friends facing foreclosure?
August 5th, 2008 · No Comments
Even though it’s hard to go more than a few days without hearing about the housing slump and foreclosures, it’s a bit of a distant concept if no one you know has faced it. Well, over the past couple of weeks we took a "love offering" at our church for one of our families. A [...]
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Vacant home burglaries result in costly repairs
July 23rd, 2008 · No Comments
Fifteen to twenty thousand dollars in repairs because thieves stole $40 worth of copper? Ouch. That was a bit more than I would have guessed. Maybe a couple thousand at the most to repair a wall or some floors? Not $20,000! Very costly repairs like this will drag down housing prices further. The extent to [...]
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Hey, at least you can get a free drink
July 16th, 2008 · No Comments
Capitalism at its finest. Restaurants are feeling the pain with $4 gas and tightening pursestrings, so they’re sharing the pain by offering “recession specials” — slightly cheaper offerings to help strapped clients enjoy some of the finer things. These deals aren’t really that great compared to cooking in but it’s better than no discount at [...]
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Luxury homes see a big jump in foreclosures
July 4th, 2008 · No Comments
This is just for the Dallas-Fort Worth area but the number of foreclosures filed against $1-million-plus homes more than doubled this past year. One hundred twelve percent higher for the first six months of this year compared to last year, to be exact. As for slightly less-expensive homes, the increases in foreclosure filings were still [...]
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Albany’s “foreclosure intervention” bill confuses me
June 18th, 2008 · 3 Comments
There’s legislation ongoing in Albany, NY, that will allow judges to postpone foreclosure proceeding and modify interest rates on mortgage notes of subprime borrowers. The Wall Street Journal contends in an editorial that this is “pols … taking a whack at bank balance sheets” by giving judges the authority to put off foreclosure proceedings for [...]
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You may already have won a foreclosure!
June 5th, 2008 · No Comments
Who would’ve thought it? Ed McMahon is in default on his Beverly Hills home. Star searches these days reveal rich-and-famous folks getting behind on their payments. I’ve watched lots of shows with Mr. McMahon, including TV’s Bloopers and Practical Jokes, Star Search, and of course The Tonight Show and it is a bit sad to [...]
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HUD tips for avoiding foreclosure: Part 3
May 24th, 2008 · 1 Comment
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 policy-that you can sell for [...]
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Losing one home is bad enough
May 14th, 2008 · No Comments
How about losing nine homes to foreclosure? Ouch. It must be harsh to go from $800k in stock options to losing that, your home, your car, and your credit rating. And having a newborn on top of that. Shawn Forgaard went in full steam to real estate hot spots, financed them with a lot of [...]
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“And on your right we have this beautiful three-bedroom…”
May 8th, 2008 · No Comments
Banks are hurting as foreclosures turn into non-performing and expensive real estate owned. Homeowners are hurting because they’re losing equity, or losing their homes and their credit rating. Neighbors are hurting because their property values are getting dinged, even though they’re paying their mortgage on time. Cities are hurting because vacant homes don’t usually attract [...]
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