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peter
3203 Posts |
 Posted - 05/11/2008 : 10:05:11 PM
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California screaming: Tales from the housing bust
People in L.A. are coping in ways they never imagined with a crisis they never saw coming. Like it or not, California's reputation as a national trendsetter is going to remain intact.
Money Magazine) -- Spring in southern Orange County has come on spectacularly. The autumn fires that blew smoke and ash into neighborhoods here also destroyed a lot of dark-hued scrub and chaparral. Now the hills along the 241 tollway are painted in bright green grasses and yellow and violet wildflowers. Near the end of the 241 lies Ladera Ranch, a nine-year-old (and still growing) planned community of 25,000. Nestled into the foothills, the place is a visual metaphor for the American dream, California division, in which the residents of the postmodern townhouses at the lower elevations aspire to the gated $4 million spreads at the top.
Yet there's a whiff in the air - not of smoke - but of despondency. According to Foreclosure Radar, a Web service that searches public records, more than 100 homes in Ladera Ranch are in "pre-foreclosure," which starts when a bank sends the homeowner a first notice of default. Another 100 are in the hands of the lender or being sold at auction. So many distressed properties translate into fast-falling prices, and an owner trying to sell has a rough go of it when banks are the competition. Climbing that hill is looking harder and harder to do.
There are a lot of Laderas, and far worse, all over greater Los Angeles today. Median prices in the metro area's five counties are down 18% to 28% for the 12 months ended in March, according to DataQuick Information Systems, making Southern California a particularly lousy place to be selling a home right now. But the pain here isn't hard to find elsewhere. The past year has given the lie to the old saw about there being no national real estate market. Of the country's top 100 markets, 56 saw price declines; foreclosures increased in 98 of them. The same mix of crazy loans and speculative frenzy that pushed up and then pulled down L.A. was at work in Florida, the Southwest and much of the Northeast. The Midwest inflated less but in the end still proved vulnerable to a weakening economy and the debased lending standards of the bubble era.
The L.A. story, in other words, is likely to be your story too. Unlike some famous bubble towns - hello, Las Vegas - L.A. has a mature economy and a diverse housing supply. There's a house and a neighborhood like yours here, whether you live in a city, a leafy older suburb or a brand-new exurb.
In Money Magazine's annual special report on real estate, you'll see how homeowners in the greater L.A. area are coping and how the drama might play out here and in your hometown too. We'll also answer some key questions for buyers and sellers in a game where none of the rules are the same as they were just two years ago, and we'll look at five big changes in real estate that will outlive the crash.
First, however, the big question: When will the hurt stop? Judging from what's going on in Southern California, it's likely to be years, not months, before real estate blooms back to life.
More from the following:
http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/01/real_estate/Regnier_Postcards_from_the_Edge.moneymag/index.htm?cnn=yes
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sheriephillips
317 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2008 : 10:20:35 PM
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| I live in OC. Today, I wrote a letter to Wells Fargo to let them know I finally reached the breaking point. I've been out of work since September 2007 and have basically used up my savings trying to hold onto this house. I still don't have a job because (1) finding a job in OC right now is impossible for a mortgage person and (2) I decided to change careers and went back to school. I am set to graduate this summer and (hopefully) will find a job in the legal field as a paralegal. By the time that happens, I will be completely broke and penniless. I doubt my new job will pay the bills anyway, so I'm left with no choice. The fact that homes have plummeted and will continue to plummet for several more years makes it the only decision I can make. It was indeed a sad day (Mother's Day) to write that letter to Wells Fargo. Reading this article just points to the facts. |
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homebroker@sbcgl
1513 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2008 : 12:12:01 AM
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| Sad thing is California was heay on Option ARM's, high priced areas such as OC had large volumes of Option ARMS, the scary part is the large majority have not even started to recast yet. The worst is ahead for OC. |
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AGreene00
2022 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2008 : 06:53:35 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by sheriephillips
I live in OC. Today, I wrote a letter to Wells Fargo to let them know I finally reached the breaking point. I've been out of work since September 2007 and have basically used up my savings trying to hold onto this house. I still don't have a job because (1) finding a job in OC right now is impossible for a mortgage person and (2) I decided to change careers and went back to school. I am set to graduate this summer and (hopefully) will find a job in the legal field as a paralegal. By the time that happens, I will be completely broke and penniless. I doubt my new job will pay the bills anyway, so I'm left with no choice. The fact that homes have plummeted and will continue to plummet for several more years makes it the only decision I can make. It was indeed a sad day (Mother's Day) to write that letter to Wells Fargo. Reading this article just points to the facts.
I'm sorry to hear that, Sherie. Keep your head up. You've still got your health, your family and your friends. When you're down it feels like you will never be up again. When you're up, it is never as good as it seems. |
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nowbroker
503 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2008 : 08:35:10 AM
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quote:
quote:Originally posted by sheriephillips
I live in OC. Today, I wrote a letter to Wells Fargo to let them know I finally reached the breaking point. I've been out of work since September 2007 and have basically used up my savings trying to hold onto this house. I still don't have a job because (1) finding a job in OC right now is impossible for a mortgage person and (2) I decided to change careers and went back to school. I am set to graduate this summer and (hopefully) will find a job in the legal field as a paralegal. By the time that happens, I will be completely broke and penniless. I doubt my new job will pay the bills anyway, so I'm left with no choice. The fact that homes have plummeted and will continue to plummet for several more years makes it the only decision I can make. It was indeed a sad day (Mother's Day) to write that letter to Wells Fargo. Reading this article just points to the facts.
I'm sorry to hear that, Sherie. Keep your head up. You've still got your health, your family and your friends. When you're down it feels like you will never be up again. When you're up, it is never as good as it seems.
Amen to that.
Remember it is just a house. Hang in there Sherie. |
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