Mortgage Bailout vs Corporate Owned

Far be it for WGx to provide an insightful examination of the local impacts of the recent economic meltdown … Let’s leave that to the experts. Recent blog postings from two WG real-life real estate agents provide a little background to the situation.

CJ Brasiel was first a few days ago with a recap of the “Corporate-Owned” houses in the Blossom Hill area south of WG. Her article certainly applies here, and she explains some of the issues at play with foreclosure properties:

Yes, “Corporate Owned” is the new phrase being utilized on the multiple listing service (MLS) to describe a home foreclosed upon and belonging to a corporation. These listings are also called “bank owned” or REO (Real Estate Owned) properties. With the recent bail out plan we may have to add another description, “tax payer owned” or TPO for short. Sad, but true. …

The top 10 bank owned properties in Blossom Valley is a little bit of a misnomer. There are actually 27 and that does not include condos or town homes. This is to make the point that the housing crisis is a neighborhood by neighborhood issue and sometimes almost a street by street issue. The number of bank owned homes in Blossom Valley account for 11% of the homes for sale. Compare that to Willow Glen where less than 5% of homes for sale are bank owned.

Everyone’s favorite realtor Holly Barr chimes in this week, pondering the impact that the recent government bailout will have on current homeowners seeking help with their mortgage:

I have had a few clients contact me about how to get started with a bail out. As with the recent changes in jumbo loan amounts, changes take about 6 months for the banks to get systems in place and get the training needed to provide the service to clients. From what I have heard, Countrywide seems to be the only bank right now, Oct, 11, 2008, that can do a bailout/buyout program for their clients. It is yet unclear to me how it will affect one’s credit.

So things remain in flux right now. Hopefully the tide of foreclosures will reverse everywhere, particularly sparing WG homeowners and others across the country.