Summit County Colorado foreclosures
The foreclosure problem has affected Summit County real estate, but not near as badly as it has impacted many other real estate markets. It used to be that when people asked me about foreclosures I told them that only timeshares went into foreclosure, and it was true; we seldom had any properties that were bank owned, in foreclosure, or in bankruptcy.
In 2008 a total of 193 properties in Summit County went into foreclosure. Of those, only 75, or 39%, were timeshares. the remaining 61% were all types and prices of property. Of the 118, 46, or almost 40% were cured when the owner caught up the late payments and kept the property. 18, or 15% were sold and 52 (44%) are still waiting for sale. Additionally, two were in bankruptcy, which means that they cannot be sold until the bankruptcy is taken care of by the courts. The sale of a property in foreclosure can be delayed for various reasons if the lender agrees to do so.
Since January 2009, another 41 properties have entered the foreclosure process, and a smaller percentage yet are timeshares.
I have always wondered why people let Summit County real estate go into foreclosure when it has been so easy to sell it. I can see letting the foreclosure process happen if you owe more than it is worth, but that still is not often the case here. There are quite a few properties that were bought some time ago and have some equity in them. Our values have not dropped and if a home was bought just a couple of years ago, there should still be equity in it unless the owner used it as an ATM. Currently, 25 properties in foreclosure are listed in the MLS and 6 bank owned homes are also listed. Buying a property in foreclosure takes special knowledge as there are many pitfalls. Often the mortgage is not the only lien on the property. There may be a second mortgage or other judgments or liens that have been imposed by the courts. I have talked to people in other states who have made offers to the bank, only to find that it takes weeks to get a response, and many times you are competing with other offers. It seems that you can’t be in a hurry and you have to be prepared to not be the one who gets it.
Meredith Hanson is the foreclosure specialist on our team. She sends out a monthly foreclosure alert. If you would like to be on her email list to get all the foreclosed properties listed in our MLS, email her at meredith@mountain-living.com. What properties are on that list? It is a real mixed bag, with everything from a two bedroom condo in Wildernest for $274,900 to a half duplex in Breckenridge for $449,000, a three bedroom condo in Keystone for $729,900. a liftside condo at Copper Mountain for $859,000, or six Summit County homes priced from $1,000,000 to almost $3,000,000. A couple of examples of two that sold recently are a single family home in Silverthorne listed at $549,000 and sold at $499,999, and a Breckenridge home in The Highlands that was listed at $1,550,000 and sold for $1,325,000.
More details on 2008 Summit County foreclosures can be found in a prior post. For more information in your mailbox regularly, subscribe.
