Foreclosure Fever (Ladson: rent, mortgage, refinance)

[meks]

Originally Posted by Jim3310

The no doc/100% financing ARM's didn't make the homes affordable for those people. They couldn't afford them, period. They never should have been offered or taken those loans.

And I doubt very much that we will see early 90's pricing in Charleston.
jim

we're already seeing pricing not too far from that in some areas but you are right, they couldn't afford them to begin with... I guess loan after loan to make payments kept them in them for awhile... the banks may actually be held accountable and have to pay for this, time will tell eh brother Jim

[meaningless]

Most in the same situation are renting until they build their credit back up and get past the situation, on a foreclosure you need to be at least 3 years past it with payments made to all tradelines of credit on time during those 3 yrs............it is obtaining a new " mortgage loan" that would be considered fraudulent.

You can hire an attorney...National Association of Consumer Advocates – Consumer Protection Advocates and Attorneys (broken link) or try a non profit to help with the modification like HOPE at 1-888-995-HOPE.

If you are going through the modification process with Chase, they are modifying most of their loans as long as you can show that you can afford the modification going forward........

[NewinChas]

Can any of the real estate agents provide the disadvantages of pursuing a bank-owned or foreclosure home (to purchase as a residence)?

[Jim3310]

The quick answer is:
you need patience & you must be prepared for disappointment.

1. You are going up against professionals that do this everyday with a very fine fiscal line & a full understanding of a property's value. In other words, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
2. You will be buying a property 'as-is'. I'm sorry, I should have said "AS-IS!!!" Be prepared to spend more than you think.
3. You won't know if your bid is accepted by the bank, if at all, for up to 4 months. Don't expect any updates either.

Don't believe what you see at 2am on the TV. They aren't buying homes, they are selling systems.

Other than that,
I have some clients that do very well, but those are flips.
jim

[DJShymansky]

Very few, honestly. If it's already bank-owned, there's little difference than buying it from a seller. It'll most likely be an "as is" sale, and there may be a few extra addenda to sign, but as long as you're protecting yourself by going through with your inspections and getting the lender to agree to allow your the normal contingencies, there's not much difference. You'll probably need to have money set aside for repairs and updates as well.

If it's a "short-sale" it's all going to depend upon the lender. Some are completely oblivious to reason. Case in point, I watched a bank sit, undecided, on a full-price offer for months. Pulled it. Reoffered $25k less immediately and had them accept it. "Short sales" can close in a few weeks, or 6 months....and they're never fun. You have to be patient with them.

If it's being sold on the auction block, then you'll need to be sure of the local rules, i.e. redemption, subject to liens, taxes, mortgages, etc.

[Rennie Manning]

Jim, EXACTLY. The people who tried to buy the houses because the banks were willing to loan them the money COULD NOT AFFORD IT! Greedy lenders are the cause of this problem. Buyers should never have been offered these 'deals' but the bottom line is still the responsibility if the folks who never calculated, never planned, and never really understood what was going on. I suppose these folks just felt they would be able to afford their loans by 'osmosis' or whatever. It is a sad situation, but it is not just the fault of the lenders. It makes me pretty sick.

[moneill]

I find it interesting that in these discussions about the price of housing in the Charleston area nobody acknowledges the rising cost of any coastal town property. If you want to leave wihtin 15 minutes of the ocean, $450,000 is not such a high price to pay. Add the charm, historic qualities, and general appeal of the City of Charleston and you have a prime location to live, play, vacation, retire.

[meks]

Originally Posted by moneill

I find it interesting that in these discussions about the price of housing in the Charleston area nobody acknowledges the rising cost of any coastal town property. If you want to leave wihtin 15 minutes of the ocean, $450,000 is not such a high price to pay. Add the charm, historic qualities, and general appeal of the City of Charleston and you have a prime location to live, play, vacation, retire.

evidently you haven't noticed that many coastal properties have been sitting unsold or in foreclosure as well, those prices are coming down too

as far as charm we all know that's over rated and over stated for this area

jfi - Existing home sales numbers came in today worst-than-expected. The National Association of Realtors said existing home sales slid to a 4.86 million annual rate, a 2.6% decrease from May.

The median nationwide home price dropped to $215,100 in June, down 6.1% from $229,000 in June 2007.

The nationwide inventory of homes increased to 11.1-month supply.

take your time and find a deal, I'm going to wait another 2 yrs and then buy a cpl houses people "need to sell" to rent out and eventually sell once the market starts climbing again

[iggy097]

The no doc/100% financing ARM's didn't make the homes affordable for those people. They couldn't afford them, period. They never should have been offered or taken those loans.

And I doubt very much that we will see early 90's pricing in Charleston.
jim

I'm in this exact situation myself. My ARM jumped from 8% to 11% on the first increase. Now, t his was on a home that cost 79,999, and my income is/was at the time 37k a year. So this 100% loan crap didn't just affect the people that couldn't afford their house to begin with, it effects everyone, down to someone like me who lives paycheck to paycheck just trying to keep up with the monthly bills, and still have some extra cash to try and enjoy life, while caring for my child.
Trying to sell my house now so I can either A. Get an apt here in NY, or B. move down to Charleston with my GF who wishes to move back.

I curse that realator that told me I could just refi after my 2 years when my credit was better and get a low locked rate.
In reality after 2 years, I still had no equity at all, and no, you can't just refi unless I could find ANOTHER bank to do a 100% loan, AND come up with the 4-6 grand in closing costs.
So, now to deal with my high APR, I have not been able to pay my property taxes this year, which sit at about 3g in the hole as we speak.
Hopefully I can sell my house without a short loss sale, if not avoid a foreclosure altogether.
Needless to say, I cannot see myself buying another home in the near or even not so near future. It's too hard as a single father, middle class family on one income. Especially with the ever increasing utility bills.
*sigh*

[frame_overo]

Originally Posted by Luvsdabeach

I often wondered what those people do for a living to be able to afford some of the prices I've seen and still seeing. People are crazy to have done the interest only loans and second mortgages.

Our house is under foreclosure right now in Ladson. We were first time home buyers and not informed of what an interest only loan actually was (you're basically throwing away money). We tried to refinance but were told by Countrywide that we could not get anything better than a 6.5% interest rate. We tried selling but would have to sell the $202,000 house for $217,000 just to get out from under the mortgage.....foreclosure was and is the only option. We rent now for $701.77 LESS a month than what our mortgage was and we're still struggling with rising gas and food costs. We can't afford for me to go to work because we cannot afford child care. It's a viscious downward cycle and it's not getting better anytime soon.