dothanhomesearch.com

By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

As promised, here are the foreclosure numbers for the Dothan area for the last two weeks. These are strictly foreclosures listed in the legal section of the local paper, so these are homes that are in the final stages of foreclosure, soon to be sold on the courthouse steps. The numbers are not necessarily new foreclosures, as all notices have to run for three consecutive weeks in the newspaper.

Week of 11–24 thru 11–30 – 16 foreclosures listed

Week of 11–17 thru 11–23 – 27 foreclosures listed

I have not, until this week, monitored the number of foreclosure listings in the paper every single day, but I can tell you that this does not look like any significant increase in the overall number of foreclosures in the Dothan area.

Posted by Charles Woodall | Currently 3 Comments »

By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

As I have shared with the Dothan Home Search readers before, the Real Estate Tomatoes are a group of real estate and mortgage professionals whose goal is to give their knowledge of their respective markets to the readers of their blogs. My hope is that this information will be relevant and valuable to the readers of dothanhomesearch.com.

Here is the best on the vine this week.

A couple of Tomatoes are doing series posts this week, and both make for great reading.

Rob of Three pounds of Real Estate covers Salt Lake City real estate, and is doing a series of posts on some of the architectural styles found in his area. So far he has covered Federal, Dutch Colonial, Creole, Craftsman, Contemporary, Cape Cod, Bungalow, and Art Deco. I am sure you all will find this a fascinating as I do.

Tracey blogs about Calabasas, California real estate, and she is posting this week about the difference between listing your home for sale and getting it sold. There is a big difference between the two, and Tracey lays it all out very well for sellers.

Gena over at Sacramento Real Estate Voice has a great Q&A with her audience, discussing in simply terms some common real estate questions.

North of the border, Hiliary is talking about Oakville, Ontario real estate. Yes, that is a long way from Dothan, Alabama, but the emotional state is home buyers is very similar, no matter the locale.

The media is beating us about the head on a daily basis about the rising number of foreclosures across the country and how they will effect the housing market. Marc over at Lending Clarity has an excellent post on the difference in a short sale vs. a foreclosure on your credit report.

Eric is airing the laundry on Columbus, Ohio real estate. He has a great post on becoming a real estate investor.

Chris from St. Louis Real Estate Voice has an interesting post on the blame game for the mortgage mess. I see a lot of similarities between the real estate agent community and the mortgage brokers Chris describes. Too many as a matter of fact.

And finally, Chad, who has the most excellent Front Porch View in Blue Ridge, Georgia real estate, tells us that his area has been named as one of the top five tourist destinations in the US for 2008! I certainly concur!

Another week of great writing Tomatoes!

Posted by Charles Woodall | Currently 4 Comments »

By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

The City of Dothan was recently named a “Playful City” by the KaBOOM National Organization for Play. The KaBOOM organization is a national play advocacy group with a mission to establish “…a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America”. Dothan is one of only 31 cities in the US to be selected for the designation of “Playful City”.

Read the press release for the City of Dothan

In honor of this designation, we here at DothanHomeSearch.com have put together a map of the parks and other recreational areas around Dothan. You can look at this map by CLICKING HERE.

If we missed a park or playground, please let us know and we’ll add it to the map. Please leave a comment below!

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

http://www.judyspears.com

The monthly meeting of the Dothan Planning Commission was last Wednesday, and as is typical for a meeting near a holiday, the agenda was short.

Some items of interest-

• A new Comfort Suites is in development, to be located on the soon-to-be-widened Westgate Parkway behind Wiregrass Commons Mall.
• A third addition is planned for Poplar Grove Subdivision, located off of Third Avenue in southeast Dothan. These are garden home lots with homes in the 1200-1500 square foot range.

The most interesting item from the meeting was the presentation by Jerry Holden, partner with Epcon Communities, regarding the plans for nearly 27 acres on South Park Avenue between Moore Road and Taylor Road. The request before the Planning Commission was for a recommendation to the Dothan City Commission for rezoning of the property to a slighter higher density of residential development. The plan from Epcon is to build Stone Creek Landing, a 118 unit ranch style condominium development that will include 28 4-unit buildings and three 2-unit buildings, with each unit ranging in size from 1325 to 1926 square feet. The development will also include ponds, walking trails, a fitness center, plus many other amenities. The request was approved, so the city commission will be voting on the rezoning request in the near future.

I am working on getting more information regarding Stone Creek Landing and I will pass that along soon. I believe that a development of this type will be an asset to the Dothan real estate market. Stay tuned for more.

You can read a related story in The Dothan Eagle.

Posted by Judy Spears | Currently 1 Comment »

By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

The annual lighting of the City of Dothan’s Christmas tree will take place this Thursday night at 6:30 pm. The event will kick off the three day Downtown Christmas Festival. Holiday Spectacular will be Friday night at 7:30 pm at the Dothan Opera House, and Street ‘Fest will be Saturday starting at 9:00 am. There is a 100% chance of snow on Saturday during the Downtown Christmas Festival, so make sure you make it down there to take a look.

More details

City of Dothan press release with all the times and dates

Downtown Christmas Festival website

Robin, Kerry, and everyone at The Main Event do a tremendous job planning these festivals and events in and around the Dothan area. Great job folks!

Posted by Charles Woodall | Currently 3 Comments »

By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

That is the title of the article in Section B of Saturday’s edition of The Dothan Eagle. The story is by business writer Joe Bel Bruno from the Associated Press, and the title used is a prime example of the media sensationalizing a story by printing a misleading headline. My question is this: Who chose the title? Now I will admit that my knowledge of how the news industry works is limited, but I have always been under the impression that on a wire story such as this, the local paper picking up the story writes their own headline. If that is the case, I would like to talk with whomever wrote this one. By the way, I found the same article on another website, and the headline used there is somewhat less pessimistic.

The headline chosen assumes that there will be another wave of mortgage failures coming. What is the likelihood of adjustable mortgage rates continuing to adjust upward if the Fed keeps dropping the Fed rate? Plus, I think we can be certain that some in Congress will push for legislation that could bail help out many adjustable rate mortgage holders that are primed to be in this new wave. I don’t like the use of the term “nightmare scenario” either. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying this isn’t going to happen, but I believe we are entitled to a little more realism and a lot less sensationalism.

I have been monitoring the Legal Notices section of the paper to see if there has been an upward trend in foreclosure notices here in the Dothan area. There hasn’t been, yet. I am going to start relaying those numbers to you on a regular basis, and we’ll all see together how the Dothan real estate market is affected. If I had to venture a guess, there won’t be a new wave of foreclosures and thus no nightmare scenario for the Dothan economy, or the real estate market.

Posted by Charles Woodall | Currently 5 Comments »

By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

As I mentioned in my Thanksgiving post last week, I have many things to be thankful for. One of those is the great group of real estate professionals we have here at CENTURY 21 Key Realty.

These folks always put their clients first, and each is a professional in every sense of the word. We have a blend of seasoned REALTORS plus a few new ones, but the common thread is they all want to help bring true the real estate dreams of Dothan area residents. Take a few minutes to meet these real estate professionals by visiting our Key Team page. You can click on the link above, then just click on each name to learn more.

Posted by Charles Woodall | Currently 1 Comment »

By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

I hope you all are enjoying the holiday week by spending time with those who are important in your life, and giving thanks for the blessings you have been given. So you can do these things and still keep up with real estate news, I have taken a little time to put together some links that will help you do just that.

As I have shared with the DothanHomeSearch.com readers before, the Real Estate Tomatoes are a group of real estate and mortgage professionals whose goal is to give their knowledge of their respective markets to the readers of their blogs. My hope is that this information will be relevant and valuable to the readers of dothanhomesearch.com.

As promised, here are the best on the vine this week.

We get calls all the time from folks wanting to buy “a little land”. Marty from Valley Market has some interesting information on land sales in Alaska. I know, I know, we probably won’t be able to convince our callers to take a look at Alaska real estate, but his information is valuable none the less.

Cindy over at VA Real Estate Talk points out the importance of not only having representation on your side when you purchase a home, but also the value of a quality home inspection. It is a subject we have discussed here before, but Cindy’s post puts an exclamation point on it.

Along that same line, Laurie at Options Realty expounds on the role a real estate professional plays in a real estate transaction. It’s about the expertise and knowledge folks.

Scott over at The Real Estate Post gives a compelling example of why buyers should use a local mortgage professional. I can certainly relate to Scott’s story. For you Dothan home buyers out there…read his post!

Another Scott, The Top Tech Agent covering Maryland real estate, shares a story about the Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich that almost killed a real estate sale. My five year old son has a propensity to indulge in PB&J’s, so I guess there is a possibility that was his sandwich.

We can’t let Thanksgiving week pass without a good post related to something we all should be thankful for. Jennifer has the Arlington Dirt and has a very nice post about Arlington National Cemetery. Again, thank you to all who have served!

Jackie from The Real Estate Sizzle covers everything related to the Tampa and Florida real estate scene. I admire how she has her finger on the pulse of her market. Jackie talks this week about upcoming Florida property tax reform and how it will effect her audience. Undoubtably there will be Dothan Home Search reader effected as well.

And finally, congratulations to Janis and her Port Orange Juice crowd. Port Orange was recently named a City of Excellence in the State of Florida. Kudos to the Port Orangites, or is it Port Orangeonians?

Another week of great writing Tomatoes!

Posted by Charles Woodall | Currently 5 Comments »

By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

Sometimes a simple “Thank you” just doesn’t seem like enough. There are so many people that are important to me, as well as our company, CENTURY 21 Key Realty.

Who I am thankful for

• My wife and children and my entire extended family. There is not enough space on the Internet for me to tell you how thankful I am for my family
• My God, my church, and my pastors
• The soldiers, both past and present, who have fought to protect our rights, and their families who have sacrificied to support them.
• The customers and clients of CENTURY 21 Key Realty and myself
• The real estate professionals that have chosen to associate their license with CENTURY 21 Key Realty. These are the folks that make home buying and home selling in Dothan happen everyday.

Stefan over at RealBlogging has a great list reasons we have to be thankful. Take two minutes to read it and be thankful.

Everyone at Dothanhomesearch.com wishes you and your family a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!

Posted by Charles Woodall | Currently 6 Comments »

By: Dick Henk
Broker Associate, SRES, GRI, E-Pro

http://www.dkhenk.com

As of last Thursday, 46% of Alabama is under an exceptional drought, which is the most critical level. 99% of the state is experiencing some level of drought, with only the coastal areas escaping the arid conditions. The long range forecast is not predicting any relief anytime soon. So how is the drought effecting the Dothan area water supply? Should Dothan residents be as concerned as some residents in north Alabama and north Georgia? At this point in time, it doesn’t appear that we have to be overly concerned, just ever mindful of our usage.

Water supplied to residents of Dothan and the surrounding Wiregrass area, through the various water systems, is pumped up to the surface from underground aquifers. Because of this fact, it is not readily apparent when our water supply is in decline, and it is easy for us to just assume there is plenty of water. The Stage II water alert that is normally in effect in Dothan from April through October was not extended, so we are only under a voluntary conservation plan right now. Now, when our water supply is not in danger, is the time to practice good conservation however.

As Alabama, Georgia, and Florida battle over who should have control over certain water sources, Dothan residents should continue to conserve water whenever possible. Take a look at this list and pick out at least a couple of things YOU can do to conserve this fall and winter.

• Repair dripping faucets - one drip per second equals a waste of 2,700 gallons a year
• Take shorter showers or use low flow shower heads
• Don’t let the water run while washing your face, brushing your teeth, or rinsing the dishes
• Run clothes washers and dishwashers with full loads ONLY
• Keep toilets in good working order and install low flow toilets when possible

Where is the majority of the water in your home going? Toilet 27%, clothes washer 22%, shower 17%, faucets 16%, leaks 14% and other 5%. So you can see more than a quarter of all water is flushed down the drain.

Please post your water conservation tips below. We want an ample water supply for both current and future residents of Dothan. By the way, if you know of someone that is considering moving to the Dothan area, drop me an email.

Posted by Dick Henk | Currently 3 Comments »