The Foreclosure Bus Rolls On

September 1st, 2008

As the foreclosure bus rolls on a new kind of operation begins. All that is required to get aboard the bus is some money and a little time. The bus will take the potential buyer and the interested to view the foreclosed houses that have been seized by the banks. The bus rides are free inclusive of soft drinks and snacks. There is a good possibility f making a killing on the fallen real estate market hacked down by the foreclosure crisis.

One of the many tour operators is Tommy Burches and his wife Sheri. Both of them are realtors. They have been overseeing these Foreclosure Bus Tours every week for three hours during the past four months. On that particular day they would be viewing about 12 to 14 units. Tommy as he talks to the bus passengers just like any other tour operator would do.

The banks have repossessed all the properties after foreclosing on them. Today the houses stand silent but few weeks or perhaps a month or so ago these houses were homes bustling with life. There were families eating, sleeping and loving. But foreclosures felled them. This is the result of the sub-prime mortgage lending that first led to the housing boom before ushering in the era of the foreclosure crash. Today the banks too are in grave trouble. They are badly in need of cash and as such are selling these houses for peanuts. The prices of the houses that the Burches would show have fallen by as much as 40%. Hungry investors are not letting go of such a chance. They are eager to invest. Pankaj Giroti is one of the potential buyers. He said that he “had no idea that in such a nice location” he could get a house for half of what the price was only three years ago.

The couple suddenly thought up the plan of the bus tours when they themselves were looking around to buy a spacious property in this remote suburb of Washington. It is not always easy to locate the foreclosed houses because not all of them have signs to mark them out. It is hard work to locate the new owners – the banks. Before actually setting the bus tour rolling the pair would hunt up 80 houses and get the photographs and data ready. It is tough work just like any other business.