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Category Archives: real estate

WooHoo… New Property Search!

I was just able to get it integrated into my site. I have a new property search (IDX).

softRealty rolled out their new IDX solution just this month, and I was one of the first in line to get it. I have long wanted a better search for my clients and visitors. Not only did I want something that integrated into the site better, but I wanted something that would that would provide a better interface for anyone looking at properties. So, here are a few highlights:

  • integrated map
  • mousing over a listing brings it up on the map
  • make changes to criteria on the fly, without having to leave the results area
  • mouse over the icon on the map to skip to the listing info
  • picture and basic info always visible

As soon as I get time, I will set up a search page which will have preset searches for specific areas and price ranges, allowing a one-click search for site visitors.

Jump on over to GarageHomesUSA and click on the “Property Search” item on the tool bar.

This might actually help…

Walk-away borrowers have been a problem in a few markets (luckily, not so much in Atlanta).  The government and lending industry are both looking at ways to keep borrowers from just walking away.

So, here is the situation…

Someone buys a home with a 0% down loan.  The market turns a bit south, and now the property is worth less than the mortgage balance.  The ARM is getting ready to reset, or does reset to a higher rate.  The payment is no longer comfortable. 

At this point, the borrower is faced with a tough decision.  They can stop paying… it will take a few months for the bank to foreclose.  They can try to sell the home in a short sale.  Or, they can try to find a way to refi or keep on making the higher payments. 

The problem is that a lot of borrowers are choosing to ride it out as long as possible, and then walk away.  There are even websites and groups promoting this.  They tell people facing these choices that they can “save” thousands of dollars and not face any negative consequences.  They are right that one could bank up a goodly amount of cash (house payments for 3-12 months)… but there are going to be negative consequences.

The government and the lending industry are taking aim at “walk-away” home owners who stop making payments and months later send the house keys back to their lender.

Such borrowers will not be able to get another mortgage through Fannie Mae for five years, unless there are “documented extenuating circumstances.” In that case, the prohibition is three years. Even after the prescribed time has elapsed, a borrower with a foreclosure in his file will have to make at least a 10 percent down payment and have a FICO credit score of at least 680 to qualify for a Fannie Mae loan.

Freddie Mac, which counts foreclosures as major credit black mark for seven years, is now aggressively pursuing walk-away borrowers where permitted under state law, a senior official said.

Federal legislation enacted last year allows home owners who negotiate loan modifications with lenders and have portions of their principal debt eliminated to escape income tax liability for the amount forgiven.

Walk-away borrowers, by contrast, have nothing forgiven, and the Internal Revenue Service may demand taxes on the balance they never paid, the IRS says.

Source: Washington Post Writers Group, Kenneth R. Harney (04/12/2008)

There are some very good short sale agents (I’ll tell you flat out that I am not one of them… it is a specialty that requires more than a 4 hour class to do well… and a complete focus on just short sales) and a good short sale agent can negotiate a loan modification to sell the home.

Do yourself a favor.  If you are in trouble, get help.  I’ll be happy to help find a good short sale specialist wherever you are.   If you want to stay in your home, contact your bank.  Talk to them.  It won’t be fun, but it will be way better than having the Sheriff do an eviction.

Here’s a deal…

This story was my “Good Morning” today.  The AP and AOL conducted a poll, and while the story is probably accurate (technically), I am seeing a serious bias here.  And I really don’t like to play the media bias card…  Let me toss out a couple of quotes from the article:

The growing reluctance to dip into the housing market seems to stem partly from worry that housing prices will continue falling — good if you’re buying a house but bad if you have to sell one.

The public anxiety is in reaction to an economy that is veering toward recession and losing jobs even as the housing market sputters badly. Foreclosures have soared to record highs, mortgage rates have increased, sales of existing and new homes have fallen and home values have dropped.

Of course, with a title like AP poll: More avoid buying homes, one shouldn’t expect it to be rosy…

Same story… different quotes:

Some pockets buck regional trends. Laurie Jensen, a single mother of three, struggles to make payments on her home in Whitehall, Mont., by working as a seasonal road construction flagger and at times collecting unemployment. She said she’d like to move outside of town, but the area is popular and prices have surged.

“Things are pretty crazy,” she said. “Places I don’t consider that great are really expensive.”

Even so, he said, many people bought their homes before the run-up in values that started around 2001 and remain in good shape.

“So the value of your house goes down temporarily,” he said. Unless the homeowner must sell now or can’t afford the payments, “that doesn’t have that much of an impact.”

There are a lot of stats in the article… but, as you read it, try to stay open to both sides of the picture…

“This is a great time to buy, but not necessarily to sell,” said Robert Jackson, who lives in a two-bedroom house in Ferguson, Mo., with his wife and four young children. He said he would love to purchase a larger home, but can’t because even if he found a buyer, he would probably lose thousands on his house, which he bought less than two years ago.

“We’re just going to have to slap a Band-Aid on it and stay here until the market gets a little bit better,” Jackson, 30, said in a follow-up interview.

Let’s look at this a bit more objectively.  If Mr. Jackson can afford a bigger house, he should do it.  The same “discount” that drops the price of the home he would be selling would be dropping the price of the home he would be buying.  If he loses $5,000 to gain a $10,000 discount on the $200,000 house he wants for his family, that seems like a good net to me.  I just don’t think that the best plan is to wait until the prices go up on both homes…

Now, if he were retiring and wanted to sell his big house and down-size… I’m right there.  It wouldn’t be the best time.  Taking the $10,000 hit to get a $5,000 discount isn’t good business.

Here is a another…

One in 10 have adjustable rate mortgages, half of the number who said so two years ago. These mortgages generally start at a low interest rate and are later adjusted to market conditions — which has often meant steep, unaffordable boosts that have forced many to refinance or even lose their homes.

Daniel Gallego, a warehouse worker in Stockton, Calif., said he may have to sell his home at a big loss. He said rising gasoline and other costs have made his adjustable rate mortgage unaffordable. Because he doesn’t expect his home’s value to recover soon, he said he may be better off moving now, before his rates rise.

So, nothing positive to say about fewer people having adjustable rate mortgages?   Nor a mention that the resets have been less than expected because of the slowing economy…  I’m not even going to hit on the idea that many of the adjustable rate borrowers weren’t real responsible taking out loans that they really didn’t have a plan to be able to pay back…

There is no doubt that the real estate market is not groovy for a lot of people… especially those that need to sell.  However, the fact remains that it isn’t as bad for most as it is for a few.  There are some pockets that are incredibly bad… and many in the media are portraying those as representative.  There are also a lot of places that are just chugging along.

I also don’t want to chime in with the NAR’s “All Real Estate is Local” mantra, but you really should look into the area that you are in and/or considering.  Heck, I’m starting to see builders jumping back in again.

4+ Car Garage Homes in Gwinnett, GA… What’s available?

I try to sneak into the local MLS every few eeks and take a look at the overall picture of 4+car garage properties available in Gwinnett County, GA. There are generally a good selection, in fact there is generally a better selection than most of the other counties in Metro Atlanta. Please keep in mind that the MLS rules disallow me from specifically promoting listings belonging to other agents without their written permission, so I have to remain a bit vague. If you would like more info, I can send out the sheets on these and other properties that might interest you… just let me know.

So, what is out there?

There is a pretty good variety of 4+ car garage home properties available in Gwinnett. Let me start with a couple of overall stats.

  • As of today, there are 148 properties on the market listing a 4 car or larger garage (or combination).
  • The median price (half higher, half lower) is $749k.
  • The high price is $8.5m.
  • The low price is $129,900.
  • The majority of the properties have a 4 car garage, only a few are larger.
  • Most common is a 2 car attached and a 2 car detached.

Let’s talk about some homes.

If you are looking for a 4 car garage on a budget, the first property might fit the bill. It is in Snellville, and has a 2 car attached garage and a detached shop that is 30×30 (metal building with a concrete floor). The home is 3 bedroom and 2 baths and is described as totally renovated.

At the other end of the spectrum is an $8.5m home in Suwanee. It has a 6 car garage and is in a private community. Of course there is a pool and pool house, media room/home theater and just about every amenity you could imagine… and only the best finishes. It was originally priced at $10.5m, and has 6 bedrooms, 6 full and 4 half baths.

Of course, most people are somewhere in the middle. And, in the middle we find a home priced at $749k. Here we find a house that is about 2 miles from the Mall of Georgia, and has a 5 car garage, 7 bedrooms, 4 full and 2 half baths, full finished basement and 5 acres. It has a barn. This house also has two full kitchens and laundry rooms.

Halfway between the median and the top is a home with a 4 car garage in the Sugarloaf Country Club priced at $1,798,000. This house is a 5/5/2 (bedrooms/full baths/half baths) with a full basement. The neighborhood has a pool, tennis and a great golf course.

Halfway between the median and the entry level is a brand new home in Lawrenceville. It is priced at $449,900, and has 5 bedrooms and 4 full baths. The 4th garage is actually a boat door in the basement, but I have found that those can be great places to assemble or display a highlight from the collection. In fact, I know of a few people that have built the “boat bay” into an incredible featuring the car as art. this builder also features a trade-in program so that a potential buyer may be able to skip having to sell their home first.

Wrap up…

Usually when I start talking about 4+ car garages people assume that the homes will be out of this world expensive. But, there might very well be one that fits your price range. Here is a little breakdown:

  • 10 homes under $200k
  • 5 homes from $200k – $300k
  • 15 homes from $300k – $400k
  • 15 homes from $400k – $500k
  • 9 homes from $500k – $600k
  • 16 homes from $600k – $700k
  • 6 homes from $700k – $800k
  • 6 homes from $800k – $900k
  • 3 homes from $900k – $1m
  • 15 homes from $1m – $1.5m
  • 17homes from $1.5m – $2m
  • 16 homes from $2m – $3m
  • 7 homes from $3m – $4m
  • 7 homes above $4m

So, while there is a good representation at the higher end of the spectrum, there is a pretty good distribution of homes across the full spectrum.

To get more info about a particular home, please feel free to contact me.

New Gwinnett County Market Report is out

I have loaded the new Gwinnett County Market Report onto GarageHomesUSA.

The news is mixed… and that is better than all bad.

Good.

  • Days on Market went down.
  • Listed/Sold % went up.
  • New Listings down from last year.

Bad.

  • Absorption Rates not good yet.
  • Sales still down from last year.
  • Listed/Sold % still weak.
  • Days on Market needs to drop more.

For the real story, follow the link and read up.

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