What is your name?
Richard Stewart
City
Kalamazoo
What part of the real estate market has personally impacted you? (Were you a buyer, seller, renter, real estate speculator or otherwise?)
I am an REO Realtor. I list and sell bank owned property. Banks are overwhelmed right now with people literally walking away from homes. In the past, there was a social stigma against foreclosure. Now, everyone knows at least one person who lost their home to foreclosure. That social stigma is now gone. There is nothing taboo about foreclosure anymore. In fact, if you say you lost your home to foreclosure, you are perceived as the victim regardless of if you victimized a lender to get the loan in the first place. I receive assignments often long before an occupant is required to leave. In most cases, the bank will offer $500 to $3000 cash for keys aka Relocation assistance to move out in 30 days leaving the property in broom clean condition. This saves the lender from having to hire out the trash out and in theory, the occupant will not steal furnace, scrap metal etc. These cash for keys situations appear to work out the best for both the occupant and the lender. The occupant gets badly needed money for their cooperation and the lender gets to remarket the house in much better condition. This works out best for the communities in which they are located as well. It is the long legal delays that bring down neighborhood values, not vacant homes being maintained by the banks agent. The lenders pay me well to maintain vacant houses and prep them for market. In most cases, these vacant bank owned homes get more care and attention than they did with the previous owner/occupant who had no vested interest in the house. It saddens me to see the misinformation that is spread about foreclosures.
Read more: Richard Stewart, Kalamazoo, Michigan, Real Estate Collaspe Interview [click]
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