{"id":2276,"date":"2015-03-28T12:52:44","date_gmt":"2015-03-28T16:52:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.realst8.com\/staging\/9756\/?p=2276"},"modified":"2015-03-28T12:52:44","modified_gmt":"2015-03-28T16:52:44","slug":"what-happens-to-foreclosed-homes-in-st-joseph-county-indiana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.realst8.com\/staging\/9756\/market-conditions\/what-happens-to-foreclosed-homes-in-st-joseph-county-indiana\/","title":{"rendered":"What Happens to Foreclosed Homes in St. Joseph County, Indiana?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Indiana, foreclosures \u201chappen\u201d through a sheriff\u2019s sale. It\u2019s a public auction and proceeds are paid to the property\u2019s lienholders. The sales prices rarely cover the judgment to the bank holding the property\u2019s first mortgage, so all proceeds commonly go to that bank only. In those cases, the sale generally clears the other liens on the property so it can be sold.<\/p>\n

In St. Joseph County 90 \u2013 95% of the sales are \u201cwon\u201d by attorneys bidding for the banks holding the first mortgage. These aren\u2019t \u201csales\u201d in the common sense of the word. When the lienholding bank wins the auction, they essentially buy the property from themselves. The bank\u2019s attorney pays the sheriff, who pays the money back to the bank as first lienholder. It\u2019s a dance to scrub the other liens.<\/p>\n

Given that, sheriff\u2019s sale are a convenient way to track the number of foreclosures in an area, but a poor way to see what they sell for when they leave the bank\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n

In St. Joseph County, the Sheriff\u2019s Department has sold more than 8,500 properties at its weekly sheriff\u2019s sale over the last six years.<\/p>\n

Here is the breakdown of the numbers, provided by the Sheriff\u2019s Department:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Year<\/strong><\/td>\nNumber of Sales<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2014<\/td>\n926<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2013<\/td>\n1,429<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2012<\/td>\n1,418<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2011<\/td>\n1,165<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2010<\/td>\n1,572<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2009<\/td>\n2,004<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

8,514 foreclosures. For context, there were 18,282 residential sales in St. Joseph County in the MLS in that same time period. While there is considerable overlap, the numbers make the point: foreclosures have been a significant part of our market.<\/p>\n

Foreclosures have a community wide impact. Obviously the occupants and neighbors, but other homebuyers and sellers, landlords, investors, city departments, schools all feel them. And the only information the sheriff\u2019s department has available is the count above. It\u2019s remarkable that there isn\u2019t more data on it.<\/p>\n

Indiana is a public disclosure state for sales prices, so it\u2019s possible to recreate much of this data. Skipping through the details, by identifying 75+ variants of \u201cSt. Joseph County Sheriff\u201d as the seller, I\u2019ve compiled specifics on almost 5,000 foreclosures. While that\u2019s not comprehensive, it\u2019s a “good enough” to way to further investigate them as a group.<\/p>\n

And I used it to tackle a question I\u2019ve had for a while, \u201cWhat\u2019s the final outcome of these properties, especially those that sell at a very low price? Are they fixed and sold? Rented? Demolished? Do they sit empty for years?\u201d<\/p>\n

To tackle it, I broke out the 19 foreclosure sales I found under $10k for 2013.<\/p>\n

\"location<\/a>\"details<\/a><\/p>\n

And researched them using the MLS and public records sites and making a few educated guesses. As near as I can tell and with fair confidence, it appears that 1-2 years after foreclosure,<\/p>\n