RealtyStore Foreclosure Blog

According to a report issued August 25, Tolleson and Litchfield Park in Arizona were hit hardest by foreclosure crisis in the first half of 2008, when compared to the same period in 2007. Find Arizona foreclosures right now, or read on.

“Among Maricopa County cities, Tolleson led with the largest percentage increase in foreclosures and pre-foreclosures during the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2007.

“Foreclosures in Tolleson were more than 600 percent higher while more than 300 percent more foreclosure notices were handed out. There were 352 foreclosures in Tolleson from January through June, compared with 46 for the same time last year.

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Source: “Tolleson, Litchfield Park have highest foreclosure increase” by Grayson Steinberg for the Arizona Republic. Copyright 2008.

Billionaire Sam Zell made an interesting housing market prediction last week, saying that he expected home prices to bottom-out at the end of March 2009, but some economists believe otherwise. One such economist, Michelle Meyer with the Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in New York, does not feel so confident that housing market prices will stop falling by the end of 2009’s first quarter. Instead, she predicts that it will not fully bottom-out until the end of 2009 itself. Why might some economists feel this way? Despite the fact that home buying across the U.S. has lately risen, the number of available properties on the market continues to climb.

Bloomberg.com’s Shobhana Chandra provides the full story:

“Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) — Sales of previously owned homes in the U.S. rose 3.1 percent in July, a gain that masked further housing weakness as inventories of unsold properties increased.

“Resales advanced more than forecast to an annual rate of 5 million, with at least one-third of the purchases coming from foreclosed properties, the National Association of Realtors said today in Washington. At the same time, the median price dropped 7.1 percent from July 2007, and the number of homes for sale jumped to a record.

“Sales averaged a pace of 4.95 million the past three months, the same rate as the previous period, indicating that purchases may have touched a bottom. At the same time, the glut of houses for sale means property values will probably keep dropping, putting pressure on household wealth and consumer spending.

“‘Existing home sales have likely stabilized,’ Michelle Meyer, an economist at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in New York, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. ‘In terms of demand, we’re probably close to the bottom. In terms of prices, we don’t think we’ll see a bottom until the end of next year.’”

Read the full article, “U.S. Economy: Home Resales Rose More Than Forecast.” Copyright 2008 Bloomberg.com

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An update on McMahon’s foreclosure situation. According to our post a couple weeks ago, “Trump to Rescue McMahon from Foreclosure,” Donald Trump had offered to purchase McMahon’s home and save him from foreclosure. Apparently Mr. McMahon did not accept Trump’s gracious offer to pay off McMahon’s debtors and act as landlord to the 85-year-old celebrity. Unfortunately, McMahon is unwilling to disclose who the buyer is and the identity of the buyer has not yet leaked to the Press.

Reuters Reports:

“LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Television celebrity Ed McMahon has finally found a buyer for his multimillion-dollar Beverly Hills mansion, avoiding a foreclosure that would have made him among the most high-profile victims of the U.S. housing slump.

“The buyer of the six-bedroom, five-bathroom home was not disclosed, but McMahon spokesman Howard Bragman said on Friday it was not billionaire Donald Trump. The New York developer had said last week he was in discussions to buy the house and lease it back to McMahon after widespread publicity about the celebrity’s default on his $4.8 million mortgage.

“‘It’s a confidential deal, and the buyer wants anonymity, but I can tell you it is not Mr. Trump — and it’s not John McCain,’ Bragman said, joking about the Republican presidential hopeful’s admission this week that he did not know how many houses he and his wife own.”

Read the full story “Ed McMahon finds home buyer, avoids foreclosure,” posted August 22, 2008.

If you’re not already a RealtyStore member, sign up and start taking advantage of the current real estate market here.

Seasoned foreclosure and real estate investor (and billionaire) Sam Zell predicts that the Single-Family real estate prices will have fallen as low as they can go by the end of Q1, 2009.

In addition to his prediction, Mr. Zell reminded Bloomberg television viewers in an interview on “Fannie, Freddie & Sub-Prime Crisis,” that even as foreclosures are on the rise and housing prices drop, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. What could possibly be so great about the current market slump, you might ask? Mr. Zell pointed out the correlation between housing price drops and housing affordability; as housing prices go down, the pool of people who can afford to buy real estate expands. That being said, Mr. Zell is not currently investing in real estate, claiming that he cannot impact that market enough to see a large return; he believes the current real estate market is “fairly priced.”

“Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) — Billionaire Sam Zell said the housing market could start recovering as early as next year and he’s focusing on investing in debt rather than equity.

“‘We believe that the opportunities, particularly in difficult situations, are in the debt,’ said Zell, who made his fortune building the largest publicly traded office and apartment companies in the U.S. ‘We have been focused on, not only in real estate but in corporate, identifying debt situations where it is trading at a discount.”

“Early next year the U.S. may see the bottom of the single- family housing market, Zell, 66, said in an interview today with Bloomberg Television. ‘I think it will be relatively fragile as confidence builds and it will take probably another year for confidence to be completely returned.’

“Zell is focusing on debt as the real estate recession deepens. Existing U.S. home sales fell to a 10-year low in the second quarter and the median price for a single-family house dropped 7.6 percent. Record foreclosures have brought on more than $505 billion in capital losses and asset writedowns worldwide and companies that lent money to homeowners and repackaged the debt into securities saw those businesses falter.”

Read the full article, “Zell Focusing on Debt Investing While Awaiting Housing Rebound” by Sharon L. Lynch and Greg Miles, Copyright 2008 Bloomberg.com

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Donald Trump is in the negotiation process to help save 85-year-old Ed McMahon from foreclosure. His goal is to pay off the current lender and re-lease the property to McMahon. If Donald Trump invests in pre-foreclosures and foreclosure properties, there’s a good chance that there has to be reasonable profit potential there. The man is no fool. Sign up for RealtyStore and find yourself a pre-foreclosure right now!

Here’s the scoop on Trump’s rescue mission, published on August 15, 2008:

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Billionaire businessman Donald Trump is offering to rescue TV personality Ed McMahon from foreclosure on his multimillion dollar Beverly Hills home.

“There are discussions, but it is not a done deal yet. We are optimistic,” McMahon’s spokesman Howard Bragman told Reuters on Friday.

Trump, a real estate developer and celebrity host of TV reality show “The Apprentice,” told the Los Angeles Times he stepped in after widespread publicity over McMahon’s default on a $4.8 million mortgage on his six-bedroom, five-bathroom home.

Read the full Story, “Trump offers to help Ed McMahon avert foreclosure.”

If you’re not already a RealtyStore member, sign up and start taking advantage of the current real estate market here.

The ultimate property “deal” has finally happened: in Detroit, Illinois, a foreclosure home sold for less than the price of a bottled water. In truth, the property likely is no longer worth a dollar, and would benefit more from being destroyed and rebuilt than from renovation. But hey, the land is worth more than one dollar, so not all is lost in the eyes of the savvy investor.

Why is the home is such bad shape? The property, sitting in foreclosure since Summer of 2007, has been the victim of the two biggest problems of foreclosures: vandalism and theft. Having been completely gutted and otherwise destroyed by scrappers (people who make their money in stealing and reselling items on the streets) and occasionally frequented by the local squatter, the lending agency who owned the property was desperate to offload the investment. The best part of the deal is that the bank is also paying closing costs, back taxes, and all other costs associated with disposing of the home, totaling nearly $10,000 in fees!

“DETROIT — One dollar can get you a large soda at McDonald’s, a used VHS movie at 7-Eleven or a house in Detroit.

“The fact that a home on the city’s east side was listed for $1 recently shows how depressed the real estate market has become in one of America’s poorest big cities.

“And it still took 19 days to find a buyer.

“The sale price of the home may be an anomaly, but illustrates both the depths of the foreclosure crisis in Detroit and the rapid scuttling of vacant homes in some of the city’s impoverished neighborhoods.

“The home, at 8111 Traverse Street, a few blocks from Detroit City Airport, was the nicest house on the block when it sold for $65,000 in November 2006, said neighbor Carl Upshaw. But the home was foreclosed last summer, and it wasn’t long until ‘the vultures closed in,’ Upshaw said. ‘The siding was the first to go. Then they took the fence. Then they broke in and took everything else.’”

Read the rest of the article, “Foreclosure Fallout: Houses go for $1.”
Copyright 2008 by DetNews.com

…Couldn’t Save the Harpers From Foreclosure.

Three years ago, Patricia and Milton Harper and their sick children were granted a free home reconstruct with enough money to cover their taxes for 25 years by “Extreme Makeover,” a show designed to help deserving families make repairs and upgrades to their homes for free.

It was recently announced, however, that the home, located at 5489 Ahyoka Drive, Lake City, GA is now in foreclosure as the result of a failed business venture, which they attempted to start up using a $450,000 loan they took out against the property and have failed to pay back.

Whether it was bad luck or bad planning, they now lack the support from the community that once worked so hard to fund the housing project. Combined with the pitiless foreclosure process, it is doubtful the Harpers will get a second chance to pick up the pieces and save their home.

The property is scheduled to be Auctioned on the Clayton County steps on August 5th, 2008.

Read the full article, “‘Extreme Makeover’ Home Facing Foreclosure.”
Copyright 2008 by FoxNews.com

In a Press Release issued July 7, 2008 by Radar Logic, Inc., it would seem that primary U.S. cities are still experiencing a decline in housing market prices. The company, “a technology-driven data and analytics business that produces a daily spot price for residential real estate in major U.S. metropolitan areas,” calculates its findings based on actual market data, using “proprietary and transparent algorithms.” Their data reflects a continued slump in the housing market.

“For April 2008, evidence suggests that the broad housing slump continued as consumers showed persistent lack of confidence and difficulty in financing home purchases.

“Of the 25 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) examined, one market showed a price per square foot (PPSF) increase, one was neutral, and 23 showed declines on a year-over-year basis; however, nine MSAs showed PPSF increases from March to April. Consistent with seasonal expectations, 21 MSAs showed a transaction count increase from March to April 2008.”

As bad as this may sound for the economy, this is actually GREAT news for foreclosure investors, first time home buyers, and anyone looking to buy a home at a huge discount any time between now and the next 6-12 months. So start your search TODAY, and get ready to make your move soon.

Read the Full Release: “RPX Monthly Housing Report.”
Copyright 2008, Radar Logic, Inc.

That age-old question is coming up again: rent versus buy? The foreclosure market has been growing considerably in recent years, as the rate of default and supply has increased, causing housing prices to fall. If you have good credit and a reasonable down payment saved up, you might be asking yourself if you should buy. The American Bankers Association offers a few tips to help.

Money and Business
June 18, 2008

The American Bankers Association suggests that consumers ask themselves the following five questions when deciding whether to buy or rent property:

1. What will monthly costs be, and can I afford the payments? Keeping mortgage payments under 30 percent of your gross monthly income is a good rule of thumb. If you can’t keep mortgage payments to less than that percentage, you may be better off renting for awhile.

2. What other debt do I have? Total rent or mortgage payments plus credit obligations should not exceed 35 to 40 percent of gross monthly income.

Read the full article, “To Buy or Rent? 5 Questions to Ask Yourself,” on the USN website.
Copyright 2008, U.S. News and World Report

Consumers are apparently optimistic about the future of the national real estate economy, according to a new survey conducted by Housing Predictor. Nearly 1 out of 2 polled say they believe the national real estate economy will improve within the next two years.

The online survey serves to show that despite the turmoil in the nation’s real estate markets, triggered by the credit crisis most believe conditions will improve in a short time span. Only 28% of all respondents said they believe it will take five years or longer for credit market conditions to improve the housing market.

An unprecedented epidemic of foreclosures has led to lower home prices in the over-whelming majority of the country. As many as 1 out of 3 homes in some especially hard hit areas listed for sale are foreclosures, damaging communities and housing values.

A majority of economists recently surveyed say the nation is either in a recession or at least close to experiencing one. Rising gasoline prices have triggered the highest food inflation the country has experienced since 1992, which was during the last major real estate recession.

Congress is dealing with a series of proposals to assist some homeowners threatened with foreclosure. But more than 3-million homeowners are now behind on their mortgage payments and are threatened with foreclosure. A Housing Predictor survey in March found that the over-whelming majority of respondents believe Congress will fail in its attempts to solve the national real estate crisis. Foreclosures are forecast to increase to total more than 5.6-million units through 2011.

Some 25% polled said they believe things would improve in a year or less. Housing Predictor regularly surveys consumers on real estate related issues, and provides more than 250 local housing market forecasts in all 50 U.S. states. The data on which forecasts are issued are independently gathered by researchers from thousands of sources throughout the nation. Markets are constantly monitored by researchers to keep visitors up to date on changing market conditions.

Find out more about the latest Housing Predictor poll, check market forecasts and search real estate listings at http://www.housingpredictor.com