More Videos- Clowning Around At Work
- The Lloyd's Prayer
- America Is On Sale
- Tommy Lee, Medical Tourism and Nasty Santa, Your Emails
- Tommy Lee Wants You to Be a Rock Star
- The Gift That Stops Giving
- Smile Though Your Head Is Breaking...
- How Low Will You Go?
- The Perfect Job On 'The Go'
- Balloon Boy Flies Again — As Halloween Hit
MOST SHARED
- Wal-Mart Holiday Forecast Light, Profit Beats
- How the Droid and Google Threaten the GPS Makers
- Jobless Claims Post Another Drop as Picture Improves
- CNN Anchor Lou Dobbs Says He is Leaving Network
- Shopping for Answers
- HPQ to Acquire 3Com
- Obama Most Powerful Person in World: Forbes
- Pricier Beer Helps AB InBev Operating Profit
- Highest State Foreclosure Rates
- Rising Jobless Biggest Threat to World Trade: WTO
- Ford, Hyundai, Audi Gaining Interest
- This Drug Firm Will Snap Up 50% By Mid-2010: Trader
- Warren Buffett Ranked #14 On Forbes 'Most Powerful People' List
- What to Expect From Disney Earnings?
- HP's Shot Across Cisco's Bow
- USC Football Blog Leads All-Access Space
- Clowning Around At Work
- Ahead of Earnings Disney Restructures Studio
- Nov. 11: Unusual Volume Leaders
- US Will Borrow Less as Banks Pay Back Funds: Geithner
- Wal-Mart Holiday Forecast Light, Profit Beats
- US Mortgage Refinancing Up; Buying Demand Sinks
- Kohl's Profit Beats Street, But Outlook Falls Short
- United Tech to Buy GE Security Unit for $1.82 Billion
- Gold Hits $1,122, Barrick Chief Says Selloff Possible
- Wall Street Pay Is Often too High: Bill Gates
- Morgan Stanley Gets Aggressive in Luring Brokers
- Foreclosures Fall Again But Improvement Likely Fleeting
RSS FEED
Funny Business
Text Size 
 |
AP |
These days people here are losing money, as Stockton has become infamous as "The Foreclosure Capital." Several homes here have lawns best described as "foreclosure brown"--they haven't been watered in quite some time. Stockton isn't that far from where gold was first discovered in the Golden State. Ironically, it became a magnet for a new age of prospectors during the real estate boom.
So get this. Over the weekend several foreclosed properties held open houses. We were there. And so were the flippers! After all that's happened, a new wave of speculators has descended, hoping to take advantage of the 10%-15% below market values these homes are selling for. Their plans? Fix 'em up and sell 'em at a profit! To whom, I haven't a clue.
You'll meet some of these new investors Tuesday when I report live from Stockton. Today I will be following around a realtor who's found a way to prosper while his brethen suffer: handling foreclosure sales for lenders. It's not fun nor easy, but it's a living. He acts at times as evictor/appraiser/interior decorator. He actually pays some homeowners up to $3,000 to clean up their homes before moving out. His Blackberry is buzzing like crazy these days.
Oh yeah, Stockton is so well-known now for its mortgage meltdown that even a French TV crew has shown up.
Mon Dieu!
Comments? Funny Stories? Email
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes