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The Bank Listed The Jonses House For Sale

January 5th, 2008 at 07:58 am

Five months ago, I wrote about my former neighbors "The Jonses" who lost their home in a foreclosure auction.

scfr.savingadvice.com/2007/08/03/the-jonses-lost-their-house...

The bank that now owns the house just listed it for sale.

Since I have moved away from that area, I do not know how The Jonses left the house. Did they sneak away in the middle of the night? Did the sherriff's office have to force them out?

It is frustrating to think about how The Jonses desire to live above their means (and the mortgage lenders who allowed them to keep refinancing up, up and away) ended up costing so much to so many. For The Jonses themselves, I'm sure it cost them and continues to cost them an incredible amount of stress. (I wonder how their marriage is now?) The bank obviously lost. Their neighbors lost. But there were other losses as well that aren't so obvious: The county and city and all of the citizens who rely on the county and city services lost when The Jonses stopped paying their property taxes once it was clear they would lose the house. Our neighborhood home owner's association and all of the residents lost when The Jonses stopped paying their homeowners dues and the association had to use employee time to file a lien against their home. And no doubt the negative ripple effects spread even further than what I have thought of.

But you know what? In spite of the doom and gloom tone of this entry so far, I actually feel some hope. The reason is the price that the bank listed the house for. I know roughly how much was owed on the house, and I know that the bank is taking a pretty substantial hit selling at the price they have listed for. It's a semi-competitive price, the bank is going to lose money, and someone is going to get a pretty good deal on the house, especially if they can get the price knocked down a bit more. [The list price is about mid-point between what was owed and the lowball offer that DH & I threw out on the house months ago.] This gives me hope because it shows me that at least in this one particular case the bank has decided to "wake up and smell the coffee." They are not trying to maintain an over-inflated asset on their balance sheet. Looks like they are willing to cut their losses and move on. Yes, it sucks for anyone in The Jonses neighborhood who is also trying to sell their house right now and has to compete against that house. But in the long run, mightn't it mean that we are ever so slowly starting to work our way out of the housing market mess?

Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments »

7 Responses to “The Bank Listed The Jonses House For Sale”

  1. Ima saver Says:
    January 5th, 2008 at 08:39 am

    i just watched a 1/2 show about the foreclosed houses near atlanta going up for auction this month. There were about 400 houses and they were all huge houses, 6000, 7000 square feet. 7 bedrooms, 6 baths, unbelievable. I think I live in a big house for 2 people. Who needs 7 bedrooms?? I meant to say 1/2 hour show.

  2. EnglishTeacher Says:
    January 5th, 2008 at 08:46 am

    That's the only way we are going to work out of the housing mess. Housing prices must come down from the ridiculous levels of the past years. I think you painted an accurate picture of who the Jonses really are, and we all know them. Keeping up with the Jonses means debt, stress, and financial ruin.

  3. collegemomma Says:
    January 5th, 2008 at 03:42 pm

    That is exactly what has been happening around here. Most of the homes for sale have been bank owned after a foreclosure and those people trying to sell their homes have had to put it off for now because they cannot compete with the prices and the sales are bringing down the home values. Good for anyone looking for a deal who wouldn't be able to buy a home otherwise, but bad for people not holding onto their homes for a long time to compensate for the decrease in home values.

  4. mom-from-missouri Says:
    January 5th, 2008 at 06:40 pm

    Silly to stop paying the property tax, because they are still responsible for them up until the day it transferred back to the bank. Counties are real good (at least around here) at garnishing wages for taxes on sold property. I see them listed in the paper in the court docket where the county was granted garnishments at xx a pay period.

  5. boomeyers Says:
    January 5th, 2008 at 07:19 pm

    My parents neighbors house foreclosed. Since I am in real estate, I know the lady who was foreclosed on bought the house for 815,000. The bank has lowered its asking price all the way down to 645,900. It has been on the market for 3 months. Wish I could buy it! Smile It would have to come down about another 400,000 for me!

  6. Broken Arrow Says:
    January 5th, 2008 at 07:56 pm

    In a way, I wish I had the means to buy a house in this environment. Lots of good deals to be had.

    As for the Joneses, well, having been one myself, I only hope that they've learned their lesson as I have. Smile

  7. koppur Says:
    January 6th, 2008 at 08:02 am

    Hi there. This is actually in response to your post on mine about getting paid once a month. I am so confused on the taxes! Can you explain? my e-mail is koppurautumnleaf@verizon.net

    thanks so much!!!

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