America’s growing band of real estate gypsies…

When we hear the word gypsy we may initially think of the old European images of gypsies who wandered about the country in wagons, camping near towns and going in to find work or just to beg or perhaps steal. Gypsies did not have a good name in Europe, for the most part.

Now, in America we have a growing band of gypsies; however, these gypsies have their kids and belongings packed in their Cadillac Escalades and they are wandering around in search of a place to live while they rebuild their credit. They are the foreclosed or the bankrupt; the people who’ve lost their homes in the current economic meltdown and now need a place to settle for a couple of years, while they try to get their lives back in order.

Maybe they went through a divorce (I see a lot of that right now) or maybe a layoff, or perhaps their toxic ARM loan just reset to a level that they could no longer afford. Whatever the reason, they lost their home and they lost their credit at the same time; s, now they are in search of a place to rent or lease until they can recover. They are our American real estate gypsies.

In many cases, maybe most, they will not live where they lease for more than the time it takes to get their credit rating back to where they can buy a new home. They may be willing to put up with housing that is substantially below the level that they were used to, but that is not their long range plan. Someday they plan to be back in that community that they left; or at least in a house that is similar to what they lost. It’s funny how they never accept the reality that the past is lost and that perhaps wiser choices could be made in the future. I guess that realization might set in later.

So, I end up showing a lot of houses to these gypsies. For the first 2-3 outings we look at things that they can afford but which they turn up their noise at. By outings 3 or 4 they are beginning to realize just what it is that circumstance now dictates that they live with, and they get more realistic. It’s interesting that I’ve noted that their kids are often well ahead of them on that front, especially if they are younger. To the kids it’s all a great adventure, while to the parents it’s often still a painful embarrassment that they have yet to come to grips with completely.

I try to be as supportive as I can and try to find them the best situation that I can get them in for what they now can afford. To add insult to the already painful injury of having lost their home, most landlords require an application and credit check which re-exposes this raw nerve for these people. Some landlords will not lease to people who’ve been foreclosed or declared bankruptcy, because they fear having to evict a deadbeat renter later.

So the new American gypsies wander the landscape in their packed SUV’s or U-Haul, looking for a new town to stop at and for a home to rent. Most aren’t bad people who will cheat you or steal from you; they’re just ordinary folks who caught a bad break or made a bad financial decision. They’re not even looking for a handout, just a nice place to live while they get things back together. So, give ‘em a break if you have a place to rent or lease. Who knows, they may even start to like the neighborhood and want to buy the place.