Sobering Video

[zoebisch01]

A coworker sent me this clip. It is depressing to say the least, so view at your own discretion.

SOCAL:FORECLOSURE ALLEY

 

[wildwest450]

Why in the world would they chuck out stuff of value?? This country is screwed.

 

[zoebisch01]

The volume is too great. That one company is doing 15 house cleanups a day. That's a lot of stuff.

 

[JustDave]

When my wife and I were house hunting months ago, one day we looked at 6 homes: 4 of which were in foreclosure, and one was a short sale.

I think sobering is a good word for it. You think about the families who used to live there, whether they had kids, doing everything you can to make sure it doesn't happen to you, etc.

 

[EdWort]

Folks who did not put anything down on a house were renting before. They actually were renting then, and now they will be renting again.

It's the stupid people who cashed in their false equity and spent it on vacations and BS stuff that are hurting from their poor decisions.

 

[Germey]

Folks who did not put anything down on a house were renting before. They actually were renting then, and now they will be renting again.

Except now they will be filling out rental apps with fecal-smelling credit reports.

 

[Bobby_M]

Why wouldn't the banks want to offer the homes for sale with all the furniture intact. I just don't get the idea of trashing what could be 10 grand in furniture and electronics. Sweeten the deal on the house.

 

[zoebisch01]

Why wouldn't the banks want to offer the homes for sale with all the furniture intact. I just don't get the idea of trashing what could be 10 grand in furniture and electronics. Sweeten the deal on the house.

I think it's a blanket jerk-knee reaction. There could be who-knows-what in the houses from toxic material, etc., or there could be just furniture. At the rate they are going there is probably no way to handle it quickly. If it were two or three a day I could see it....but it's just too many, and those abandoned homes are causing problems for the remaining folks.

The guy spray painting the lawn. wow.

 

[AnonyBrew]

I'm surprised there aren't large auction houses in there picking that stuff up.

 

[springer]

Why wouldn't the banks want to offer the homes for sale with all the furniture intact. I just don't get the idea of trashing what could be 10 grand in furniture and electronics. Sweeten the deal on the house.

Just because the people leave the stuff doesn't mean it now belongs to the bank. I don't agree with the people who are cleaning out the house taking whatever they want as long they remove it from the property either.

 

[Bobby_M]

I'm sure the contents of the home were available to the previous owner right up until the deadline. They F'd up and couldn't get the stuff out in time. I'm just saying that if the contents were going to be removed no matter what anyway, why not hold auctions for the contents. Let people walk through without touching anything, then sell all of it off to the highest bidder. Winner has to remove everything by that night period. I know, liability issue, etc etc but this is just ridiculous waste. Just another reason for the 3rd world populations to loathe us. The bank pays the company and the waste management company when they could put a few grand in their pocket instead.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

Those trash-outs are a terrible waste. It's mind boggling that there are no enterprises following those guys around buying up the good stuff at a steal.

I also had a hard time coming to terms with the mindset of the people who left this stuff behind in that fashion. I don't understand how they can let things get to a point when they can't even afford to move their stuff out. It seems strange to me that people who were seemingly so materialistic could so easily leave it all behind simply through a lack of foresight and planning.

 

[springer]

Bobby the bank has no interest in doing that. They want the house empty to show and also it will make the house less prone to be broken into and looted. At auction you would get 10 cents on the dollar with the way things are right now there.Its seems to be epidemic in size I haven't seen or read anything like that going on in my area. I'm sure there are a few but not on that scale.

 

[zoebisch01]

It seems strange to me that people who were seemingly so materialistic could so easily leave it all behind simply through a lack of foresight and planning.

I think when you hit rock bottom, reality has a way of being well, real again. It is indeed mind-boggling on all accounts. What a screwed up thing. I am grasping at straws trying to see what progressive good has been done in my generation. Everywhere I turn I see MAJOR FAIL! Somebody please give me some good news!

 

[JustDave]

I am grasping at straws trying to see what progressive good has been done in my generation. Everywhere I turn I see MAJOR FAIL! Somebody please give me some good news!

Well, from what I can tell, you turned out OK

 

[Orfy]

That's ridiculous

Why not yard sale the stuff?

 

[Guinness71]

It's the stupid people who cashed in their false equity and spent it on vacations and BS stuff that are hurting from their poor decisions.

The American way for some.. You are correct, I think the public needs to accept some of the responsibility for this also..

 

[pjj2ba]

Somebody please give me some good news!

Just 30 days until Oktvemberfest! Also, my fresh hop ale is just about ready to tap if you want to make a little detour some day soon.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

Everywhere I turn I see MAJOR FAIL! Somebody please give me some good news!

I recently bought a foreclosured house at 1/4 the value of the house. Does that qualify as good news?

 

[EdWort]

I recently bought a foreclosured house at 1/4 the value of the house. Does that qualify as good news?

That was MAJOR SCORE!

 

[shecky]

I recently bought a foreclosured house at 1/4 the value of the house. Does that qualify as good news?

Not for the folks who were foreclosed on. Of course, the means that caused that is another probably not-so-good story.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

Not for the folks who were foreclosed on. Of course, the means that caused that is another probably not-so-good story.

I feel bad for them, I honestly do.....But on the other hand, I am being continually reminded that, hey, this is America.

 

[zoebisch01]

Just 30 days until Oktvemberfest! Also, my fresh hop ale is just about ready to tap if you want to make a little detour some day soon.

WHoop Whoop Whoop

Fresh hop ale you say?

 

[zoebisch01]

I feel bad for them, I honestly do.....But on the other hand, I am being continually reminded that, hey, this is America.

Well, you are filling a need. All of those homes sitting there, unoccupied is terrible in its own right. Actually this always happens in the real estate cycle, except this time it is in such huge numbers. It does suck the misfortune, but somebody is going to buy those houses. Or worse case, they sit there and rot, further plummeting the locality's value.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

Well, you are filling a need. All of those homes sitting there, unoccupied is terrible in its own right. Actually this always happens in the real estate cycle, except this time it is in such huge numbers. It does suck the misfortune, but somebody is going to buy those houses. Or worse case, they sit there and rot, further plummeting the locality's value.

And also, it is giving a great step up in opportunity to the younger members of my family. Out of this mess they have a terrific opportunity to build a life for themselves. I guess it is all regeneration in the end.

 

[jgln]

I wish I could have watched the whole thing before commenting but it was loading so slowly it would have taken a half hour to watch the whole thing. Why they didn't try to sell some of that stuff first is something I don't understand.
I agree, people who got caught up in loans that they were crossing their fingers they would figure out a way later on how to sustain payments made a poor decision. But that is not always the case. Sometimes people lose good paying jobs almost overnight and struggle to find a new job paying the same as before. Sometimes it a major illness in the family that drains the bank account. Sometimes its divorce. So let’s not judge them all that way. My sister is going through hard times right now because my brother in law lost a good paying job in a merger and her company has cut back on her hours greatly. She said they make 1/5 now what they did only a year ago. Both my fiancee and I are in great danger of us both losing our jobs at the same time (same company, 9years). We got a fixed rate and I spent hours on the calculator working the numbers before signing anything. We have enough savings to last at least a year but in the long run would that be enough? The only thing I could not pin down was our jobs security. If we wanted the house we could afford then we had to gamble on that one thing or forget living in the home we always wanted to.

 

[jgln]

One last comment. We both are seniors in our office and at the top of our game. I was even was manager of the whole facility until the last downsizing. We were both told we would be the last two out the door in the event of layoffs. How much more secure could we be except one of us to get a job at another company which we tried but no one wanted to come close to our salaries. Seemed about as secure as you are going to get right? Wrong, word is they decided to outsource ALL of us.