If you think your neighbor’s foreclosure doesn’t affect you…
January 24th, 2008 - Categories: Financing, Selling a home in the Dothan area
By: Charles Woodall
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.