Sean O’Toole on the “five Ds” of foreclosure

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Sean O’Toole, the founder of ForeclosureRadar, has been helpful to this blog for over a year now, and always provides solid insight on real estate trends, so it is good to see him receive some nice ink in today’s L.A. Times.

Highlights of Peter Hong’s profile of O’Toole:
--In normal real estate markets, O’Toole believes foreclosures are caused by what he calls ‘the five Ds’: divorce, death, drugs, disease and denial.
--His website, ForeclosureRadar.com, lists every default, auction and foreclosure in California. The cost is $50 per month.
--He sees the foreclosure crisis as a failure of ‘personal responsibility’ -- on the part of home borrowers, policymakers and business leaders.
--During the housing boom, he invested in foreclosed homes, buying and selling 152 homes. He’s no longer buying, and believes the market for foreclosed homes has become a ‘speculator’s market.’
--He does not invest in stocks and is an avid water-skier.

Good stuff, Peter.

Your thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com