Skip navigation
MOST POPULAR RELATED TAGS
  • TOPICS
  • SECTORS
  • COMPANIES
Funny Business Video Gallery
A look at what's likely to happen at the registers once the doors open on Friday, with Richard Hastings, Global Hunters ...
Whether the deals are better than what shoppers will usually see or if it is just another marketing tactic, with Hitha P...

SQUAWK BOX VIDEO

» More

Current DateTime: 09:10:09 27 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 31388230
Expiration DateTime: 11/27/2009 9:12:10 PM
    • Shopper & Investor Deals  25 Nov 2009

        A look at what's likely to happen at the registers once the doors open on Friday, with Richard Hastings, Global Hunters Securities; Richard Jaffe, Stifel Nicolaus & Co. and CNBC's Jane Wells.

    • Black Friday: Bargain or Bust?  25 Nov 2009

        Whether the deals are better than what shoppers will usually see or if it is just another marketing tactic, with Hitha Prabhakar, Style File Group; Brad Wilson, BlackFriday2009.com and CNBC's Jane Wells.

    • Holiday Central  25 Nov 2009

        A discussion of the many ways retailers are preparing for Black Friday, live from K-Mart in Burbank, CA, with CNBC's Jane Wells.

    • Retailers Getting Ready for Black Friday  25 Nov 2009

        Retailers are getting ready for Black Friday, and CNBC's Jane Wells has the play by play. Stacy Janiak, of Deloitte, shares her insight.

    • Amazon vs. Wal-Mart  24 Nov 2009

        What began as a price war between Wal-Mart and Amazon over a handful of books has nos spread to a wide assortment of consumer goods. Lee Eisenberg, a noted retail expert and consumer behaviorist, and CNBC's Jane Wells discuss.

    • Prices to Be Thankful For  24 Nov 2009

        A decrease in food prices is something to be thankful for this holiday, reports CNBC's Jane Wells.

RSS FEED

» Help

Current DateTime: 09:10:10 27 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 31388237
Expiration DateTime: 11/27/2009 9:12:17 PM
powered by digg

Funny Business

Text Size
Apr.03
4:01 PM ET
Thursday, 3 Apr 2008
Home Foreclosure: Here's One Man's Story

In Washington, they're talking about housing from 30,000 feet. Here in West Sacramento California, I'm seeing it from sea level.

In a beautiful development where houses came on the market in 2004 for $700,000, I'm looking at a foreclosed house on the market for $415,500. Realtor Karen Bartlett says the bank first put it on the market for $499,000 but got no serious offers. When I asked her if the bank would take $400,000 for it, she said they were offered that before but turned it down. Today, though, "They'd probably take it."

The house next door is also bank owned.

And two doors down lives Karnial Saini, a realtor (the irony!) who says he put down 20 percent on his home when he bought it in '04, but got an adjustable rate mortgage he can no longer afford. "Yesterday I tried to refinance," he says, but his mortgage is for more than a half million dollars, "and the house appraises at $450,000." He says he is probably going to lose his home either through a short sale or by "just giving the bank the key."

He's understandably quite depressed. He's got three kids.

But when I asked him if it's fair to bail him out, Saini admits not everyone deserves it. However, he didn't do a zero percent down loan, his home is just now less than his mortgage and he desperately needs a new mortgage.

What he finds hard to understand is that the bank will agree to a short sale, but it refuses to lower the principal. Both seem to equal the same loss for the bank, but lowering the principal keeps the homeowner in the house and avoids the costs of a foreclosure.

Realtor Bartlett says there is a "glut" of foreclosures here--half the homes sold are bank owned. She says the market can't even begin to return to normal until two things happen. First, there are incentives to buy foreclosed homes and get them off the market (the Senate has proposed a $7,000 tax credit for people who buy foreclosed homes). Second, something needs to be done to help more people stay in their homes to, again, keep those homes from flooding the market.

By her estimates, we're in for another three years of foreclosures if rates keep resetting. Ben Bernanke said today that the Fed rate cuts should lessen the pressure on lenders to hike those monthly payments.

Needless to say, we'll all look back on these times as historic. We just don't know how long until they're history.

Questions? Comments? Funny Stories? Email

© 2009 CNBC, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Tools:
PrintEmailAdd This share icon
Next Post
  • digg share
ADD COMMENTS
Remaining characters


Current DateTime: 06:14:06 27 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29778428

Current DateTime: 09:11:31 27 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779196

Current DateTime: 10:38:14 27 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779199

Current DateTime: 07:56:30 27 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779198
  Data is a real-time snapshot  *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis

© 2009 CNBC, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.
A Division of NBC Universal
Thomson ReutersThomson Reuters