Category Archives: norcross

Atlas Chalet Shingles?

Monday, 16 November 2015 10:57

Written by Lane Bailey

1 Comment

Welcome to the newest scourge of home construction… Atlas Chalet shingles. It looks like they might go down the same path as synthetic stucco and pressed board siding. Lawsuits, big money outlays for home-owners and fear for home-buyers and sellers alike.

The brief history would be that Atlas Chalet shingles were marketed from the early 1990s until around 2010 as a lower-cost “architectural shingle” option. The gave the look of a higher end architectural shingle, while installation and cost was more like a traditional composite shingle. However, problems started popping up with the quality of the shingle.

If you have a house that was built or re-roofed from 1990 until 2010, there is a fair chance it has Atlas Chalet shingles… while certainly not on every house, they were quite popular for several years and tens of thousands of homes around Georgia have them.

What can I do about it, you say?

There are a few options open to home owners with the shingles…

pay to replace them… out of your pocket…
pray for storm damage and an insurance company that will spring for their replacement…
ignore the problem…

Obviously, before you pay to replace a perfectly good roof, you should get an inspection. Some roofers will be happy to do a full inspection of the roof to determine what product is on it, as well as if there are any current issues. If you are considering selling your home, GET IT INSPECTED!!! Nothing will ruin your day like having an unexpected, but avoidable issue like this pop up from the buyer’s inspection. And when the buyer’s inspector catches it, he is likely going to go into full “deal destruction mode”. At that point, almost anything short of replacement out of your pocket… before consummating the sale… will kill the contract.

Which brings us to our first option… just sucking it up and replacing the roof out of your own pocket. There are actually some roofers out there that will tell you about how they “work with the insurance company to replace your roof on their dime”… but what they are failing to tell you is that the insurance companies are ONLY going to pay if there is damage. And even then, depending on how much damage there is, they may not spring for a full replacement. Frankly, if you have a 20 year old roof (Atlas Chalet shingles were marketed as a 30 year roof…) it might just be time to replace it and take the hit.

If your roof is newer, and fully functional, you are not in a good place (well, you are… the roof is working, right?). It isn’t old enough for you to justify dropping $10k or $20k on replacing a 5 or 10 year old roof. The insurance isn’t going to want to eat that cost either, for a roof that is doing its job. Further, there are reports that some insurance companies are cancelling policies at renewal if they find out that you have the Atlas Chalet product up there.

If you aren’t selling your home, as much as I hate to say, it, you might just hope for a hail storm…

Honestly, most home-owners are going to take the “head in the sand” approach and hope that they don’t have a problem. If they are selling, they are going to not disclose… because they don’t know for sure. And, since there aren’t any settled lawsuits that I know of, the product is neither recalled nor ruled defective, they don’t “need” to disclose it if it is there. BUT… this WILL bite them in the butt if they are trying to sell. A home inspector will find the roof and will notify the buyers and the whole transaction will almost assuredly blow up and fall apart.

If you are planning on selling your home in the next couple of years…

At the very least, you should get informed about this product. If you have paperwork from the construction of last time the roof was replaced, check to see what product was used. If you have the Atlas Chalet shingles… you will know what may come up. If you DON’T have these shingles, you will be prepared if the buyer’s inspector wrongly tags you with these shingles… which certainly can happen.

If you have these shingles, you might call a roofer to get your roof inspected. Be VERY careful when you select a roofer. There are always some contractors in the world that just want to get your money. They will say whatever they need to say in order to get a check…

Construction Defect Center Now Urges Roofing Contractors Who Have A Homeowner Client Whose Roof Has The Atlas Chalet Shingle To Call Them About Possible Help

Norcross, GA, Market Report, September 2013

Monday, 04 November 2013 09:49

Written by Lane Bailey

0 Comments

Market stats for Norcross GA, September, 2013 indicate that there were 134 properties on the market, up 3 from last month. Overall, there is about a 3.4 month supply of properties. The last year has been fairly strong… it hasn’t slowed much, if at all. September saw 35 sales, down from the 44 last month and compared to the 53 for July last year.

In the sub-$200k arena, there were 63 listings, with about 3.7 month supply. Sales are down from last month (25) and way down from a year ago in this segment, which is the main driver of sales in this area (12 v 43 – Sep13 v Sep12). For the last two years, the AR has been tilted in favor of sellers.

Between $200k and $400k, there were 55 listings for sale, and about 3.2 months of supply. This segment had been weakening for the last few months, but got radically stronger last month. The 17 sales were up from last year’s 10 sales, and from last month’s 15 sales. Even though it isn’t as gangbusters as some of the other areas, it is certainly better than the 28 months of inventory we had in December, 2010. I think this is starting to look like a pretty settled market here…

From $400k to $600k, there were 14 homes on the market. The Absorption Rate is around 3.2 months. The AR last year had been fairly steady all summer, then shot WAY up last September/October. September’s 5 sales were up from the 3 last month and from last year’s 0 sales. This has actually been a pretty good area for homes in this price range to sell… for the last few months.

In the $600k to $800k arena, there was 1 listing on the market. The Absorption Rate is at 3 months of inventory… but with only 4 sales in 2010 and 4 sales in 2011, obviously it is easy to bump one way or the other. One reason for the strong looking Absorption Rate last month was that there were so few listings. The was 1 sale for Sep13, 0 for Aug13 and 0 for Sep12.

The range from $800k to $1m, there were 0 homes listed on the market and 1 sale in Aug. There were no sales last year. Unfortunately there isn’t enough data for a good A/R number.

Above $1m, there was 1 property listed. But because of the smaller numbers of sales, the absorption rate could be significantly impacted by just a couple of sales. There is simply not enough activity for an A/R figure. The last sale was January 2011.

Norcross, GA is a suburb of Atlanta in Gwinnett County. The population is 2000 was 8,410 but that only included the area inside the city limits, and it has seen tremendous growth since that census. The City of Norcross revamped their old town a long time ago, and it has served as a model for other towns in the area. It is also home to Meadow Creek and Norcross High Schools. One of the things that Norcross is known for locally is the beautiful older homes in the downtown area. They have maintained their historic flair quite successfully.

Norcross, GA, Market Report, August 2013

Monday, 30 September 2013 08:49

Written by Lane Bailey

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Market stats for Norcross GA, August, 2013 indicate that there were 131 properties on the market, down 28 from last month. Overall, there is about a 3.0 month supply of properties. The last year has been fairly strong… it hasn’t slowed much, if at all. August saw 44 sales, up from the 38 last month and compared to the 55 for July last year.

In the sub-$200k arena, there were 65 listings, with about 3.1 month supply. Sales are up from last month (14) and way down from a year ago in this segment, which is the main driver of sales in this area (25 v 41 – Aug13 v Aug12). For the last two years, the AR has been tilted in favor of sellers.

Between $200k and $400k, there were 52 listings for sale, and about 2.9 months of supply. This segment had been weakening for the last few months, but got radically stronger this month. The 15 sales were up from last year’s 14 sales, and down from last month’s 19 sales. Even though it isn’t as gangbusters as some of the other areas, it is certainly better than the 28 months of inventory we had in December, 2010. I think this is starting to look like a pretty settled market here…

From $400k to $600k, there were 12 homes on the market. The Absorption Rate is around 3.3 months. The AR last year had been fairly steady all summer, then shot WAY up in September/October. August’s 3 sales were down from the 5 last month and from last year’s 0 sales. This has actually been a pretty good area for homes in this price range to sell… for the last few months.

In the $600k to $800k arena, there was 1 listing on the market. The Absorption Rate is at 3 months of inventory… but with only 4 sales in 2010 and 4 sales in 2011, obviously it is easy to bump one way or the other. One reason for the strong looking Absorption Rate last month was that there were so few listings. The was 0 sales for Aug13, 0 for Jul13 and 0 for Aug12.

The range from $800k to $1m, there were 0 homes listed on the market and 1 sale in Aug. There were no sales last year. Unfortunately there isn’t enough data for a good A/R number.

Norcross, GA, Market Report, July 2013

Monday, 09 September 2013 09:35

Written by Lane Bailey

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Market stats for Norcross GA, July, 2013 indicate that there were 159 properties on the market, up 1 from last month. Overall, there is about a 3.6 month supply of properties. The last year has been fairly strong… it hasn’t slowed much, if at all. July saw 38 sales, down from the 48 last month and compared to the 54 for July last year.

In the sub-$200k arena, there were 72 listings, with about 3.3 month supply. Sales are down a little from last month (24) and way down from a year ago in this segment, which is the main driver of sales in this area (14 v 35 – Jul13 v Jul12). For the last two years, the AR has been tilted in favor of sellers. We seem to be weakening a bit, though.

Between $200k and $400k, there were 69 listings for sale, and about 3.8 months of supply. This segment had been weakening for the last few months. But, the 19 sales were up from last year’s 16 sales, and down from last month’s 20 sales. Even though it isn’t as gangbusters as some of the other areas, it is certainly better than the 28 months of inventory we had in December, 2010. I think this is starting to look like a pretty settled market here…

From $400k to $600k, there were 15 homes on the market. The Absorption Rate is around 3.5 months. The AR last year had been fairly steady all summer, then shot WAY up in September/October. July’s 5 sales were down from the 3 last month and from last year’s 2 sales. This has actually been a pretty good area for homes in this price range to sell… for the last few months.

In the $600k to $800k arena, there were 2 listings on the market. The Absorption Rate is at 6 months of inventory… but with only 4 sales in 2010 and 4 sales in 2011, obviously it is easy to bump one way or the other. One reason for the strong looking Absorption Rate last month was that there were so few listings. The was 0 sales for Jul13, 1 for Jun13 and 1 for Jul12.

The range from $800k to $1m, there were 0 homes listed on the market and 0 sales in July. There were no sales last year. Unfortunately there isn’t enough data for a good A/R number.

Norcross, GA, Market Report, June 2013

Friday, 09 August 2013 09:22

Written by Lane Bailey

6 Comments

Market stats for Norcross GA, June, 2013 indicate that there were 158 properties on the market, up 35 from last month. Overall, there is about a 3.4 month supply of properties. The last year has been fairly strong… it hasn’t slowed much, if at all. June saw 48 sales, flat from the 48 last month, but down compared to the 70 for June last year.

In the sub-$200k arena, there were 65 listings, with about 2.6 month supply. Sales are down a little from last month (27) and way down from a year ago in this segment, which is the main driver of sales in this area (24 v 45 – Jun13 v Jun12). For the last two years, the AR has been tilted in favor of sellers. This still looks like one of the strongest price/area segment in Gwinnett County, GA. At a 2.57 month A/R, this is pretty strong for sellers.

Between $200k and $400k, there were 68 listings for sale, and about 4.4 months of supply. This segment had been weakening for the last few months. But, the 20 sales were flat from last year’s 20 sales, and up from last month’s 16 sales. Even though it isn’t as gangbusters as some of the other areas, it is certainly better than the 28 months of inventory we had in December, 2010. I think this is starting to look like a pretty settled market here…

From $400k to $600k, there were 19 homes on the market. The Absorption Rate is around 3.6 months. The AR had been fairly steady all summer, then shot WAY up in September/October. June’s 3 sales were down from the 5 last month and from last year’s 5 sales. This had actually been a pretty good area for homes in this price range to sell… for the last few months.

In the $600k to $800k arena, there were 5 listings on the market. The Absorption Rate is at 7.5 months of inventory… but with only 4 sales in 2010 and 4 sales in 2011, obviously it is easy to bump one way or the other. One reason for the strong looking Absorption Rate last month was that there were so few listings. The was 1 sale for Jun13, 0 for May13 and 0 for Jun12.

The range from $800k to $1m, there were 0 homes listed on the market and 0 sales in June. There were no sales last year. Unfortunately there isn’t enough data for a good A/R number.

I have a page dedicated to Norcross Market Data.