Unforeseen Foreclosure Side-effects
What happens when a hurricane hits a neighborhood that has already been hit by massive numbers of foreclosures? This is the question of the hour as hurricane season officially starts Monday, June 1st. Florida, prone to both high foreclosure rates and hurricanes, is struggling to get some clarity on who is going to board up the windows, secure potential projectiles and fortify the garage doors on the empty homes that have been foreclosed on. The situation not only poses a safety issue to the remaining residents in the area, it can also mean a further decline in property values if hurricane damage is sustained. North and South Carolina, Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi and Texas all have counties with coastal areas that have approximately 300,000 foreclosed homes dotting the landscape. There is some doubt as how diligent financial institutions will be at making sure the houses are properly secured in the event a hurricane strikes. The remaining homeowners are nervously eying the unkempt yards, broken windows and miscellaneous abandoned items. Some banks have retained property management companies to handle the task. Others are expecting the real estate agents hired to sell the properties to take the steps necessary to preserve the value of the property. Burt Aaronson, Palm Beach County Commissioner, has set county attorneys to find if the county can legally board up empty homes. Aaronson sited the fact that the banks that do not maintain the foreclosed properties routinely cannot be expected to do so when a storm is approaching. His proposal is to find the legal owners of properties the county boards up. City officials in Cape Coral just passed an ordinance that requires the owner of a foreclosed home to register the address and contact numbers for the person responsible for keeping up the property. This latest homeowner expense is $150 for the registration.
Save Money on Maintaining Your Yard
In these difficult economic times it may seem to be an economical move to let your lawn go but it is not. Homes with a green lawn tend to be several degrees cooler in the heat of the day, have a greatly reduced fire risk, and maintain the value of the property. A better solution is to reduce the cost of yard maintenance. A few simple steps can save you money and time that you can ill afford to waste. First, purchase a cheap soil tester kit before you purchase any fertilizer. After testing your soil you will know which fertilize is needed. Save yourself the expense of buying the wrong kind and more than you need. If your lawn is patchy use grass seed rather than purchasing sod. The trick is to buy the grass seed suitable to your climate and sow the seeds thickly. Seed is a great deal cheaper than sod and keeping the bald spots filled with grass, rather than weeds, saves money spent on weed killers. Lawns only need about 1” of water a week. Watering half an inch twice a week in the morning will allow the lawn to develop strong roots and stay green. Short, frequent watering just runs up your water bill.
Coastal Credit Solutions, Inc. operates a financial market place that matches Consumers and Businesses with debt eliminating and/or alternative financing service providers. If you have over $5,000 personal or business credit card debt or are seeking small business financing, please call us 866-205-8370 for a FREE no obligation consultation.
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