Do you feel local real estate is improving? (bank owned, sales)

[athousandlogins]

Originally Posted by Guamanians

I don't think the banks have been selling them quickly... There may not be thousands of foreclosures around here, but the banks are shady nonetheless. And, I don't think foreclosures on the market will attract crime, and it certainly shouldn't affect how a neighborhood looks. It's not like a foreclosed home has to keep a big FORECLOSED sign up in their front yard for life.

Have you ever lived in a neighborhood with a vacant house or two? The lawn gets shaggy, things break and don't get repaired - it does bad things to property values. The banks don't care enough about these properties to keep them in good shape, and it's not uncommon for angry/desperate homeowners on the verge of eviction to let the place go to hell before they leave. After all, how many hours would you put into mowing the lawn and painting the fence if you were broke and about to be kicked out, anyway? And sometimes people squat in abandoned houses, which leads to crime.

I definitely agree with the points you made before about affordability and investors and just ending up back in the same old mess if we aren't careful. I'm a member of a middle-class family and despite a lifetime of good credit, I've been absolutely shut out of the market by the insane prices here. And I am sometimes bitter about it. But I'm still not pulling for a flood of foreclosures to hit the market at once. That isn't a stable situation.

[bornindc]

Originally Posted by Guamanians

I agree that unloading all the foreclosures at once would drop prices, but is that so bad? Wasn't it the super-inflated real estate market that got us into this mess in the 1st place? The 2 main problems that I have are
1. The banks did not want to negoitiate with the homeowners to keep them in their homes. This forced people to choose between putting food on the table, or going into foreclosure.
2. Banks were taking bailout money while holding onto foreclosures.

Again, I have no love lost for bankers. I don't think the government needs to be bailing them all out either. But it sure wouldn't help the U.S. economy, and locally it can create crime and other negative effects in neighborhoods as the other posters mention to have a bunch of vacant houses sitting around.

[Guamanians]

I think there is some miscommunication here... Let me clarify my points. Regarding banks not selling foreclosures quick enough, -- I assumed that the homes were already in foreclosure, and thus were already vacant. If this is true, then I see no reason to let them sit vacant (for reasons mentioned by athousandlogins) So, wouldn't it be better if the banks did all they could to keep the original owner in the house? And, plan B should be to get a new owner (or renter) in the home quickly so that they it doesn't stay vacant. I am strongly opposed to banks sitting on a foreclosed homes while they collect bailout money.

[StupidityPolice]

Originally Posted by snorkey

It seems like Northern Virginia is doing better than most of other counties in the country. Do you think foreclosures are disappearing and the house prices increasing?
I definitely felt my house was worth 30% lower last year than this year looking at Zillows and MLS sites.

Homes are selling faster and the prices are slowly rising again. There are still lots of foreclosures as there are still lots of people living above their means.

[Guamanians]

Originally Posted by StupidityPolice

Homes are selling faster and the prices are slowly rising again. There are still lots of foreclosures as there are still lots of people living above their means.

I agree... but another reson why the demand did not drop like a rock is the fact that we have the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT hiring all the time. As long as we have big gov't, then we will have more potential buyers than other locals. Now, I'm not saying that everyone in this area is going to buy a house; but there are more people in the market.

[Caladium]

I think all this talk about hundreds of foreclosures is way over exagerrated. At least, it is in my community. When the blizzard hit, every house had someone out shovelling the walk, that's how I know we don't have a lot of foreclosed homes around here.

[Guamanians]

Foreclosures around here are not a major problem, but it's good information to know regardless. I think there are pockets of foreclosures in NOVA, but its not widespread.

[car54]

What about the "next wave" of foreclosures that is supposed to hit soon?

Allegedly, lots of the wacky mortgage "products" (option ARMs, etc) that fed the "boom" are supposed to reset in the next few years. Payments on these mortgages will skyrocket...and due to declining house values, folks won't be able to refinance....so many will walk.

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by car54

What about the "next wave" of foreclosures that is supposed to hit soon?

Allegedly, lots of the wacky mortgage "products" (option ARMs, etc) that fed the "boom" are supposed to reset in the next few years. Payments on these mortgages will skyrocket...and due to declining house values, folks won't be able to refinance....so many will walk.

There might be some, but as far as this alleged "tidal wave" I think it's wishful thinking and that's about all. On the scale of things I think will actually happen, this one falls above the end of the world in 2012. But below the rumor that aliens will land in Loudoun County (and may even be here already, hanging out with the Salahis).

[lchoro]

there are two backlogs. the first is visible and consist of the bank-owned homes that are available if the bank is willing to sell. at the present, there are about five times as many bank-owned properties as there are active listings in my zip code. the the second backlog consist of the homes where the government and the banks are deferring default through a number of programs.