Sign Of The Times: Foreclosure Bus Tour
They say that desperate times call for desperate measures. As reported by Peter S. Green on Bloomberg.com, the Long Island Bus Foreclosure Tour is the latest gimmick by lenders that are desperate to sell foreclosed properties. With a mortgage broker, general contractor, home inspector and attorney in tow, prospective buyers paid $75 to ride a bus and visit eight foreclosed homes in the New York City suburb of Long Island last month.
The foreclosure tour is the brainchild of Re/Max Village Properties saleswoman, Sheri Cambareri and broker, Dave Farrell. According to Eric Prusan, the lawyer who spoke on the tour, with some buyers ready to purchase the same day, the tours make for a “win-win situation for everybody.” “All you got to do is decide if you want to spend the money. We'll help you buy the house.” Prusan said.
In April, RealtyTrac Inc. reported that 502 Nassau County homes (one for every 913 in the county) entered the foreclosure process, which is more than double the number from a year ago. Currently, foreclosures are scattered across healthy neighborhoods and allow New Yorkers to purchase homes they would not ordinarily be able to afford. On last month’s tour, the asking price for a three-bedroom, one-bath home in a quiet cul-de-sac was going for $100,000 less than neighboring homes. Down from $457,101, the $312,900, 1951 Cape Cod property is only a 45-minute commute from Manhattan.
Farrell said that an increase in foreclosed homes on the market will lower the prices and therefore make the properties easier to sell. “Foreclosed properties have to sell,” said Farrell. “Anyone else can take a property off the market. Banks have to sell them, they can't leave them on the market.”
Even though homes originally priced in the $600s are going for $300 and $400 thousand, for some buyers prices are apparently still too high. Three weeks after the Long Island tour, only one of the foreclosure tourists had put in a bid.
