by Osman Parvez

I gave a talk at my Rotary Club the other day on the housing bubble and its impacts on Boulder Real Estate. One key concern: the increasing flood of foreclosures.

If you’ve been reading this blog, you already know that Boulder County has been fairing well compared to our neighbors. We have less than 500 single family homes in foreclosure and the trend has been flat. Yet the state of Colorado is the worst in the country for foreclosures and since the 4th quarter of 2004, we’ve seen foreclosures and delinquencies rise 75%. With the volume of ARM resets forecast for the next 12 to 18 months, the situation is expected to get worse before it starts to get better.

Today I happened upon a blog detailing your worst foreclosure nightmare. This blogger/investor is only 24 years old and finds himself $2.2 million in debt after only 9 months.

In “Why Am I Facing Foreclosure,” Casey Serin wrote,

I started investing full-time in January of this year. This is after going to numerous real estate investing seminars, reading books and learning from other investors for the past 2 years. Made a few successful deals on the side and was anxious to go full-time. I quit my website programming job and went all out! In the last 6 months I bought 7 houses in 4 different states, mostly with the help of 100% LTV stated income (liar’s) loans. Most are fixers. I was going to rehab and flip each one within a month or so. Buying was easy, but man was I in for a surprise (or a lesson?)

Today he wrote,

I will need to put on a thick skin. This may cause me to become the talk of the neighborhood. People might laugh, criticize or ridicule. The concerned parents of teenage or 20-something kids will tell their kids “See! This is what happens when you take dumb risks!”“. Some may think Facing Foreclosure .com (http://iamfacingforeclosure.com) is just a ploy to make a sale. I don’t care… I’’m desperate.

Here’s a copy of his hardship letter,

If you’re wondering what it’s like to deal with foreclosure on a deeply personal level, visit Casey Serin’s Foreclosure Blog.

My advice? First, get some help from experts you can trust.

If you’re buying, don’t get something that you can’t afford and plan for a reasonable holding period. Be sure you understand how your loan might change over time and if it sounds too good to be true (50 year mortgages, option ARMs with low initial rates, etc), it probably isn’t the deal you think.

If you find that your ability to continue paying bills is becoming too much to handle, remember that the longer you wait, the sooner you’ll reach the point of no return. Contact your lender and discuss your options. Talk to an experienced real estate agent and get an analysis of your property’s value. Get a strategy in place and execute it.

Whatever you do, don’t ignore the problem. Selling property takes time and if you’re in a situation like Casey Serin, wasted time is something you can’t afford.

If you’d like to speak with us about your real estate situation, you can reach us at ph: 303.746.6896.

Images:Casey Serin

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