Bay Area Sweet Digs

May 14, 2008

Weekly News Round-Up

auction gavel Weekly News Round UpI read with sadness that there are 1000 foreclosures auctioned off every day in California. While the LA Times may be right on the mark with this statistic, it goes on the say that these auctions take place on the courthouse steps up and down the state. Where have I been? I haven’t heard of any local cities holding these auctions, have you? Apparently you can go to Foreclosure Radar and find complete up-to-date info on all the foreclosures happening in California, along with auction details. Meanwhile, it appears that lenders are discounting homes at these auctions up to 50%. Ouch! But if they get sold, all the better.

And for our scary thought of the day, “What Will Happen to Your Money When Your Bank Fails?” Yes, given the financial climate, it is possible for banks large and small to go under. While many banks will find funding to stay open, you should be aware of what happens should the unthinkable happen. So head over to HomeGuide123 and read the story.

This week’s prognosticator is courtesy of eFinanceDirectory. They use figures from Money Magazine‘s crystal ball to inform you of “Home Price Forecasts: What Your Home Value Will Be Next Year.” San Francisco: down 10.1%, San Jose: down 12.5%. Both beat the hell out of LA (-16.2%) Stockton (-16.8%), Las Vegas (-18.3%), and Ft. Lauderdale (-22.2%), but don’t fare near as well as Kansas City (-.6%) or Atlanta (-2.3%). And apparently, if you live in McAllen, Texas, you can expect a 4% rise, and in Detroit +8.6%.

ripple Weekly News Round UpSeeking Alpha wrote what I have been thinking about for a long time, “The Reverse Ripple Theory of Metropolitan Home Price Corrections.” While the name is a bit clunky (and they are open to renaming suggestions), it says it all and seems particularly pertinent to the mortgage fallout mess we have been seeing in the Bay Area.

I remember a child’s nursery tale where the moral of the story was “Greedy, greedy makes a hungry puppy.” This term stuck with us and we still use it today, even though our children are adults. But it popped to mind when I read about the “California Man Losing 9 Houses in Mortgage Mess.” Not that I feel sorry for him or anything, but he does have a good attitude about it all.

And don’t forget to give us your two cents worth on the 8-question Sweet Digs survey. We are trying to serve you better, so need to know what you think.

Recent Sweet Digs Posts
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Posted by susan.brady on May 14, 2008 8:49 AM | del.icio.us | Digg

  • Thanks Sean. Love to have a chat with you next week if you are available and learn more about Foreclosure Radar.
  • Hi Susan - great post!

    Mike said "The start price is for what is currently owed - if there’s no equity there’s no bids." While this used to be true it is no longer the case. 84% of properties taken to trustee sale are discounted with an average discount of more than 25%.

    Toady - PropertyShrk doesn't actually track the ongoing status of all the foreclosures so they show you only a fraction of what is happening at the court house steps. San Mateo actually has 260 foreclosure currently scheduled for auction, and 23 were called at the court house steps just today. ForeclosureRadar.com is the only service that tracks every foreclosure through the entire process. PS is also anything but free - for full service in CA it can cost as almost $95/month. ForeclosureRadar is half of that.

    Red - Very few 2nds show up to protect their positions, so a good chunk of the auction properties are bought by investors. And investors actually buy more today than they did 3 years ago. But you are right that it is a very small percentage of the total (2.25% to be exact).

    Best,

    Sean O'Toole
    ForeclosureRadar.com
  • Thanks Mike and Red. I really appreciate the help in learning more about these.
  • red
    Something like 97% of these auctions are going to the lender currently. If there IS a bidder, it is likely to be the holder of a second, who may believe that there is enough value there to pay off the first and recover some of what they are owed. So there is not much reason to bother with these.
    ( see http://mrmortgage.ml-implode.c... for info and explanation)
  • Here's one for San Mateo from Google: http://tinyurl.com/6mkfbu

    "PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that I will proceed to sell at public auction to the highest bidder for cash in lawful money of the United States all the right, title, claim and interest of the debtor(s) in the above described property or so much as will be sufficient to satisfy and Writ or Warrant with interest and all costs on: Tuesday, May 8th, 2007 at 10:00 o'clock AM at the Hall of Justice, 400 County Center, Redwood City - In the Building's South Lobby, in the County of San Mateo, State of California. Registration for the public auction will start at 9:30 o'clock AM. Entry to the Hall of Justice is on the Northside of the building, through the Security Checkpoint. The auction will start precisely at 10:00 o'clock AM."
  • Susan- Yes they are (on the steps of the courthouse). It's a throwback to the old days.
    They are held in the rain, in the sun, weather nobody shows or everyone shows.

    No banners, no pomp, just business. Here's one I found on google for AZ http://tinyurl.com/5oh72h
    and another in LA http://tinyurl.com/59r46l
  • Thanks all.

    Wow, only two homes for auction in all of SM County? I guess we should consider ourselves lucky...or behind in the onslaught.
  • Great post. I will read your posts frequently. Added you to the RSS reader.
  • Toady
    I have found Property Shark (http://www.propertyshark.com/) to be the most helpful *free* listing of Trustee Sales. Click on the Foreclosures tab.

    For your area, looks like the next will be on Monday, May 19, at 12:30pm, "At The Main Entrance To The Hall Of Records At The County Center, 401 Marshall Street, Redwood City, CA." They'll be auctioning off a little bungalow in MP and a Skyline Village townhouse.
  • David
    Very interesting on the national city bank link from the seeking alpha site. Indicates that Oakland is ~10% overvalued, which is what I've been saying recently. There has been a huge correction already; it would appear that much of the MSAs throughout the US are much closer to fair value and likely would not have much more nominal declines to go through. I assume the smaller overvaluation will be inflated away by the Fed.
  • I understand, but I have never heard of one on the county courthouse steps, here in Redwood City. Am I missing something? Does every city/county do this. I feel completely in the dark on this issue, and should be ashamed of myself for being so. Better late than never to educate myself on this.
  • Sue -
    These "Auctions" are Trustee Sales. They are and always have been held on the courthouse steps.
    These are not private enterprise Auctions but a part of the Foreclosure process. The start price is for what is currently owed - if there's no equity there's no bids. The property reverts back to the Lender and becomes an REO.
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