Celebrity Foreclosure Watch: Ed McMahon

A few weeks ago it was widely reported that a Congresswoman from California was having mortgage trouble. Today we find out that Ed McMahon is talking about foreclosing on his house. This from Yahoo! News:

Ed McMahon talks about possible home foreclosure

Ed McMahon on home foreclosure: `If you spend more money than you make, you know what happens’

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ed McMahon blames the possible foreclosure of his multimillion-dollar Beverly Hills house on a set of problems all too familiar to many Americans: a foundering economy, health problems and poor planning.

“If you spend more money than you make, you know what happens,” McMahon said Thursday night on CNN’s “Larry King Live.” “You know, a couple of divorces thrown in, a few things like that. And, you know, things happen.”

McMahon, 85, appeared with his wife, Pamela. The couple said they are $644,000 behind on their mortgage payments and are in negotiations with lender Countrywide Home Loans Inc. to set a foreclosure date.

McMahon, in a neck brace, said he had stopped working since he broke his neck in a fall 18 months ago. He didn’t elaborate.

McMahon, who was Johnny Carson’s sidekick on the “Tonight” show, said the house had been on the market for two years and that although 50 organizations or individuals had looked at it, no one had made an offer. Documents show McMahon has a $4.8 million mortgage on the home.

“It’s like a perfect storm,” he said. “Economy problems. Selling the house right now is a tremendous operation.”

If you know of any other famous folks on the brink of foreclosing on their home I’d like to hear.

Good News on the Home Front

The East Vally Tribune reports that existing home sales increased compared to last year. According to the morning news, this is the first time since 2005 that the year over year (YOY) sales numbers have been positive. For Gilbert, there were 360 sales in April of 2008 compared to 330 in the same month last year, a 9% increase. The news is mixed though since median home prices have come down a bit over the same period.

Now, what I just said is just a paraphrase of what is being reported across newspapers and T.V. news. But in a Web 2.0 world, I’m also interested in what local real estate bloggers have to say with the same numbers. This is because most of the time local area agents have a better understanding of the market and can shed better light on these numbers than the so called “experts”. Below is a sampling of what I found in some prominent local real estate blogs discussing the good news.

The Phoenix Real Estate Guy (Jay Thompson) says:

Beginning of a recovery? One time blip? Who knows. One YOY data point does not a trend make. But sales seem to be picking up steam, foreclosures are creating affordability, and absorption rates are falling. All of this seems to indicate we may be bottoming.

AllPhoenixRealEstate.Com (Jonathan Dalton):

Lower prices can be expected since it is the bank owned home sector fueling the current real estate market. And as I’ve said at least a half-dozen times, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

The biggest gem though comes from North Phoenix Agent (Heather Barr) who in the middle of April posted anecdotal evidence asking if the market was improving, some of her nuggets (which is being validated through improved numbers):

  • I’ve also got 3 new buyers, money in hand, FICO score safely in the mid- to high-700’s, ready to buy this month
  • My A/C guy is busier than he can keep up with, with new work based on home inspection findings
  • His friend who does truss work for area builders, says he’s busy again after a 1-1/2 year lull
  • A friend of mine who works for Pulte says their sales office is slammed; she’s working Saturdays again

So what does it all mean? It seems we’re getting our usual spring inventory increase. With an already bloated market full of too many under-improved and over-priced houses, this should be bad. But the good news it we seem to be selling it.

Way to go Heather. You nailed this one a month in advance.

Agents Get Creative In Promoting Properties

Warning: it’s kind of cheesy, but it’s different and novel. That’s what I like about it. It was featured on Fox News last night!