mdrealestateblog.com

Hi Rich:

I can honestly and thankfully say that this is not the case here.  Depending on the price range, we may come across one foreclosure property when showing 5 or so.... 

Rich...

I wonder if this is fueled by the media ... are sellers using foreclosure as an easy way out, or is it truly due to hardship?

I see this here too, and am surprised at the number of foreclosures in some "isolated" areas too.

Toula, Around here its very sporadic. Some communities are affected greatly and others not at all.

Richard, There's no way to really tell. We only see the outcome and not what went into the decision. If I had to guess, I would say that there's some of both.

Kristin, Same here. I live in the town adjacent to Bowie and we have very few foreclosures.

If we look beyond the foreclosure we can often find real tragedy, lives shattered, medical costs are one reason, loss of jobs another.  Hearing last week or so the numbers of thousands who lost jobs, could mean that many more foreclosures on the market, and the vicious cycle goes on.

richard - it is about the same here.  i have a listing actually that was not this situation but has since turned into it.  the wife is somewhere else now and the house is maintained by the husband.  hence, not as clean as it was at one time and certainly not decorated the same.  there was a showing the other day and the comments from the showing agent were just downright hateful.  I have had the conversations with the husband and the wife but how can i enforce some things now when not only do they have to sell the house, their marriage has fallen apart, the children are back and forth and so on.  there are just more important things.

Richard - at first I found it disconcerting, now I find it very sad. Sad for those who truly, through fate, have lost their largest investment. And sad for those who, because of their own short sightedness or greed have fed this problem. We are fortunate in this area to have a lower rate of foreclosures than many areas, but still, at least 1/3 of the homes out there are vacant.

I think Obama said it best when he said something to the affect of "dreams being interrupted".

I think a lot of people are quick to assume that foreclosures are always a result of bad decision makers.  While in some cases this is certainly true, in others real people have been really hurt by this economic downturn.

I have encountered the same thing.  In certain price ranges everything is a foreclosure and it really is sad.  Good luck with your buyers.

GOOD AFTERNOON RICHARD!  Similar here in Tucson, homes with one shoe or broken picture frames - we can only guess the story .  In one home, I saw an oxygen tank in the closet.  I count my blessings everyday.  Wonderful post! -- Gabrielle

Gail, It is a vicious cycle right now and its going to take years to fix.

Leesa, I'm not crazy about listing houses where the spouses are going through a divorce. They just never work out that well for me.

Mike, You're right, sometimes its circumstances and sometimes its their own actions. In the end though the house is still lost to the bank.

Mark,  I'm sure that ARM loans and falling market values plays heavily into foreclosures. Health and jobs are also a significant part.

Stacy Ann, Thanks. Its a bit spotty in our area. Some areas big problems, other areas nothing.

Gabrielle, I count my blessings too. It's ugly out there. Lets see what the politicians come up with this week.

Richard, I hate that.  I especially hate when little kids bicycles and stuff are still in the houses.  It really makes me sad.

Same story in my area and getting worse.  Otherwise it is the usual death, divorce, breakup, job loss moves and some of the happy sort.

Audrey, I'm with you there. As bad as it can be, that makes it worse.

Kathleen, Sometimes its tough to think of it as just a transaction.