Back on May 2, I wrote a post about the short sales and foreclosures in 
Tigard, Lake Oswego and Portland. That was the second post I wrote and at that time I noted there were 10,318 pre-foreclosures in Portland alone. Those stats showed that Portland was the hardest hit and I saw there would be a lot more foreclosures on the horizon and a world of hurt coming.
Both my July 30th post on “Sub-Prime Mortgage Conditions in Oregon and my September 27 post “Sub-Prime Mortgage Conditions in Oregon Part 2 stated that our foreclosures showed signs of increasing here in Oregon.
On October 2, I again wrote in “The 1980s Real Estate Market vs. Today’s Part 2″ that foreclosures would be on the increase here in Portland.
The Portland Tribune’s recent article reported the large number of foreclosures below (by zip code) in Multnomah County as of the beginning of October only:
PORTLAND – EASTSIDE
97202-58, 97206=178, 97211=123, 97212=55, 97213=59, 97214=29, 97215=39, 97216=45, 97218=51, 97220=135, 97230=115, 97233=158, 97232=10, 97236=194, 97266=202
PORTLAND – WESTSIDE
97203=121, 97217=128, 97227=14, 97210=17, 97209=52, 97205=4, 97204=0, 97201=21, 97221=13, 97239=31, 97219=83
YET MORE FORECLOSURES
According to RealtyTrac®, here are the foreclosure stats for Tigard and Lake Oswego as of this date:
97223, 97224 TIGARD
97223=207 in pre-foreclosure, 239 set for auction, 188 REO’s (bank owned). 97224=275 in pre-foreclosure, 276 set for auction, 206 REO’s (bank owned.
97034, 97035 LAKE OSWEGO
97034=267 in pre-foreclosure, 202 set for auction, 190 REO’s (bank owned). 97035=253 pre-foreclosure, 239 set for auction and 188 REO’s (bank owned).
The signs have been there all along. Sellers tend to hold on too long and need to work with their lender at the first sign of trouble and not when their homes are close to being in foreclosure.
Although I’ve heard and read that both Fannie and Freddie aren’t as forthcoming as we had hoped in restructuring loans to avoid foreclosure, contact your bank, an attorney or a Realtor® as soon as you see you are entering into a difficult time period. Please don’t wait until you are 90 days behind on your mortgage. There are cases that I have heard where lenders won’t talk with you, however, until you are behind in your payments as there are so many others in front of you in line waiting for assistance as well. However, I still feel it’s important you notify your bank at the first sign of financial trouble.
One of my clients lost her home in foreclosure during a different recessionary time period. Her husband had a 100% VA loan on their home. He was by all appearances young and healthy. She was a stay at home wife and had never worked. He died suddenly and not only did she not have a job but she also had no skills. She called me and asked me what she should do. I recommended she call her bank (at that time we didn’t have all this foreclosure assistance) and that we put the house on the market immediately. She instead got a job at K-Mart and you can guess what happened next, she lost the house in foreclosure because she hung on too long.
I’ve also written many other posts on foreclosure assistance such as “10 Tips to Avoid Foreclosure and Foreclosure Scams” , the post on “Foreclosure Resource Assistance Guide”, and the post “HB 3630 and Foreclosure Scams” to try to help you along the way. If nothing else, contact one of those agencies or, as stated above, contact your bank or a Realtor®. Here’s also a copy of the “Housing and Economic Recovery Act – H.R. 3221. I know the tendency is to hope things will get better, but for the most part, they won’t if you don’t have the ability to pay. If you have no way to pay your bills there are options, please let them help you and don’t wait. You’re not alone! Here’s only one example on ABC News’ Nightline about a woman who successfully negotiated a short sale with her lender because she was underwater on her mortgage.
No comments yet
Comments feed for this article