Author: jdefoe

Homes to foreclosures in Nashville, Tennessee again affected sales prices of condo and single-family homes in January this year, based on sales data from the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors.

While total home sales increased by 6 percent on a year-over-year basis in January this year to 1,033 units, the median sales price for the single-family units sold dropped by almost 4 percent from 2009 to $159,000 and the median sales price for the condos sold also fell to $154,550, compared to $165,000 in January 2009.

Aside from the downward price pressure of foreclosures, the decline in prices was also driven in part by the large number of first time house buyers who preferred lower-priced homes.

Despite the decrease in prices, sales of single-family homes and home lots remained flat in January. Home builders purchased only lots with deep discounted asking prices.

Reggie Garner, a top executive at Stone Gate Land Co., said that buyers now are looking for smaller homes, but they still want features like granite, gas lights and an outdoor fireplace. Stone Gate has been redesigning its properties at Arrington Retreat to accommodate buyers looking for lower-priced houses.

The Arrington subdivision was initially planned for homes in the $500,000 to $700,000 price range, but now the homes are being redesigned to reach the $300,000 to $400,000 range to be able to compete with lower-priced homes to foreclosures.

Reggie added that high-end homes have been staying on the market for a long time.

Home builders are also looking for bargain-priced properties. Pulte Homes purchased one of the lowest-priced residential and commercial foreclosures in Nashville when it paid only $6.2 million for an unfinished residential project in Brentwood. The final price was one-third lower than the price paid by the original buyers in 2005.

Pulte is set to build 140 homes in the Brentwood subdivision, which will be sold in the price range of around $400,000, much lower than the $1 million originally planned by the previous developers.

Another home builder taking advantage of bargain lots is Regent Homes, which purchased 11 home lots in Nolensville last year at only $50,000 per home lot, about 33 percent lower than what previous owner Newmark Homes paid for the lots.

According to home builders, one of the ways they can compete with bargain-priced government foreclosures, bank-owned properties and homes to foreclosures is to buy low-priced home lots to develop.

Rockford foreclosures soared in 2009 as the pace of job losses worsened in the area.

Rockford again posted the highest jobless rate among cities in Illinois at the adjusted rate of 16 percent last December. The unadjusted rate was 17.2 percent, based on figures released recently by the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

Foreclosure filings in the city increased by 16.2 percent from 2008 to 3,623 in 2009. One house out of every 40 houses in the city got hit with a default or foreclosure posting in 2009. Compared to 2007, the increase in filings was 60.4 percent.

In 2008, Rockford was not in the chart of 100 U.S. metro areas ranked by a California real estate firm based on foreclosure rates. In 2009, the city was ranked 53rd by the same California firm.

The only Illinois city with a higher foreclosure rate in 2009 was Chicago, which posted nearly 200,000 foreclosure filings, including foreclosed home listing data from the cities of Naperville and Joliet. With 3.2 percent of all households in the Chicago metropolitan area in foreclosure, Chicago ranked 38th among all large metro areas.

According to analysts, Rockford foreclosures surged because of the continued employment problems in the city. Rockford’s unadjusted jobless rate of 17.2 percent in December last year was far above the unadjusted statewide rate of 11.2 percent.

The unemployment problem is not only limited to Rockford. Twelve metro areas in Illinois had significant increases in their December jobless rates for the 31st consecutive month. The biggest year-over-year increase occurred in Decatur, which posted an adjusted rate of 12.9 percent. Peoria was second with an adjusted rate of 11.2 percent.

The metro area with the lowest jobless rate in December was the Bloomington area, with a 7.7-percent adjusted rate. In foreclosure-ridden Chicago, the adjusted jobless rate was 10.6 percent.

Illinois foreclosures also again reached record levels in 2009, posting more than 131,000 foreclosure filings, a 32-percent jump from the more than 99,000 foreclosures posted in 2008 and a 104-percent increase from 2007 filings. With a 2.5-percent foreclosure rate, its ranking among states remained the same at ninth place. Its rate of foreclosure in 2008 was 1.9 percent.

To prevent a sharp rise in Rockford foreclosures, several government and nonprofit agencies have been providing assistance to distressed homeowners in the area. One is the Rockford Neighborhood Development and the Rockford Area Affordable Housing Coalition which are offering foreclosure counseling assistance.

How to buy foreclosures may be a question that has been occupying your mind as you hear stories about people getting bargain-priced homes during the foreclosure crisis and making money from them or getting their dream homes for their families.

The first thing you should do before looking for homes is to get a loan pre-approval document from a financially stable mortgage lender. The pre-approval letter states the amount you can borrow and the time frame within which you can use the document.

If you are holding a pre-approval document, you have better chances of getting your purchase offer considered by the seller. Knowing your pre-approved loan amount will also help you limit your search to houses within your price range.

You can get pre-approvals online, but make sure you are dealing with a reputable mortgage company. There are now a lot of online entities just fishing for personal information.

When looking for foreclosures, you can start with online foreclosure listings. As you surf, you can also read tips and warnings about how to buy foreclosures and how to buy in places with high foreclosure rates. You can also read about the advantages of using foreclosure listings accessed by paying reasonable subscription fees.

You can also visit the websites of banks to look for their REO listings. Check also if they have exclusive brokers. Oftentimes banks do not have departments that market or sell their repossessed homes and instead hire brokers to sell these homes on their behalf. Contact these brokers as they may have listings that were not yet published on the websites.

Remember also that some banks selling their REOs may prefer that you also take out your home loan from them; others do not have this preference and may also instruct you to get your loan from another bank.

Before making a purchase offer, research the prices of comparable homes that were recently sold near the property you are planning to buy. Do a research on the house – its history and condition, either through public records or through actual property inspection. Check also if the bank is selling the property as is, which is typically the case.

If homes comparable to your target property are selling quickly, submit your best offer, but remember to incorporate repair expenses into your purchase offer.

If you are buying the house for investment, check the absorption pace for your type of property. It might take you a long time to resell your property and you might have to relearn how to buy foreclosures.

Abandoned foreclosure pets are still getting attention from animal shelters and donors across the country despite reports of overcrowding in animal shelters and rescue centers and declines in donations and funding.

In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the animal shelter Grand Strand Humane Society recently received a passenger van from Laura Perneski who has been volunteering at the shelter for over a year. As Perneski cared for pets at the shelter, she saw the need for an outfitted van to transport animals for adoption and to promote more pet adoptions.

Perneski asked help from Seaboard Signs, Coastline Pets and other local businesses to customize the van and outfit it with cages, leashes, food bowls and water containers and a heating and air-conditioning system. Perneski said that the customized van was her biggest donation and that she hopes it can save a lot of animals.

Sandy Brown, head of Grand Strand, said that the van will step up the shelter’s roving adoption program, which brings pets to communities without animal shelters. The van will also be used to pick up donations, particularly large amounts of pet food from pet food makers.

Brown said that the Grand Strand shelter does not euthanize abandoned foreclosure pets and other pets unless they are dangerous or too ill to be saved, so it needs to step up adoptions to lessen the days animals stay in the shelter and therefore cut costs.

In Tinton Falls, New Jersey, the Leipzig family, owner of pet care center Dogs on the Farm and Cats Too in Middletown, held a pet food drive in Middletown elementary schools and through the family business and then delivered the donations to the Monmouth County branch of the Associated Humane Society of New Jersey. The Leipzigs said they have seen the need for more pet food donations as shelters are being overwhelmed by abandoned pets.

AHS director Bruce Sanchez said that while some animals are rescued from handyman specials, most are surrendered to the shelter by owners who can no longer afford to buy pet foods and pay veterinary bills.

Buddy Amato of the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said that pet owners should reach out to their friends and other family members before bringing their animals to shelters overloaded with abandoned foreclosure pets. Even people involved in foreclosure investing can be approached for help. He also called on local veterinarians to provide care for needy pet owners for free or at discounted fees.