Foreclosed Homes: A Local Blight

Foreclosed Homes: A Local Blight

news.yahoo.com

The two-story appears battered: its address has been scratched on a front panel and weeds choke what may once have been a manicured lawn. And then there is the overwhelming stench of human waste and stale beer. There has been no electricity and no running water since the bank repossessed it months ago. Still, at least three young men have been squatting here since January. The dream home has become a nightmare.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Now houses are becoming squatter's residence. Is there an end in sight to this major crisis? I wonder if we will be seeing more of this across the country. Seems like this goes hand in hand with the tent cities in California report. I do wonder why they only focus on California? Is this just the hardest hit area or is it happening anywhere else?
I haven't seen any signs like this in other parts of the country. Things seem to be on the decline in a rapid manner. I just hope we do not have more signs of a third world country.
What really scares me is how Bush says that his administration 'is on top of' the current economic situation.

news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

This is already happening in my neighborhood as well. The article below ties the trend not just to the housing crash but also to the recession, gentrification of cities and the price of oil as well. A detailed article forecasting the future of suburban America:

Suburban Slums

Strange days are upon the residents of many a suburban cul-de-sac. Once-tidy yards have become overgrown, as the houses they front have gone vacant. Signs of physical and social disorder are spreading.

At Windy Ridge, a recently built starter-home development seven miles northwest of Charlotte, North Carolina, 81 of the community’s 132 small, vinyl-sided houses were in foreclosure as of late last year. Vandals have kicked in doors and stripped the copper wire from vacant houses; drug users and homeless people have furtively moved in. In December, after a stray bullet blasted through her son’s bedroom and into her own, Laurie Talbot, who’d moved to Windy Ridge from New York in 2005, told The Charlotte Observer, “I thought I’d bought a home in Pleasantville. I never imagined in my wildest dreams that stuff like this would happen.”

In the Franklin Reserve neighborhood of Elk Grove, California, south of Sacramento, the houses are nicer than those at Windy Ridge—many once sold for well over $500,000—but the phenomenon is the same. At the height of the boom, 10,000 new homes were built there in just four years. Now many are empty; renters of dubious character occupy others. Graffiti, broken windows, and other markers of decay have multiplied. Susan McDonald, president of the local residents’ association and an executive at a local bank, told the Associated Press, “There’s been gang activity. Things have really been changing, the last few years.”

In the first half of last year, residential burglaries rose by 35 percent and robberies by 58 percent in suburban Lee County, Florida, where one in four houses stands empty. Charlotte’s crime rates have stayed flat overall in recent years—but from 2003 to 2006, in the 10 suburbs of the city that have experienced the highest foreclosure rates, crime rose 33 percent. Civic organizations in some suburbs have begun to mow the lawns around empty houses to keep up the appearance of stability. Police departments are mapping foreclosures in an effort to identify emerging criminal hot spots.

The decline of places like Windy Ridge and Franklin Reserve is usually attributed to the subprime-mortgage crisis, with its wave of foreclosures. And the crisis has indeed catalyzed or intensified social problems in many communities. But the story of vacant suburban homes and declining suburban neighborhoods did not begin with the crisis, and will not end with it.

A structural change is under way in the housing market—a major shift in the way many Americans want to live and work. It has shaped the current downturn, steering some of the worst problems away from the cities and toward the suburban fringes. And its effects will be felt more strongly, and more broadly, as the years pass. Its ultimate impact on the suburbs, and the cities, will be profound.

reply to post by kosmicjack


Thanks kosmic. Good to hear from you. Great article. I am justwondering how long it will take before this becomes even more widespread. I read an article in USA Today yesterday. they took a poll and 3 out of 4 economits said they see a recession already. Pretty scary stuff.

Bush's statements like being "on top of it" sure lend credibility to him
being in denial, like so many others he made.

Getting foreclosed must be a horrible experience, and heighten one's
stress & anxiety, causing feelings of panic & despair.

Weren't there reports of people burning their homes, when faced with
foreclosure?

The area where I live is mostly rural and poor, so there are always homes being foreclosed on. I'm not sure that I will see any increase in that, since many of the people here wouldn't even qualify for ARMs.

This is also an area popular for retirees (who bring their own money). What I have seen are large condominium developments and single-family neighborhoods where construction has halted, midway through a project. I think the builders must be hurting. So here, it looks like it's middle and high-end housing that's feeling the crunch, and the developers as well as the homeowners are being affected.

[edit on 25-3-2008 by Sestias]

It is widespread. It's happening here in SE Washington as well. Though not as widespread, yet, as in other areas. The irony of this housing crunch is, in this area anyway, there are quite literally, a dozen housing developements in various stages of building. Yet all over the area are house sitting empty.

Amazing.

Just got a foreclosure notice.
The clock is ticking. We are working hard to save our house.
Without going into too much detail. It started with my wifes illness.
Many hospital bills, and a loan to help pay them off.

the loan was a bait and switch.
It was a standard 30 year loan, up until it was time to sign the papers.
It took a month to close..We were about to lose everything.
The day I signed (a day I wish I had back). He supposedly re-ran our credit scores. and the loan changed to an ARM. Very low rate.

I signed anyway. Then my wife got sick again..and could not work for almost a year. We no longer qualified to re-fi. And the Rate adjustments began kicking in.

Now my market is flooded with homes for sale.

We'll see what happens..wish me luck

reply to post by spacedoubt


Best of luck to you, space...and my prayers, for whatever that's worth.

My home loan was the same deal, fortunately for me, I saw the writing on the wall and was able to bail without loosing everything. My credit is destroyed, at least for now, and another loan for anything? Forget it. I'm just glad it was just me and not a wife and/or kids.

Again, best of luck.

reply to post by seagull



Thanks a lot Seagull.
We've been renegotiating a couple of debts, and I just got a letter today, regarding a substantially lower interest rate on a small loan. It's a small thing, but it helps.
One thing that really bugged me, was when I talked to FHA. They told me I stood a better chance of getting a re-fi, if I were a minority, or an IMMIGRANT.
An Immigrant? Why is that?

reply to post by spacedoubt



It's just a guess, mind you, but I'd have to say, the more bad loans a banking institute makes, the easier it is to get federal loans to save their sorry asses. But I'm just guessing.

Glad to hear things are at least looking less bleak.

reply to post by seagull


It's a good guess. Probably a threshold of bad debt has to be reached.
As I am typing this, a commercial for "Countrywide", one of the most troubled lenders in the US just aired.

A Bank of America deal is pending, to take over this company.
But in the meantime, the CEO and president of this almost failed institution, are negotiating for 19 million in Stock, when the takeover is complete.
Countrywide Bonuses

Terribly sorry, spaceboubt, my prayer that your wife gets well.

And so sorry about the financial woes, may God give you some blessings
soon!

Kinda wish we could get rid of greedy bankers & unscrupulous lenders!

Barely hangin' on myself... as a matter-of-fact, my wife and i have
re-organized all our camping gear,,, just in case!!!