Foreclosures Rise in Spite of Recent Good Economic News

The foreclosure crisis is still deepening, despite good news on several economic fronts recently. According to the US News & World Report article,

. . . [foreclosure] filings spiked by 17 percent from February to March, making levels 46 percent higher in March than one year ago. For the first quarter of 2009, they increased by 9 percent, with 1 in 159 housing units receiving at least one foreclosure notice.

Foreclosures Rising; Opportunities Also

While people losing their homes is never news to celebrate, this means opportunity for those in a position to take advantage of it, eg:

Short Sales: A short sale is when a bank agrees to accept less on a property than is owed on it. There are a lot of these opportunities out there if you’re an investor looking to pick up rental properties and/or a homeowner looking for a good deal. You have to have the credit though. The days of getting 100% financing or having less-than-stellar credit are over.

Real-estate Services Companies: Own a foreclosure cleaning business, a property management business, a general contracting business? Sooner or later, these properties will have to be gotten into “market ready” shape. THis means cleaning up, clearing out and maintaining them until they are resold or rented. If you own a company that provides this type of service — expect business to boom for some time to come.

Foreclosure Realtors: If you’ve never handled foreclosure before, now is the time to retool your career to focus on handling these types of deals. For, they’ll probaby part of the housing inventory in your area. Learn more about how to list bank-owned properties.

Read the full article, Jump in Foreclosures Dims Obama’s ‘Glimmers of Hope’ for Economy.

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