Renters Avoid Foreclosed Properties

Some would argue that owning a home is not the sure-fire investment it used to be.  They would point out the time value of money and if one so opted to rent, he could take the difference he saved from paying a mortgage, and the downpayment that is still in his pocket, and invest those dollars elsewhere.  Valid points.  I will explore those options in a later blog post.  For now, let’s dabble on the side of buying a home.

Prashant Gopal wrote in BusinessWeek, August 20, 2009, “Why Rent When You Can Buy?”

To create a fair matchup between owning and renting, we calculated ownership costs assuming a fixed 30-year loan for 100% of the purchase price with no down payment. If we had instead decided to factor in a 20% down payment, owning would have been the cheaper option for the top 10 metros on our list.

“It’s a great time to buy,” says Mollie Carmichael, senior vice-president of John Burns Real Estate Consulting in Irvine, Calif. “If you can own a home for less than the cost to rent, then it’s a logical financial proposition.”

So take out your calendar and block off Sunday afternoons to go deal hunting, um, I mean house shopping.  Ask a Realtor to show you the best offerings in the most desirable neighborhoods.  Consider the long term implications of your choice because you will probably have to hold on to your new dwelling for awhile if you want to see a return on it.  So, are the schools good?  Is your commute to work acceptable?  Recreational and dining options?

If you really want to get top value for your dollar, you may want to look at buying a house that was foreclosed on.  You can go directly to court house auctions, again talk to Realtors, or simply ask around.  It’s amazing at the deals you can make now if you are in the market.  Just make sure to get accurate information.  The value of a house a year ago is NOT what it is worth today.  If you want to know if a house is in foreclosure now, or who the real owner is (there are scams involving homes being sold/rented by con artists) get a Property Report done first.  For a few bucks, it’s worth it.

The pride of ownership does go a long way.  Especially when you didn’t have to pay an arm and a leg to get it.  So, if you’re looking to buy; start looking.

To view the broadcast click below and press play on the video player.

Website Offers Renter a Foreclosure Locator

Crazy kids.  What about now?  Clean the garage… next weekend.  Fix the whatever… sure, after I get the you-know-what.  Avoidance may actually be hardwired into our DNA.  I’m not speaking as a human genome specialist; no, just as a fellow procrastinator.

So, if we put off small things that are unpleasant; shouldn’t we avoid big, bad things at all costs?  When it comes to foreclosures… YES!  Too many people in our current financial climate are throwing their hands up in the air and accepting the collapse of their financial house without a fight.  Without the proper motivation for avoidance.

There are things you can do.  First, talk to your lender.  See if they are open to restructure your loan.  They may, they may not.  It’s worth a try.  They have a stake in the game.  If you go into foreclosure, their crank gets turned as well.  Too many people don’t avoid foreclosure as the end game.  They either don’t ask anyone for possible solutions or advice, or sometimes worse yet, they ask the wrong people.  According to the Daily Times, in an article titled, “Foreclosure Blues: Avoiding auction block,”

Part of the overall problem, McGinn said, is where people tend to seek help when faced with a challenge.

“When we’re jammed up, we tend to talk to our neighbors or strangers,” he said. “What do they know? Before I became sheriff, I wouldn’t have known (about the foreclosure process.)”

After the foreclosure process is the heart-wrenching part, McGinn said, the eviction.

“Everything gets personal,” he said.

Lemon Landlord’s motto on their site is, “Take Control, Don’t be a Statistic!”  Granted, that is geared toward renters.  But that same wisdom can and should be applied to homeowners.  Don’t think that that billowing black cloud has to rain on you.  Talk to people who know.  Seek out lenders, Realtors, the Sheriff’s office, go to government websites… there are things you can do to AVOID foreclosures.

If you take it lying down, you may end up on Lemon Landlord’s site as… what else?  A Lemon Landlord.

The owner of a property is typically well versed on his or her rights.  They may have an attorney.  If not, help is on the way with one call or click of the mouse.  A foreclosure is a problem for any owner, but at the end of the day, that owner bears some, if not all, the culpability for the financial misstep.

But what of the renter; the person who paid the rent on time and fulfilled their end of the bargain?  What rights do they have when their landlord took their rent payments and never made the mortgage payments?  This may be a bigger problem than you realize.  According to Shannon Behnken in the Tampa Bay Online, in an article titled, “Warning to landlords in foreclosure: renters have new housing rights,”

As the economy struggles, Florida’s foreclosure rate continues to tick up. Investors who bought rental homes during the housing boom and can’t afford to keep them are walking away.
Nationwide, about 40 percent of families facing eviction are renting from landlords with homes in foreclosure, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

New laws have been passed to protect renters rights.  The problem here is the same as it always is when it comes to legislation: awareness and enforcement.  Behnken also states,

But here’s the part of the story too many people haven’t heard yet: It didn’t have to happen that way.

Historically, renters haven’t had many rights if their landlord stopped paying the mortgage. A lender took back the home and the renter was forced to vacate.

But with so many renters getting tossed out, Congress changed the rules in May. The Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act says renters must be given at least 90 days to leave. In some cases, renters can stay even until their lease expires.

But, like Smith, so many renters have never heard of the new law and have no idea how to protect themselves from this type of situation in the first place.

So there are governmental mandates in place but no rent police on patrol.  Is it a hopeless situation for renters?  Do renters really have rights or should they just take what they can get?  There is hope and there are measures to protect yourself, if you are a renter.

So what can renters do?

First, don’t sign any lease before checking your county’s court records to verify that the home isn’t already in foreclosure. Keep in mind, however, that suits are not typically filed until owners are at least three months behind on payments.

Finding the foreclosure status of any real property in the US is a simple as going to Lemon Landlord’s site and typing in the address.  You get an instant report and best of all, you can have that property monitored for you.

Renters, don’t wait on the government to take care of you.  Take control, and don’t be a statistic.

No, this is not the premise of Hollywood’s latest corporate thriller. This is the scenario that is unfortunately playing out with more frequency to unwitting homeowners and renters throughout the United States. According to the Chicago News, versions of this scam can be flat out blatant.

A man reported to police that he found his home for rent on Craigslist last week, even though he’s not renting it out, according to a Whitehall Township police report.

Michael Griffen, 29, reported the incident after seeing the listing Friday morning. He told police the ad stated that people who wanted to rent his 3110 N. Second St. home should wire $600 to an address in Africa, according to the report.

There’s not much homeowners can do from having their addresses used as chum. Combing through rental offerings and online bulletin boards daily is not something most people will spend time doing for preventative measures. Though there is no legal liability if someone shows up at your doorstep as the pawn of this ploy, keeping a vigilant eye will help prevent this very uncomfortable conversation from happening at your residence.

Another variation of this scam is for con artist to post rental listings for homes at far below market rates. The play is that these homes are in foreclosure and are vacant. Some brazen criminals will even have the locks on the doors changed so they can hand that set of keys over to the new renter, who has just paid his first month’s payment and his deposit. The spider is never to be seen again.

Everyone wants a good deal, especially when it comes to rent payments. So how do you know? A good deal, or a scam? The first thing to do is to see if the person marketing the property owns it. The very next thing to do is to see if that property is in foreclosure. How? You can accomplish both tasks within seconds on Lemon Landlord.com.

Information is valuable both to consumers and crooks. They know it… shouldn’t you?