The News Press reports from Florida. “A plunging economy, soaring gas prices, the highest unemployment rate in 15 years and skyrocketing foreclosures are forcing Southwest Florida residents to hold garage sales not to downsize or de-clutter, but to make ends meet. People being foreclosed upon are moving out of state and lightening the load by selling possessions.”
“‘Southwest Florida has always kind of been the garage sale capital of the world,’ said Bruce Scott of Bruce Scott Auctions in Fort Myers.”
“Carl, of Cape Coral, is a Realtor who now takes listings of foreclosed properties from the bank, evicts the residents, does a lock change, and gets the property ready for bank re-sale.”
“The sale she was holding at a home in the Villas on a recent Saturday had been advertised as a ‘garage sale.’ In reality, she was selling the household property from three foreclosures at the home.”
“But the Villas home belonged to Carl. She had saved the property from foreclosure and intended to use it as a rental. After she bought it, the resident refused to move for three months, meaning Carl lost all that possible rent income.”
“Now Carl is in trouble with the mortgage on the investment home that was supposed to help pay the bills. ‘I’m stuck with this albatross,’ she said.”
From WWSB 7 in Florida. “The increase in the number of houses in foreclosure on the Suncoast has been a boom for one pesky species. The people who live in the Indian Beach Sapphire Shores neighborhood are slapping and scratching since one house went on sale for $1.6 million dollars about a year and a half ago.”
“Since then, the housing market crashed and it’s stood empty and abandoned ever since, and the once-sparkling swimming pool now looks more like a mosquito breeding swamp.”
“Dave Bagaus lives next door and Dave Braum lives across the street. They say nobody’s been taking care of the property for the past year and a half and the abandoned pool is a health hazard. ‘You can see how dirty it is. I’ve seen pea soup less green.’”
“All kinds of things are swimming around in there. ‘What is that growing over there? It appears to be palm fronds. Looks like a branch. There’s another mosquito (slap, slap), all sorts of algae.’”
From Winknews in Florida. “New information reveals another reason leading to local foreclosure problems — mortgage fraud. In fact Fort Myers ranks among the top ten cities in the nation for misrepresentation.”
“‘The street’s awfully quiet,’ said northeast Cape Coral resident, Daniel Garlock. But Garlock doesn’t so much mind the quiet. What does concern him, the number of empty homes in his neighborhood.”
“‘A lot of overgrown weeds around the houses look kind of run down. Just not very much attention is paid to them,’ he said.”
“Experts say people were claiming property as a vacation home instead of investment property to get a better rate. Investment properties are riskier loans, because people walk away faster when they run in to financial trouble.”
“‘Often times they’ll go ahead and rent it out and it’s truly being used as an investment property, or they’re trying to turn around and sell it very quickly for an appreciation,’ said mortgage broker, Laura Hess.”
“Some were buying multiple properties, but then… ‘In the last year, the property values have fallen so the people that were flipping properties are now just walking away,’ said Hess.”
The Bradenton Herald from Florida. “Two separate condominium projects that promised more than 300 units combined, retail and office space, and a marina are on hold. Since 2007, Bradenton City Council has issued seven extensions to planned development projects because of market conditions.”
“According to a CNN Money report published May 14, condo prices in the Sarasota area have dropped by 35 percent over the past year.”
“‘It’s not a shock. In my experience that’s reflective of Bradenton,’ said Ward 4 Councilman Bemis Smith. ‘Just look at the units that are for sale at Riviera Dunes (in Palmetto) and Promenade (in downtown Bradenton). You’ve got a lot more supply then you’ve got market for.’”
The News Journal from Florida. “After a decade of working for an area title insurance agency, Lisa McFarland lost her job with the downturn in the housing industry. ‘At the time they let me go, there wasn’t anything going on,’ McFarland said.”
“She took a job with the local office of a major tax preparation chain, but it lasted only for the season. Next, she turned to selling jewelry. But for the past five weeks, McFarland and her husband, Kevin McFarland, have been students at Hank Belden’s Hospitality Training and Bartending Institute here.”
“Lisa McFarland is one of several professionals from the real estate industry enrolled in Belden’s program. Others include an appraiser, three brokers, two salesmen and even a mortgage broker.”
“‘The bar business is recession proof. Nobody likes to drink alone. People at bars are either celebrating or commiserating,’ Belden said.”
From WJHG 7 in Florida. “You’ve seen the for sale signs lining the streets of your community, and heard the term ‘buyer’s market,’ but what does that really mean? It means sellers and builders are making great deals to make a sale.”
“It has provided such a tremendous opportunity for people to be able to own a home that weren’t able to own before,’ (said) Debbie Gericke, a realtor for almost 25 years. She says these great deals can be found all over northwest Florida, and many include appliances, high end counter tops and cabinetry.”
“Gericke said, ‘The buyer would be able to get into their first home at no more than 100 dollars and a monthly payment of $995 a month fixed for 30 years. Why someone wouldn’t want to take advantage of that I can’t imagine.’”
“And the deals don’t just apply to first time buyers. Homes like this with views like this are down almost 100,000.”
“‘You have an opportunity to purchase something that is drastically reduced over something two years ago, so you’re able to buy more than you were able to buy. The interest rates are at an all time low. They’ve never been this low before,’ (she said).”
“For anyone who is still skeptical according to the president of the emerald coast of realtors 2007 ranked as the fifth strongest year in our nation’s history as far as the number of real estate transactions. Gericke wants to assure buyers there’s no catch.”
The Atlanta Journal Constitution in Georgia. “Real estate agents have held private foreclosure tours, but last weekend’s tour may have been the first in metro Atlanta open to the public.”
“The white shuttle bus came to a stop and Damon Borozny joked to the passengers, ‘All right, time to scare the neighbors.’”
“At stop No. 5 on the seven-house expedition, the group examined a 4-year-old, two-story home on Glenvalley Drive in Decatur that looked beautiful in the dappled sunshine of a color photograph.”
“In March 2006 the house sold for $275,000. It sold again in May 2007 as a foreclosure, bringing $206,550. Now the lender had it back and was asking $176,900.”
“Borozny bought his Grant Park home this year out of foreclosure. He had lived in it as a renter, then was evicted when his landlord lost the property.”
“After months of dealing with the bank – ‘human beings have souls; banks don’t,’ Borozny told the participants – he was able to move back into the home as the owner.”
The Huntsville Times from Alabama. “Seeking to calm fears about the housing market locally and to highlight the favorable job growth trends, area Realtors and home builders presented their case at a press conference Wednesday.”
“Among the items highlighted were rising median sale prices in 2008, sellers getting prices near their asking price and a local economy expected to add an estimated 16,000 high-paying jobs in the next five years.”
“Realtors Association President Clif Miller said there is no better time to buy a home in the area. To support his claim, he cited healthy property values – median sales prices increased nearly 8 percent last year to $169,573 – long-term price appreciation, a 67 percent increase in property values since 2000 and low interest rates.”
“Speakers stressed that there’s no such thing as a national market. While 2007 marked the third-best year for the local housing market, 2008 is a bit behind that pace in several areas.”
“While there is good news to share locally, people are also taking a little longer to buy homes, said Sherry Dinges, a Huntsville Realtor and president of the Alabama Association of Realtors.”
“‘We’re probably as busy, but we’re probably showing more properties to people because there are more properties out there,’ she said. ‘We’re typically writing three offers before someone will buy. People are fearful, so we do a market analysis for them, showing there is no reason to be concerned – they are investing long-term.’”
The Sun Herald from Mississippi. “Unpaid debts and a stagnant housing market are jeopardizing a megadevelopment proposed in Stone County. Mississippi Investors VI, a real estate investment partnership based in Florida, announced plans in January 2007 for a community of 8,000 single-family homes in 12 distinct villages.”
“The company has purchased more than 10,000 acres from various companies and individuals. On Friday, 2,250 acres the company bought from Double A Firewood was scheduled for auction to satisfy unpaid debt. Chancery Clerk Gerald Bond said a second auction also had been advertised because of pending foreclosure.”
“Stone County Supervisor Wendell Patton said the developers are proceeding with Beaver Creek Estates, which he said will have 498 lots on 346 acres. But Patton does not think the larger planned development, called Horizon, is feasible in the current economy.”
“He said property was selling quickly after Katrina, and developers overbuilt. He recently learned 200 homes were on the market – a sizeable number for a county with fewer than 15,000 residents. ‘This economy is going to drive housing into a slump, from what I’m seeing,’ Patton said.”
“Real estate broker Paul Hardy said property sales escalated in Stone County after Katrina, but have slowed down.”
“It looked like a sweet deal: Pull together some investors, build houses in Mississippi, rent them to low-income tenants and qualify for federal loans that won’t have to be repaid.”
“However, new FEMA flood elevation standards are raising blood pressure among out-of-state investors who say they are spending millions to build housing here but may not be eligible for the state’s forgivable Small Rental Assistance Program.”
“That, in turn, will eventually force them to raise rents, putting affordable housing out of reach for many, the investors say.”
“Dave Irwin, a real estate agent representing a group of California investors, said they have already pumped in about $12 million to build 100 homes in Bayside Park over the past six months.”
“‘The whole project is in jeopardy,’ said Barry Hoffman, a California resident who pulled together a group of investors in the Sacramento area to build low-income housing in Bayside Park.”
“Hoffman, a dentist in the Sacramento area, owns four houses in Bayside Park. He became interested in Mississippi after learning of the dire need for affordable housing after Hurricane Katrina.”
“He and a partner pulled about 50 investors together to put money into Mississippi projects. ‘The money started to flow in,’ Hoffman said.”
“Then they learned about the Small Rental Assistance program and began applying for the loans. They began building three-bedroom homes in Bayside Park. There has been a building boom in Bayside Park. In less than two years, the county has approved 674 new construction plans for the south part of the county. Of those, ‘a good 75 to 80 percent’ are in Bayside Park, said building official Jerry Beauguez.”
“The out-of-state investors may have trouble finding local sympathy. ‘You invest, you take your chance,’ said Hancock County District 1 Supervisor David Yarborough. Yarborough thinks the Bayside bubble may pop and the area will be left with hundreds of vacant houses.”
