BusinessWeek Special Reports
New suburbs in fast decay
Foreclosures lead to vacancies and crime
New suburban neighborhoods that held promise for thousands of Charlotte families is now struggling with crime, blight and falling home values.
REALTY PLACE | Sept. 30, 2007
Promises upfront, deals on the side
Real estate agency took bonuses from builders it vowed to fight
It was 2002, the middle of the subprime mortgage boom. A young real estate agency was fishing for customers in an unlikely place.
Part One: March 18, 2007
Sold a Nightmare
Concord subdivision proves lucrative
for builder and costly for 1st-time owners
Seventy-seven buyers have lost homes to foreclosure in Southern Chase, a subdivision of 406 homes.
- The Response: Beazer says it followed the law
- The Escape: Home saved by a 2nd income
- The Loans: Data wrong on some applications
- The Construction: House had code violations
- The Impulse Buy: '$1 down' was an ominous sign
- The Prices: Homes with Beazer loans cost more
- No Money Down: Why it Leaves Buyers Vulnerable
- Low Introductory Payments: Higher payments later
- What is a foreclosure?
- Findings of our 4-day series
- How we did this series
Easy-credit loans can be hard on us all
Observer series shows destabilizing threat to entire communities
When a gleaming new house goes up, and the homeowner moves in, most people celebrate that as good growth.
Part Two
Starter homes, sad endings
Number of foreclosures climbs as 1st-time buyers lose low-priced houses
A wave of loan defaults in starter-home developments is pushing the foreclosure count in Mecklenburg County to record heights, an Observer analysis shows.
Part Three
One builder, hundreds of foreclosures
10 Beazer developments in Mecklenburg riddled by foreclosures
In the past decade, Beazer Homes USA built more houses in Mecklenburg County that have since foreclosed than any other builder.
Part Four
Failed mortgages fly under the radar
From feds on down, no one keeps close track of foreclosures, limiting oversight
The city of Charlotte does not count foreclosures. Neither does Mecklenburg County. Nor the state of North Carolina. Nor the federal government.
