Foreclosure Bus Tours In Nassau County

June 3rd, 2008 | Tags: Foreclosure

Foreclosure bus tours are now being introduced in Nassau County. One bus rolling towards New Hyde Park had leopard print seat covers, ceiling made of wood and mirror and was also equipped with a wet bar.

Many had lost houses by gambling on rising property prices during the housing boom. It was difficult to believe that one house being pointed out on Bedford Avenue had fetched $550,000 only few years back in 2006. The information came from David Farrell of Mineola real estates that was conducting the tour. Today the present owners (U.S. Bank National Association a subsidiary of US Bancorp, Cincinnati) were willing to sell it for $320,000. All the houses that were being viewed on this particular tour were Repo houses.

There were 502 foreclosure postings in Nassau during April 2008. This was double the number of April in the previous year according to ReatlyTrac. Suffolk County saw increase in foreclosure numbers by 43%. It registered 734 foreclosure postings in the previous year. Foreclosures are inclusive of all the stages of the judicial process of issuing notices for default and auction as well as court auction and repossession by the banks.

During the boom period people were lulled into thinking that things would stay on high pitch always. It did not, commented Connie Lassandro of Housing and Homeless Services of Nassau County. It runs a counseling programme for those facing foreclosures. Without warning, “the rug was pulled out from under them”, Connie added.

The bus tour is the first of its kind in Long Island but in other parts of the country where foreclosure activity is intense, like Florida or California, it has become quite common. In some places it is free with lunch thrown in. But here Farrell charges $50 for the bus to roll through the middle and upper-middle regions of Nassau. Many of the houses need extensive repairs. The water and electricity lines have been plugged and cut off. There are gaping holes on the walls as well as peeling paint.

In this particular tour Farrell was concentrating on nine bank owned houses with price tags hovering around $100,000 at the most. He also provided the passengers with comparative rates of houses in the neighbourhood.

The first house was in the worst condition. It had a musty carpet coated with pet hair and uneven floors. The buyers was aided by a house inspector who was included as part of the tour staff.

Click here if you want information on foreclosure houses.