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Buy Now While Rates Are Low and Lots of Homes Available

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HOMES FOR SALE IN OKLAHOMA ARE SELLING WELL

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How Do We Stack Up Against The Rest of the US?

You might have noticed it. In your neighborhood, where there once were no vacant home, there now is one. I know in my neighborhood, there was one home that used to be the nicest cared for home around. Then one day, I noticed the shrubs had not been cut. Then I noticed that I did not see theie cars in the drive anymore.

Little by little, week by week, a slow, but gradual transformation began to appear. The grass began to grow. The curb grass began to flow onto the street. The owners had apparently moved out.

After talking with the neighbors, I learned that the owner had a health issue that his insurance did not fully cover. That led to them having to leave their home and let it go back to the bank. Well, the bank only mowed the yard when the city threatened to fine them.

So, by the time the home changed into new ownership, the grass was over a foot high and the curb was visually hidden. Happy ending for the home: it was bought and now the entire property looks great again.

Sound familiar? It should. Foreclosures are on the rise around our country. As defaults on mortgages made to borrowers with shaky credit and adjustable-rate loans rise, more neighbors are noticing their friends being caught in this phenomenum.

In neighborhoods where foreclosures are especially high, prostitution, vagrants, drug activity, and other crime usually follows. Some studies show for each 1% rise in foreclosures, there is a 2.25% rise in crime.

This has always been a problem in the other neighborhood across town. But now it is affecting your neighborhood in the suburbs.

In a report this month tracking the number of households per foreclosure for the months July-Sept, the state of Oklahoma is right in the middle. Oklahoma is 24^th with 1 foreclosure in every 473 households. There are 23 states with less and 25 with more.

The state with the highest foreclosures per capita is Nevada with 1 in every 61, followed by California, and then by Florida. The state with the least foreclosures per capita is Vermont with 1 in every 12,294, followed by West Virginia and Mississippi.

The Center for Responsible Lending published a report last week estimating the 44.5 million U.S. households will see their property values decline a combined $223 billion. But, in my home state Oklahoma, there is only 1 foreclosure for every 473 households.

So do not fear. Most of our Oklahoma City, Norman, and surrounding areas will not have the massive vacancy problems that we see on the coasts. Conservative lending practices by local customers and banks will ensure that Oklahoma will not have huge amounts of foreclosures. And your home will most likely fetch a fair price on the market.

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