Foreclosure mania
When we left Arlington in 2004 we sold our home in three days. Now homes in the same area stay on the market for three months or longer and they’re often selling for $100,000 or more less than the typical sales price just three years ago.
Sales are down and foreclosures are up in the nation’s capital (as well as the rest of the country.
Writes Kirsten Downey in today’s Washington Post:
Tommy Rice, Arlington County’s real estate assessor, spotted something troubling on his computer when he returned to work after a three-week vacation early this year: a half-dozen residential property transactions with an unusual code, the numeral 1, which indicates a foreclosure.
Rice was taken aback, because he had seen that code so infrequently in his 22 years as an assessor in the affluent county.
"It’s rare in Arlington and in Northern Virginia, too," he said.
Home repossessions are cropping up almost everywhere in the region, regularly occurring on suburban streets unaccustomed to hard times. In Montgomery County, the foreclosure rate has tripled in a year. In Fairfax County, it has quadrupled. In Loudoun County, it has increased tenfold. In Howard County, there was one foreclosure in 2004; there are 157 so far this year. District officials are reporting a similar trend.
"We’re seeing an uptick, and it’s fairly dramatic. It appears to be accelerating, and we haven’t reached the peak," said John Rust, commissioner of accounts for the Fairfax County Circuit Court. He processes paperwork for foreclosures, a legal proceeding that occurs when a lender takes back a home to sell when a homeowner falls behind on payments.
Foreclosures normally come amid economic downturns, when people lose manufacturing jobs or when regions are devastated by a natural disaster.
The surge in foreclosures, in relatively good times, can be traced to risky, so-called subprime mortgage loans made to people who stretched too far to purchase homes in an inflated real estate market.
In many cases, lenders loosened credit rules for home buyers with bad credit, who made no down payment or who didn’t earn enough money to qualify for traditional loans. The lenders charged them higher interest rates, which made the loans more expensive.
The two hardest-hit Zip codes in the region are in Herndon, where 75 homes went into foreclosure in the first five months of the year, up from nine during the same period in 2006, and Fort Washington, where 80 properties were lost to the lender from January through May, double the previous year’s five-month rate, according to a real estate information firm, Realtytrak, which studies foreclosures nationally.
Driveway angst
The thunderstorm struck about five miles south of Floyd on U.S. 221 as I headed back home after a long day of shooting photos in Grayson County.
Rain pelted the Wrangler as high winds buffeted the car. Even with the wipers on high visibility diminished to near zero.
My concern, however, was not the failure to see the road in front or the imminent danger of sharing a stormed ravaged road with other motorists as blind as I.
"Damn," I thought. "There goes my driveway."
The Crenshaw effect
If you want to start a debate on what’s right, or wrong, with Floyd nowadays just mention Woody Crenshaw’s name. The 59-year-old entrepreneur is often a catalyst for arguments on both sides of the issue.
No one can, or should, argue that Crenshaw (above) hasn’t put his money where his mouth is when it comes to change in Floyd. He has poured thousands of dollars into renovation of the Country Store, reopened it as a daily store and lunch stop, and ramped up not only the Friday Night Jamboree but other weekend music offerings at the venue.
Local artists now use the Store as their choice for CD-release parties. The store hosts wedding receptions and other events and this weekend’s grand re-opening celebration (below) not only packed the store but other restaurants and nightspots in town. As Oddfellas Cantina owner Rob Neukirch counted up the receipts from a record serving of dinners Friday night he looked up and said "thank you Woody."
Crenshaw’s impact is felt elsewhere in town, from his partnership with others in the Village Green project in the old Farmer’s Grocery Store building to plans to convert the old Mama Lazzardos property into a family-style steakhouse with apartments on the second floor.
And he’s not the only one. New galleries fill the lower level of The Winter Sun and a Mexican Restaurant is coming soon. Bll and Joanne Bell’s investment in The Bell Gallery and Garden is a major attraction on the other end of Locust Street.
Such involvement brings detractors as well. Some argue that so much property in a small town should not be controlled by one man. Others say it is too much change. Still others worry that the pursuit of the almighty dollar will ruin the charm that is Floyd. One can argue benefits and risks from many sides of the issue but one cannot argue that Floyd was packed with people spending money this weekend and that a lot of that revenue came to town because of people like Crenshaw who are willing to take risks.
A Floyd Friday night
The Floyd Country Store began two days of grand reopening celebration Friday Night with bluegrass legend,Wayne Henderson (above) on stage for the Friday Nite Jamboree. The celebrations continue today not only at the Country Store but throughout Floyd with an ice cream social sponsored by the Partnership for Floyd and tours of the new businesses [...]
The driveway chronicles
It’s a never-ending battle. Man vs. nature. Nature usually wins. When I hear the rumble of thunder I know our driveway faces danger. Hard-pounding thunderstorms take their toll on a steep gravel driveway.
But man has a weapon: The DR PowerGrader. Nature gets her shot. Then man retaliates. Takes about 90 minutes to restore peace, serenity and a rutless driveway.
Until the next storm.
Hillbilly Greek
The sign on the door at Dinos on U.S. 221 north of Willis says "A Hillbilly Greek Restaurant."
It is.
Dinos is Floyd County’s newest eatery, a diner-like spot right on the road near Willis Elementary School that offers a mix of old-fashioned American food (hamburgers, cheesburgers, steak sandwiches) with Greek fare (gyros, etc.).
Run by a Greek immigrant who lived in Chicago before moving to the area, Dinos is unpretentious, straightforward and serves good, well-prepared and tasty dishes.
I stopped there with a client Wednesday and my Italian beef sandwich was large, juicy and delicious. Our schedule didn’t permit time to talk at length with the owner or take photos but I plan to go back soon, sample more of his fare and learn what brought him to our corner of the world.
Getting ready
A workman puts the finishing touches on the new siding and sign at the Floyd Country Store in preparation for Friday and Saturday’s grand opening celebration.
Owner Woody Crenshaw has invested countless time and money in rennovating the store and improving the venue for Floyd’s legendary Friday Nite Jamboree. Schedule details can be found on the store’s web site.
Rehearsing
Bernie Coveney and Chris Luster rehearse on the Oddfellas Cantina stage. This was a grab shot from the alcove of the restaurant.
Small world
You could tell the couple having lunch at Oddfellas Cantina came to town looking for property. They spread their real estate brochures and maps out on the table and made notes about various pieces of land for sale.
Finally, as happens often, they approached my table with questions in their eyes.
"Excuse us, do you live here?"
"Yes."
"Could we ask you some questions about the area?"
"Sure."
Home ownership: American dream or nightmare?
Foreclosures in Virginia rose 400 percent in the past year — a sign that both the economy and the country’s housing boom are headed South.
This may come as a surprise to the fantasy-laden politicians in Washington who keep issuing statements with rosy economic news but many Americans face difficulties paying their mortgages and the problem worsens each passing day.