Protect Your Homes Value Against Neighboring Foreclosures

Foreclosed properties are hot on the market, and can make your neighborhood look like a hot mess. Often times these properties are left in limbo while the owner and bank wait for the process of foreclosure to be settled. 

So what do you do when the house next door is vacant, has grass 3 feet high and broken windows?

Check out the following tips from Melissa Dittman Tracey's article, "Battling the Neighborhood Eyesore."   Realtormag.com. Realtor Magazine, n.d. Web. June 2011.

1. Notify the homeowners’ association.
• Most HOAs will pay to have the grass mowed and take care of maintenance issues, and then tack the expense on to the HOA bill, which will have to be cleared by the bank before the property sells.
2. Make property boundaries clear.
3. Help with cleanup.
• Stepping in to help with the maintenance can be tricky. Regardless of your good intentions, your actions could be considered trespassing. First figure out who owns the property, which can be a challenge in itself, and then offer your assistance.

Texas Man Buys House for $16

This is a story taken from The Consumerist.

"That unappealing smell could be the stench of jealousy, after a man uses the law to his advantage and snags a $300,000 house in Texas for a mere $16. Now his high-falutin' neighbors are all cranky that he might get away with such a steal.

KHOU.com out of Texas brings us the story of the man who moved into a foreclosed home and filed some paperwork, along with a $16 fee, in the town of Flower Mound, and could end up with his McMansion if he lives in it for three years.

Kenneth Robinson's new neighbors say he's a squatter, but he says he is just using the law to his advantage. After the previous owners walked away from the house when it was in foreclosure, the mortgage company went out of business. So Robinson moved in after researching 'adverse possession,' a little-known Texas law.

He printed out an online form and filed it at Denton County courthouse for $16 and was granted rights to the house. The home has no electricity or running water, but Robinson just set up camp anyway. The law says he gets exclusive negotiating rights with the original owner. If they want him out, they have to pay off the mortgage debt and the bank would have to file a lawsuit.

Robinson doesn't think that's likely, and after three years, he can ask the court for the title to the home. In the meantime, he posted 'No Trespassing' signs after his neighbors tried to get him arrested for squatting. Cops can't remove him because home ownership is a civil, not criminal matter.

'If he wants the house, buy the house like everyone else had to,' says one neighbor. 'Get the money, buy the house.'

Or, just pay $16 and still get the house."

Bad Owners

I toured a house yesterday that the bank had foreclosed. The owner in-protest took all the copper, the air conditioner, the appliances, the water heater, the fixtures and some electrical items. The toilet and sink were even removed out of one of the bathrooms.

From what I understand, it is very difficult for a bank to actually evict a person from the home. The process may take months while the tenant is still allowed to live in the house, mortgage free. I think banks should be allowed to foreclose more swiftly in order to protect their only asset.