It is easy to spot.
The grass is crispy brown. Backyard weeds peek over the top of a 6-foot-tall fence. The trees are dead and swarming with insects. Fading notices are duct taped to the broken garage door and to the front door. Old newspapers and a sack of phonebooks sit on the sagging porch. It is the foreclosure next door — a symbol of pain and sadness and a harbinger of property values dropping.
Gaynell Instefjord is a real estate agent working in foreclosures. Instefjord shows how the kitchen cupboards were stripped from a foreclosed home by the previous owner of a home in Midvale.Gaynell Instefjord has seen it all. For more than a dozen years the associate broker at Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Sandy, Utah has worked selling foreclosed houses for several bank clients. In the best of circumstances, she says, it is a long process.
But it isn’t the best of circumstances right now. In Utah, where Instefjord works, foreclosures totaled 6,567 during the third quarter, ranking the state in 6th place for the most filings. Foreclosures fell 39 percent from the previous year. Nationwide, foreclosure filings fell 38 percent to 214,855 in September.
This means that few people don't have a foreclosed or abandoned home in their neighborhood. There are things that neighbors can do, however, to preserve property values and maybe even get the home sold.
The Process
The process to foreclose takes time. The bank has to wait for three consecutive missed payments before it can issue a notice of default. Then another three months go by to give the homeowner a chance to fix the problem. The bank then files a notice of trustee sale. About 30 days later the trustee sale occurs and the foreclosure is complete. In all, it's a seven-month process. "That's the quickest it can happen," Instefjord says. "The process is dictated by the trust deed and note the borrower signed when purchasing the property."
But it doesn't have to go that fast.
Some banks, particularly with the high number of defaults these days, may wait for more than 12 months of missed payments before starting the process.
This means the bank is not the owner of the abandoned home until it is foreclosed. It can't keep weeds down and secure the property against vandalism. It can't board up broken windows and tarp a leaky roof to protect the house against further damage.
"Neighbors get upset that the house sits and looks bad and they wonder why somebody doesn't do anything about it," Instefjord says. "The reality is as long as the consumer owns the property, the bank can't do anything to it at all."
Behind Foreclosed Doors
Kitchen cabinets are torn down. Sinks and bathtubs are taken out. The baseboards are ripped out. Heating elements are removed from water heaters. Bleach is poured on carpets. Some people are not happy about losing their home.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
The foreclosure next door: saving your neighborhood | Deseret News
Saturday, October 29, 2011
How to Choose a Home to Buy
1. Types of homes. Choose the type of home that is the most appealing yet practical for you. In addition to single family homes, there are multifamily homes, condominiums and co-ops. Multi-family homes are often good for first time home buying because they can have rental income to help with their mortgage.
2. Budget and investment considerations. Find a balance between your needs, wants and budget. Decide whether you should buy a newly constructed home, a bit older home or a “fixer-upper”. If you may sell your home in the future, the following are best for re-sell value:
Homes with “curb appeal” always sell best
Homes that are NOT unusual or unique and not the most expensive on the block
3. While house-hunting you will probably look at many homes for sale, so keep careful and complete notes and compare.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Safety facts about GPS Systems - good or bad?
I know I use mine all the time when showing properties. I can input up to 8 homes and spend more time getting to know my clients as we travel. Which makes it great for me and my business, problem is I have found that many subdivision or street are not on the GPS system if you are not willing to update the product. It can be costly but worth it to me. 
But have you ever thought like a criminal? Me neither when I was opening and unwraping the new device. One of the instructions when you set up your system is to program your homes address so it is easy to hit one button to take you home.
Do you see where I am going with this? Let say you go out to dinner a movie or even just to visit a friend. You have attached the device to the windshield of your car plugged in the address of the place you are going so excited to try out the product.
As you are enjoying your evening someone breaks into your car takes your GPS system and with one hit of the button they know right where you live and that you are not home. They just left your car so they know they have time.
HERE IS MY TIP: Enjoy the freedom and confidence of using a GPS system but out smart the Criminals, program a convenient store or shopping center close to your home if you ever need to use the home button which I have multiple times when I am trying to find the freeway enterance or to just get point into the right director of home. Once you get headed into the right director and thing start to look familiar you will be able to make it home. And the criminal will end up shopping or confused that you live in the local 7 11
