President Obama has said he’s going to check out foreclosures first hand tomorrow in Mesa, Arizona.
President Barack Obama plans to get a firsthand look at Mesa’s sour real estate market before his speech on fixing the nation’s housing crisis Wednesday at Dobson High School.
The president is expected to visit a Mesa neighborhood before the speech at Dobson High, according to Rep. Harry Mitchell, D-Ariz. Mitchell did not know which neighborhood Obama would be going to, or what he had planned there.
But the congressman said his office was told by White House staff that Obama’s desire to see a neighborhood hard hit by foreclosures played into the selection of Dobson High as the venue for the president’s speech.
I can think of some areas that were harder hit than the Dobson High area myself, but I suppose you only need one foreclosed home in the background for a photo-op.
I wonder if this will help market whatever REO he stands in front of. I can see the listing, "As seen on national TV with President Obama". If it does help, I suspect it will be one of the few helpful things that this new housing program actually accomplishes.
I can’t say I see the political advantage in going to AZ other than a cheap shot at McCain. Both Arizona senators Jon Kyl and McCain are unlikely to vote with Obama on much of anything. He could have a much better political impact in Florida where Mel Martinez’ seat is up for grabs. Martinez was at one time a moderate until he got sucked up into the Bush doctrine. He was head of HUD for awhile and tried to make some good changes until told to stop by Bush. Many think Martinez is ripe for conversion back to the center as he tries to save his legacy.
Maybe he will realize there’s no one home to help..
L is on to something. A lot of Phoenix area foreclosures were originally purchased by “investors” betting on continued appreciation. When that appreciation stopped, the investors walked.
Which means that there are no families being kicked out of these houses. Many of them have been empty for many, many months. (Renters were kicked out when the foreclosing institution took the properties back.) What’s worse, some foreclosed houses were never occupied to begin with.
I could move on to the people who HELOC-ed their homes to the sky, then couldn’t/wouldn’t repay the loans, but ya get the point.
many people have already figured out how to halt the foreclosure process. it’s not the first time i’ve seen this, but cnbc did brief piece today on it.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/29241628
“produce the note” is the strategy and it seems to work temporarily. while i understand it’s just a stall tactic, it is still beyond me that a mortgage “holder” can’t seem to produce the actual mortgage.
Key point from the story that AZsaluki linked to:
“The first big success of the produce-the-note movement came in 2007 when a federal judge in Cleveland threw out 14 foreclosures by Deutsche Bank National Trust because the bank failed to produce the original notes.”
IIRC, Twist did a post about this particular judge’s action.
So it looks like we could have a tsunami of homes hit the market late this year as the moratoriums and workouts fail to significantly stem the tide.
You know it is funny he picked Dobson to do this speech at. The Dobson Ranch area has probably fared better than any other area in Mesa in regards to price and foreclosures, though no areas are untouched. I live over here and prices though they are down are nothing compared to areas in Buckeye (Sundance), El Mirage, or Tolleson that are down 50%. Or he could’ve picked Laveen where finished subdivisions are sandwiched between subdivisions that will never see another day of construction. But maybe that would’ve been too much for TV and further damage Phoenix’s tourism bucks…
So, here’s a question, is a basic requirement of his plan be that the mortgage be in foreclosure in the first place? I know MANY cases where lenders are letting homeowners go 10+ months without a payment before even contacting them. They have too many houses and are simply not interested in taking them back, but if that is a requirement, you better believe there is a going to be a huge spike if filings.
zr0ck-
We don’t know the details of the grand plan yet, it’s supposed to be revealed tomorrow. Of course, none of these plans have been long on detail, so who knows if we’ll get much tomorrow.
I didn’t think the Dobson Ranch area was all that bad either- but the article also said that they liked Dobson High because it was near the 60, so it was convenient. Clearly it would be more graphic if he drove down to Pinal County, but that’s not going to happen.
I’m wondering if anyone can give me some insight to my questions.
I wonder why there isn’t a plan to just have the interest reduced on the existing loans.
For the most part what I’ve read it’s the increased interest that has caused the loan payments to go up and put people in a position where they can’t make the payments.
When I read that the government is thinking of buying down the mortgages so people can get a new loan on the smaller amounts it makes me sick.
There are always going to be foreclosures to some extent. The current numbers are very high just because people can’t make the payments from the increased interest.
I know lots of middle income families that just want to stay in their homes. They are struggling with the higher interest rates that have jacked the mortgage payment up out of their reach.
Any thoughts please.
I’m wondering if anyone can give me some insight to my questions.
I wonder why there isn’t a plan to just have the interest reduced on the existing loans.
For the most part what I’ve read it’s the increased interest that has caused the loan payments to go up and put people in a position where they can’t make the payments.
When I read that the government is thinking of buying down the mortgages so people can get a new loan on the smaller amounts it makes me sick.
There are always going to be foreclosures to some extent. The current numbers are very high just because people can’t make the payments from the increased interest.
I know lots of middle income families that just want to stay in their homes. They are struggling with the higher interest rates that have jacked the mortgage payment up out of their reach.
I think that many people are wrong when they say well when people are upside down in their homes they will just walk away. I’m sure there are and have been may investors that have that mind set, but most of the families that I know just want to keep their homes.
Any thoughts please.
DocRocz, there are two groups of investors holding mortgage securities that have little incentive to participate in a workout. Those holding the highest tier securities and those holding the lowest. The highest will get their money, the lowest have probably lost it already. As for homeowners, if the stress gets high enough, “abandon ship” becomes awfully compelling (just look at the divorce rate if you don’t believe me.)
docrocz,
i agree. if you can’t afford 300K at 5% but you can afford 200K at 5% then you shouldn’t have bought the house for 300K (or bought it for 200K, refied, and spent the dough). and if that is the case then you should loose that house. maybe i’m heartless? also, i hear a lot about these people becoming homeless? is there a reason that they can’t be foreclosed and then go rent something affordable?
Field trip!
AZSALUKI –
I don’t think you’re heartless.. that’s how its supposed to work. Renting is housing too.
So another angle on the adjustable mortgage thing: people like to argue that its in the banks/lenders best interested to modify the loan, because getting some money back is better than none. Ok, fine, maybe it is – but is that something the government needs to come in and force to happen? You’d think that at least some of the smarter banks would come to that conclusion on their own.. and those that don’t deserve to go out of business.
I think it’s obvious to those here, but this bailout has gone far beyond loaning cash to troubled businesses – the government is trying to run those businesses, too. This is, of course, destined to fail.. the gov’t cant even balance their own budgets.
Igor says clueless. I’m assuming he doesn’t mean me.
Foreclosure problem has very little to do with interest rates! If anything; rates where too low compared with the risk in 2003. Rates are extremely low compared to the present risk in the economy, employment!
Equity is what is driving foreclosures. With equity you can always sell. Negative equity give a high incentive for owners to walk. Looking at a home 30% larger in a better neighborhood with a 30% lower price is driving owners bonkers.
Adjustable rates, alt A notes are currently about 2.35% to 4.25% on the high side. It is the no income 2/28 and 3/27 that were given to owners one day out of BK or sub 550 credit that are about 7% -8% today. These owners should have never been buyers but renters. How can you give them a loan at 31% DTI with out any verifiable income? That is the reason they chose these 2/28-3/27 loans!!!
Is that a leak at in the dam? Now that mortgage servicers have an idea of who surely won’t qualify for assistance; they can begin to clear some of the foreclosure backlog they have been holding up in the name of ‘hope’.