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JULY 21, 2009
Housing sharks in Sarasota/Bradenton bit banks for nearly $500 million
Sweet writeup in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune about the catastrophic cost of home flipping during the housing boom. Here's a telling section that indicts some bad eggs in the real estate industry:
At least 37 groups of property flippers operated in Sarasota and Manatee counties. The groups bought hundreds of properties worth more than $350 million and sold them to associates for inflated prices.
The flippers identified by the Herald-Tribune -- and the people who ultimately bought their properties -- have so far defaulted on more than $450 million in mortgage loans. Their defaults account for $1 in every $13 lost to foreclosure in Sarasota and Manatee counties from 2005 through 2008.
Nearly 40 percent of the people involved in questionable flips in Sarasota and Manatee counties were industry insiders -- real estate agents, developers, lawyers and mortgage brokers.
The flippers identified by the Herald-Tribune -- and the people who ultimately bought their properties -- have so far defaulted on more than $450 million in mortgage loans. Their defaults account for $1 in every $13 lost to foreclosure in Sarasota and Manatee counties from 2005 through 2008.
Nearly 40 percent of the people involved in questionable flips in Sarasota and Manatee counties were industry insiders -- real estate agents, developers, lawyers and mortgage brokers.
Here's a story I did last year about one conspicuous real estate flipper in our area.
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