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Saturday 9/22 and Sunday 9/23 Furkids will be holding their annual Open House. Please plan to attend and meet lots of adoptable cats and dogs. Also, you can enjoy homemade baked goods and a delicious BBQ lunch. There will also be activities for the kids! Furkids is the largest no-kill animal shelter in the state of Georgia. For more information, go to www.furkids.org
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A developer is planning to start building a 19-home subdivision on Bush Road this fall. The homes are expected to be at least 2,400 square feet with 2 or 3 car garages. There will be a 4-acre piece of property in the back of the development that will remain undisturbed. The price range for these homes will be in the high $200′s to low $300′s. There will be one entrance on Bush Road to access the homes.
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The Peachtree Corners City Government wants to keep everyone informed about their activites and services. The City’s new website is www.cityofpeachtreecorners.com. At this site, you will find a map, ways to volunteer and information regarding city council meetings. permits, licenses, and land use. There is also a FAQ page that has information on a lot of different subjects including “who to call” for various services.
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The Peachtree Corners Patch reports that a new Senior Living Community will be developed on the former site of the abandoned Faith Life Church property on Spalding Drive. The facility is set to open by the fall of 2013. The plans include cottages, condos, assisted living and memory care living facilities.
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There will be a Peachtree Corners community blood drive on Monday, September 17, 2012 from 2:00PM to 7:00 PM. The Bloodmobile will be next to the Ingles on Peachtree Parkway. To schedule an appointment, go to wwwredcrossblood.org and enter the sponsor code :peachtreecorners. For more information, call 678-200-6889.
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The Norcross Cooperative Ministry needs your donations to fill the shelves of their food pantry! If you can, please donate Cereal, Juice Boxes, School Snacks, Spaghetti Sauce, Peanut Butter & Jelly (plastic jars only), Rice (1 pound bags/boxes), Canned Meat or Fish. The NCM is located at 2275 Mitchell Road, Norcross, GA 30071. Donations are accepted Monday-Friday 9-4, Tuesday 4-8, and Saturday 10-Noon.
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Many of us don’t know how to properly dispose of those half-used, aging cans of paint in the garage. Here are some good options: • Global Paint for Charity is an organization that accepts paint for charitable purposes. Please visit this website and complete a paint donation form. http://www.globalpaints.org/Donate.aspx Once the page opens, scroll down and click on the teal (aqua) colored tab (as shown below) and print the form. Now that the form has been completed, fax it to the number printed on the form. Someone from GPFC will contact you and schedule a pick-up • Take your paint to any of the Atlanta Paint Disposal locations. Fees apply http://www.atlantapaintdisposal.com/index-2.html • You can contact any of the C&D Landfills listed below and ask if they accept paint, as well as inquiring about the drop-off fee • Ask any of the churches in your surrounding area if they could use the paint, if so, offer to donate the containers
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The Gwinnett County Department of Fire and Emergency Services will observe a total burn ban on all outdoor burning from May 1 to September 30 in Gwinnett County. All types of outdoor or open burning are prohibited during this time period, including the burning of trees, limbs, or any other yard waste, and the use of air curtain destructors for land clearing. For unincorporated residents, please contact your solid waste hauler to ask about adding yard waste service.
For more information about the burn ban, please contact the Gwinnett Fire and Emergency Services Community Risk Reduction Division at 678.518.4980 or visit www.gwinnettfiremarshal.com
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When the housing market first wobbled in 2007, most people thought it was just a simple adjustment. In 2008 and 2009, everyone was sure that the downturn had run its course and that a turnaround was coming soon. Now, 4-plus years into the downturn, many experts feel that we may be in the middle of a decade of housing weakness.
There are lots of current influences that we’d like to believe can restart the market. We’re in a time of record low interest rates and great housing affordability (the ratio of housing prices to incomes). Still, these positives are facing the great downward force of unemployment and foreclosures.
We’ve seen the stock market bounce back and retail spending approaching record levels, but housing can’t seem to gain ground with the unemployment rate in the 9% range. The problem runs deeper than just those families who don’t have jobs and can’t afford homes. We are looking at a generational low in American optimism. Even if someone has a job, they are worried about that job, their neighbor has lost their job, and their kids can’t find jobs. This has severely impacted the “trade up” housing market of people who are optimistic, seeing career growth, and perhaps having more kids and wanting to have a bigger home.
The second big weight on the market is the continuing flood of foreclosures and other distressed properties. Economists believe that banks are holding back on foreclosure inventory and that we are still only half way through the foreclosure wave. Homeowners see the depressed prices and most choose not to sell now, unless they find themselves in a position where the need to sell. We’re seeing a lot of sellers with personal issues including illness, financial stress or divorce. These sellers frequently need to sell their homes quickly, so they drop their prices and add to the downward spiral in the marketplace.
Will we see a vibrant economy and housing market in the future? Of course we will! This has been a brutal downturn, but the economy always recovers and there’s no reason to believe that this time is different. If you need to sell now, you’re going to have to make your home an excellent value to compete in the marketplace. Our best recommendation, if a different home is in your 5-10 year plan, is to be patient. Interest rates should stay relatively low for quite a while and when the jobs return, we will hopefully be singing a happier tune!
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So you found the perfect buyer for your home. What could possibly go wrong?
Before the Great Recession, most homes that went “under contract” made it all of the way to the closing table, despite the challenges of loans, inspections, and uneasy buyers. Now, unfortunately, there’s a new challenge in the process.
The appraisal process, where historically almost all houses “appraised” at the sales price or higher, is now one of the biggest obstacles to a successful home sale. In addition, ultra-conservative appraisers are contributing heavily to the downward pressure on home prices as we try to emerge from 4 years of bad housing news.
Let’s look at a simple example of a home appraisal in the early 2000’s and today. You’ve made some lovely improvements to your home in Pleasant Acres, where the last few homes have sold for exactly $200,000. A buyer loves your perfectly maintained lawn, the new stainless steel appliances and the screened porch you’ve added. They agree to buy your home for $210,000 – a recent record for Pleasant Acres.
This used to be the way neighborhoods appreciated – the appraiser would see the value of the improvements, acknowledge that your home was of greater value than the others which had sold, and would usually give you an appraisal that matched the $210,000 agreed-upon sales price. The loan went through, the sales process moved forward towards closing, the buyer and seller were happy, and the neighbors were aglow with the new price level for the neighborhood.
Today’s appraisal process, with huge pressure from lenders who are troubled by past fraud & abuse, looks quite different. The appraiser is increasingly likely to ignore your improvements and see the $200,000 recent sales as a cap on the appraised value of your home. In addition, since home pricing has been falling in the area, the appraiser may decide to make a “market adjustment” to allow for downward pressure and give your perfect home with the $210,000 contract price an appraisal of $195,000. This will scare the buyer and will also prevent their loan from being approved. Your two most likely outcomes are a failed sale or you, as the seller, being forced to lower your price to the appraised amount.
While this new challenge in the home selling process is disheartening for the home seller, it also has a great impact on a housing market that is trying to recover. If homes can’t sell for increased prices, the appraisal becomes another key driver of declining prices and actually helps to keep the overall market from recovering. The conservative new practices end up hurting buyers, sellers, lenders and the overall economy.
If you’re selling your home, it makes sense to approach the appraisal as an important step in the process. With some research or the help of your realtor, you can supply the appraiser with some comparable home sales that support your sales price. If your home has lots of special upgrades, prepare a list of the improvements, as well as how much you spent on each project. These steps will improve the odds of getting a favorable appraisal!
