As the U.S. housing market struggles to rebound, many homeowners are stuck with hard-to-sell properties longer than expected. Some frustrated home sellers who must relocate for a new job opportunity, want to downsize or simply want to buy a new place have left homes empty. Vacant or unoccupied homes can leave the homeowner exposed to [...]
Posts under ‘foreclosure’
Foreclosure activity increases nationwide – States with the most foreclosures
A new report shows 154 of the 206 U.S. metropolitan areas with a population of 200,000 or more posted year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity. The report by RealtyTrac® also showed nine of the 10 metro areas with the highest foreclosure rates experienced declines. Four states—Florida, California, Nevada, and Arizona—accounted for the top 20 metro foreclosure [...]
Foreclosure sales account for 31 percent of Q1 sales
Sales of foreclosure properties accounted for 31 percent of all residential sales nationwide in the first quarter, according to a foreclosure sales report published by RealtyTrac®. The report also showed that the average sales price of properties that sold while in the foreclosure process was nearly 27 percent less than the average sales price of [...]
Deeds-in-lieu gain favor with lenders as alternative to foreclosure
Short sales have been the hot solution for financially stressed homeowners and their lenders for the last year, but here’s another potent foreclosure alternative that’s about to take center stage: deeds-in-lieu. Some of the largest mortgage servicers and lenders in the country are gearing up campaigns to reach out to borrowers who owe more on [...]
Fannie Mae increases penalties for strategic defaulters
Fannie Mae recently announced policy changes designed to encourage borrowers to work with their loan servicers and pursue alternatives to foreclosure. Under the new policies, borrowers who strategically default on their home loan despite having the capacity to pay and those who do not complete a workout alternative in good faith will be ineligible for [...]
CNN Money: Foreclosure crisis hits minorities harder
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The mortgage meltdown is hitting the African-American and Latino communities harder than whites, a new study has found. Of borrowers who took out mortgages between 2005 and 2008, some 8% of both African-American and Latino borrowers have lost their homes to foreclosure, compared to 4.5% of non-Hispanic whites, according to a [...]
Big Risks and Big Reward in “Flipping”
This is no work for the faint of heart. Inside the real estate business, investors talk of unwittingly buying uncleaned scenes of suicides, taking on unexpected and expensive tax liens, finding air conditioners missing, and paying occupants nearly $2,000 to leave. But oh, the upside to buying from banks that sell short on the courthouse [...]
Owners in Default Stay in Homes Anyway
An increasing number of home owners in foreclosure continue to live in their homes, mostly ignoring the foreclosure action and refusing to pay anything. The average borrower in foreclosure is unlikely to be evicted for 438 days, says LPS Applied Analytics. LPS says more than 650,000 households haven’t paid their mortgage in 18 months, and [...]
