People bought South Florida real estate thinking it could only go up. Now, after months of watching the value of their condominiums and houses slide, buyers who can afford to make payments are making the decision to walk away from underwater mortgages. The “strategic default” has risen from single-digits a couple of years ago to 28 percent of all defaults in certain counties.
The stigma of foreclosure clearly isn't what it once was, and you have to believe the bad PR banks have gotten recently makes people more willing to stick it to them.
From the Palm Beach Post (Oct. 25).
****
Andres Duque thought he got a real steal when he paid $125,000 for his Little Haiti condo. But four years later, similar units are selling for $35,000 and even less.
And so, faced with the prospect of being underwater on his mortgage — owing more than the unit is worth — for the next 20 years, Duque, 33, made what seemed to him like a rational choice: to cut and run.
He stopped paying the mortgage, basically forcing the lender to take the condo off his hands through foreclosure.
``I was able to pay off all my credit cards,'' said Duque, who is biding his time in the condo, waiting until they come and evict him. ``In a way, it was the best thing that happened to me because all my income is not being consumed by this freaking monster of a debt.''
Link: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/business/content/state/epaper/2009/10/25/1025default.html
Posts
