Foreclosures in Brooklyn
Several people have written and asked me if I tried to locate a foreclosed home in Brooklyn. Of course! Everyone is looking for deals in Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, Park Slope, Carroll Gardens & Downtown Brooklyn. Most of the foreclosed properties are from Carnasie or other run down type areas, rather than Bay Ridge, Prospect Heights or Park Slope. You can see 2008’s foreclosure statistics for Brooklyn here. There were only six homes in Bay Ridge that made it to the foreclosure stage.
Homes that are foreclosed are sold on the Court Steps (yes, outside the Brooklyn courthouse – even in the cold weather). I’ve gone and watched the procedure a few times. It’s creepy. Not only is it creepy because you would be buying someone else’s lost dream, but it’s creepy because there are about 10 – 15 different men working for contracting companies who are trying to cease a cheap property AND THEY ARE HEARTLESS.
In one situation, a young woman about 20 years old and her Mom were there. Their home came up and this young girl bid. The contractor’s representative bid against her and raised the price. Then he walked away. He just felt like bidding for the heck of it – he wasn’t even interested in the property. Then her father (who was divorced from the mother) bid because he lived on the third floor. And the girl fought back tears as she went back and forth bidding and her father raising the bid. At one point the father told the auctioneer that the girl and her Mom didn’t have the money and the auctioneer called the girl inside the courthouse to make sure she had the money to pay if she won the auction. The house went for under $500,000 but it was worth less than $400K.
The contractors and businessmen had legal size sheets of the foreclosure listings. You have to pay for them. We paid for them, but there are free sites online that list Brooklyn foreclosures like this one You are also able to go to the basement of the Brooklyn Court House and look up the information about the house if you like (we did).
Years ago, it was also common for bank’s websites to list bank owned properties – REOs. Yet, if you call banks today to ask about these properties, most will tell you that the banks don’t want to hold onto these so they foreclose as soon as possible.
Hugs,
marlene
Topics: Brooklyn | 2 Comments »
November 29th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
Hi, Just discovered your website as my husband and I are looking to buy our first home. You have a lot of helpful advice which I bookmarked. Sadly, I was disappointed to see you refer to Canarsie as “some run-down type area”. Not everyone can afford Bay Ridge, Park Slope etc. Canarsie is a decent, diverse middle-class area with many lovely blocks that give one the feeling of country-living in the city. It may not be a dream neighborhood for you and your social circle but for many people it is theirs.
December 3rd, 2010 at 3:24 am
My best friend lived in Canarsie. I went there all the time throughout high school. She lived on one of those “nice blocks.” It’s 20 years later and I return to Canarsie for nostalgic reasons with the same best friend. And twice a year to go to Carnarsie market (otherwise known as Brooklyn Terminal Market. http://www.terminalmarkets.com/brooklyn.htm
It’s where people go for wholesale prices, but don’t have to be a store to purchase from them (mostly fruits, veggies and Christmas trees or Christmas decorations)
Most areas of Brooklyn look better now than they did years ago. Canarsie looks worse. Brooklyn isn’t the type of area where you buy and then buy up into another home. Brooklyn is the type of place that you purchase a home and live there for a long time. I wouldn’t recommend Carnarsie to a friend.
Now I saved for YEARS and YEARS. It was my choice to purchase something that was going to be good and we’d have a future in. I couldn’t afford Park Slope…..but I did find a super deal in Bay Ridge.
Now let’s say I didn’t find a super deal. I would have purchased along Fort Hamilton Parkway or Bath Beach. And if I couldn’t afford those two areas, I would have purchased in Staten Island.
Much luck to you in finding your dream home.