J. Philip in the Media- Market Decline in Mt Vernon Neighborhood

Another overt self-pimping piece of information: I am rather prominent in a piece run in yesterday’s AOL Daily Finance on the real estate market in Mt Vernon, NY.

The article addresses how there are certain pockets of Westchester County more adversely affected by the housing decline than most. Even though I am in the northern part of the county, I do my fair share of business in Mt Vernon and the piece sheds light on  how the foreclosure crisis has affected one neighborhood. The numbers are rough; values overall in the neighborhood we examined was down 50%, mainly because of the huge amount of foreclosures clustering the city. 

Here’s what isn’t in the article: I have been through a number of those REOs, and many were partially or fully renovated. The owners simply ran out of money, lost their jobs, or got caught in the cross hairs of the declining economy. The people who bought the repossessions got new kitchens, new baths, and in many cases homes that needed very little. It was sad, in a way, they they benefited from the prior owner’s efforts at a huge discount. And many would-be owner occupant bidders lost their shot at affordable ownership to cash investors. But that’s the reality. 

I’m glad the blog is getting the company a little ink, but more glad the media is focusing on where we are falling down in this economy- that’s the first step in getting back on our feet as a society.