Massachusetts Home Buyer Guide

More Multi-property Auction Woes

Others misfortune has created opportunity for potential home buyers, but buying a home at a multi-property auction has been difficult, if not impossible, in Massachusetts.

The Boston Globe reported May 14, 2008 that another winning bidder, Alexandria MacKinnon, on an allegedly foreclosed Massachusetts home auctioned by Real Estate Disposition Corp. has found she can't close on the home because the foreclosure process is not yet complete.

After a March auction, Real Estate Disposition Corp. told MacKinnon and her husband to prepare for a closing by May 8, 2008, so the couple gave notice to their landlord and went through the process of qualifing for a home loan. Then the closing was postponed indefinitely because the mortgage company that was working for the buyers told them it couldn't make the loan because the seller did not yet own the home.

"Real Estate Disposition was warned by state regulators before the March auction against including any properties it did not have the right to sell. The company has said it auctioned several such properties at a previous event in November."

Buyers are faced with a great deal of frustration when dealing with banks and the companies that represent them. Buyers also make the mistake of attempting to complete the process without professional representation.

Read The Boston Globe Article

Massachusetts Foreclosure News

For the latest in Massachusetts foreclosure news, you'll want to visit MassForeclosed.com.

Foreclosure News, Data And Listings

Just a quick reminder that foreclosure news, data and listings of bank-owned properties and short sales are available for free at MassForeclosed.com.

Massachusetts Foreclosure Data

For the latest Massachusetts foreclosure data and news, visit MassForeclosed.com.

You also can receive the latest Massachusetts foreclosure home listings for free.

Foreclosures Hurt The Entire Neighborhood

It's not just the homeowners who lose their homes that are affected by foreclosures.

Read about how foreclosures have affected Marlborough, MA and Hudson, MA.

For the latest foreclosure news, visit MassForeclosed.com. You'll also be able to get foreclosed home listings there.

Foreclosure Scam Video From Freddie Mac

One of the nation's largest investors in mortgages, Freddie Mac, has produced a video about how to spot foreclosure scams and avoid becoming a victim of these scams.

Freddie Mac decided to produce the anti-fraud video for YouTube after a 2007 company-sponsored study discovered that 25 percent of delinquent borrowers go to the Internet first for mortgage information, only slightly less than the number who called their mortgage lender (28 percent) or bank (32 percent).

Will MA Foreclosure Bill Help Housing Market?

Attempting to put the brakes on the state's rising number of foreclosures, Bay State Governor Deval Patrick signed a bill into law that he described as one of the nation’s most consumer-friendly mortgage lending statutes, the Boston Herald reported November 30, 2007.

"The legislation requires mortgage companies to file a 90-day notice of intent to foreclose with the homeowner and the state. Borrowers would be required to receive consumer counseling before obtaining certain high-cost mortgages. Grants totaling $2 million would establish 10 education centers statewide, and promote first-time homebuyer and foreclosure counseling."

In addition, loan originators would have to be licensed by the state, and pay annual fees.

Will any of the above actually improve the current state of the housing market? Not anytime soon.

The 90-day notice provision should buy homeowners some time, but in many cases may just be delaying what is inevitable. Education centers may help in the future, but can't turn back the clock for all the home buyers that chose interest only and other exotic home loans. Many more so-called subprime and other non-traditional loans will adjust over the next six to 12 months, so more homeowners likely will fall behind on their mortgage payments.

With more and more foreclosed property hitting the marketing, home prices probably will continue to decline for at least a few more quarters; however, bargain hunters and investors should be on high alert in 2008. A rise in the number of sales in the third quarter next year would not surprise me.

Read The Boston Herald Article

 

More Than 400 Multi-Family Homes For Sale In Lawrence

With new foreclosed multi-family properties hitting the market in Lawrence, MA regularly, Lawrence has more than 400 multi-family homes, including regular listings, bank-owned properties and short sales, listed on the MLS Property Information Network, Inc. as of today.

Find multi-family homes for sale in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

Check out The Boston Globe's October 7, 2007 special report, including video, on Lawrence's foreclosure crisis.

Lawrence profile from the October 7, 2007 Boston Globe.

MA Foreclosure Filings Keep Coming

The Bay State is on pace to set a record for foreclosure filings in 2007. Read more about it at my foreclosure blog, MassForeclosed.com.

Foreclosure data and subprime lending stories are in the media all the time, and those topics were beginning to dominate MassHomeBuyerGuide.com, so I started MassForeclosed.com. I'll still provide important foreclosure news here, but not as much.

For the latest foreclosure home listings, visit MassForeclosed.com's subscription page.

Lenders Seize More Than 6,000 MA Homes In 2007

Lenders have seized more than 6,000 homes in foreclosure so far this year in Massachusetts, triple the number lost by delinquent homeowners over the same period in 2006, according to data published by The Warren Group.

The Boston Globe reported November 21, 2007 that 6,258 homes were taken from their owners year to date.

August was a record month in the ongoing foreclosure mess. Lenders seized a record 1,018 properties in August, and initiated 3,115 new foreclosure proceedings against homeowners, also a record. In September, 673 properties were seized by lenders, and 731 in October.

One reason foreclosures might have declined is that lenders may be holding off because there are fewer potential buyers available in the current real estate market.

The new data may actually undercount the number of homeowners who have lost their houses because they could no longer afford their mortgages. That's because The Warren Group does not count those transactions, known as deeds in lieu of foreclosure, in which homeowners agree to turn over their deeds before the lender moves to seize the property. Other cases involve delinquent borrowers selling their home for less than the outstanding debt, and either owing the remaining amount or getting lenders to absorb that loss. This is typically referred to as a "short sale."

Worcester County had the highest number of foreclosures through October, according to The Warren Group: 1,074, up from 428 a year earlier. It was followed by Middlesex County, 903; Essex County, 779; Suffolk County, 743; and Bristol County, 648.

Interested in buying bank-owned property or a property listed on the MLS as a short sale? Shoot me an email letting me know what you're looking for. I'll email you the listings.

Read The Boston Globe Article

Check out the Globe's foreclosure map