Saturday I had an appointment in a foreclosure property my client is buying.  I am very excited for Stephanie to begin this new stage of her life.  There is a lot of work ahead, but hard work is REWARDING. 

The incredible price on the home way out weighs the needed improvements.  New flooring, lots of bleach and many gallons of paint will wash over all the filth.

Still…

I can’t enter this place without considering the larger picture.  Much has been written about the reasons for the housing market collapse.  And if we have even hit bottom.  From Friday’s Washington Business Journal:

Prince William County had more sales in September than any other September on record, but even with an uptick in sales, the inventory of bank-owned property is not shrinking rapidly. At the end of September, Dale City’s bank-owned properties stood at 716, down just 32 — 4 percent — from August.

This home illustrates the foreclosure dichotomy for me.  The left-behind furniture and the surrounding grime are blinding testaments to crashed dreams.  At the same time, the energy of ideas (and a new color palette) points to a new and happier future now made affordable.  Were the former dreams unrealistic?  Are Americans with our ideals and dreams especially susceptible to the greed of others?