Letter from Boston Foreclosed Properties By MASAKO YAMADA	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
抵当流れの物件 分譲マンションを購入ことを考え始めた雅子さんは、今住んでいる地域、オールストン・ブライトンの住宅事情についていろいろと調べています。その中で、抵当流れして競売に出ている物件はかなりお買い得のようです。そこで、実際にそのいくつかを見に行ってきましたが…。

During the '80s there was a crash in the housing market that made apartments prices in my neighborhood of Allston-Brighton plummet.

Apparently, banks had given out too many loans to unqualified people. The loans went bad and they had to foreclose on a lot of the properties. The properties were put up for auction and often sold for next to nothing. Since bad loans were the cause of the problem in the first place, banks hesitated to grant new buyers mortgages. Only those with hard cash on hand could buy these apartments.

Now there is a new kind of housing crisis. Many long-time residents claim that the area is getting too expensive for them. They tend to blame students from Boston University or Boston College for this crisis, since students eagerly snap up three- or four-bedroom apartments and split the rent among many roommates.

It's true that the rent for my apartment — almost $2,000 (¥216,000) a month — would be hard for a working-class or even middle-income family to shoulder. But each of us pays only $500 (¥54,000), which is manageable even on a graduate student stipend.

I'm not sure whether "rich" students such as myself are to blame for the area's new housing crisis but I see why many residents have been fighting for more affordable housing.

The city of Boston has created a number of programs to help residents of Allston-Brighton achieve their dream of owning their own home. It believes that local homeowners — not faraway property owners who rent their apartments to unruly students — will work to improve the quality of living for everybody in the area.

These residents can take classes on buying properties, qualify for special mortgages requiring lower down payments, and get grants to cover miscellaneous fees. They also get access to certain real estate information — about foreclosed properties, for instance — sooner than other people.

I've started thinking about buying a condo for myself and right now I'm trying to get an idea of what certain properties are worth. I have gone to some open houses at these foreclosed properties to see what they are like. They are targeted to moderate-income residents of Boston. These properties were turned over to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), a federal agency, which either accepts a buyer's bid or negotiates a price.

The FDIC — or any financial institution with foreclosed property — is not in the business of selling homes and it does not like having "dead" property on its hands. It wants to get rid of it. The question is how low a price will it accept? The answer, of course, depends on the quality of the property.

I saw about eight foreclosed condominium apartments with high hopes and an open mind. I checked the city of Boston property tax assessment listings to see how much the other apartments in the building sold for and how much they are worth now, and things seemed to look pretty nice.

The buildings as a whole seemed to be in good condition. However, the individual units on sale were in terrible shape. Only one of them looked as if it would be habitable immediately. Most looked as if they would require several months and tens of thousands of dollars to repair.

The FDIC does not allow buyers to have a house inspected by a professional before they buy or to pull out after their bid is accepted. The broker representing the properties told me that the FDIC would probably accept bids below 50 percent of the market value of the surrounding apartments. Even this seemed to be a bit high considering the cost of repairs, especially since one would have to pay rent elsewhere while those repairs were being done.

Even if the FDIC would accept a ridiculously low bid of around $10,000 (¥1,080,000), I wouldn't feel tempted to buy. I think only those with an eye for real estate and the ability to make extensive repairs should delve into the world of foreclosed properties. Even though it's undoubtedly a gold mine, it's a little too risky for the typical graduate student or novice homebuyer of moderate means.

Shukan ST: April 7, 2000

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