Louise Scoggins' Blog: Foreclosures

With the recent catastrophic floods in the Atlanta area, many residents have been left wondering what to do with their severely damaged homes. Facing major repairs and no flood insurance, what options do you have? I recently heard of a couple that had just spent their life savings renovating their home in East Cobb. Sadly, the home was destroyed in the floods. Without flood insurance and not having any money in the bank, they feared their only option was to let the home go into foreclosure. What a devastating realization! Not only to lose your home and all of your possessions, but to be forced into foreclosure. It’s a terribly sad thing to think about, yet alone to be faced with.

Hearing about this sparked my thinking into the hundreds of homes that were…

Foreclosures Hit Record Highs…Again

In a report published by the Mortgage Banker's Association last week, research shows that foreclosures hit another all time high for the 4th quarter of 2007. The 4th quarter statistics show that 0.83% of all mortgages are now in foreclosure, beating out the previous high of 0.78% -- set (oh so very long ago) in the 3rd quarter of 2007.  The last time the foreclosure rate was this high was some 20 years ago in 1985.

A whopping 30% of all foreclosures are found in the notoriously popped bubble markets of Florida and California. These two states, along with Arizona and Nevada, are also so overbuilt with new construction homes that the Mortgage Banker's Association predicts it will be a long time before the housing economy…