Foreclosures Dampening The Spirit Of Homeowners Everywhere

August 7th, 2007

Amplified number of foreclosure auctions can really put a dampener in the dreams of many property owners. With the intent of buying their dream home, homeowners indulge themselves into mortgages which they cannot afford to pay off later.

Banker & Tradesman publisher, The Warren Group, provided the data of an increasing number of foreclosures. There is a huge difference in the figures of this year’s first half compared to same period last year. More than 4745 homeowners in Massachusetts are on the periphery of sacrificing their homes due to lack of finance and are about 7540 homeowners have received a foreclosure announcement of an awaiting auction.

The single month of June in 2007 has also experienced the increased number of announcements for an auction than the same month last year. The increase is about 84 % i.e. from 720 announcements last year in June to 1321 in June this year.

Foreclosed properties have become now a separate category in real estate. It is a growing market. Various sites and magazines carry information about foreclosed properties which act as a very important tool for those who consider buying at an auction as a good investment in Real estate. The general perception among investors is that buying a foreclosed house will save them money, though this is not always true, and this to some extent generally increases the number of announcements of an auction. The suffering this trend causes is to the common middle class homeowner, who buys a house at low interest rates thinking that the rate will not change much in the future.

The date of auction is published in the newspaper. Auctions don’t always end up in foreclosure. Foreclosure is the final stage and there are various steps involved in it. It starts from filing a case by the lender and this is called a petition. The entire process takes about 7-8 months. At some places it can also take about 15 months. Case can be filed in court or outside court. Meanwhile, many homeowners manage to sell their house or refinance it.

People in almost every county are affected by foreclosure. They are finding it very difficult to keep up with the changing interest rates. Though some people may find foreclosed properties an interesting investment in real estate, but it is slowly turning into a big problem. For some, buying a dream home and then retaining them will become a dream itself if the pace of the number of auctions and petition filings are not curtailed, and nothing substantial is done to protect the interest of the homeowner.