How Bad will it Get?

In congressional testimony last month Michael Barr, the Treasury Department's assistant secretary for financial institutions, said more than 6 million families could face foreclosure over the next three years.

There are more than 6,600 home foreclosure filings per day.

Nearly two million foreclosures already this year

Every 13 seconds in America, there is another foreclosure filing.

People are no longer defaulting simply because of a change in the payment structure of their loan. They are defaulting because of lost jobs or reduced hours or pay.

Celia Chen of Moody's Economy.com says nationwide home prices won't regain the peak levels they reached in 2006 until 2020.

Top 10 Foreclosure States

1. Navada: Rate: One in every 62 households
   
2. Florida: Rate: One in every 140 households
   
3. California: Rate: One in every 144 households
   
4. Arizona: Rate: One in every 150 households
   
5. Michigan: Rate: One in every 234 households
   
6. Idaho: Rate: One in every 241 households
   
7. Utah: Rate: One in every 282 households
   
8. Colorado: Rate: One in every 329 households
   
9. Illinois: Rate: One in every 401 households
   
10. Georgia Rate: One in every 332 households
    

Current Foreclosure Picture

Report from the GOA:

Approximately 1.6 million of the 14.4 million nonprime loans originated from 2000 through 2007 had completed the foreclosure process as of March 31, 2009. Of the 5.2 million loans that were still active at the end of March--that is, that had not been prepaid or completed the foreclosure process--almost one-quarter were seriously delinquent, meaning they were either 90 or more days behind in payments or already in the foreclosure process. As a result, hundreds of thousands of additional nonprime borrowers are at risk of losing their homes in the near future. Within the subprime market segment, about 28 percent of active loans were seriously delinquent, and within the active Alt-A segment, the serious delinquency rate was about 17 percent. Within both segments, serious delinquency rates were even higher for certain adjustable-rate mortgages (ARM). The rates varied widely by location. At the state level, California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada, and New Jersey had the highest rates as of March 31, 2009. Among active Alt-A loans, almost all (98 percent) of the loans that were seriously delinquent as of March 31, 2009, were from the 2004 through 2007 cohorts. Likewise, 93 percent of the loans that had completed the foreclosure process as of that date were from those cohorts.

What you need to know on Land Lot Deals

- What are the exact dimensions of the lot?
- How much road frontage does it have?
- Does it have Water, Sewer, Electric?
- If not, how far are these services away?
- If no Sewer, what will it cost to install a septic system (most are $3,000 and $4,500 for a standard Septic system)
- Can they drill a well and if yes, how deep are the water levels (the State Water Department can give you the answer to this)
- Is the lot FLAT, on a Hill (and if on a hill, are there some buildable areas on the lot)
- Are there any zoning Restrictions? (some areas don't allow Mobile homes, and have rules that the houses need to be at least X square feet in size (1200 Sqft for example).
- How far is the next town from this property?
- How far is the next Hospital/Grocery Store, Restaurants (general civilization) from the lot?
- Is the property in a Flood Zone