Out Of Cash & Unable To Finish Custom Homes, Some Builders Stick The Bank With The Deed & Take A Hike

In Cedar Hill, Texas, WFAA-TV Channel 8 reports on some local builders walking away from unfinished custom homes:

• "He just gives the deed back and says: “Listen, I can’t do it,” gives it back to the bank, and then the bank has to turn around and sell it," said Connie Zetterlund, realtor. It's happened quite a bit in the Lake Ridge development of Cedar Hill. Several dozen large, custom, lake-view homes have been abandoned by builders. Some of them were originally projected to be worth more than a $1 million.

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• Banks and realtors aren't the only ones affected by abandoned homes. Neighbors also worry about the affect on property values. The problem's even more acute if the existing home's for sale are next to a warped, weather-beaten shell.

For more, see Homes abandoned in Cedar Hill (Builders unable to complete homes simply left them).

Go here for other posts on vacant homes leaving its mark on neighborhoods. neighborhood destruction from foreclosures I