The number of foreclosures is continuing to slow down in Ventura County. ForeclosureListService.com publishes a running total going back over 10 plus years, and they show a drop from a high of 1,109 in March to 681 in September. A lot of these are the result of flushing out the sub-prime loans, but there’s great concern going into 2010 that the economy (and lost jobs) will continue to keep the numbers high.

Savvy investors with the financial wherewithal are taking long hard looks at commercial properties that are either in foreclosure or have already gone to sale. The “vulture capitalists” are swarming! They’re taking advantage of the plunge in values from our current economic crisis.

So how are investors finding the deals? Read the rest of this article »

It’s late Friday afternoon (yesterday) and I’m clearing out old paperwork that inevitably stacks up on the counter behind my desk, when I stumble upon a ripped out page from an auction catalog from earlier this year. Wow – look at those great deals!

I’d been curious last March to see what the ultimate results would be from those “great deals” so I’d ripped out the page and promised myself that someday I’d check out the final bid prices to see what really transpired on each home.

I’d circled the bid items for our local towns in Hueneme, Ventura, Camarillo and Oxnard – what did I discover yesterday on those homes?

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Our office is across Victoria Avenue from the County’s Hall of Justice where the majority of foreclosure auctions in Ventura County are held every day at 11:00. I was interested in a particular commercial property scheduled for sale yesterday, and so for those interested in what happens at a foreclosure auction read on… Read the rest of this article »

ForeclosureListService.com has posted the number of new default listings, plus sale auctions and REOs, for June. The numbers are holding steady compared to first 5 months of 2009, but substantially higher than historical norms. Later this week we’ll post the sales and price statistics to see how these foreclosures are affecting price points.

Yesterday had a lot of media talking about the 90 day foreclosure “moratorium” law that officially went into effect yesterday. But it’s a lot of political hot air, scoring points for politicians who want to help “Main Street” vice “Wall Street”. It makes for good populist fodder and sound bites for the 11 o’clock news. Here’s the bottom line. Read the rest of this article »

Today’s Wall Street Journal front page headline states “Banks Ramp Up Foreclosures” and a look at Ventura County’s March foreclosure filings as published by ForeclosureListService.com confirms that headline. Read the rest of this article »

We did it! 9 REO (bank owned homes) in about 90 minutes! Following our first time homebuyer seminar last Thursday, Saturday’s caravan was intended to show a variety of neighborhoods, price ranges, and condition of homes (some gorgeous, some “fixer uppers”) in Ventura. We call it “speed dating” because we’re into and out of each home FAST – 5 minutes max!

Data from ForeclosureListService.com shows that Notice of Default (NOD) filings jumped substantially last month. Why now? Here’re the numbers and why I think we’ve seen an increase.

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The U.S. Treasury Department just issued rules this morning allowing troubled homeowners the opportunity to do a loan modification.

A parallel story line is that the House is coming closer to voting on legislation (maybe tomorrow?) that would allow bankruptcy judges to “cram down” loan terms on lenders. One potential provision to this legislation is that homeowners must first have attempted to do a loan modification prior to seeking relief in bankruptcy court.

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