Monday, June 23, 2008

Colorado Foreclosure Trend Continues In 2008

Most people thought that after being number one on the list of maximum foreclosures in 2006, foreclosures in Colorado would follow a continuing downward slope. Unfortunately, this has not been so. While the number of foreclosures in 2008 has definitely gone down as compared to 2006, Colorado still ranks number 5 on the list of states with the maximum number of foreclosures. The number of foreclosures has been especially high in the capital city of Denver, which is expecting 11,000 homes to be foreclosed this year alone. This figure is 4000 more than previous year’s figure of around 7000 homes that were foreclosed in 2007.

Unscrupulous lending practices, coupled with a sharp increase in floating interest rates and a high rate of unemployment have led to a situation where almost ten Denver families are losing their homes everyday. Even the best neighborhoods have been transformed by houses that are either sporting “vacant” or “for sale” signs or those that are now carrying locks belonging to banks and other financial institutions.

The worst part is that most banks and lending institutions are also stuck with an inventory of homes that nobody has the resources to buy anymore. While in the earlier years of 2006 and 2007, many homes were sold either during pre-foreclosure or bank auctions, the majority of Colorado foreclosures today go back to the bank or the lender, which are now looking for desperate measures to sell these properties and cut their losses.

The only winner in such a desperate situation however, can be the prudent home buyer who has got both the will and the resources to buy property in a market experiencing serious downfalls. The advantage of buying a Colorado foreclosure property as of now is that you can get extremely good rates for prime properties.

Foreclosed properties in most areas of Denver, Mile High City, Boulder, Steamboat Springs, Aspen and Butte are available at discounts of up to 30% and savvy negotiators can end up saving even more on the actual price of a foreclosed property. These properties, some of which are in prime areas, can prove to be great investments a few years hence, easily earning you a profit of at least 50% to 60%. However, it is important to ensure that you have the means and the ways to pay for the Colorado foreclosure property that you want to buy if you do not want it to be foreclosed again.

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