Brian Vanderhoff's North Fulton Real Estate Blog: February 2012

With spring just around the corner, millions of families will be surfing the real estate sites, looking for their dream home. They’ll educate themselves about local price trends, and they’ll review their financial situation to try to answer one question: “Is this the year to be buying a home?” However, they may be asking the wrong question. According to industry leaders, it’s more important to ask, “Is 2012 is a good year to take out a mortgage?”

With rates on a 30-year fixed mortgage lower than anyone can remember, and the Federal Reserve promising to keep short-term interest rates at zero for the next three years, what’s to worry about?

Plenty, says Margaret Kelly, the CEO of RE/MAX, the international real estate franchisor. “This year, a crisis like the European debt situation could trigger inflation and send mortgage rates up, or prices could rise. This is the year many people will look back and wish they had bought a home because these conditions aren’t going to last forever,” she told me.

What will influence mortgage rates next?

John Walsh, CEO of Total Mortgage Services in Milford, Conn., one of the fastest-growing mortgage originators in the nation, sees the potential for a lot of rate volatility in the future. “If the debt situation in Europe is resolved, we could see rates rise significantly, although it seems unlikely this problem will be solved in the short term,” he said. But Europe is not the only factor that could influence rates.

Walsh added, “Although rates could drop if the Fed engages in further quantitative easing, there is a limit to how far rates could fall. Improvement in the U.S. economy or a million other factors could very easily cause rates to rise. There is a limited upside in waiting to take out a mortgage, but a huge downside in waiting. I would advise acting now as opposed to waiting.”

However, taking out a mortgage isn’t nearly as easy as it used to be. In fact, the primary reason most buyers, especially first-time buyers, are losing contracts and not buying a home is that they aren’t qualifying for a mortgage. Move-up buyers who haven’t dealt with the mortgage process since the salad days before 2007 are also in for a rude awakening.

What is killing the deals?

Contract failures were reported by 33 percent of Realtors in December. The leading reasons were declined mortgage applications and failures in loan underwriting from appraisals coming in below the negotiated price, according to the National Association of Realtors.

A major issue when it comes to contract failures is the length of time it takes to approve a mortgage, which grew late last year from an average of 30 days to between 45 and 60 days, according to a survey last October by Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance. Late or delayed approvals can delay a closing or even cancel a contract.

Walsh advises borrowers to organize their documentation in advance and be responsive to lenders’ inquiries. “A lender can only go as quickly as the information he has to work with. Be ready with tax returns, current pay stubs, and bank statements,” he noted. Walsh added that his firm turns underwriting around in a day and processes applications in two weeks when borrowers are responsive.

Low appraisals also kill deals today. The appraisal industry has undergone great changes over the past five years that make it imperative that borrowers stay on top of the process if they want to avoid last-minute renegotiations with the seller that could torpedo the deal. Should an appraisal come in too low, Walsh suggests asking the lender to include recently sold comparable properties that were not listed on the MLS to provide a wider, more accurate sample.

Walsh warns borrowers not to take any action that would impact their credit score or credit history until closing is complete. New credit standards could require lenders to check credit immediately before closing. A major purchase, such as a car or furniture, or even an application for new credit, can cause a lender to recalculate the income-to-debt ratio and revise the loan’s terms or even withdraw the loan approval completely. Walsh’s advice? “If you want to buy something like new furniture before you move in, buy it on time, not credit.”

“Another reason this is a great year to get a mortgage is that there is a good selection of sound loan products available ranging from FHA to adjustable rate mortgages with very low first phased rates that are a good choice for borrowers not planning to own the property for many years,” said Walsh. “Another benefit to adjustable rate mortgages is that the lower initial payments give homeowners time to grow in their jobs and possibly begin to see an increase in their take-home pay.”

The FHA witnessed a number of changes last year, including changes in the mortgage insurance premium (MIP) and an increase in credit score requirements, but Walsh doesn’t foresee major changes in the next 12 months.

Bottom line: If you have your credit and your financial house is in order, your documentation is ready, and you have a good understanding of your borrowing options, then you’re ready to borrow. If you’re ready to borrow, then you’re ready to buy.

Labels: Forclosures, Foreclosed, foreclosed homes, foreclosed homes for sale, foreclosed land, foreclosed properties, foreclosure, Foreclosure rates, Foreclosures, foreclosures for sale, home buyer, Home Buyers, home buying

Attention residents who want to be heard when it comes to the future of Highway 9: The fourth and final meeting of the City of Milton's Ga. 9 Livable Centers Initiative (LCI) study will take place March 7 at Milton's City Hall.

The meeting begins at 6 p.m., said City Planner Michele McIntosh-Ross. Click here for directions to City Hall.

"This meeting will bring to an end the public workshop process of this study," said McIntosh-Ross. "If you have not made it a priority to attend one of these meetings, this is your last chance before the draft plan is created."

McIntosh-Ross said the draft plan containing public input from each of the four meetings will be presented to City Council at its work session March 12. There will be a subsequent public hearing where residents can provide public comment on the draft plan April 9. Staff will request the plan be adopted with revisions from the previous two meetings April 23.

This is the fourth and final public workshop held as part of a planning study of the Ga. 9 area from Bethany Bend in Milton to Mayfield Road in Alpharetta and the areas east of Ga. 9 to Ga. 400, which includes Deerfield Parkway. The study is funded by a $100,000 LCI grant (with a $25,000 city match) awarded to Milton by the Atlanta Regional Commission in February 2011.

The LCI grant program provides funds for small area studies to determine strategies that link transportation improvements with land-use development. Ultimately, these studies aim to help improve the livability and sustainability of the area.

After the completion and adoption of the plan, the areas become eligible for additional money to implement the transportation projects identified in the study.

Labels: Highway 9, milton, Milton Georgia

The Providence Group announces five new home designs at Crabapple Crossroads in Fulton County. Featuring single-family Garden and Manor homes priced from the low-$300,000s to the $400,000s, this community is known for its luxurious, low-maintenance living. New construction is underway on four of these Atlanta new home designs with estimated summer move in dates.

“With its convenient location, just a short walk to the downtown Crabapple historic district, wonderful community amenities and luxurious interior home features, Crabapple Crossroads is a popular choice among Atlanta home buyers,” said Kelly Fink, vice president of sales and marketing for The Providence Group. “To accommodate all of our interested buyers, we’ve added five new floor plans to the expansive home offerings at this amazing community.”

Three of the plans are brand new for the metro Atlanta builder and include the Lancaster, Chesterfield and Langley designs. The Lancaster is a five bedroom, four bath home with 2,733 square feet, and the Chesterfield is a four bedroom, 3.5 bathroom home with 2,850 square feet. Both homes are under construction and are scheduled to be completed in June.

The Langley is also a new design for The Providence Group. This home features four bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and 2,585 square feet. These three new plans are Manor-style homes, adding additional style offerings at Crabapple Crossroads.

The other floor plans are two of The Providence Group’s best selling homes from other communities, the Devonshire and the Amberton. Both homes are under construction with a July completion date and offer Garden-style designs with four bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms. The Devonshire spans 2,815 square feet, and the Amberton is a spacious 3,000 square feet.

Nestled in highly sought after Milton, Crabapple Crossroads features upscale, spacious plans and boasts 12 home designs with two elevation options per plan. Buyers may chose from Garden homes with rear-entry garages and private, fenced courtyards and Manor homes with front-entry garages that feature carriage-style doors. Homes range from 2,585 to 3,464 square feet, and offer four bedrooms and up to four bathrooms.

Homeowners enjoy beautiful amenities that include a swimming pool, community clubhouse, parks and a future playground with picnic pavilion. Also, residents are within walking distance to the Crabapple historic district and award-winning schools. The Homeowners Association provides lawn maintenance including front and back yards.

Children residing at Crabapple Crossroads attend top-ranked Fulton County schools including Crabapple Crossing Elementary, Northwestern Middle and Milton High schools.

In addition to the four homes under construction, presale opportunities are available as well as two move-in ready homes, the Crabapple priced at $425,900 and the Glenridge priced at $384,900.

Labels: Crabapple, Crabapple Crossroads, new homebuyers, New Homes, new listing

Fulton County Animal Services (FCAS) is encouraging residents in the Freemanville Road area to be aware that a dead raccoon discovered in the area has tested positive for rabies.

The raccoon was tested by FCAS services after a resident contacted them for assistance. The City of Milton was informed of the animal by the county.

Please do not be alarmed: rabies periodically affects some areas, especially more rural areas like Milton. However, there are precautions residents can take to protect themselves, their families and pets from the disease.

Please sure that any domestic pets have a current rabies vaccination.
Neither Adults nor children should approach or handle any wildlife in the area.
If your domestic pet (dog or cat) has any unexplained wounds or is ill in any way you should immediately take your pet to a veterinarian.
If you have observed any wildlife in the area that appears sick or wounded you should contact FCAS at 404-613-2163.
For more information on rabies, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by clicking here. For more information on this specific incident, contact Fulton County spokeswoman Jolene Butts Freeman at 404-612-2209, 404-234-8945 or Jolene.freeman@fultoncountyga.gov.

Labels: Freemanville Road, milton, Milton City, milton county, Rabies, Raccoon

Beginning this year, public schools in Georgia will no longer be judged on a snapshot of performance, but more on the yearlong list of achievements and goals it meets each school year.

Georgia was one of 10 states to receive a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind provisions, allowing the state's public schools to demonstrate accountability in ways other than the narrow mandates of the law.

Gone for good is the annual measurement of whether schools met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) – initials that have become the bane of educators – based on a single set of assessments: the CRCT in elementary and middle schools, and the Georgia High School Graduation Test.

The NCLB law was passed in 2001 and mandated all public school students be proficient in reading and math by 2014 (now 2015), or face an increasing set of penalties. After a decade of implementation, the only measurable impact is an increasing number of schools unable to meet the mark. In Fulton County, one out of four schools did not make AYP in 2011; a number that has grown each year as the assessment bar goes up.

Last fall, the Georgia Department of Education (GDOE) submitted a waiver to the U.S. Department of Education outlining an alternative assessment that would hold schools accountable for their educational achievements. While Georgia education officials had hoped to get a "hold harmless" year for 2011-2012 to allow a transition year, the federal Department of Education granted the waiver with the provision that accountability starts this year.

This year, GDOE will identify Priority Schools, Focus Schools and Reward Schools based on achievement data from all core content areas and graduation rates. At the end of this current school year, schools cataloged as Priority Schools and Focus Schools will replace current Needs Improvement Schools. Reward Schools will replace the current Distinguished Schools designation and will be announced in September.

"This [waiver] is wonderful news for Georgia's students, educators and parents," said State Schools Superintendent John Barge. "No longer will we be bound by the narrow definitions of success found in No Child Left Behind. We will now be able to hold schools accountable and reward them for the work they do in all subjects and with all students."

The GDOE will also identify Alert Schools, which will include those schools with a high number of students in nine subgroups primarily based on ethnic and socioeconomic categories. These Alert Schools will be identified, and measured, based on a more detailed evaluation of subgroup performance.

Georgia will also implement a K-12 plan that prepares students for careers or college as they exit high school.

A spokesman for the GDOE said the "penalties" for non-performing schools will be developed over the next few years; however the focus will be on measureable achievements each year.

The waiver also authorizes school systems to provide Flexible Learning Programs (FLPs) in place of Supplemental Education Services (SES). What this means, explain state officials, is the mandate to contract with private tutoring services for students no longer exists; providing the option to develop programs at the school level to raise the achievement levels of students.

"There was little evidence that [outside vendors] were achieving measurable results," said Matt Cardoza, spokesperson for the GDOE. "Schools will now have the ability to develop programs they believe will work best for their students."

Under NCLB, students at Needs Improvement Schools had the option to transfer to higher-performing schools; and hundreds of students opted to transfer. Cardoza said whether those students will be able to stay at their transfer school will be a local decision.

Labels: GDOE, Georgia School, Georgia Schools, No child left behind

Registration is now open for Camp Joyful Soles, Milton's special needs day camp for children age 12 to 18.

Additionally, the city is hiring three camp counselors to help staff and run the effort, said Tom Gilliam, Milton's recreation programs coordinator.

"For the second year, we will offer this camp for children with mild disabilities as a partnership with the City of Alpharetta," said Gilliam. "Last year was a great success, and we had overwhelming support from parents looking for options after Alpharetta's Camp Happy Hearts."

HOW TO REGISTER AND CAMP INFORMATION


To register for Joyful Soles, visit www.cityofmiltonga.us and download the form. It may be filled out online, then mailed or dropped off at Milton's City Hall, 13000 Deerfield Parkway, Suite 107 Milton, GA 30004. Please make sure if mailing to clearly mark the contents are for Tom Gilliam.

Camp Joyful Soles, held in conjunction with Alpharetta's Camp Happy Hearts, will take place at Hopewell Middle School from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 4 to July 27 (with no camp July 4). This small, specialized camp is limited to just 20 participants a week and includes arts and crafts, games, special guests, fitness classes and swimming once a week.

The cost is $125 for Milton and Alpharetta residents and $187.50 for non-residents (a 50 percent increase) per week. Guardians may register for all eight weeks or a week at a time. The first week must be paid in full. There is a $50 per-week, non-refundable, non-transferable fee to hold spaces in future weeks. Remainder of the balance is due prior to the week reserved.

COUNSELORS NEEDED

The City of Milton Parks and Recreation Department is hiring three part-time, seasonal positions - a lead counselor and two counselors - to help run and staff Camp Joyful Soles.

Interested applicants need to have graduated high school by June 1, 2012.

Full information on job qualifications, pay and more is available at the City of Milton's online Career Center. For mobile device users, simply choose the "Careers" tab on the city's mobile site, then choose "Lead Counselor - Joyful Soles" or "Counselor - Joyful Soles."

Applications are due April 6.

Labels: Camp Joyful Soles, milton, Milton City, Milton Georgia, Special needs children

Both the number of completed foreclosures and the volume of homes in the foreclosure inventory fell significantly last year, suggesting that foreclosures have peaked.
CoreLogic reported today that completed foreclosures for all of 2011 totaled 830,000 compared with 1.1 million in 2010 a 24 percent decrease. In December 2011 there was a month-over-month decrease in completed foreclosures to 55,000 from 57,000 in November 2011. The December 2011 completed foreclosures figure was also down from one year ago when it stood at 67,000. From the start of the financial crisis in September 2008, there have been approximately 3.2 million completed foreclosures.
The new data from CoreLogic also shows that nationally 1.4 million homes, or 3.4 percent of all homes with a mortgage, were in the foreclosure inventory as of December 2011. The foreclosure inventory is the stock of homes in the foreclosure process. Nationally, the number of loans in the foreclosure inventory decreased 8.4 percent in December 2011 compared to December 2010, a decline of 130,000 properties nationwide. The number of loans in the foreclosure inventory decreased by 5.3 percent in November 2011 compared to November 2010 as well.
The share of borrowers nationally that were 90 days or more delinquent on their mortgage payments, classified as seriously delinquent, fell to 7.3 percent in December 2011 compared to 7.8 percent in December 2010.
According to CoreLogic, servicers nationwide stepped up the rate at which they were able to process distressed assets in December 2011. The distressed clearing ratio is calculated by dividing the number of REO sales by completed foreclosures. The higher the ratio, the faster the REO inventory is clearing. The distressed clearing ratio was 1.03, up from 0.94 in November 2011.
“The inventory of foreclosed properties has begun to shrink, and the pace at which properties are entering foreclosure is slowing. While foreclosure filings are being curtailed by a variety of judicial and regulatory constraints, mortgage servicers are completing REO sales faster than they are completing foreclosures,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist with CoreLogic. “This is the first time in a year that REO sales have outpaced completed foreclosures, and part of the reason for the decrease in the foreclosure inventory.”
Highlights as of December 2011
The percent of homeowners nationally who were more than 90 days late on their mortgage payment, including homes in foreclosure and REO, was 7.3 percent for December 2011 compared to 7.8 percent for December 2010, and 7.2 percent in November 2011.
The five states with the highest foreclosure inventory were: Florida (11.9 percent), New Jersey (6.4 percent), Illinois (5.4 percent), Nevada (5.3 percent) and New York (4.6 percent).
The five states with the lowest foreclosure inventory were: Wyoming (0.7 percent), Alaska (0.8 percent), North Dakota (0.8 percent), Nebraska (1.0 percent) and Washington (1.3 percent).
Of the top 100 markets, measured by Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) population, 34 are showing an increase in the foreclosure inventory in December 2011 compared to a year ago, an improvement from November 2011 when 46 of the top CBSAs were showing an increase in the foreclosure inventory compared to a year ago.

Labels: Forclosures, Foreclosed, foreclosed homes, foreclosed homes for sale, foreclosed land, foreclosed properties, foreclosure, Foreclosure rates, Foreclosures, foreclosures for sale, New Category

Homeowners are ready to make 2012 a banner year for remodeling and the latest cost-for-value research suggests that getting the most bang for every buck is more important than ever.
The Remodeling Market Index (RMI) hit a five-year high at the end of 2011, indicating that residential remodeling should continue to grow in 2012, according to panelists at a press conference at NAHB’s International Builders’ Show. After a slow start, home improvement spending is expected to trend up later this year, according to the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) released by the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. If this momentum continues to build during the second half of the year, remodeling activity is on course to end 2012 on a positive note.
However, consumers want to get the most for their money. A recent survey by Better Homes and Gardens released last week at the Home Builders Show found that consumers find it more important than ever to get the most value out of every dollar (61 percent in 2011, up from 56 percent in 2010), and will spend more time looking for bargains and deals in order to get the most value for their money (Up to 54 percent in 2011, from 52 percent in 2010).
Living space and the way it’s utilized also continues to be top of mind for consumers. In this latest survey, conducted in December 2011, consumers wished for a median square footage of 1,791 sq. feet, down from 1,846 sq. feet the year prior. There’s more attention given towards the aesthetic and function of a space, rather than the amount of space. They’re not as willing to invest in the bigger, but instead investing in what’s better. Affordability and efficiency - both in space and energy - rank topmost.
In terms of remodeling priorities for consumers, baths are outpacing kitchens. Bathroom remodeling stayed constant in 2011 and 2010 (31 percent) and kitchen remodeling was stable at 25 percent in 2011, compared to 24 percent in 2010.
Remodeling Magazine’s annual Cost vs. Value report for 2011-2012 found that the trend right now is replacement over remodeling-swapping out the old for the new rather than doing a total gut job, which can be much more costly. Exterior replacement projects-such as new garage doors and a new entry door-offer some of the best returns at resale, allowing home owners to recoup close to 70 percent or more of the costs of the project at times of resale.
The following are the top, mid-range projects from this year’s report, based on what home owners stand to recoup at time of resale:
1. Replacing the entry door to steel
Estimated cost: $1,238
Cost recouped at resale: 73 percent
2. Attic bedroom (converting unfinished attic space into a bedroom with bathroom and shower)
Estimated cost: $50,148
Cost recouped at resale: 72.5 percent
3. Minor kitchen remodel (including new cabinets and drawers, countertops, hardware, and appliances)
Estimated cost: $19,588
Cost recouped at resale: 72.1 percent
4. Garage door replacement
Estimated cost: $1,512
Cost recouped at resale: 71.9 percent
5. Deck addition (wood)
Estimated cost: $10,350
Cost recouped at resale: 70.1 percent
6. Siding replacement (vinyl)
Estimated cost: $11,729
Cost recouped at resale: 69.5 percent

Labels: Foreclosures, Home Remodeling, Home Sales, home sales report, home selling, Homeowners