Zombie Apocolypse
It is kind of funny that the popularity of zombies has hit the real estate market.
According to an article in the Chicago Tribune, based off a study by Reuters, the media has started referring to homes that are vacant, but have yet to be foreclosed on as “zombie” homes. They are deteriorating because they are vacant and nobody is looking after the upkeep.
Homes that have already been foreclosed at least have a maintenance crew that looks after basics..shuts the water off and checks on them periodically. Although I would have to say the maintenance is not very good. But at least it is something.
So what do you do if you have a zombie home in your neighborhood? By all means, keep your children and pets away from it. It will feed on their brains. Other than that, there is not a lot one can do in our area. If you knew the people who owned it, there still is a chance that it could be sold by a short sale. You could have them get in contact with me, and we could sell it and get new owners in there to take care of it.
Otherwise, it might just sit there for a long time. In the article, it says that possibly 50% of the houses in foreclosure in the state of Oregon are “zombies”. And with the current regulations, it could be a long time before the foreclosure process is completed, and that house comes on the market as a REO property. So you and the neighbors might just need to band together and take care of the poor zombie house until new owners can breath life into it again.
And again, if you knew the owners…put them in contact with me. Lets see if we can get a short sale done. Then the zombie would come back to life in only 4-6 months. 🙂