Monday, January 28, 2008

"60 MINUTES" ON THE FORECLOSURE CRISIS - HOW WE GOT HERE

If you have spent any time on this blog, you know a couple of things:

1) Colorado has been hammered with foreclosures over the past three years
2) Because our market was essentially flat or declining in value, those with escalating payments were dead on the arrival of their first payment reset
3) It's getting better now (here in Colorado), finally...

I have shifted a lot of my efforts over the past six months to working with investors and first-time buyers who are taking advantage of these foreclosure bargains. Some of the discounts we have been able to take advantage of have been just jaw dropping.

Fact is, there are two markets in Colorado right now.

The traditional resale market... which is quite challenging, unless you have an amazing home or are willing to seriously discount...

And the foreclosure market... which is where the action is at today.

Because the country's major markets are now at the epicenter of the foreclosure crisis, "60 Minutes" finally got around to covering the subject this past weekend.

And if you don't live and die with daily updates from Inman News and RIS Media, this report will go a long way toward explaining what happened and why there is so much pain going around today.

By the way, Beazer Homes announced today that they are shutting down their mortgage division in the face of a class action lawsuit. A little late, but a nice first step...

CLICK HERE to view the "60 Minutes" report.