I’ve gotten a bit lazy in checking foreclosures. I’ve gotten a bit lazy in lots of things, so this one thing shouldn’t be that big of a deal, but it sort of is. Guarding against complacency is something that we all must do, but it’s extra important for Realtors. To be complacent is to stop learning, and to stop learning is to stop providing something of value. If I stop providing something of value, then I’m going to rely on referrals from the lady who cuts my mom’s hair, and that’s no good because I don’t even know that lady. Foreclosures.
I checked this morning, and what used to take me an hour or more has now taken me 10 minutes. There aren’t as many of these distressed guys percolating as there used to be. But, for all of our “everything is awesome” refrain, there are still trouble spots that we, the smart ones, need to be aware of so that we can either react defensively to protect our possible nearby value, or react offensively, and seize the opportunity of another’s distress.
There’s a foreclosure in the works in Cedar Point Park. From a market perspective, that’s not a big deal. Why not? Because Cedar Point is a large association, and a foreclosure or two scattered amongst typical sales volume doesn’t hurt an association in the way that a singular foreclosure would hurt a much smaller association. So something awry in Cedar Point is no big deal, it’ll just create an opportunity for something, which drives sales volume, which, in a round about way, actually helps.
Geneva National has seen its foreclosure problem ebb a bit, but they still exist there, and they will for(ever) quite some time. I don’t see anything in the Abbey Villas or Abbey Springs, and that’s always nice. The Villas have had their share of difficulty, and they deserve a break. I see nothing in Country Club or Indian Hills, nothing in Glenwood Springs, either. That’s not to say something isn’t amiss, somewhere, but it’s to say that I wouldn’t plan on it.
There’s a possible lakefront foreclosure still working its way through the courts, that of a house that I’ve attempted to sell in the past. It’s a troubled situation, and what would be best for that house and for the market is for that house to indeed be foreclosed on. Then it can come to market clean, be sold, and take a long time bit of uncertainty. Foreclosures can be viewed as the destruction of dreams, or they can be viewed as a necessary evil to create a stronger market. That’s how Ra’s al Ghul would have preferred we view this.
These foreclosures that continue now will be fewer and father between, but they’re always going to exist. It’s good that we don’t have to dwell on them anymore, and it’s good that individual associations are no longer suffering from rumors of an impending foreclosure wave. The South Shore Club has had three foreclosures in the history of the club, and yet there were rumors that persisted that insisted trouble was always brewing there. That wasn’t the case, and that misinformation actually led to a lot of people missing out on rather incredible opportunities. If you’re now ranking ownership strength in lakefront communities, I’d place the South Shore Club at the very tip top of that list.
The foreclosures that continue are now less frequently caused by unfortunate market conditions and more by systemic financial problems on the ownership side. In 2010, foreclosures were “crud, this house isn’t worth much, let’s run from it”. Today, foreclosures are more “crud, our financial picture isn’t getting any better, let’s give in and let this place go”. I think the latter is the more noble cause of a foreclosure, though it is more disappointing for the owner. Let’s keep an eye on the foreclosure market, and let’s work together if you’re looking for some sort of distressed opportunity, but mostly, let’s just watch the market and not let foreclosures bother us anymore.