Fla. has lots of REOs, but they’re not for sale, we have a few in Historic Riverside Avondale

Did you know that there is a house that has been sitting empty at the corner of Challen and Remington that has been involved in a foreclosure/REO issue for the last three years? I'd call this house in Historic Avondale a Zombie Home. Bank has not foreclosed on it yet, owner declared bankruptcy. Yet, it just sits growing vines and who knows what inside....have you seen a vampire or zombie home in our area?

Did you know that Florida has a lot of REOs – properties owned by a bank after foreclosure – but slightly more than half (an estimated 53 percent) aren't for sale. In those cases, the owners who lost the property still lives there.

In a report released this week, RealtyTrac calls the homes “vampire homes,” perhaps in deference to Halloween. However, it also identifies “zombie homes” as ones where a bank has not yet foreclosed but the owner has already moved out. While vampire homes can look like any other home on the block, zombie homes tend to have overgrown grass and sometimes maintenance issues.

Nationwide, an estimated 47 percent of bank-owned homes fall into the vampire category. An additional 20 percent of homes somewhere in the foreclosure process have been abandoned by the owner.

Vampire homes “represent a shadow inventory that is becoming more imminent as rising home prices motivate banks to sell off these homes to try to recoup their losses on soured loans,” says Daren Blomquist, RealtyTrac vice president. Zombie homes “often represent a threat to the quality of the surrounding neighborhood, dragging down home values.”

Vampire homes as a percentage of all REOs, according to RealtyTrac

Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach – 64%
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater – 46%
Orlando-Kissimmee – 50%
Jacksonville – 39%
Cape Coral-Fort Myers – 54%
Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice – 48%
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville – 38%
Port St. Lucie – 34%
Lakeland – 63%
Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach – 33%
Ocala – 36%
Naples-Marco Island – 62%
Tallahassee – 49%
Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent – 47%
Gainesville – 55%

Zombie homes as a percentage of all homes in the foreclosure process

Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach – 16%
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater – 27%
Orlando-Kissimmee – 20%
Jacksonville – 30%
Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice – 25%
Cape Coral-Fort Myers – 26%
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville – 28%
Port St. Lucie – 31%
Lakeland – 27%
Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach – 30%
Ocala – 38%
Naples-Marco Island – 21%
Tallahassee – 28%
Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent – 26%
Gainesville – 28%