dothanhomesearch.com

By: Judy Spears
Broker Associate, CRS, ABR, GRI, CNHS

http://www.judyspears.com

From WTVY News

Notice this particular sentence in the story

“A spokesperson for Dixon says the housing market has put the company in hard times, saying the new housing start off has dropped by 45 percent since last year.”

As we mentioned earlier this month, new housing starts are particularly low right now. I have talked with a couple of builders over the last week or so that have indicated they are getting ready to start some houses very soon.

Maybe this will turn things around for the folks at Dixon Lumber, before the ripple effects continue.

Posted by Judy Spears | Currently 1 Comment »

By: Charles Woodall
Associate Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

We will have the following homes open this Sunday from 2–4. Please stop by and say HI!

102 Rusty Drive

New construction by Dennis Granger in Prevatt Place. 3BR/2BA with around 1750 sq. ft. Features a covered patio, great room with trey ceiling, earth-tone colors, and distressed finish on kitchen cabinetry. Offered for $189,900 #1413 DIRECTIONS: Ross Clark Circle southside to Prevatt Road, right on Lace, left on Rusty, house on corner of Brittany and Rusty. Hosted by Christy Manning

107 Brittany Drive

New construction in Prevatt Place! 3BR/2BA with around 1700 sq ft, including separate dining room, family room with tray ceiling, and cozy back deck. Breakfast area in kitchen and split bedrooms. REDUCED to $169,286 #1336. DIRECTIONS: Ross Clark Circle southside to Prevatt Road, right on Lace, left on Tiffany, right on Brittany, house on left. Hosted by Michelle Beasley

108 Eastridge

New construction in Prevatt Place! 3BR/2BA, over 1600 sq ft, includes raised sit-down bar in kitchen, large laundry room, his and her closets, and a nice covered patio. Half acre lot. Move in now for $169,000 #1311. DIRECTIONS: Ross Clark Circle southside to Prevatt Road, right on Eastridge, house on right.

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By: Charles Woodall
Associate Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

Karl Burger, fellow real estate blogger covering Pensacola, Florida real estate, has a great overview of the upcoming changes to FICO credit scores.

Well worth the read!

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By: Charles Woodall
Associate Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

The construction of a limited-access highway to connect Dothan with I-10 in the Florida Panhandle has been a topic of discussion here for several years. It seems there may be a new development.

From WSFA in Montgomery

The route that was decided on last year does not make much sense to me, because it doesn?t connect to Hwy 431 North or the Dothan Regional Airport. The traffic on 431 North during the warmer months is significant, with folks from north Georgia traveling to the Florida beaches. This connector, bypass, or whatever you want to call it, will not help with this traffic.

That being said, I think the idea of making it a toll road makes even less sense. According to the article, this idea has been floated by Governor Riley.

More important traffic issues around Dothan should be addressed first, such as the addition of lanes to Ross Clark Circle and Montgomery Highway. These improvements are still in the Alabama Department of Transportation?s Five Year Plan, but they might get delayed again this year.

What do you see as the most pressing traffic issue around Dothan? Let us know by commenting below!

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By: Charles Woodall
Associate Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

Think again. We?ve yet to see a significant increase in foreclosures here in Dothan. I think we will. And even if you are current on your mortgage and are set to ride out the storm, the ripple effect foreclosures have on the market can have some impact on you and your home.

Terry McDonald, fellow real estate blogger, had an excellent overview of this subject a few days back. There are basically two ways this can affect you, the average Dothan home owner.

It will affect you if you are trying to sell

Foreclosures typically sell for less than true market value, occasionally significantly less. And a high number of foreclosure sales will only exacerbate the problem. When foreclosed properties selling for 80 to 90 cents on the dollar in a neighborhood increase, all other homeowners will begin to lose equity, and in turn sale price, because appraisals will start coming in lower.

It will affect your property taxes

As resale value is lowered, there is the possibility that come property tax time, assessed value will be lowered. While everyone likes to pay less in taxes, widespread decreases mean less tax base, which means less money in government coffers for schools, public services, etc.

Terry brings to light other effects as well. Take a couple of minutes to read his post.

Posted by Charles Woodall | Currently 2 Comments »

By: Charles Woodall
Associate Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

Could be. If you have been watching the mortgage rate gadget on your right since we added it, you’ve noticed that rates have dropped of the past couple of weeks. With the 75 basis point reduction in the fed rate Tuesday morning, that may come to an end.

Here’s a previous post on how this all works

In a nutshell, mortgage rates are closely tied to treasury bonds. When the stock market lags, more money goes into bonds because they are safer. When stocks become more attractive, money goes out of bonds into the stock market, which makes bonds cheaper and typically raises mortgage rates. So when the stock market hits bottom, then mortgages rates will have likely done the same.

Yes, it is confusing. Know this though; conventional wisdom says that rates in the mid 5’s may not be around long.

By the way, we have agents standing by to help you buy before the rates go up

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By: Michelle Beasley
REALTOR Associate

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

I still remember my horror when I first saw the online picture of what would turn out to be my future home. You couldn?t really make out what the house looked like because of the overgrown shrubbery, huge trees, and the bad paint job. My first thought was there was no way I wanted to waste my time looking at a house that looked that bad. If it looks that horrible on the outside, it must certainly be just plain awful on the inside. Still, since this was the first house my husband had chosen for us to view, I reluctantly agreed to go. He called the listing agent to make an appointment.

My impression did not improve at all upon standing in front of the house. In addition to the problems we noticed in the picture, the entire front yard was filled with about 30 unkept azaleas in a natural area which took up 95% of the front yard. Horrid doesn?t begin to describe the curb appeal of this house.

Something changed however when we stepped inside. From the moment I entered through the red front door, I could see the huge potential for the inside of this home. I started changing colors and arranging furniture in my mind. My husband could see the potential as well, thinking about how a little elbow grease and lots of time could transform this train wreck into the home of our dreams. An offer was made, a deal finalized, and the Beasley family now lives in a fantastic home with lots of curb appeal.

The lesson here is that sometimes you have to look past the clutter to see the beauty. As real estate agents, we often have to hound sellers about the importance of curb appeal, because most buyers will not react the way we did. It is too easy for them to go on to the next house, because they have so many to choose from in the current market. However, don’t let your dream home escape your sights because it was disguised as a overrun and unkept shack.

Ask yourself these questions as you go through the search for your next home:

• Does the house have the rooms and room sizes that we need?
• Is this house in a location that we want?
• What exactly does this house need? Is it cosmetic items that cost little but require an investment of time?
• If there are repairs or improvements that will cost money, what is a realistic dollar amount?
• With a little TLC, will the market value of this house be more than what it is listed for?
• Do we have the time to devote to this project?

Asking yourself these questions might just help you realize that this diamond-in-the-rough would suit you just fine.

Posted by Michelle Beasley | Currently 1 Comment »

By: Charles Woodall
Associate Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

Rich Rodriguez has problems. The University of Michigan football coach, formerly at West Virginia, is having some issues with a contract. The way I understand it, his contract with West Virginia called for a $4 million dollar payment to the university if he left for another job. He says he doesn’t owe the university because promises made at the time the contract was signed were not kept. The university of course disputes that. A federal court will get to decide who is right.

I know you are asking yourself, “What does this have to do with real estate?” It has to do with contracts, and the fact that disputes between two parties, whether they be a coach and his former employer, or a home buyer and seller, are settled by what is written in the contract. Any discrepancies, vague terms, or gray areas are left open to interpretation. If you want to avoid having a court determine what your intent was when writing a contract, make sure your agent knows the real estate contract forward and backward. Although real estate agents are not attorneys, we typically use a template real estate sales contract that has been approved by an attorney. We must fill in the blanks.

A solid contract is one that accurately and completely expresses the understandings and agreements of the parties. Agreement is the key word; a mutual meeting of the minds. Most contract disputes are not the consequences of cheating or fraud, but develop because there never really was an agreement. There are a couple of ways this can happen. First, ambiguous contract terms can mean different things to different people. Second, the contract may not address important issues or anticipate unexpected changes. The normal give and take process of offer, counter-offer, and acceptance does not necessarily lead to an agreement, although it can lead to a signed contract.

Here are four steps you and your agent should take to help avoid contract disputes

1. Avoid vague, subjective words such as ?satisfactory? or ?reasonable?.
2. Say everything you need to say and don’t be reluctant to spell contract terms out in excruciating detail.
3. Contingencies must always have an IF followed by a THEN and a WHEN
4. The contract should address the tough issues, so there is a clear understanding from all parties and all possibilities are dealt with

Have something to add? Have you had an interesting experience with a real estate sales contract? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Posted by Charles Woodall | Currently 2 Comments »

By: Charles Woodall
Associate Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

If you bought a home in 2007 and put less than 20% down, you may be eligible for a tax break on your mortgage insurance. Here are the details from Wall Street Journal.

“The new break, called the qualified mortgage insurance deduction, lets taxpayers with an adjusted gross income of less than $100,000 write off the full cost of mortgage insurance. Folks who earn less than $109,000 can take a write-off for part of it.”

Consult your tax preparer or accountant for more details.

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By: Judy Spears
Broker Associate, CRS, ABR, GRI, CNHS

http://www.judyspears.com

After a lot of discussion and community input over the past several weeks, the Dothan City Commission voted yesterday to purchase about 87 acres near Campbellton Highway and Taylor Road for a new city recreation facility. The need for a new facility for this area of Dothan came about because the current facility, Doug Tew Recreation Center, has been outgrown and has no room to expand.

View Larger Map

While public support has been heavily in favor of this project, there has been some that have questioned why this is such an urgent matter when there are plenty of other projects that would be considered a higher priority. The simple truth is that the value of land in Dothan is not coming down, and it is getting harder to find parcels of this size that are easily accessible and have a layout that will support all the components of the proposed park. All things considered, this is a win-win situation for the city and its residents.

More discussion will be held in the coming weeks as the commission plans out the development of the park. Once completed, the park will include baseball, softball, and soccer fields, a senior citizen center, two lakes with picnic areas, a nature walk, and a proposed dog park.

Click on the picture below for a full size map of the proposed park.

Chime in with your comments below!

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