Food for Thought

A Cape Cod real estate company has resouces and FAQ's about short sales on their home page. If the very first page you see when you go to their website includes this information, it must be very prevelant in the region. A short sale is when the bank is accepting less than the total amount due on the mortgage. I realize there are tax implications for the buyer in these transactions and i believe it can be considered income if the sale is below market value. But does it make sense for Towns to scoop up some of these short sales using federal and local funding and rent or sell them to moderate-income households? In Massachusetts, where most of the 352 towns have not hit their magic 10% affordability number, they are seeking alternative ways to reach that 10% threshold while not relying on Chatper 40B developments. I wonder if this deserves some additional thought.

Are you serious? Banks need to step up

I read in the Boston Herald today that "more than 45% of all real estate transactions in the city are now bank seizures". This is a horrible situation where predatory lenders have significantly contributed to this housing crisis. It's likely that many of the households who are facing certain foreclosure should not have been loaned money in the first place. We can go as far back as late 1990s early 2000s and see that lending criteria and practices should have been subject to more scrutiny. Now we are faced with a terribly burst housing bubble with people being evicted from their homes by the very banks who gave them their house keys not long ago. The banks should reach out to households who are faced with preforeclosure to help the situation before their homes end up in auction or bank owned. They need to watch over their investment; not walk away licking their lips while waiting for a property to swallow. Banks need to educate and provide financial tools to households making sure that these loans remain in repayment.