Category Archives: improvements

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

Phoning In Home Improvements…

Wednesday, 19 June 2013 11:57

Written by Lane Bailey

1 Comment

Interior design (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I ran across an article recently with 5 apps for Android phones that can with your next DiY project… Here is the source article.

Houzz Interior Design Ideas

Looks kind of like a self-contained Pinterest for Home Improvement… They have almost 1,000,000 photos of various style home interior designs.

My Measures & Dimensions

Now this looks REALLY cool, especially for a free app. Shoot a “before” picture and then add measurements along with arrows and notes… It can really help get everything together to communicate a project’s goals to your vendor.

DIY Remodel Cost Calculator

This is my kind of calculator… first, it’s free and second, it can be used to get a good idea of the cost of a project.

There are a couple of others on the source article, but these are the ones I thought were the coolest. Also, below, there are a few links for other articles that might be of interest.

interior design oxford rogue designs (Photo credit: rogue-designs)

One thing to ALWAYS keep in mind, though, is that you shouldn’t undertake these improvements if the goal is resale value. It is VERY rare to find an improvement that actually adds to resale value. Some may actually hurt resale. The one exception to that would be painting… or replacing worn out things like carpeting.

And maintenance isn’t “improving”. Too many times people tell me that they replaced the roof and A/C when asked what improvements have been made. Unless they were dramatically upgraded during replacement, it likely wouldn’t qualify… although they can still add value (although, lack of proper maintenance really detracts from value more than proper maintenance add to it).

Garage Values…

Wednesday, 08 May 2013 11:45

Written by Lane Bailey

1 Comment

I’ve been working on some statistics for valuing additional garages. It is tough. They are a specialized addition, not unlike equestrian facilities, pool or tennis courts are for other families…

ROD WORKS SHOP (Photo credit: ATOMIC Hot Links)

Appraisers have been all over the map, but for the last couple of years they have consistently under-valued enthusiast garages. I have seen $50k-$70k garages valued under $10k during the appraisal process.

A large part of that is due to the fact that actual market value numbers are seldom worked up for specialty garages. The buyers see the additional value, and of course the sellers see the additional value. But too often, the appraisal gets in the way of completing the sale.

As a real estate agent, I can NOT do appraisals, but I can provide limited guidance to appraisers to help them see the additional value that should be added for an enthusiast garage.

For a recent property, I worked up an area wide study of similar garages. The results were a little surprising. Keep in mind, these were specific to the type of garage I was trying to find comps for… in this case, the house had an attached, over-sized 2 car garage and a detached VERY over-sized workshop garage (around 900square feet). I controlled price range to be similar to the subject home. Looking for direct comps was fruitless, but I was able to find other homes with detached garages, generally in the 500sf range. In each case, there was only one home with the bonus garage. So, I looked for comparable homes without the bonus garage to compare the difference in prices.

Subdivision 1 – Average difference was $23,300.
Subdivision 2 – Average difference was $10,500.
Subdivision 3 – Average difference was $53,615.

An aerial view of housing developments near Markham, Ontario. Photo by IDuke, November 2005. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the case of subdivision 2, there were only two houses, one with and one without the big garage. The house without the big garage had been fully updated with a new kitchen, granite counters, stainless steel appliances, upgraded bathrooms, etc. The house with the garage had laminate counters, old appliances and had not been updated for at least 15 or 20 years of its 33 year life. That would lead me to believe that the market values of the homes was actually considerably wider than it first looks. And, I believe the opposite to be true of Subdivision 3… the Garage Home was considerable nicer than the non-garage comparables.

However, this shows pretty solidly that the additional garage is more likely worth $20k-$30k, rather than the $5k-$10k that many appraisers will initially allow for the structure. That also puts it in line with Remodeling Magazine’s annual Cost vs Value study garage data. That puts the mid-range garage cost at around $46k while the value at sale is around $30k.

Appraisals are great when you are looking at a cookie cutter home. Those are easy… it’s when the mold is a little different that things get sticky. Of course… you need an agent that is willing to invest the time to fight a low appraisal. Even as a buyer, if the appraisal doesn’t come back at a price the seller can work with, you won’t be able to get financing… Give Lane a call.

Buy New? Resale? Renovations?

Wednesday, 10 April 2013 10:05

Written by Lane Bailey

0 Comments

As a buyer, it is a tough choice. New construction in South Forsyth and North Gwinnett are ramping up at an amazing pace. All of the “PVC farms” that were left in the wake of the crash a few years ago are either already holding homes, or on the way to it. Builders are pushing crews, and they still have a hard time holding standing inventory.

Interest rates are incredible. Prices are affordable.

But inventory is problematic.

What is a buyer to do? A couple of years ago, there were likely scores of homes that met your basic requirements. Looking at 4 car garage homes, in Gwinnett, just a couple of years ago there were probably 30 at any given time between $200k and $400k. Today there are just a handful.

First… if you are serious, don’t make the mistake of waiting if you really like the house. If it is reasonably priced, it WILL sell and it won’t take long.

But each of these segments has pros and cons.

New Homes…

They have that new home smell… and a warranty… and since you likely aren’t buying standing inventory, you can specify finishes and colors and floorplans. That rocks. But, you WILL pay for every one of those upgrades. Even if the builder is offering “$25,000 in free upgrades”, they ARE built into the cost of the home.

That doesn’t mean it won’t be worth it. It might be the best option. It is easy. Make your selections and let it happen. Of course, the drawback is that you aren’t in control. You have to wait until it is done. That could be a few weeks or a few months. And builder contracts are often stacked so that you can’t push on them if they fail to meet deadlines. Some aren’t… but many are. There might also be other hidden gems in the contract that prevent you from getting exactly what you want. Most of the time it works out, but there is that small percentage where the buyer gets bit.

Resales…

What you buy is what you get… And that is also a knife that cuts both ways. On one hand, it is pretty obvious what you are getting. You can walk around the actual floor plan, with the “options” already in place. You can see the colors in their natural habitat and feel the finishes. And there might be more room to negotiate with an individual seller vs a builder. The builder doesn’t want to cut the price on YOUR home because that will show up in the public records… compromising his future negotiating position for that community.

However, you CAN get a warranty. It won’t be a 15 year structure warranty, but for under $500, you can get a good warranty for the first year of ownership. And you are probably saving some cash compared to buying the new home. Don’t forget, if the home is in a subdivision that is built out, you know EXACTLY what you are getting as far as the neighborhood goes.

The Purchase Contracts are generally better, too. If you are working with a REALTOR®, they should be using state “association contracts”. I use the contracts generated by the Georgia Association of REALTORS®. Non-member licensees don’t have access to those contracts unless they pay a licensing fee. And the non-member contracts are just not on the same standard. The exception to this is Foreclosures… they generally have an amendment that kills most of the protections in the base contract. In exchange, you should be getting a better deal on the property for that risk…

Recent Renovations…

These are kind of a mix between the other two… In many ways, they have the best of both worlds, except that there are going to be fewer variable to adjust. Walls probably aren’t moving even if the work hasn’t been started yet, and if it is “done” then it might as well be a resale… you probably won’t be getting the finishes changed.

But, while most of what you see and touch will be new or refinished, the price will often be less than a comparable new home. You can still get the 1 year warranty. The builder doing the conversion MAY stand behind the work they have done. Appliances and systems MAY also have longer warranties as well.

And Finally…

Buying a house ready for a renovation isn’t a bad idea, either. If there isn’t a home that suits YOUR needs, buying one that is ready for a work-over, and then arranging that, may be a great plan. If there IS a house that meets your needs, it will probably be a better plan, but often, that just isn’t the reality… especially now with the decreased inventories on the market.

If you are in the Atlanta area and would like to know more, give me a shout. If you are outside of the Atlanta area, I still might know a good local agent that could help you out with their local expertise.

To Renovate or Not to Renovate?

Wednesday, 03 April 2013 10:25

Written by Lane Bailey

1 Comment

That is always a question…

And like most questions, there are two polar opposite answers that leave little room for anything but personal interpretation.

Don’t Do It…

The White House renovation (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It is a pretty easy case to make. The bottom line is that there are few, if any, renovations that you can do that will increase the value of your home. About the best you can do is get back around 75-80% of the money spent on the renovations. Of course, that is assuming that you are paying someone to do the job, not doing it yourself…

Looking at Remodeling Magazines annual statistics, there are a couple of standouts, but few things will get back that much of your money at sale time. Link

So, renovating prior to selling your home prior to sale is really only a way to burn cash that you could plow into a new home…

Not So Fast…

There IS one thing about renovating that does make sense. Competition. Aside from needing to compete for buyers with the house up the street, you need to compete with new construction… now more than at any time over the last few years. Here in the Atlanta suburbs, builders are going NUTS. They are barely able to keep up with the demand, and standing inventory is hard to find.

In order to effectively compete, YOUR house needs to look its best. Those renovation may just pay back in a quick sale. And that might be worth a little lost money…

My Opinion?

Coraopolis Railroad Station (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Don’t go nuts… Price fixes everything, and you may not have to take the same kind of hit on price as the renovation might take. Doing a $100k major upscale kitchen remodel probably would be overkill. Putting up a fresh coat of paint, however, DOES make a lot of sense.

Do NOT forget that your time IS valuable. That is one issue that I often see. People remember that the paint will cost $200, but forget that they are going to be spending 20 hours applying it. If you are going to renovate, don’t discount the value of your time to $0. Sure, you might not need to value your weekend labor at $100/hr, which some contractors WILL charge, but give it some value. Weigh that into your decision.

Next week we’ll be looking at it from the buyer’s perspective…

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