May 5, 2008...12:01 pm
The bargain bus
I saw this article in the Frederick News-Post and it made me sad …
Anyone interested in buying a home facing foreclosure can save time and gas by boarding the Bargain Bus.
Long & Foster’s Mount Airy office launched bus tours three months ago for visits to foreclosed-on homes.
Sharon Crisafulli, who manages three Long & Foster offices, said the tour has been so far a hit. Mount Airy is in a four-county area, and the company puts on one tour a month. So far Frederick, Carroll and Montgomery have been visited. Howard County is next.
“People may say what a horrible thing we are doing, preying on these people (facing foreclosure),” Crisafulli said. “But the sellers are glad to see us working, trying to sell the home for them. It is in their best interest to get it sold.”
Participants get information beforehand about the properties and then get to visit each one. The company charters a 28-seat bus and visits about 10 homes from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tourists get a gift bag with water and fruit.
“On the bus we have an attorney, a home inspector and a mortgage person,” Crisafulli said.
Also, kind of related is this article about the rise of crime in empty foreclosed homes. Sorry for the dose of bad news, I think I like the anti-smoking Playboy bunny at the cigar story post much better.
~Guy~
10 Comments
May 5, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Interesting. A realtor friend recently mentioned that he’s making most of his money these days writing up what are called “Broker Opinions” for foreclosure companies - a sort of pre-appraisal.
May 6, 2008 at 9:05 am
I am shocked that this is going on around here. I had no idea that there were enough foreclosures to have a bus tour. Prince William County, VA has gobs of foreclosures and I knew that they did these tours there, but in my neighborhood, there has only been one short sale so far, and only one house (not a short sale) currently on the market in a neighborhood of about 80 houses.
May 7, 2008 at 9:32 am
Well, I feel sad for the people who were genuinely deceived.
ALTHOUGH…I know a few people first hand who just bought way over their head. If you have to take out two mortgages to buy a 450K -600K house…maybe you can’t afford it. Part of the problem is people always want to live beyond their means and now it’s biting them in the butt. I don’t think there should be any bailout for those types of situations. Why should I pay for thier greed and stupidity? My husband and I live in a modest house purchased 15 years ago, while many of my friends are living in houses 2 to 3 times the size of mine and making half the money we do. That’s just simple math and a path to foreclosure.
Now, that being said. There are many of these mortgage companies who should be ashamed of their shady practices. Of for those who have fallen victim to that I think they deserve some sort of help.
NOW isn’t there still a 3rd part to this equation? OH RIGHT the government meddling and forcing the mortgage companies to give these types of high risk loans to low income families. So that “every american can be a homeowner”. Well news flash…you have to EARN that privilege..it’s not a right to be a homeowner. I rented for many years until I bought my first house. These days waiting, saving and earning are not part of the culture.
Now in the words of the legendary Forrest Gump: That’s all I got to say about that
May 7, 2008 at 11:06 am
Also- It’s finally being talked about now but Appraisers were wrongly appraising values too high. That’s a pretty big deal that has nothing to do with the homeowner and yet it allowed homeowners to get multiple refi’s which jacked their payments up beyond their means and now they can’t sell their house for what their loan is.
“Values” didn’t actually go up 80-100% in a few years where prices did in some places…and yet appraisers were appraising worth way too high. Something needs to be done with that to protect this same boom that is bound to happen again eventually.
Throw in the fact that Frederick is one of the most overpriced places in the country when comparing county income to rent/home prices and it’s no wonder people are hurting.
May 7, 2008 at 11:19 am
To Clark’s EXCELLENT point….YES that’s a 4th part to the equation. Housing prices were super inflated and I agree something should be done to prevent that from happening again.
May 7, 2008 at 11:19 am
Guy, it is real sad. And it is only going to get worse before it gets better. I attended the Frederick Foreclosure Forum at the Weinberg the other night. I watch the foreclosures in Frederick county, but the State wide numbers were a little unsettling. We are sitting on over 11,500 foreclosures for the first quarter with a forecast of 50,000 by the end of the year.
If these homes don’t get sold or the homeowners are not helped to stay in them, the vacant homes are going to be real eyesore and hazardous to the communities in which they lie. People are already stealing copper and appliances out of them in and around Frederick County. Why? gas, groceries..etc. This has not gotten out of control yet, but I imagine this will as the cost increase and more homes are placed on the market.
The lending practice that lead up to this has really stretched people well beyond their means. DLLR Secretary Thomas Perez, said the lack of government controls lead up to this debacle.
Another part of the problem lies on the homeowner…they need to do something now. Call the bank, talk to an Attorney, seek some type of counseling. I have the numbers on my blog. The Frederick Community Action Agency will help them negotiate with the lenders on their mortgage. Too many people are burying their heads in the sand and ignoring the phone calls and the letters from the bank. Believe me the banks do not want to own real estate. They are forgiving portions of the loan during a short sale of the property.
Mindy is right, everyone wants the big house with the fenced in backyard…bigger than their neighbors. Don’t we all? But no one prepared them for the ARM resets or when the taxes would go up $200 more a month or even thought that the homes would depreciate this low, where they can’t even re-fi their mortgage.
This is a very emotional time for these folks…regardless on how they got there. It’s too late to point blame…we need to stop the bleeding now.
May 7, 2008 at 11:49 am
Home sellers must also come to terms with the fact that sales prices will likely fall way below–and time on the market greatly exceed–their expectations for quite a while…until these distressed properties and short sales clear out of the market.
As with most pervasive problems, there’s plenty of blame to go around. And plenty of difficulties being experienced and discussed. Too bad solutions aren’t nearly as easy to come by.
May 7, 2008 at 2:04 pm
While I was aware of the issue, I didn’t realize the sheer amount of foreclosures out there right now. I didn’t even think about all of the people out there that are currently not in trouble that will be affected by trying to sell their home while all of these foreclosed houses are out there. Or of the possible negative effects to the communities themselves. (For instance there are entire commercial blocks in Downtown Hagerstown that seem to be vacant).
I might be in the market to buy soon and I feel bad even looking at a house that someone is losing in a foreclosure…
May 7, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Clark, Appraisal laws will be changing in January 2009. They will no longer be allowed to be influenced by lenders or REALTORs to make the deal happen. The value should be the value…not the price on the contract or the escalation clause says. This was a product of a few years ago.
May 8, 2008 at 7:48 am
Throw in the fact that Frederick is one of the most overpriced places in the country when comparing county income to rent/home prices and it’s no wonder people are hurting.
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