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| ReMax Haven Realty's shuttle took nine hopeful buyers to houses like the red split-level on Cromwell Drive in the Cleveland
suburb of Solon. Wendy A. Hoke |
'Foreclosure tourism' is a ticket to opportunity
The buyers on the bus seek dream deals on the homes where other families' dreams once lived.
from the May 27, 2008 edition
Page 3 of 3
Someone loved this house, tried hard to sell it. The sticklike crab-apple tree in the backyard still has a cardboard sleeve covering its trunk. Price tags still dangle from the euonymus plants in the front bed. Propped inside the garage are "for sale" signs. They tried to sell on their own. A sale didn't come in time.
While some homeowners in foreclosure take out their anger by ripping out appliances, plumbing, and cabinetry, others like this home's owners leave a little of their heart, along with the Christmas wreath in the garage.
"[It's] the kind of house that makes you wonder what went wrong," says Hartson.
From the living room, Ms. Alexander calls her teenage daughter on her cellphone to come off the bus and check it out. "This is nice," she says, as her younger daughter runs excitedly from room to room. "But I'm waiting to see the Winchester house."
That house is a large, newer home in a well-off neighborhood. Though the grass and shrubs are overgrown, the four-bedroom home has curb appeal and is priced at $269,900.
No sooner are the buyers in the house when two neighbors ask if they can have a look. It's the second time this home is in foreclosure, they say. The first owner's husband died, and she lost the house. The second, the neighbors believe, tried to do a quick rehab for resale.
"It was OK, but I'm concerned about the roof and the dampness in the basement," says Alexander. She was glad to have the home inspector on the tour. "I'm looking for something a little bigger," she says. Mr. Brown, too, is looking for a good deal on a house in a higher price range.
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They want their house with the lush land and two cars in the driveway – this kind of homeownership is hard-wired into the American psyche.
When all is lost, either through our own poor choices or circumstances beyond our control, so, too, is a bit of America. But for these foreclosure bus tourists – and others like them across the country – the American dream endures.
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