May 11, 2008

Have You Heard The One?

 

Have you heard the story about the pet alligators that get flushed down the toilets and live in NYC?  Yeah, they grow and mutate like Ninja Turtles in the sewer and could eat public works employees in one quick nab.

Or have you heard about the lady who was disgruntled with the outrageous price of the Nieman Marcus recipe so she’s circulating it around the internet.

Oh yeah, how could I forget about the E.L.F makeup.  Nordstrom’s bought them out so everything on their website is $1 and you can buy the makeup at a huge discount?

Urban legends - we’ve all heard them.  Some of us have fallen victim to them.  What starts out as a small scale story turns into a fable of mythic proportions.

Today the New York Times printed a story explaining the “jingle mail” legend.  The most contemporary of all.  What they found - not as many of our neighbors are just walking away from their overextended mortgages.  It turns out it’s not as easy as some of the media are making it.  The costs, the legality, and the inconvenience are far too great for Mr. and Mrs. McNeighbor to just walk away from their mortgage.

But there’s no denying that the so-called walk away is happening more often.  So who is it?  The article speculates that the investors are the ones most likely to just walk from the defunct mortgages than a typical homeowner. 

Here are some current Mission Viejo foreclosures.  Did they walk away or go about it the traditional way?  Who knows?

21781 Tegley
3 beds / 2 baths / 1,200 Sq Ft
Listed For:  $429,900
Last Sold:  $605,000 (8.8.05)

27738 Rubidoux
3 beds / 3 baths /1,437 Sq Ft
Listed For:  $435,000
Last Sold:  $570,000 (5.11.06)

26944 Begonia
3 beds / 2.5 baths / 1,250 Sq Ft
Listed For:  $389,000
Last Sold:  $500,000 (8.17.05)

27121 Benidorm
4 beds / 2 baths / 1,472 Sq Ft
Listed For:  $437,900
Last Sold:  $635,000 (8.4.05)

26502 Montiel
2 beds / 2 baths / 1,743 Sq Ft
Listed For:  $430,000
Last Sold:  $620,000 (12.13.06)

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