A Disturbing Dilemma

I find this dilemma disturbing, but not surprising: in some areas homeless people are moving into foreclosed homes that are empty. Also transients, drug dealers, criminals, and various people who don’t or can’t abide by society’s rules are moving into these abandoned houses. Some by choice and others by necessity or survival. The real danger of this situation is evident. Fires, homicide, you name it can wreak havoc on law-abiding citizens. And because most of these houses are in neighborhoods this activity will definitely bring the value of surrounding houses down, down, down. As if they aren’t crashing enough as it is. Let’s face it, banks can’t keep tab on every foreclosure because there are so many now. And some previous homeowner of a now empty house may have moved a good distance away because the Bay Area is just plain unaffordable…still! So that homeowner can’t keep tabs on their foreclosed house. Evidently this all comes back to participating in your community. Too many of us are so busy with work, etc. these days we don’t or can’t get to know our neighbors. Well, I personally think we all need to make that effort. Get to know your neighbors. Be aware of what is going on. It’s not being nosey it’s being safe. For instance, say a foreclosed house that is now empty has a swimming pool that isn’t being maintained (who would maintain it?). If that swimming pool has water in it, it is probably now stagnate – hence mosquito infestation which could harbor West Nile Virus. Or children swimming in it unsupervised. Even if that swimming pool is empty it is still a hazard for children playing in it or around it. It used to be that if your home went into foreclosure you didn’t want your neighbors to know about your financial situation because it was embarrassing. Those days are no longer. Foreclosure is a common state of affairs nowadays. Actually, I take that back. Back in the days of the wild west pioneer communities HAD to be close and help each other to survive. Funny how most things come full circle isn’t it?

Here are some homes that are bank-owned and in foreclosure in nice neighborhoods that I’m sure the neighbors would be horrified if they fell prey to one of the aforementioned situations (they haven’t, by the way):

459 Sentinel Pl., Fremont – 4/3 – 3604 sf $1,175,000
22858 Upland Way, Hayward – 3/2 – 2184 sf $499,900
6214 Truckee Ct., Newark – 4/2 – 1519 sf $508,500
371 Riverside Ave., Fremont (Niles district) – 3/1 – 1476 sf $325,000
34313 Larkspur Ct., Union City – 5/3 – 2671 sf $740,000

Also, there or those out there that are renting out these empty homes under false pretense. They state they own the home and even have legal-looking paperwork to present to the renter. Just when you think that thievery is harder because of this computerized world we live in now, bam…that world also works very well for those thieves that are computer savvy. I would say that for every second ‘big brother’ is watching us there is at least one hacker producing something deceitfully to evade ‘big brother’.

Where does one turn to find out the truth? Can you really trust the internet when it is so full of false information? It never ceases to amaze me how you can type practically anything into a search engine and find good, bad, and ugly information. You really need to make sure you go to trusted sites for your information, be it real estate, medicine, or any other important issue. There will always be crime in the world no matter how advanced (or backward) we become.