When deciding when and where to buy and sell in real estate investing, it is paramount that you understand if the area you are looking in has a looming or current foreclosure crisis.
The reason being is that a high number of foreclosures brings down neighboring property values and are a huge sign of an impending housing crash.
If you buy a home in these areas, your investment has a huge chance of losing value and becoming a foreclosure as well.
That is why intelligent investors track our monthly report and map of the U.S. foreclosure trends in the top cities that are experiencing a high number of foreclosure sales, foreclosure starts, and bank-owned repossessed properties (REO).
The idea is simple.
To follow the trends to know when to sell if your property is located in one of these distressed areas and where not to invest your money in.
Unfortunately, your local real estate agent will not tell you this important information because when your an agent, it is always a good time to buy and sell, which is an investment oxymoron.
The facts are that as time moves forward, I’m predicting that the U.S. housing market will crash and values will plummet across the nation in all major metro areas.
For example, my top pick for the worst city to invest in right now is Miami, Florida, which is quickly beginning to experience the worst foreclosure activity in the nation, just like the last crisis of 2008.
Here is my list of the worst cities to invest in real estate for November 2020
Infographic Legend:
1st box Red, 2nd Orange, 3rd Blue, 4th Black
- FORECLOSURE RATES LARGE METRO AREAS
- FORECLOSURE RATES SMALLER METRO AREAS
- FORECLOSURE STARTS
- BANK REO’S
FORECLOSURE RATES LARGE METRO AREAS
Metropolitan areas with a population greater than 1 million with the worst foreclosure rates
- Birmingham, AL, and Cleveland, OH (one in every 4,511 housing units)
- Jacksonville, FL (one in every 5,119 housing units)
- New Orleans, LA (one in every 6,397 housing units)
- Miami, FL (one in every 6,794 housing units).
FORECLOSURE RATES SMALLER METRO AREAS
Metropolitan areas with a population greater than 200,000 with the worst foreclosure rates
- Peoria, IL (one in every 1,543 housing units with a foreclosure filing)
- Champaign, IL (one in every 1,674 housing units)
- Beaumont, TX (one in every 1,880 housing units)
- Birmingham, AL (one in every 1,993 housing units)
- Houma, LA (one in every 2,964 housing units)
FORECLOSURE STARTS
Metropolitan areas with the most foreclosure starts in October 2020
- New York, NY (485 foreclosure starts)
- Chicago, IL (240 foreclosure starts)
- Los Angeles, CA (196 foreclosure starts)
- Miami, FL (151 foreclosure starts)
- Houston, TX (143 foreclosure starts)
BANK REO’S
Metropolitan areas with with the most lender foreclosed (REO) properties in October 2020
- Birmingham, AL (233 REOs filed)
- Philadelphia, PA (98 REOs filed)
- New York, NY (97 REOs filed)
- Chicago, IL (62 REOs filed)
- Miami, FL (52 REOs filed)
Maurice is the Chief Inspector for U.S. Commercial Building Inspections of Southern California. He is a Certified Commercial Property Inspector (CCPI) with over 25 years of extensive experience in real estate, construction, restoration, remediation, and business development.
He holds numerous inspection certifications with the Commercial Property Inspectors Association (CCPIA), the International Association of Home Inspectors (InterNACHI), and he is also a Certified Mold Inspector (CMI), Certified Mold Remediator (CMR), and a member of the Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA).