Homestead mailing list

[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

On Nov 26, 2008, at 3:31 PM, roxann wrote:

> I'm not sure how I feel about this. What about the folks who lost  
> the house to begin with? Maybe they should have just stayed if  
> someone else was going to get to stay in it. Somehow it doesn't seem  
> fair, but then again, it's not fair to have a lot of empty houses  
> with a lot of homeless people either. but then again, SOMEONE should  
> be responsible.

First, this is not, nor will be, about fairness.

I predict that holders of mortgage paper will eventually do almost  
anything to keep mortgagees in their homes. Most people being  
foreclosed upon would prefer to stay in the home. They chose the home,  
their children are in the local school, they have done various things  
to make the house their home. Here in Phoenix, there are huge numbers  
of foreclosures--thousands, maybe tens of thousands. Lender-owned  
houses are being sold for prices well below the amount of the loan  
foreclosed upon. Once the mortgagees move out the house is subject to  
vandalism, the landscaping dies, roof leaks are not repaired, pools  
turn green, etc. Nobody wins.

I see no normal market for many years.