Bay Area Sweet Digs

September 11, 2008

CoCo County Foreclosure Hell Hits Home Values Even Harder

 288431493 d1b41ece9d m CoCo County Foreclosure Hell Hits Home Values Even Harder

Just how bad is the housing market hereabouts? Well, right now in Contra Costa County, some real estate agents are taking self-defense courses and bringing pepper spray when they show houses for fear of encountering belligerent squatters in foreclosed properties. ”It’s absolutely absurd. Theft and vandalism and squatters. It’s all over the place,” Kirsten Amodeo, a Coldwell Banker Realtor, told the Contra Costa Times.

I love love love frequent commenter San Mateo Home Sellers in Trouble, but oh baby, you ain’t seen trouble until you’ve seen Antioch, Pittsburg or Bay Point residences with holes smashed in the walls, boarded-up windows, empty liquor bottles and worse, the article recounts. Agents are scared of what will happen when they show homes; and what’s it like to actually live in the neighborhood 24/7?

What would it be like to walk home from the bus stop or drive your car past one bank-owned and vacant house after another? This has to be bringing down home values even further.

Awhile back, frequent commenters Adam Schwartz and Mark had some dire predictions about coming hard times in the U.S. News like this worries me that maybe those predictions are coming true. What do you think? (Photo: brandi666 on flickr, not a Contra Costa County home.)

Posted by Janis Mara on September 11, 2008 2:07 PM | del.icio.us | Digg

  • Hahahahaha that would be a great name for a Web site, wouldn't it? "Why Rent When You Can Squat?" There is a google mashup for New York City that shows places where people have discarded furniture, clothing and other items so you can grab the stuff. One could create a mashup of Antioch pointing folks to abandoned homes, much the same way.

    Home Sellers in Trouble, do you think we're looking at beginning of the second Great Depression here?
  • Perhaps we'll see $1 homes in Antioch soon? I heard that investors are scooping up homes to turn into rentals, but why would people rent when they can squat?
  • You're right - unbelievable, isn't it? I still can't understand why anyone would buy in that area. Like purchasing a deed to a house in Hell. Even if you are buying to rent the house out, what kind of tenant is going to want to live in a neighborhood full of boarded-up houses?
  • Colin
    I think a lot of folks who bought "bargain" foreclosure properties out there earlier this year are going to find they didn't buy the "bargain" they thought they were. I see no halt to the downward spiral in places like Antioch.
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