Why Are There So Many Foreclosure Homes For Sale?

There are so many foreclosure homes for sale that it's getting kind of scary. No matter what state you live in, or what town, it's not uncommon these days to find entire neighborhoods empty. Why are there so many foreclosure properties for sale? What's going on? Are we headed for another depression like in the twenties and thirties? Is America going to become another third world country like all the doomsayers are predicting? Is our new President destroying our country like the talking heads on Fox News are predicting? Time can only tell. The truth is, however, that the increasing number of foreclosure homes for sale is caused by a myriad of reasons. Some are caused by fraudulent loaning practices, some are due to the slumped economy and some are caused by simply poor planning on the parts of the families that once lived in those foreclosure homes for sale.

Fraud

Most of the foreclosure homes for sale are empty because the families that lived in them really had no business buying a home in the first place. How did they qualify for a loan? Several years ago, lenders relaxed their criteria and offered ‘sub-prime' mortgages. These were mortgages for families with low credit scores. They were offered an initial interest rate that was very reasonable and many families jumped on the chance to finally live the American dream of becoming a homeowner. The problem came when, as was stated in the fine print that nobody read, that initial interest rate was set to jump in a few months. The mortgage payment doubled and sometimes tripled seemingly out of nowhere. This meant many families could no longer afford their homes and they were forced to move thus the houses became foreclosure homes for sale.

Slumped Economy and Poor Planning

The second and third reason for so many foreclosure homes for sale was that the economy is in a slump. People are losing their jobs, their wages aren't lasting as long as they used to and families are not planning for the future properly. The fact is that many families live well beyond their means. Many are still living paycheck to paycheck. Whether they make twenty five thousand a year or a hundred thousand, if they don't plan properly, one job loss can result in a foreclosure home for sale. And that's what's happening with all of these foreclosure homes for sale. People lost their jobs and they could no longer afford their mortgage payments. The banks demanded the houses back and that's why there are so many foreclosure homes for sale.

It's not all doom and gloom out there. The economy will bounce back eventually. But until then, hopefully we'll learn from our mistakes so that we can get all these families back in their homes so there aren't as many foreclosure homes for sale.