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Poppinjay · 04-08-2009, 05:58 AM

My last journal entry was about this. Prices in some neighborhoods around here are down 50%, however they are mostly short sales. There was so much stacking going on with latino families who were basically given fraudulent loans. That is, they were perfectly legal, just like clubbing baby seals is still legal. Because of the multiple families situations, they were told to sign a statement of income. In one notorious case, an hourly Target employee was told by her loaner to just say she makes $100k. She lived in her house for a month before she was turned out.

The really unfortunate thing is that the upcoming relief bills will make it easy for those whose eyes were bigger than there bellies to get out from under their dilemma, while new restrictions placed by the loan companies make it much harder for those with good credit to buy. We have a high FICO, and really had very little trouble getting a loan for our upcoming purchase, except that every time a new restriction comes into place, we have to jump through another hoop because it's not in the interest of the mortgage company to grandfather us in.

We're buying a house that's $25k worth more than what we paid, and sold to us for $155k less than it sold for a few years ago, to stackers who foreclosed. It was bought by an investor who gutted it and renovated, and put it up for conventional sale.

The whole short sale and foreclosure thing is another issue. Unless you have the time and patience to invest in them, don't. Even if you offer full price in cash, it will still take months to sort out the process. We offered full price on a townhomeover a year ago. The bank came back and asked for much more because of the appraisal. That bank is now out of business, the house was foreclosed on, and the trustee is asking for much less, and it's still on the market.

So instead of a townhome with a postage stamp yard, we are getting a two story renovated home with a quarter acre (in the DC area, unheard of unless you're Willard Scott) for about $30k less.

And we get an $8k tax credit.

04-08-2009, 05:58 AM	#19 (permalink)
Poppinjay You had me at hello Location: DC/Coastal VA	My last journal entry was about this. Prices in some neighborhoods around here are down 50%, however they are mostly short sales. There was so much stacking going on with latino families who were basically given fraudulent loans. That is, they were perfectly legal, just like clubbing baby seals is still legal. Because of the multiple families situations, they were told to sign a statement of income. In one notorious case, an hourly Target employee was told by her loaner to just say she makes $100k. She lived in her house for a month before she was turned out. The really unfortunate thing is that the upcoming relief bills will make it easy for those whose eyes were bigger than there bellies to get out from under their dilemma, while new restrictions placed by the loan companies make it much harder for those with good credit to buy. We have a high FICO, and really had very little trouble getting a loan for our upcoming purchase, except that every time a new restriction comes into place, we have to jump through another hoop because it's not in the interest of the mortgage company to grandfather us in. We're buying a house that's $25k worth more than what we paid, and sold to us for $155k less than it sold for a few years ago, to stackers who foreclosed. It was bought by an investor who gutted it and renovated, and put it up for conventional sale. The whole short sale and foreclosure thing is another issue. Unless you have the time and patience to invest in them, don't. Even if you offer full price in cash, it will still take months to sort out the process. We offered full price on a townhomeover a year ago. The bank came back and asked for much more because of the appraisal. That bank is now out of business, the house was foreclosed on, and the trustee is asking for much less, and it's still on the market. So instead of a townhome with a postage stamp yard, we are getting a two story renovated home with a quarter acre (in the DC area, unheard of unless you're Willard Scott) for about $30k less. And we get an $8k tax credit. __________________ I think the Apocalypse is happening all around us. We go on eating desserts and watching TV. I know I do. I wish we were more capable of sustained passion and sustained resistance. We should be screaming and what we do is gossip. -Lydia Millet