Foreclosures & Short Sales 
There are currently 20 blog entries related to this category.
July National, State and Twin Cities Foreclosure News
Tuesday, July 19th, 2011 at 12:01am. 708 Views, 2 Comments.
A recent report show that foreclosure filings have declined since last fall. However, this real estate snap shot isn't a completely pretty picture.
RealtyTrack, an Irvine California firm, has reported foreclosure filings have slowed and are down 25% nationally during the first half of 2011 as compared to the first half of last year. The rate is 29% lower compared to the rate from the second half of 2010. Still, a depressing total of 1,170,402 foreclosures were filed through the end of June, 2011.
The length of time from default to foreclosure to auction has grown. U.S. properties foreclosed in the second quarter were in the foreclosure process an average of 318 days from the initial notice to the completion, up from 277 days in the second quarter of 2010.…
Federal Program to Help 1,400 Minnesotans Facing Foreclosure
Monday, July 11th, 2011 at 11:09pm. 735 Views, 1 Comments.
[UPDATE: The application deadline for this program has been extended through Wednesday, July 27, 2011]
A new program offering money to catch up on delinquent loan payments is accepting applications in Minnesota. Qualified applicants should hurry, as the time frame for joining this program ends July 22.
The Emergency Homeowners' Loan Program will provide up to $50,000 in interest-free, forgivable loans to qualified borrowers. The national program is designed to bring selected homeowners current on their loans, and to assist with future mortgage payments over two years. The loan is forgivable for homeowners who stay in their homes five years beyond the program's two-year duration.
The loans are available to borrower(s) who:
- Had income declines of 15% or more due…
Some good news for Twin Cities real estate in May
Wednesday, June 15th, 2011 at 5:56pm. 451 Views, 0 Comments.
The local real estate market is making some progress, according to data released by a Twin Cities organization.
Figures from the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors show that pending sales for May 2011 were up 13.2% from the year before, with 4,428 contracts signed. Part of the improvement is due to a drop in pending sales in May of last year, following the end of the federal first time homebuyer tax credit.
Though the median sale price of homes decreased 12.6% to $152,950, the median sale price of non-distressed properties rose 1.4% to $200,700. Foreclosure prices were down 16.4% to $104,450, and short sale prices were down 5.6% to $135,000.
About 4,968 non-distressed properties entered the market in May 2011, more than the 4,202 of May 2010. Distressed…
Foreclosure News in the Twin Cities
Monday, May 9th, 2011 at 6:33pm. 668 Views, 0 Comments.
March was dismal for home sales in the Twin Cities are housing market - except for when it comes to foreclosures. Sales of homes in foreclosure rose dramatically compared to the same month of 2010.
The number of signed purchase agreements in March was down compared to the year before, mainly because the first-time homebuyer tax credit was still stimulating the market at the time. There was a big drop-off last month in the number of homebuyers who didn't want a foreclosure or short sale. In fact, sales of foreclosures surged about 30%.
Additionally, a large portion of foreclosure home buyers were investors ready with cash. Several years ago, only about 3-7% of home purchases were made with cash. But in February and March of 2011, that…
Busted House a Boon to Community
Friday, April 15th, 2011 at 8:02pm. 547 Views, 0 Comments.
Five long years after it was snapped up by a bank in foreclosure, a dilapidated house at the intersection of Oakdale and Butler avenues in West St. Paul has been dropped into the hands of the city's economic development authority. The donation is an unusual opportunity amid the mortgage mess.
In an emailed statement, U.S. Bank spokeswoman Teri Charest said the donation "was the best option because of the value it provides the community. We applaud their efforts to turn this space into something that will benefit the neighborhood."
At its meeting next month, the EDA will discuss what to do with the 0.15-acre lot. It will likely become an open space for the neighborhood. There's even been talk about using it as a community garden.
During the time it belonged to…
Vacant Buildings Decline in Saint Paul
Friday, January 21st, 2011 at 1:01pm. 749 Views, 1 Comments.
The number of registered vacant houses in the city of St. Paul has been dropping since hitting its peak in 2008. The number of houses being fixed up and put back on the tax rolls has also been increasing steadily.
The number of registered vacant buildings in the city went from 370 in 2004 to a record of more than 2,000 in 2008. The number decreased to 1,600 in 2009 and about 1,500 last year. About 90% of the vacant properties are single-family residences or duplexes. Vacant houses only make up about 2 to 3% of all residential buildings in Saint Paul, but they're not spread out. It's the concentration of abandoned homes in some neighborhoods that has caused problems.
Monitoring and managing vacant buildings has stressed city resources and compromised…
Home Price Time Machine
Tuesday, November 9th, 2010 at 6:46pm. 676 Views, 0 Comments.
The Finance and Commerce blog pointed us in the direction of a new way to look at which communities have been hit hardest by the foreclosure crisis. They mentioned that Calculated Risk had created a unique graphic that doesn't just look at how much housing prices have declined, it compares markets by how far backward in time housing prices have retreated.
In the Twin Cities area, for instance, prices have fallen to the point they were at in 2001. In Dallas, prices have only retreated to 2006 prices. In Detroit, houses are going for the same price they reached in 1995.
Housing consultant John Burns presented this slide as part of the UCLA Anderson Forecast. He used median prices for this slide.
To Buy a Foreclosure Home or Not to Buy a Foreclosure Home?
Monday, October 18th, 2010 at 11:34pm. 609 Views, 0 Comments.
You may have heard the news that thousands of foreclosures around the country may be invalid because of bank paperwork problems. Multiple major lenders have frozen tens of thousands of foreclosures while paperwork is reviewed for mishandling.
This could potentially impact people who have bought a foreclosed home, want to buy a foreclosed home, or financially distressed homeowners who are behind no their payments, even if they have not yet received a notice of foreclosure filing.
For recent buyers of foreclosed homes, there's a chance that the bank's foreclosure processing could be found to have been improper or that the bank did not adequately document its legal title to the house. This is where title insurance saves the day. If the purchase of the home was…
Campaign Signs at Vacant St. Paul Houses
Friday, July 30th, 2010 at 8:00pm. 445 Views, 0 Comments.
Vacant and foreclosed houses and buildings in Saint Paul have started sprouting political campaign signs.
One of the first people to notice the signs was a real estate agent who found a campaign sign for Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher on the lawn of a foreclosed St. Paul home. As sheriff, his office has a role in the foreclosure process. Gazing down the block, more signs were planted outside vacant houses.
Though it may seem funny or harmless, it is a violation of Minnesota law to put signs on private land without the consent of the owner or occupant. The signs will be removed if a landowner asks. Some of the properties are owned by banks or mortgage companies.
Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity Buys 8 Saint Paul Houses for $8
Thursday, April 15th, 2010 at 10:22pm. 490 Views, 0 Comments.
Eight properties in St. Paul were purchased for $8 recently. The deal struck between St. Paul and Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity was for properties in two of the neighborhoods hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis. Seven are in Payne-Phalen, the eighth is in Summit-University.
Five of the Payne-Phalen properties will be part of a program taking place this October when former President Jimmy Carter will visit to help build or fix up 20 homes in struggling Saint Paul and Minneapolis neighborhoods. Two foreclosed houses will be rehabilitated, and three new homes will be built on foreclosed lots. An additional five properties near the ones purchased by Habitat for Humanity will get exterior repairs through the nonprofit's A Brush With Kindness program.
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