Foreclosures and Their Trickle-Down Effect

By: Diane Tuman, Zillow Content Manager | October 10, 2008

Watching foreclosure numbers and reading reports each month is like watching a slow-motion train wreck — it’s big, it’s slow, and it’s ugly. In the past year, 14.5% of all U.S. real estate transactions were by people buying foreclosed properties and the highest percentage belonged to those in California, specifically, Stockton, Merced, Salinas, Madera and Modesto, according to the Zillow Q2 Real Estate Market Reports.

No doubt that foreclosure touches all of us in very strange ways. We believe that if you see something weird, it’s probably related to foreclosure. Then we heard that foreclosures are affecting business at legal Web site, Avvo, too (disclosure: Zillow CEO Rich Barton is on the Avvo board). But, their biz is being affected in a good way. Avvo founder and CEO Mark Britton (right) said searches for foreclosure lawyers and info about foreclosure on Avvo spiked by 700% since the first of the year and “…it is clear that a lot of Americans are hurting on the financial front.”

The nice thing about Avvo is that they offer a Q&A section called Avvo Answers in which you can ask any ‘ol embarrassing question you want — anonymously, if desired. Britton said “…most consumers are intimidated by the legal profession and have no idea how to engage. Too many big words, complex processes and old men in black robes…” so, this anonymous tool is kind of nice to get some rudimentary information up front, for free, without walking into a stodgy lawyer’s office.

Avvo is getting a lot of questions about buying foreclosed property, too. So, it does cut both ways — people are suffering from foreclosure, but there are many people and businesses that are benefiting because of it. Kind of like the “board-up specialists” that have emerged or the uptick in foreclosure bus tours. Or, people who couldn’t previously afford to buy a home are suddenly in the market, buying foreclosed property. Zillow offers foreclosure listings - just type in a location in the search box. Under “Listing Type” on the left-hand side, click the “foreclosure” button to see foreclosed properties for sale.

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Categories: Foreclosures

Comments

1 Comment so far

Loan Modification on May 6, 2009 3:52 pm

With so many people facing foreclosure one would hope that lenders start to become a little more pro-active in helping people modify their loans. Granted it is much easier when you have a good attorney or a good understanding of the bank’s guidelines, however, one would hope that banks would actually start reaching out to those who are 30+ days behind. And while its true that some are finding employment as a result of the housing crisis, far more people were employed prior to the housing crisis. Unemployment is over 8% currently, lets get more people back to work and save more homes!