Tag Archives: Foreclosure

Street Scenes & Signs…Bridging 2011 to 2012

I thought it fitting to launch the New Year with a slideshow of hitherto unpublished ”street” photos, mostly of a whimsical nature.  One, however, is not so whimsical.

It is a scene that will be repeated again and again in 2012…

The Foreclosure & Short Sale Blues

The Foreclosure & Short Sale Blues (Petaluma, CA) © Frank Simpson

SLIDESHOW*

Note: To stop the slideshow and focus on a particular photo, simply place the cursor over the slideshow frame or window.

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*Slideshow Photo Notes

  1. Tomato Still Life–I have no idea who left the cans on the bench.  They were just there.
  2. Teame Gold–For those not familiar with Petaluma, the photo documents the current status of a sign that used to read “Steamer Gold.” Time and the elements have modified it. 
  3. Revolution–a sticker prominently displayed on a litter can next to McNears in Petaluma.

PHOTO ALERT:To see two rather esoteric, if not exotic, (non-street scene) photos, go to Colors…to Black and to White

 

 

So, how goes the economy in your ‘Hood?

Much ink has been printed–not to mention the hot air expelled on talk shows and countless media & web sites–discussing and analyzing the state of our economy at the national, state, and local level. 

On the home foreclosure front, there is a concern in some quarters about the substantial number of homes in the national foreclosure inventory and a worry that the banks will have to take another write-down of assets due to the weakness in secondary mortgage paper. 

And, of course, there is the current game of “chicken” going on in Washington DC over the national budget, deficits, and debt limits. It remains to be seen how the crisis will be resolved in whole or in part…or whether it will simply continue with superficial solutions. I’ll leave that to others to analyze.

Tuning out the media noise for the moment, I decided to grab a pocket camera and take a quick look around the neighborhood to see how the economy is playing out at the street level. By way of background, on one street, if I count down five houses from the corner, only one has not been foreclosed on in the last two years:

  • Two were foreclosed and resold in 2010
  • Two were foreclosed in 2011 (one just this week) and are pending sale

Take a look at the slideshow and decide for yourself. How is it looking out there on the front lines?

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PHOTO NOTES

  • REO–A Bank owned property (lender-owned), also sometimes referred to as a REO (real estate owned) home or property
  • Not all foreclosure properties have yard signs.  Of the four homes discussed above, not one displayed a yard sign.
  • The homeless person was sleeping in front of the empty Mervyn’s store.