Awash in Foreclosures

I share your optimism. As Americans we have always held fast to the belief that “Home is where the heart is.” Home ownership is the foundation of our capitalism and regardless of ups and downs our foundation will stand. It may take some hits but we will learn, adjust and move on…as home owners and investors. You can take that to heart and to the bank.

Well, this is probably pedestrian, if not banal, but it seems to me that there are some “it depends” qualifiers here. First, of course, is how much one can afford to lose whatever risk capital is necessary to invest in those foreclosures. The old school rule of thumb is that, if you can’t afford to lose it, you can’t afford an investment of this sort. That means that it probably isn’t smart to divert retirement funds, for instance, into this kind of investment.
A second consideration is the character of the local real estate market — both at the metropolitan level and the neighborhood level — before the crash. Some areas may have been on life support before the crash and may not, as a result of that shock, ever come back enough to permit recouping of initial investment, much less generating a profit.
Another is that it’s probably good to avoid even foreclosures in areas that had experienced wild and sharp speculation-driven price increases in the few years before the collapse, as those markets were so over-inflated that it’s likely to take them a very long time to recover enough to generate seller-friendly markets.
So those are my common-sense caveats. That said, though, I’ve been eyeing some investment properties myself, though less focused on foreclosures.

As a Realtor, it is in my best interest to be optimistic. Frankly, there are enough signs that the market is stablizing, which it muut do before it starts rebounding. The glut of bank owned properties being sold (and keeping the market low) has to continue and get out of hte way before ‘real’ properties owned by ‘real’ people can take advantage of the bounce back. All the reporting needs to continue to be positive so Mr. and MRs. Everyday start to believe. I look for hte market to make very positive strides after the beginning of the year.. The sound you now hear is us hitting bottom. Better days are ahead!
Anybody wanna buy a house?

Vicki
I too am an optimist and believe in the American dream. We need to sit tight, wait out the storm, and there will be a bright light on the horizon.

As an appraiser, I am afraid a quick housing bounce back is far from realistic. As foreclosures increase, banks liquidate by listing their REOs at give away prices to attract cash investors. In the process, surrounding houses lose value quickly. Normal arms-length sales are disappearing. Appraisal value falling. REO sales still dominate the market. Had the government really mandated lenders modify loans or allow bankruptcy courts to make changes the damage would have been less. It is now too late. Recovery will take a long time.

Don’t know if this will go anywhere. I’ve been working with Chase Mortgage now since May 28, 2009 for a remodification and like all the other large banking institutions, they have denied my applicaiton 3 times now for an imcomplete application. ALL of the information has been provided to them each time, but is not getting to the underwriter. I’ve sent them for the 4th time my information and this will be the last time!

B.O.A. $321,006.63 ARM 8.75% Payment $2555.20
B.O.A. $$80,384.80 ARM 9.75% Balloon Payment $697.63
Over the past 12 months my fiance and myself have had made numerous attempts to negotiate a more reasonable interest rate that
would offer us a monthly payment we can afford. Our loan originated with Countrywide Home Loans who I then learned was absorbed by Bank of America. Approximately 12 months ago my compensation had been reduced at my company at which I held an executive position. I then contacted Bank of America and was told to submit my financial information for review along with a hardship letter etc. I waited, waited, called, and waited. Six months later, I endured a heart attack at the age of 30 , which was a shock due to my working in the health industry and overall level of physical health. I was instructed to lead a much less stressful day to day life and decided that my health was not worth any dollar amount. I have since started an automotive sales and repair business which has shown a positive cash flow and ability to afford reasonable carrying cost for our family’s home.
After learning of my condition, I intensely pursued help from Bank of America even providing medical records and hospital bills in hope that perhaps they would at the very least offer an interest rate that would allow our monthly mortgage payment to be tolerable. The homes in our neighborhood are selling for half of their original purchase price and sometimes even less. Our two mortgages are at an extremely high interest rate making it nearly impossible to afford. I understand accountability on my part in engaging in this type of loan but my back is against a wall and common sense tells me that if I were a financial institution collecting 5% on $400,000 dollars instead of aprrox 9% it is much better than a short sale or even worse a foreclosure. Everyone wins in the situation.
I have made numerous attempts, spent numerous hours, only to be transferred from one abusive representative to the next, told to call back, told a negotiator would call me, told to submit my paperwork 6 or 7 times, told after the 90-120 day period of review that they dont have or lost my information, told to pay the approx 40k dollars we are behind before anything can be done, been given extensions of supervisors that their phone system “doesn’t allow them to accept incoming calls”, I have been told that I no longer qualify for the “making home affordable” program because I didn’t make my trail payments…TRIAL PAYMENTS? I would have been happy to have made trial payments had I been made aware. Now I am at step 1 after initiating this almost 12 months ago. I have a medical condition and all I can think to myself is “Will we be living here?. “Will someone help us so my family has a home?” . “Can A huge corporation be permitted to treat people the way they do even after receiving TARP bailout money which was provided largely in part by their account holders?”
I have saved every document, every representatives name and extension, printout from the BOA website indicating the SEVEN submitted documents on their “WORKOUT INFORMATION Documents received” page. I HAVE THE PRINTOUT!!! How can they lose my information so many times and on the other hand post “document received” that consists of tax return/form, fax cover sheet, letter of explanation, pay stub, check/receipt, other U/W Docs other. My mind is boggled. Is this just a show to “APPEAR” as if the company is doing something? We need help!!!
The intention of this letter is to reach out to anyone that can help, can offer us options other than resubmitting the same paperwork, other than “you look good for this modification program” only to call and follow up and learn that the rep you are speaking to currently has no knowledge of what you were told the last phonecall. If you call their “home retention” department 5 times you will learn that you will recieve 5 different conflicting updates, possible modifications, or no knowledge that any loan you have is under review. Its shameful how business is being conducted and the continuance of this behavior. I have searched far and wide only to discover I am not the only one…, ABC news, CNN, email blogs, and stories about Bank of America and their utter lack of assistance to these homeowners such as myself. They are rated the absolute least and worst as far as number of loans modified. So had I remained with Countrywide would I have the modification? I didn’t engage in a mortgage with BOA but I am subjected to horrible business practices and empty promises.
I am begging someone to do something..anything to review our account and do the right thing. I have jumped through the hoops, had hour and a half conversations, faxed, emailed, called, waited, and gotten to the point of being so intensely sad and angry that I can not even explain. I have my health and family to think about. I accept the loan balance..I do, but a balloon mortgage at 9.75% and 8.75% and nothing can be done?? The company even teased me with what the loan payments would be if I were approved for the modification and told me we were perfect candidates. I have the dollar amounts written down and was just waiting for the negotiator to call. The amount we were told was at 4% for 5 years. We were excited and thought maybe, finally they are going to help us. Guess what…no phone call. We called and were told to wait, called again and were told it was in “processing”, called again and was told that they do not have our information. Even after I explained that i have a printout from the website with a checklist of all documents received for the 3rd time. We were then told that now that we are 12 months in the rear, we no longer qualify to the make home affordable program. We initiated the modification when we were current to 1-2 months behind. I then received an apology and resubmit again.
If this letter reaches anyone that has a soul, anyone that can make a difference. anyone that cares, I beg of you..PLEASE HELP US.

Coined as payday loans, check cashing, payroll advance loans or deferred deposit loans, cash advance loans are high interest loans that can easily be obtained in just a short period.

I have read thru the comments..Chase Bank..where to start! My husband & myself have been waiting on a loan modification for a year now. February 10, 2009 we submitted all information they wanted. I have since submitted the information over & over again. Now I’m told that all modifications are on hold. They call monthly, almost harrasingly to make sure we pay that payment but are dragging their feet on their end. We have been in limbo for a year & would like this to come to a conclusion.

We are there! please don’t give up. I know things will work out. We keep the doing the same things…never let the lines of communication close.