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Steve Thompson of Blue Wave Pool Service drains a pool at a foreclosed home in Henderson last week.
Monday, July 26, 2010 | 2 a.m.
IMPOSING PENALTIES
Las Vegas charges $120 to $500 a day in penalties for violations while North Las Vegas can charge up to $1,137. Henderson issues $100 citations for first offenses, but if the problem isn’t addressed, fines can increase to $500. The city can also pursue criminal charges, which could lead to more fines and possible jail time.NOBODY'S HOME
The problem of foreclosed homes falling into disrepair is partly the result of owners being evicted by lenders who don’t swiftly foreclose on the properties, leaving them in limbo with nobody maintaining them. It could be a strategy to avoid taking responsibility for properties and pay homeowners association fees. Steve Thompson of Blue Wave Pool Service drains a pool at a foreclosed home in Henderson last week.Sun Coverage
Across the valley, local governments are using fines and other tactics to pressure owners and lenders to more quickly repair and sell abandoned houses before they become eyesores.
Clark County, for instance, has begun requiring owners to submit a plan for rehabilitating properties that have fallen into disrepair or face a $1,000-a-day penalty. Unpaid fines can trigger property liens.
North Las Vegas is considering raising fees to cover the expense of dealing with such code violations as broken windows, unsecured doors and unmaintained yards and pools, and Henderson is considering forcing banks to take possession of foreclosure properties faster.
But the property owners are complaining, saying such strategies will add to the cost of the house when it’s put on the market.
“If these fines accumulate, is anybody going to buy it?” said Bill Uffelman, president of the Nevada Bankers Association.
Joe Boteilho, the county’s chief code enforcement officer, says the problem of foreclosed homes falling into disrepair is partly the result of owners being evicted by lenders who don’t swiftly foreclose on the properties, leaving them in limbo with nobody maintaining them.
Boteilho said the county is trying to address the problem for which it issued about 1,000 citations in 2009.
“We have gotten the word out that Clark County is not going to tolerate this,” he said. “(Neighbors) shouldn’t have to deal with their property values going down because owners aren’t maintaining their properties.”
But banks and investors say some of the more aggressive solutions might actually end up exacerbating the problem.
Uffelman said the county could “destroy the reasonableness” of the foreclosure process if it gets too aggressive with its fines.
“If the defaulting borrower is not paying his mortgage or homeowners association fees, he couldn’t care less if the county throws more fees on them,” Uffelman said.
Financial institutions don’t own the property until the foreclosure sale, and their interests should be protected, too, he said. Once the lender is the owner, it will do what it can to comply, he added.
The county can also impose a penalty of up to $10,000 or charges of three times the cost to abate problems.
“It is not a moneymaking venture,” Boteilho said. “The board looks at it on a case-by-case basis to waive or reduce those fees. It costs a lot less to take care of the property than pay a $1,000 fine for one day.”
Some Las Vegas Valley municipalities struggling with the same issues think Clark County is going too far.
“I think what (the county) is doing is going to have a negative impact and is more about revenue generation,” said Alan Ellis, Henderson’s inspection services manager. “When you start liening houses, it discourages people from buying houses.”
In Henderson, he said, “we are looking at changes that aren’t to make money or collect liens, but get compliance.”
Henderson issues a $100 citation for a first violation and gives property owners 14 days to address the problem. If it isn’t addressed, the owner faces a $250 citation and if the problem is not corrected in another two weeks, the fine goes to $500.
The city will pursue a criminal citation against the owner — which could lead to fines of up to $1,132 per violation and possible jail time — as the next step, Ellis said. Henderson issued about 50 administration citations and fewer than 10 criminal citations last year.
If the property needs to be cleaned up and the owner isn’t responding, the city does it and absorbs the cost, Ellis said.
His city doesn’t place liens on the property because they could take years to collect and the city doesn’t want to worsen the problem and prevent the properties from being sold, Ellis said.
Henderson has 4,000 homes in the foreclosure process and the majority are vacant, Ellis said.
“We are spending a lot of time and resources to maintain properties that the bank should be maintaining, but unfortunately we have to work with the legal owners of the property,” Ellis said.
Ellis agreed that the unwillingness of banks to foreclose and take possession of the property after they evict the owners is often the problem. It appears to be a strategy to avoid taking responsibility for properties and pay homeowners association fees, he said.
Henderson is looking to work with the state Legislature in the 2011 session to require banks to take possession of homes 30 to 60 days after they are vacated, officials said.
Tom Goyda, vice president of government relations for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, said his bank has a team that identifies vacant homes and maintains them.
“I can’t speak to what others do,” Goyda said. “There are a lot of other services out there.”
In North Las Vegas, the maximum fine is $1,137 per violation, and the city retains the ability to place liens for the cost of abating a problem. From July 2009 to June, the city issued 450 citations to homeowners and 90 percent of the cases were resolved.
The city is considering charges to recover its costs for the code enforcement process.
“The entire Las Vegas Valley has been hit so hard with the economic downturn that scores of homes have been in default or foreclosure,” said Kevin Brame, the city’s deputy fire chief, who heads the city’s code enforcement. “It is a fairly big problem, and if you are living next to a home in default and people walk away, it sits there for months and all the vegetation dies and trash collects and it falls into deterioration.”
Las Vegas charges $120 to $500 a day in penalties and has the ability to place liens on a property.
It hasn’t announced any plans to change its codes.
A version of this story appears in this week’s In Business Las Vegas, a sister publication of the Sun.
and how exactly will this help people?
It could help a great deal in rebuilding the local economy. Heavy fines accomplish 3 things by forcing the banks to deal with property maintenance:
1. Stop property values from plummeting from decayed, neglected houses.
2. Force banks to start releasing more homes onto the market in order to avoid continued liability.
3. Stop the spread of diseases transmitted by mosquitos that constantly breed in stale water.
The banks certainly seem outraged at these high fines, because it's disrupting their price-fixing scheme on real estate. The Great Depression taught them not to sell too many properties at once, lest they create a glut and devalue the local markets too far. But these banks right now are going the opposite way, and with the delay of offering properties to market, they're going beyond simple stabilization and are entering back into artificial inflation. While it's good for selling prices, it also suppresses property values which in turn cuts into the City's & County's tax revenue, because they're not maintaining the property.
If the city/county places a lien on a home, yes it would have to be paid during the next sale. And rightfully so, that's going to hurt the sale. However that doesn't seem to be the end-game for the city. At the rate banks move to secure property, let alone maintain it, it's going to be quite a while before a bank does anything with a house. During this time, if the property is neglected, the city/county could come in and start levying fines. In six months time, the banks could easily chock up $182K worth of fines, which in many cases could be worth even more than the total value of the property. With the speed of government however, those fines admittedly may not start right away within a straight six-month period, but the lien placed onto the property would probably prevent the sale. In the mean time, even if the property was cleaned up, the bank is then in turn liable for both the continued upkeep and property taxed paid to the city. No bank is going to do this forever, of course since it's not a money-making proposition. So eventually, they will again default on the maintenance, and then in the long run the property taxed themselves. Given enough time the city/county could file the appropriate paperwork and take ownership of the property and sell it themselves. It's almost totally "found money" for the government who obtains the property for minimal upfront fees, then recovers said fees and back taxes and liens. Homebuyers in the mean time could get property for a steal, and we could eventually fill up neighborhoods in no time at all.
If banks don't like this, then they have no one but themselves to blame. Not even talking about the mortgage crisis, but just the price-fixing by keeping homes off the market too long in order to boost their profits once again at the detriment of local communities.
fine the crap out of these banks...
they hurt the country very badly...
fine and fine and fine again...
the games the banks are playing is ridiculous...
don't listen to the banker jibberish...
levy the fines...
big fines...
and the problem will go away...
They are so busy concerning themselves over fines and liens that they don't see the very simple solution right in front of their face - simply MAINTAIN THE FRICKEN PROPERTY - pay a landscaper (you know - those illegals who work SO CHEAP) pay a pool service - that's basically what falls into disrepair for the most part is the yard and the pool - simply pay a service to maintain these things and then the issue of fines and liens becomes moot.... invest a few hundred bucks - switch from grass to desert landscape and that helps not only with the water drought issue but also cuts down on yard maintenance.... there's a lot of simple solutions the banks could look into but they don't want to pay out - that's the simple fact - typical bank just wants to keep reeling in the big bucks and don't put out anything to help the people or the neighborhood.... and this is the institution our illustrious government felt deserved a 'bail-out'... ya, right :(
Azsk8fan....you're expecting the BANK to let loose with a few pennies? Are you serious.They're the ones in the first place who wouldn't work with the owner to stay in the house in the first place. Fines,fines and more fines...impose all you want,who's going to pay it? The Bank ? Certainly high liens on a house doesn't help selling it.This whole thing just seems to go round and round in a circle.Banks will not act until they are pressured to death !!
banks own 900,000 homes...
and yet...
only 300,000 bank owned homes are for sale...
that means...
600,000 are just sitting...
ruining neighborhoods...
decaying...
what the hell are the banks doing about those 600,000...
hmmm...
you know what is amazing...
these banks hurt this country badly...
very very badly...
and yet...
yet...
they still are arrogant...
still...
even while the country struggles to clean up their mess...
nothing but arrogance...
i say...
fine the banks...
fine and fine and fine...
big fines...
get their damn attention...
then finally they just might sell those other 600,000 homes...
The City attempting to fine houses that are already underwater is ridiculous.
What are the HOA's in these neighborhoods doing? I remember they bothered me over trivial things like dead grass spots around a tree, that is just one of the reasons I sold my house. Im sooo glad I got rid of my house in Las Vegas. Why would anyone want to buy here?
When the lender kicks someone out of their home for failure to pay the mortgage the house is theirs. Don't give me any crap about formal forclousre proceedings. The bank loaned money on the overpriced home knowing the real value and counted on the Federal Government to cover the expected loss. The bank must maintain the property!!!! Off with their heads!!!!!
Counties have rules and regs on what a business needs to do to even open. For instance, if a business owner owes taxes or owes fines and wants to open a new establishment, those have to be taken care of first. If you're in a bank dispute and want to open an account with another bank they all work together to keep that from happening until the dispute is handled. I say start a regulation that says if a bank doesn't handle what they're supposed to concerning these properties they can't open any new branches in that county. There are plenty of other banks for people to go to and if this means your bank is among those ignoring the rules then change your bank to those thay comply. Hit the banks with a loss of customers from the plain ol' everyday people not even associated with this mess. That's hitting them broadside and maybe they'll see the cost of loss of customers will be far greater than maintaining the properties.
If our government hadn't bailed out the banks without bailing out homeowners, there wouldn't be so many empty homes.
If there's any way for local/state officials to force more mortgage modifications to keep people in these houses, that would be helpful.
Seems to me the banks have no idea on how to handle the volume of homes that need basic maintenance. They would need to hire a whole bunch of property managers to get the work done and it seems they just don't want to do that as it will add to their costs. The banks don't live next door to the abandoned homes and aren't interested in the eyesore of this mess. The local community has every right to expect problem homes to be kept up or else the owner should be fined. If nothing else this will encourage the banks to work with the people they are about to foreclose on in working out a deal to keep the property up until the bank takes it over.
. "When you start liening houses, it discourages people from buying houses."
That is a load of crap I buy a house lien free you the owner pay for your own deferred maintenance or fines or I the buyer will make an adjustment to the purchase price.
Banks have a list of fee's they impose on their customers like a Home equity line of credit inactivity fee, that's right you have good enough credit to have a line then they the banks impose a fee if you don't use it and don't give me this crap that they have to maintain the account so they are entitled to it.
Hurray county go get those fee's the banks call that good business so proceed.(Fee collection's)
turn all this excess inventory into section 8 and let the feds deal with them,one more gov't handout isn't going to make that much of a difference in a country that's totally dependent on the gov't for everthing from unemployment benes, food stamps, medicare, medicaid, section 8, food pantries, job training, and on and on and on
A number of comments here ar so true:
MSLV - Your are spot on..We went away for 3 weeks and the HOA sent us a letter saying if we didnt maintain the front yard (papers were in the yard they said), they would fine us. We looked at the front yard (Desert landscape)and there was 1 paper wrapper from Burger King that probably blew in from the construction across the street and there was 1 weed growing...Give me a break !!! HOA management are nothing more than a group of people who DIDN'T get to be class president in High School.
And to the rest of the posters on here - CORRECT! The banks are seriously to blame. They don't work with people - have a set of underwriting requirements from a book that is based in Chicago and when you talk to someone on the phone, they are in Pennsylvania and have never heard of Henderson or even what is going on in Las Vegas for employment. And not 1 banker has gone to jail for the mis-deeds they have done..Christ, Credit Suisse funded the IRAN NUKE Program from the fees they earned "tanking" Lake Las Vegas - Even the judge said they were disgracefull during the lawsuit in Montana (that they lost).. When a bank evicts someone from their house -THEY ARE then the owners - forget the formal process. Just like an Apartment - they throw you out - they are responsible for the upkeep, cleaning, etc..If they levy the fine, screw them, if we can't pay the mortgage, we sure won't pay the fines, so we'll jusk BK and the bank still owns the property..See it all goes back to the banks either way..
It was nice that Harry came to town to see the NEW city hall being built (we don't need it) and claim fame that it is his doing for getting things done..OSCAR - you are so wrong hooking up with him - wait till Nov !!
DMCVegas knows what he is talking about. These bank owners are not putting all their inventories for sale. There are 3 empty houses in my area and only one sign is up and one of the homes is about 3 months empty. These fines should wake them up.
Stop giving lenders financial incentive to hold onto properties before they go into foreclosure. Short sales should be approved w/in 30 days of receiving the offers and close within 60 days of acceptance.
Bank of America is one of the worst offenders. I know of short sales with 8-14 offers from Nov-Dec 2009 that have not yet closed. Why are they waiting unless they have a financial reason like a tax write off?
"Joe Boteilho, the county's chief code enforcement officer, says the problem of foreclosed homes falling into disrepair is partly the result of owners being evicted by lenders who don't swiftly foreclose on the properties, leaving them in limbo with nobody maintaining them."
What a load. First comes the foreclosure, then comes the eviction. Foreclosure culminates in a sale. Then there's a new owner, usually the bank.
Don't be fooled -- no matter the window dressing, the municipalities like Henderson are just after the revenue. A neglected house becomes a crime?? Right -- like any of us will ever see the cops putting the cuffs on the local BofA.
"If you're going to take my house away from me, you better own the note." -- Joe Lents (who hasn't made a payment on his $1.5 million mortgage since 2002) in Bloomberg's 2/22/08 "Banks Lose to Deadbeat Homeowners as Loans Sold in Bonds Vanish"
hey, if the banks have to hire landscapers and poolboys to maintain their fleet of homes, that'll only stimulate the economy. X)
Now we just have to figure out a way to properly tax that income and keep illegal immigrants from sending all the money back to Mexico. hah
Did anyone notice that UNR economist Elliot Parker recently said the "D" word?
The business and government news and numbers for Nevada are staggering. Unemployment at 14.5% in Vegas, continued foreclosures and resets, a shadow inventory of 20-70K properties, bankrupcies of Stations and Terrible's, Lake Las Vegas bankrupt, a 21-year surplus inventory of high-rise condos, a 25% business property vacancy rate, tens of thousands homeless--and last but not least a 54% projected shortfall for the 2011 Nevada State budget
And with the big 4 (MGM, LVS, Wynn, Harrah's) all looking away from Vegas...
Tom Shermspun
GRLV News
P.S. If you have any personal photos or videos of the depression, post them at Great Ruins of Las Vegas.
I have been trying to buy a house in Southern Highlands for 7 months. I have been outbid everytime, even when I went above asking. I dont get it. I want to fill an empty house and hire local labor to upgrade it. I will buy from local stores there and pay sales tax.
I cant get a house! There are so many empty. The banks are hurting Las Vegas with this inventory game. The goal is to distort the market. Supply and demand. It appears demand far exceeds supply. This is not the case.
The desire to raise prices is foolish. Let the market work. If labor is earning less, prices should go down. Rents have decreased and they want to increase selling prices?
The banks should be fined for hurting the neighborhoods and preventing the market to work. I cant hire you to paint my house and buy my new wood floors because of the banks little game here.
Who is winning here?
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are spending 100 billion on foreclosed homes upkeep. That could pay extended unemployment for several more years as the Obama Regime continues to destroy the economy. Change starts 2010.
Harry Reid must go as he is a General in the Army of Destruction that is the Democrat Party.
How do the banks get away with distorting the numbers of vacant houses? In regular business, anti-trust wouldn't allow it. Probably another loophole.
Look at the MLS. There is little available.
If you buy now you are at RISK.
If the banks to decide to unload the prices will drop.
If the banks continue to release only a few homes a week, we will be in a depressed market for many years.
Either way it is a bad deal for buyers and investors.
This market manipulation needs to stop.
Let me get this straight - posters want the banks to take the hit, lose more money, and be responsible for those who can no longer meet their obligations.
The banks should forget business acumen and sell the foreclosed homes now (at a loss)- and cause themselves to fail and require more bailouts. That's smart thinking. as long as you the consumer gets helped, bailed out, aided and released from commitment its all good right?
What consequences are there for folks who took financial risk and lost?
Responsible people wouldnt have bought an overpriced home in 2007. We saved up at least 6 months worth of mtg payments in case we "lost" our jobs. Responsible people didnt borrow 120% of the home value. Responsible people were able to re-fi to a 30 year fixed the first sign of market trouble.
Responsible people dont mix up the facts. If you bought the property as a home - then you dont have to worry about the value or equity. Just pay your bill and live there. If you bought the place as an investment - well there are risks and you lost. If the only way you could afford the home was using 5 year arms or alt a and you needed the value to keep going up .... then YOU GAMBLED AND LOST GET OUT
portland huh how's the weather?
My sister and I have never been happier since we stiffed Las Vegas, the lenders and the builders we committed to.
Oh yeah we throw our trash out of car window too...
Remember, call Harry Reid and thank him for this mess he left our state in! Fire the crooked Harry Reid in November!!
The banks need do what the mortgage requires. Pay all the bills and keep the property up. Leins do not keep buyers from buying. The seller has to pay them at closing.
The banks created the problem. Now let them pay to fix what they broke. Our elected officials in Washington allowed the banking industry to get in this mess, which they were happy to do. Greed is a great motivator....
Desert Sun: Only an idiot would blame Harry Reid or any politcian. You guys think they control evertything. Uneducated fool.
cwcommish: Yes I think Banks should sell now at a loss. And who is to say holding them means they will get more? Prices have been dropping, so I do not see how selling them later will help.
We need to get back to market fundemantals and not manipulating the market for profit.
they do (banks, and for that matter just about every other expert). and since they own the property and they are in the business of making money, I dont question their motives. I dont care if the bank burns the place down so long as renters turn back into renters.
how about the banks immediately start renting the property back to the dwellers? They could then reconsider the rent every month just like joe sub-prime does. Let joe subprime live in the sh*thole he created as he spent the last 9 months living payment free and trashing the place.
And heres the kicker - just like joe subprime can choose to stop paying rent (mtg) anytime, the bank can raise the rent any time.
oh how nice... the problem just goes away.... blowing in the wind...... swoooooosh
that's your defense? you were told you cant lose? are you serious?
I don't want to imagine how you even get through life. Do you pile all your problems in the closet and forget them or just keep moving?
You are a classic renter. You had no business committing to financial contract and hopefully you will never be allowed to again.
thats nice and all. Im sure youre a great looking gal and I dont wish you a sh*tty life, but you cant expect the real world to revolve around cute, petite lack of responsibility. Your decision to walk away has an impact, money is lost, someone else now has to deal with what you left undone.
one more thing, you were going to pay $375k for a condo? that was the beginning of your mistakes. There is something called value; Of which this deal had none. They were charging too much and you should have walked then.
A day in cinderelladream's live. She is standing there all cute and petite with her blond hair. A gentleman offers her $5,000 dollars to sleep with him. She says sure, she is a golddigger already so what the heck. He then counter offers her $200.00. Cinderelladream's is taken aback. She replies, "What do you think I am? A common hooker?" The gentleman replies, "We know what you are already we a just negotiating now".
I love the way people point their fingers at Reid and the president like they had anything to with a situation that started in and around 2001 up until the bust in 2007/2008. How about the people who wanted to live a lifestyle they surely could not afford nor did they read what they signed when they got the mortgage. You want to point blame on anyone it falls onto the laps of people who wanted a 4 bedroom, 4 bath home who otherwise could not afford rent on a 1 bedroom apartment.
I love it when you have these tea bag people throw out these one liners, where were they when congress authorized 2 wars without funding them or when previous administrations spent money like it was a ATM machine.
p
why doesn't the county force the HOA's to use the money we pay them for upkeep on foreclosures that have fallen into disrepair? it seems to me that my $38 a month that is currently used by the HOA to tell me i have too many leaves in the rocks of my front yard could be much better spent paying a landscaping crew to clean up the completely trashed and overgrown foreclosure house across the street.
Sharon Angle is against government, saying "government is not part of the solution, it is part of the problem." Therefore, she would be against the government picking on poor banks and homeowners with regulations about black pools and blighted property.
Mortgages in default , unpaid property taxes and homeowners associations , liens , fees , fines , distressed properties with green / mosquito infested pools , banks taking it in-the-ass , jobs lost never-to-return , unemployment surely-to-rise , everybody and everything broke and in bankruptcy , unsecured creditors never-to-be-paid , casinos moving to communist countries , homelessness on the increase everywhere .... yet people will still re-elect Harry and Nancy.
But it really doesn't make any difference - any of it , Because taxes and inflation are coming next with a resulting depression that will make these problems being discussed today look like minor social discomforts from an earlier time in history. Fact is , our country is in a decline that we will not ever recover from because we have no leaders.
Las Vegas leads the nation in a number of negative ways , i.e. foreclosures , unemployment , etc. - In the coming 30 months these local statistics will only mirror those of the entire nation.
@BoreUS:
The Banana_Joe is living in his banana republic and in his banana boat.
The Banana_Joe does not know what a foreclosure is. Would you please explain it or at least jodel it to me?
(Jodeleidihidihidiho, Jodeleidihiihhh...:)
Thanks in advance.
Regards
Banana_Joe
Ask the HOA to maintain those abandoned properties simply means higher monthly fees for every home owner in the community.
For the first time in U.S. history, banks own a greater share of residential housing net worth in the United States than all individual Americans put together. Just food for thought.
Yes, but no higher fees for the Banana_Joe in his banana boat, please.
Btw, would anyone here like to get some fresh banana from the Banana_Joe?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Banana for SALE, all banana are 50% down, almost for free, banana for sale, here at the Banana_Joe.
Regards
Banana_Joe
We know that unattended properties tend to lower the value of surrounding properties. But forcing the banks to flush the market with their foreclosed inventories in a hurry could also drive down the property value in the community. It's sort of like a double edged sword. I agree that Clark County went a step too far with such a hefty fine.
Wells Fargo really did a good job by moving their foreclosed properties and short sale transactions efficiently, but I wouldn't say the same about how Bank of America handle it.
BoA! Are you reading this comment? You guys are really slow and inefficient! Please fix your broken Equator system!
Yes, db1776, the Banana_Joe is reading your comment and here is my sales offer for today:
Banana for SALE, all banana 50% off, almost for free, banana for sale, here at the Banana_Joe's.
Keep commenting chucky, don't give up.
Some day the sun is going to shine for you.
Regards
Banana_Joe
If the banks knew the maintenance fees/liens would be enforced, maybe they would be a little more open to negotiating with the homeowner before evicting them.
As it is, they get another free ride on the taxpayers dime by not having to maintain the properties (like the homeowners did).
Or is it that banks are a better bet for a campaign contribution than a homeless family?
Nobody cares for the homeless...
BOO - HOO.
BOO - HOOOOOOOH.
Regards
Banana_Joe
I believe cinderelladream thinks she did nothing wrong. Well it's jerks like her that put us in this mess.Everyone paid your way through even the VA. You have the ***** to call your boyfriend a creep. Sweetheart...he doesn't hold a candle to your kind !!
And by the way....I know your type when it comes to nursing and working at the VA...and you give the hard working nurses there a REAL BAD NAME.I managed one of our local CBOC's...if you know what that means.I can assure you...you'd be out of the clinic in a flash.
@ Nick
I disagree that there's nothing out there to buy. We're looking now and see TONS of places at all price levels. There are lots of choices. It's come down to "there are plenty of places to stay - just what area do we want to move to?"
it's the banks fault? I prepare taxes, most people that bought houses in LV before the recession hit just bought a house with no money down, not 10% not 20% of the price they depended on a PMI. the first rule of buying a house is at least have 20% of the price, most LV buyers depended on making their mortgage payments not from money they had saved but from their paycheck. once most lost their jobs or hours were reduced most could not pay their mortgage payments. stop blaming the government for everything and look in the mirror.
Old idea: A mortgage is like free money. You make money in real estate through leverage.
New idea: A mortgage is a form of debt. You have to pay if off eventually
The banks should have had 50-60 year mortgage that would have help the people.
0% down was a joke,in my day and age you had to have 20% to 30% down and a job.
I wonder who let the rules slide.
@Nick
Never assume that you will get the property at the asking price. Sometimes the asking price is just a gimmick to lure the potential buyers to make an offer, it really doesn't mean much. I'd suggest to some buyers to be more realistic about how much they should be paying for the property they want. A good broker can help you with the research on current market value of a particular property so your offer would have better chance getting accepted by the seller/bank. Anyway, the bottom line is to be more realistic when making an offer, a good property will be sold to the person who wanted the most.
CINDERELLA DREAM,,,,, you're a total ASS. YOU my dear are why we are in this mess. That's right walk away from your legal obligation,who cares. No doubt you will do this in the state you currently live in. Sounds like you and your sister do this all the time. How many years have you and your family been pulling this scam???
All of your elected officials at every level it seems are a major joke. Your middle class is 2 heart beats from the poor house and Im not talking about those idiots making 60k a year buying a 500k house that qualified somehow.. They need to live in a box.
I think Lloyd Blancfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs, and basically Mr. Bank, himself, should give up his 53 million dollar 2007 pay since he and his crooks helped create the whole mortgage derivative market mess to begin with. Come on people, lets go get this guy, throw him in chains, tar and feather him, and make him pay for the destruction he and his banking buddies have caused. Until we are ready to go get these crooks, we can talk all day long. Watch Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story.
No jobs, bad schools, wonder why they aren't selling?
95% of all the money in the United States is held by 1% of the people.
food for thought
Chediski:
The inventory is at a 15 year low. Why? The banks are manipulating the market. Low enough to keep out regular sales out and high enough to raise the cost.
This will hurt buyers and investors. They can depress this market for a decade if they keep this up.
The banks are doing what they can to maximize their value of holdings.
If you were the banks, I doubt you would blow your hand. It's too big. They would fail if they put the property they have on hand into the measly market. Prices would cliff dive.
It sucks for us out in the peanut gallery because houses all around are going downhill, but only a third are even for sale. Twenty years, minimum before Vegas is down to sustainable levels - 250,000 people and about half the property.
Hello wrecking ball, bonfire and sustainable.
Re: gdperson
That 95% of money that is held by 1% of the population is a Natural Law and despite political pipe dreams and the great charities out there this will never change ... It's a consciousness ruse in order for us to create personal 'inner' growth ...
Which also, coincidentally, may hold you rock solid when 'external' seismic shifts occur!