Don't Miss the Bus!!! Apple Realty, Inc. Henry County Foreclosure Tours.
It even had a picture of a cute little bus, complete with an Apple Reality logo and a sticker declaring: Henry County Foreclosure Tour.
I bet the cute little bus is even a hybrid, so you can ride around the county sipping your skinny decaf, dreaming of luxury home ownership, and feeling good that you're not leaving a big carbon footprint in your wake.
Only there's nothing to feel good about.
The thrill of getting a great deal on a fabulous house is tainted by the misfortune of the person who used to own it.
Getting a $300,000 house at $215,000 should make you feel great, right?
Suddenly, I'm not so sure.
I have this weird thing about not wanting to live in a house where someone has died. To me, living in a foreclosure would be nearly the same thing. Somebody's dream has died. Hope has run out. The only alternative was to leave or be kicked out.
Enter raw humility.
When my brother and his wife were looking for a house, a realtor gave them the lock box combination of a freshly foreclosed house. The owner's belongings were in the front yard, soaked with dew.
Inside were remnants of the previous occupants. Unused diapers. An ashtray overflowing with cigarette butts. The smell of haste was still in the air.
I know I'm guilty of saying "greed" is behind the burst housing market bubble. People bought homes they couldn't afford with money they didn't (yet) have, with loans pitched by people who were more interested in commissions than matching people with a home they could actually pay for.
I want to say now I'm sorry for making such assumptions. Forgive me, for judging.
There are many, many stories behind the foreclosures that have nothing to do with greed. Long term unemployment, illness, divorce and exes who don't pay child support are a few I can think of.
Proverbs 18:17 says, "The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him."
What seems one way on the surface, might actually be something else entirely.
For example, look at my and my husband's situation. We have two houses. Are we the evil rich with a mountain home, five pontoon boats and a gold-plated Cadillac?
No. When we got married, we each had a house. More than two years later, we still have two houses, two mortgages, two sets of utility bills and two lawns to maintain. This summer, the air conditioners in both houses broke.
We're got the extra house for sale and won't make a penny profit. But in this market, only prayers will sell it. And yes, we're praying fervently for a buyer.
And we THANK GOD every day for providing enough to keep us afloat.
Years ago, I went on a "Graveline Tour" of Los Angeles. An out-of-work actor in a hearse drove us by the homes of dead Hollywood celebrities and the seedy places they died. I think the Apple Foreclosure tour would give me the same feeling. A dull feeling of exploitation.
It's OK to go on the Apple Realty Foreclose tour. I'm not saying it's wrong. After all, Realtors have to make a living too. And the faster the foreclosures are off the market, the faster other homes will start selling again, including our "extra" house in the country.
Just be careful not to feel too smug when you find that deal of the century. Exorcise the ghosts of broken dreams. And remember to say a prayer for the family that used to live there.
Pray that better things are ahead for them.
Make that all of us.
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