Archive for 'Michigan'

The number of individuals who lost their jobs in Michigan last February went up to 12 percent, the highest jobless rate since 1984.

The further increase in unemployment rate is attributed to the crisis in the automobile industry in the state. According to data, Michigan’s January 2009 jobless rate was the highest ever reported in any state.

With the credit crunch, increase in mass layoffs and pay cuts, the number of foreclosed homes in Michigan is also expected to rise as more and more homeowners will find themselves unable to meet the monthly mortgage payments.

Data from RealtyTrac, a foreclosure monitoring firm, showed that the number of foreclosed homes in Michigan increased by 10 percent from January to February of this year.

Additional data indicated that one in every 360 homeowners in Michigan had received foreclosed homes notice in February.

The increase in foreclosed homes filings is expected to escalate even further now that unemployment rate went up by 12 percent.

According to the Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth, job loss in February rose 0.4 percent from January’s 11.6 percent rate.

On a positive note, economic analyst Bruce Weaver cited the 1.4 increase in jobless rate in January from December 2008. He explained that the February rise in unemployment rate was not as drastic compared with previous three months.

He said that the temporary easement of layoffs in the automobile industry had somehow alleviated job losses.

Comparison of February 2009 and February 2008 data showed that last month’s rate increased by 4.6 percent. Michigan has been experiencing eight consecutive months of unemployment rate increase with February the highest since the 12.1 percent increase in January 1984.

However, foreclosed homes data showed that a slight increase in jobless rate does not provide relief on the housing market crisis as the number of Michigan’s foreclosed homes rose by double digits for the first two months of this year.

To help distressed homeowners, especially those who lost their jobs, the Michigan House has approved a bill that would provide a 90-day foreclosure moratorium. On its part, the Department of Treasury has allocated $5 billion to help the automobile industry and put a stop on the increasing unemployment rate.

Michigan’s January 2009 foreclosure rate was ranked the 10th highest in the country.

Homeowners part of the Detroit foreclosure homes does not see any immediate relief coming their way. If anything, they would now be a little more wary of the foreclosure crisis than they were some time back. With two instances of unprecedented activity being reported in the Detroit area, Detroit foreclosure homes might have to see tougher times.

A recently released news report from Detroit spoke of a house in Detroit that was sold for one dollar. The home in question was a bank owned property and was listed on Multiple Listing Service last January for 1,100. That failed in attracting buyers.

Not very long back, this same house was looked upon as one of the better houses in the neighborhood. Once the previous homeowners left, the vultures arrived. The siding, the windows, the copper piping, the doors and fence were all ripped up. With this taking place, the property was eventually boarded, the boards were then stolen.

The desperation of the bank in getting the house off loaded from their inventory was quite apparent. A 2,500 commission was paid to the realtor through whom this deal took place, besides giving an extra 1,000 as a deal closing bonus. The 500 closing costs for by buyer were also taken care of by the bank. It was an investor who eventually bought the house.

An abandoned house in Detroit can be bought for as little as 100 while empty plots sell for around 300.
Furthermore, it seems like no one is immune to the brunt of the foreclosure crisis. The latest known personality to join the list of Detroit foreclosure homes is Kym Worthy, a prosecutor with Wayne County.

In a statement that she released about the foreclosures in question, she said that discussions with the lender, Countrywide Financial Corp, were underway, and that she was waiting on confirmation of whether she could proceed with a short sale. Worthy said that she had an offer in relation to selling the property, and that she was constantly communicating with her mortgage holder, about working on a short sale.

Search for Michigan Foreclosure Homes by Cities:

• Detroit foreclosure homes
• Flint Foreclosure Homes
• Grand Rapids Foreclosure Homes

In Genesee County, Michigan, market conditions seem to be different than what can be observed in most housing markets. Instead of the buyers enjoying the advantages, it is the foreclosure sellers who are receiving multiple offers. Such situation has made many experts think if the local real estate market is finally recovering from the mortgage mess.

Many buyers and foreclosure investors are discovering themselves in the midst of a bidding war with the others. According to one local broker, multiple bids can be observed on about 60 percent of all the foreclosure properties. Because of this, many of the foreclosed homes are sold at a price higher than their asking prices, especially those considered to be at the low-end.

Considering the multiple offers and reducing inventories, it can be expected for the homes prices to go up. After all, these two factors were mainly responsible for the homes price decline in recent months.

Unfortunately, the increase in home prices can only be observed in these foreclosure homes sale and not the traditional ones. For analysts, home price recovery for the other homes will still be a couple of years away.

From January to July of this year, it was recorded that 54 percent of the home sales were actually foreclosures, according to the Flint Area Association of Realtors. Sales during these months reached 3,078 compared to 2,804 last year of the same period.

On the other hand, average home sale price for the first seven months of the year dropped from $112,117 to $83,364. This figure might drop even further as home price decline has yet to bottom out.

It is certainly a good sign that real estate investors are no longer staying in the sidelines and have even decided that these foreclosures will be worthwhile investments. If there is any hesitation on their part about the timing, they should simply consider the multiple bids on these foreclosed properties to know that the market might no longer be favoring them.

Start your search for Michigan Foreclosures by Top Cities:

• Redford Foreclosures
• Lansing Foreclosures
• Pontiac Foreclosures
• Westland Foreclosures

Most cities and towns in Michigan are feeling the impact of the enduring foreclosure crisis. In fact, the jump in the state’s foreclosure rate is now being tied to the local economy.

It would seem that the increasing number of homes entering some stage of foreclosure correspond to the increase in unemployment rate. For the month of June, the unemployment rate has reached 8.5 percent. This percentage is considered to be the highest in the country, considering that the national average is at 5.5 percent.

Of course, this correlation is not surprising. When a person loses a job, the savings and other extra income goes to the purchase of food and payment of utilities. Mortgage payments are often delayed if not missed entirely.

In addition to this, the rising on foreclosure homes in Michigan can also be blamed on relaxed underwriting guidelines and predatory lending practices. Combining all these factors together has resulted to a recipe for a housing market disaster.

The local governments are not only worried about the impact of the growing inventory of foreclosure homes in home market values. There is also concern about increasing crime rates and accidents. In order to address this concern, some banks hire professionals to maintain the properties. This includes the cutting of the lawn and shoveling of the sidewalk during the winter months.

Of course, the impact on home market values can not be ignored. So called fire sales generally mean unbelievably low asking prices. Foreclosure buyers and investors are often on the lookout for these sales and would not consider buying other real estate properties. As a result, competition in the housing market has become tougher and sellers are forced to drop prices further.

Average sale price in neighborhoods such as Lansing has fallen by 23 percent in just one year, from $145,555. Such decline does not bode well for the local housing market.

While much of the nation is geared up for 2008 to be the worst year on record for real estate foreclosures, Michigan, traditionally near the top of the list for state’s with the worst foreclosure rate, experienced a substantial drop in property foreclosures during the first month of the year.

A recent report comparing the foreclosure inventory for January of 2007 with January 2008 showed that the rate in the current year is 8 percent lower than it was a year ago. Furthermore, the statistics showed a 7% drop in real estate foreclosures from December to January, remarkable considering that in many locations December is one of the slowest months for foreclosures.

This also resulted in a drop in the states with the highest rate of foreclosure. While Michigan held solid to the number three spot behind Florida and Nevada for most of 2007, it has now dropped to 10th on the list.

Of course, it’s far too early to tell if this will have any lasting effect on the real estate foreclosures market in the state. With a sluggish economy and more adjustable rate mortgages scheduled to go into periods of adjustment during 2008, we have yet to see whether Michigan’s housing market will slowly begin to rebound, but it is a promising sign.

Several other states experienced drops in their foreclosure rate in January, and experts are attributing this to state and federal efforts to start raising awareness amongst citizens about what to do when faced with a default to avoid a foreclosure. In some cases, homeowners are even receiving money or stalled proceedings to allow them to catch up. However, as time goes on we’ll see if this is actually helping people to start being able to deal in a timely manner with their mortgages, or if they are simply temporarily preventing the inevitable.

For investors, getting involved in the Michigan real estate foreclosures market could still be risky, but for homebuyers there may not be a better time. There are plenty of great Michigan foreclosure homes out there that would make great family residences for cheap prices, and if you’re willing to wait out the market, these could become incredible investments once property values start to rise again.

Related Links:

• Detroit Foreclosure Homes
• Flint Foreclosure Homes
• Michigan Foreclosure Homes
• Foreclosures

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The statistics for Michigan foreclosures received a huge boost from the Detroit metropolitan area during 2007, new reports indicate. Detroit foreclosures rose more than 107% between December of 2006 and December of 2007, worsening the city and the state’s already worrisome foreclosure crisis. Michigan foreclosure homes rates have consistently been among the top 5 states in the nation over the past few years, and 2007 secured it as one of the worst areas in the country for home foreclosures.

However, some experts feel that the Detroit area has now seen the worst, and that foreclosed property levels will become less and less over 2008. Typically, the foreclosure epidemic has affected low income urban areas the worst nationwide, and parts of Detroit certainly fit this bill. Therefore, with rising interest rates, a sluggish real estate market and low demand, home values have fallen and foreclosures property inventories have been on the rise in the area for quite some time. But during the last quarter of 2007, the rate of house foreclosure per month began to slow, showing signs that the worst may be over for this part of the state.

Other areas of Michigan however have also been hit hard. Flint foreclosures, Lansing foreclosures and Warren foreclosure homes also saw big rises during 2007, adding to the high number of real estate foreclosures currently available all over the state.

Investors have taken note of the goings on in Michigan over the past year, and noting the slower rate, many have started investing in bank foreclosures and other REO homes. Taking advantage of the sheer volume of foreclosed homes out there, investors have found rock bottom prices on a wide variety of apartments, houses and commercial properties throughout the state. Of particular interest are homes in suburban communities, such as Grand Rapids foreclosures, which offer great potential for rising property value and big profits on resales once the market turns around.

If you’re interested in foreclosure investing and have the patience to wait for a turnaround in the market, Michigan foreclosures are certainly worth taking a look at for the big potential they have for profit, if of course, everything goes ahead as experts are predicting in 2008. Keep watching Michigan closely.

Southfield foreclosure homes can be found using foreclosure listings. Foreclosure listings can be found on the Internet, in newspapers and via local lenders. The most important aspect of a foreclosure listing is its timeliness. An outdated foreclosure listing is useless as the properties found therein may be gone. A comprehensive, up-to-the-minute foreclosure listing is vital to finding the bargains and deals found in the foreclosures market.

An exceptional foreclosure listing contains many details. Details that are most important include the full property address, square footage, number of rooms with a breakdown of how many bedrooms and how many bathrooms, the contact information of the seller, the asking price and other financial information such as taxes etc. When you locate a property you are interested in, determine what stage of foreclosure it is in. If it is a pre-foreclosure, you will be able to negotiate with the current homeowner. If it is in a later stage of foreclosure, then you will need to deal with the lender. Find out if you will be able to view the property, get appraisals and an inspection. All these activities will give you a fair assessment of the true value of the property. When determining your offer price, research the market value of homes in the area that are similar in size and condition. Subtract any construction, renovating or remodeling costs and compare it to the asking price. Enter into fair negotiations, if the homeowner the negotiator, he will not want to “give” his home away, even though he is experiencing financial difficulties. If you are dealing with the lender, even though he will want to dispose of the property, again, he makes money when he sells it for a profit. If the property is exemplary, it will go to the buyer with the highest offer. Make sure your finances are in order so that if you need a loan to cover the purchase price of the property, you can show proof that you will be able to have the funds needed available at the closing of the property.

Do not be tricked into thinking that buying Southfield foreclosure homes is as simple as a point and click. Real Estate is always a good investment, and that includes foreclosures. However, to make sure you are making a wise fiscal choice, some legwork and research will be required.

In the world of buyers, more choices meant greater deals. This is also true for the real estate industry. People looking to invest in real estate properties take their time looking for potential bargains – beautiful homes at affordable prices. Among the many real estate properties sold in the northeastern region of the United States, Michigan bank foreclosures are among the hottest.

For more than a year now, Michigan has consistently been among the list of states with the highest foreclosures rate. In fact, for the month of May, Michigan was ranked 8th, jumping two spots higher from April’s data. Just for this month alone, the state recorded 9,461 foreclosure filings, up 37.59 percent from April and 86.75 percent from last year.

Naturally, the many bank foreclosures in Michigan created a market that favors the buyers. There is presently a good supply of these homes in cities like Bloomfield Hills and West Bloomfield. Compared to last year, home prices in these areas have risen by at least 10 percent, which means that buying bank foreclosures would be a smart decision. The greatest activity seems to be coming from single-family bank foreclosures and if you are in the market for one, do not waste this opportunity.

Why?

For starters, Michigan foreclosure homes are cheaper than most homes since their prices are based on the amount of mortgage debt tied to the property plus legal fees and foreclosures cost. If you are lucky, you can grab one that sells for almost half of its market price. In addition to their affordability, home appreciation is still positive and buyers will enjoy instant equity on these homes.

Foreclosure Deals.com can provide you with a nice selection of Michigan bank foreclosures to choose from regardless of your budget constraint. You will even receive professional assistance, which would come in handy during the negotiation and closing phase of the transaction.

As of April 2007, Michigan now enjoys the fifth place among the states with highest foreclosures rate with 1 foreclosure for every 455 households. The first three months of this year placed the state at fourth place with 29,467 households in some stage of foreclosure. The thousands of available
Michigan foreclosure homes for sale offer real estate buyers and investors with much investment opportunities.

Michigan repo homes have certainly replaced the stocks and other forms of investment because of their amazing return potential. Aside from the instant equity, these homes can be used as fixer uppers or rental properties which would mean considerable profit. The key to guaranteed profit is buying
Michigan foreclosure homes that are sold at bargain prices. Finding them would be very challenging and time-consuming. These homes can be found in the following places: Classifieds You can choose to look for Michigan repo homes in newspaper classified ads. These ads would usually contain the properties address as well as the owner’s contact details. The disadvantage of using classifieds is the limited choices and it would be really lucky for you if the property would meet all your standards and preferences.

Local Realtors Listings Another place where you can look for Michigan repo homes is through local realtors’ listings. Again, you can not rely on these listings since there are instances when the information is inaccurate or outdated. Also a problem is the limited choices of foreclosed homes.

The best search tools that you can utilize are foreclosure listings from reputable real estate brokers like Foreclosure Deals. You are guaranteed of complete, accurate and regularly updated information on the most amazing Michigan repo homes. Simply subscribe and pay a small membership fee and enjoy the limitless possibilities offered by these listings.