Posted by 101livescan on 8/1/08 7:15am
Msg #258087

BofA asked to Stop Foreclosures

Any one else see this...Mayor of San Diego asking BofA to halt foreclosures...

http://www.10news.com/news/17056594/detail.html

I see a trend here, there are so many foreclosed homes in the big cities of San Diego, LA, San Francisco, San Jose, etc. jut here in CA. Santa Maria just north of Santa Barbara, not a big city, but has such a concentration of foreclosures, along with Lompoc and Guadalupe, it's hitting a primarily Hispanic segment of our population, causing major deterioriation of communities, houses being boarded up, neglected landscaping and brown or no lawns, abandoned furniture, cars, etc. Foreclosures impacts everyone. Empty houses are a huge liability for lenders and surrounding neighbors. Everyone's values are critically and negatively affected by Foreclosed properties. They aren't selling fast enough to make a difference. Imagine your value being $300K and the property next door sells at auction at $120K...happened just yesterday in Santa Maria.

Reply by MistarellaFL on 8/1/08 7:23am
Msg #258091

<<<Imagine your value being $300K and the property next door sells at auction at $120K>>>

Cheryl, this is happening everywhere. One of the FL Network members just bought a home, was valued at $405K---- REO for $175K.

Reply by Dorothy_MI on 8/1/08 7:51am
Msg #258093

The house across the street from me

7 bedrooms, 4 baths, brick, sold less than 7 years ago for approx. $400 K, forclosure listing price - $142K. This is going on allover, but especially in CA, FL, NV and MI.

Reply by SharonMN on 8/1/08 10:19am
Msg #258119

Re: The house across the street from me

I'm surprised to hear that one can get such a bargain on a foreclosed house. I would think that with many borrowers owing MORE than the current home value, foreclosures would be sold at or only slightly below market price. If the lender has a $500,000 outstanding balance on a $450,000 home, why would they let it go to auction for $175,000? Wouldn't it make more sense to just let the owners refinance?

Reply by Derrick/MT on 8/1/08 10:34am
Msg #258124

Re: The house across the street from me

The banks thinking is take the lose now, you never want to throw good money at a bad loan and prolong the bleeding.

Reply by Mia on 8/1/08 10:39am
Msg #258129

Re: The house across the street from me

OK, these are only "Maybe's"

Maybe the borrowers couldn't refi, or maybe they knew that they
couldn't afford the house because they lost their jobs.

Maybe the Bank / Lender has already gotten the PMI and just wants to get
rid of the house (because they will have to keep the lawn up, snow
plowing / shoveling, and paying the taxes).
Real Estate is very very slow in MI.

However, whomever buys the home will more than likely be paying more
then the $175,000, or whatever they paid for the home in Taxes. That's just
how the Property Tax System works in Michigan.

Reply by Dorothy_MI on 8/1/08 12:03pm
Msg #258146

Re: The house across the street from me

Even with the back taxes, the new owners will still be saving over $200K. It is a beautiful historic home and it has been on the market at this price for about 4 months. Go Figure.

Reply by Mia on 8/1/08 4:04pm
Msg #258198

I wasn't referring to back Taxes

I was referring to the following:

The Home at one time was worth $400,000... the Property Taxes were
based on the Homes Value (probably near or around the $400,000 amount)
so, even if the new borrowers purchase the home for $142,000.... they
will be paying Taxes in and around the $400,000 value.
Unless in your neck of the woods they have a different way of Assessing
Property Taxes.

Reply by SheilaSJCA on 8/1/08 3:57pm
Msg #258194

Re: The house across the street from me

Even if Banks were/are will ing to help the sellers refinance, the balance of the loan is what is already the problem. Unless lenders are willing to reduce the rates down to incredibly low fixed rates, and extend the term into the great beyond, a refi would not help most of the people who are in this situation. A lot of negative amortization added to these folks loan balances in the past 2-3 years. The banks don't determine the price buyers will pay, that is determined by the market. They will take a loss, as they cannot afford to hold onto the properties longer than necessary. It is all about supply and demand. There are many houses for buyers to choose from these days, with many, many of them bank owned or short sales, it has affected everyone's values. This is a good time to be a buyer, because the bargains are definitely out there. My loan closings for the past few months have been mostly purchase transactions with buyers buying bargain homes all over the bay area.