Here's a foreclosure home in the East Point area of Atlanta that has been picked clean - including into the walls. This is an example of one of the challenges faced by owners of vacant homes in Atlanta; vandalism is rampant and is costing owners - including lenders - big money.
For years, vacant homes have sat minus appliances and HVAC systems as those would disappear almost as quickly as they arrived, in some cases within a day. It's common in this market to have a stipulation that these will be installed the day prior to closing...and the seller will sit with fingers crossed to make it to the table intact. Investors will always be drawn to the REO and foreclosure inventory but we're seeing a demonstrated shift away for the "primary residence buyer". These buyers expect a bargain because they keep hearing Case-Shiller or some other media outlet reporting on crashing housing prices in Atlanta. The Atlanta housing market is not accurately reflected in those reports and we're seeing clear signs that many buyers in Atlanta are rapidly losing interest in foreclosures due to the nonsense. The lenders know where values are stabilizing, they're not giving anything away....
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