Duplex Foreclosure Reports Inspire Movie Madness

[youtube][/youtube]When my alarm went off this morning, NPR informed me RealtyTrac released its Midyear 2010 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.

And I wanted, with evey fiber of my being, to get out of bed, open my window, and make like Howard Beale in the movie, “Network” and shout, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!”

But outside of letting off steam, I don’t know what good that would have done.

It seems that in the first six months of this year, there were 8 percent more notices of defaults, sheriff’s sales and foreclosures than there was in the first six months of 2009. The good news, however, is the rate was 5 percent lower than it had been in the last six months of last year.

What does that mean in real numbers? Well, somewhere near 1.7 million homeowners received a warning related to foreclosure between January and June. That’s one out of every 78 homes in the U.S.

During the month of June, 3140 Minnesotans received a foreclosure-related notice. That’s one in every 743 households; far behind the national average, but staggering nonetheless.

While the report doesn’t specify the number of duplex, triplex and fourplex owners, it would be surprising to find many differences in percentages. After all, countless smaller multi-family properties are owner occupied.

If you’re one of those who received a notice, please know you’re not alone. There are literally millions of people all over the country facing the same stress, the same obstacles, the same sadness and frustration.

While it is my hope that each and every one of you receives a loan modification, if you don’t, remember, there are alternatives to foreclosure. And if you ever need help, as a Certified Distressed Property Expert, I’d be happy to point you toward resources or solutions that may help ease your load.

In the end, helping you through that would probably be a whole lot more productive than yelling out my window.

Then again, maybe we all open our windows at the same time…