dothanhomesearch.com

By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

While the number of homes sold and closed in June was down compared to May and also to June of 2007 (114 to 122 and 133 respectively), the number of homes in pending status was up significantly when compared to the same time frames.

The 87 homes listed in pending status in the Dothan MLS is the highest monthly total since March, and the second highest since April of 2007, over a year ago. Since pending sales are considered the prime indicator of future market activity, the Dothan real estate market looks to be in good shape for at least the next few months.

Sales sagged a bit in June, but it was still the second biggest month so far this year. It will be interesting to see how the next couple of months shape up, as July and August typically begin the late summer into fall seasonal slowdown.

If you are reading this and wondering if it is a good time to buy or sell a home in Dothan, then we need to talk. Pick up the phone and call me at the office, 334–793–6990, or on my cell, 334–596–0808. I’m not going to give you a hard sell or anything like that, we will just talk about your situation and try to figure out what is best for you right now. Sound fair?

Tags: Dothan+real+estate, homes+sales+in+Dothan

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By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

May was a strong month for home sales around the Dothan area. The number of homes sold was up around 20% over April, and with 122 homes sold, May of 2008 almost equaled the 124 sold in May, 2007.  

The number of pending home sales has been fairly stable since the first of the year, and has closely followed last years numbers. There were a little over 80 homes listed as pending as June began. Again, we look at pending home sales as a good measure of activity to come in the next 30 to 60 days.

Despite a couple of bumps, the number of homes sold has closely followed totals from last year, albeit about 15% lower overall. We hit a big slowdown in mid-summer last year, and it remains to be seen whether the same will happen this year, since summer is getting cranked up.

I’ll have a report on inventory and absorption rates later in the week.

If you are reading this and wondering if it is a good time to buy or sell a home in Dothan, then we need to talk. Pick up the phone and call me at the office, 334–793–6990, or on my cell, 334–596–0808. I’m not going to give you a hard sell or anything like that, we will just talk about your situation and try to figure out what is best for you right now. Sound fair?

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By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

You’ll read advice on a lot of real estate related sites on things you need to do to get top dollar for your home. I’m here today to speak to those sellers that are not really interested in getting the most they can get (for whatever reason), so here are some tips you can follow to help insure that you get a low offer.

1. Don’t look at your competition

If you are not concerned with your bottom line, then don’t worry about what other homes in your neighborhood are selling for or what condition they are in. In the majority of neighborhoods, there are several homes for sale, and most of these have fairly similar amenities compared to yours. Buyers WILL see them all and WILL base their offer accordingly, looking at overall condition and updates and upgrades.  Since you aren’t looking at your competition and adjusting these things accordingly, buyers ARE going to offer you less.

2. Put off routine maintanence

Don’t worry about fixing those rotten door casings, changing out your air filters, or replacing your worn roof. Time is money, and your looking for low offers anyway.

3. Use comparable sales from the past 12 months

These are the comparables that appraisers use, right? Yes, appraisers will use comps from the past six months because they have to, but appraisal values do not adjust as quickly as real market value. So if you want a low offer, price your home slightly above the recently appraised value. To get a true picture of the current market, you’d need to go back to 2003 or 2004 for pricing comparables.

4. Show signs of desperation

Are you justifying your above market asking price with the rationalization that “I can always reduce it later”? There is really no better tool you can use to get a low ball offer than start chasing the market, or reducing your price regularly to get to the price you should have originally listed. Repeated price changes mean one thing to buyers; “they’ll come down some more”. And what if you list too high and don’t come down? That would go under a post title of how not to receive any offers at all.

Are you putting something to the effect that you are a “motivated seller” in your marketing efforts? That is another great way to generate a low ball offer.

5. Hire a timid agent

This one is probably the easiest to accomplish. Be sure to hire an agent that will list at whatever price you want and will not give you lip about doing this and doing that to make your house more attractive. Your best choice is a good friend or a licensed family member that does real estate part-time, just to have something to do.

Here’s the facts sellers. There are entirely too many choices out there right now for buyers, so generating a low ball offer is not as hard as it was in the sellers market of 2004-2005. Employ each of these to help insure an offer that is at least 10% below market value, or likely 15% or more below your list price.

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By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

We have discussed absorption rates in previous posts, but always from the view of the overall Dothan area real estate market. Today we’re going to look at some different areas of the overall market, specifically the different areas defined by the Dothan MLS.

First, a brief explanation of the MLS areas is in order. The layout of Dothan lends itself to being easily divided out into geographical areas. The major north-south highway is US 231/431, while traveling on US 84 (Main Street) gets you from east to west. Dothan is circled by Alabama Hwy 210, or as it is better known to us here locally, Ross Clark Circle (and hereafter referred to as The Circle).

Using Main Street (Hwy 84) as the north-south line and Hwy 231/431 as the east-west dividing line, Dothan is divided into four quadrants, with The Circle used to break the quadrants down into nice, bite size chunks. I have included a map below to help give you a visual (Note: Google doesn’t show county lines, so I have attempted to end the drawn lines at the approximate county line).

View Larger Map

The Dothan MLS defines these areas by number.

Dothan MLS areas

• 1- NE inside the Circle
• 2- NE outside the Circle and inside the Dothan city limits
• 3- SE inside the Circle
• 4- SE outside the Circle and inside the Dothan city limits
• 5- SW inside the Circle
• 6- SW outside the Circle and inside the Dothan city limits
• 7- NW inside the Circle
• 8- NW outside the Circle and inside the Dothan city limits

Once outside of the city limits of Dothan, Houston County is also split into four quadrants, with the same highways serving as dividing lines.

• 9a- Houston County NE - Hwy 431N to Hwy 84E
• 9b- Houston County NW - Hwy 84W to Hwy 431N
• 9c- Houston County SE - Hwy 84E to Hwy 231S
• 9d- Houston County SW - Hwy 231S to Hwy 84W

Any property listed outside of Houston County in the Dothan MLS is listed by county.

Now, if you are still awake after that long and drawn out explanation of MLS areas, we’ll look at the absorption rates for each of the 12 MLS areas in Houston County. I do not include data for counties other than Houston because some of these areas are served by different multiple listing services. Why that is the case is a post for another day.

A couple of things stick out. First, these numbers are fairly low compared to the market average of nine and a half months. The surrounding counties must be bringing the average up. Second, I am somewhat surprised how well the more rural areas of Houston County (MLS areas 9a, 9c, and 9d) are selling, given the cost of gas. I guess a 20-minute plus drive to Dothan has not become a concern at this point.

If you have a question about any of this information, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below. I will try to answer you as soon as possible, usually within a few hours.

We’ll have the latest new construction report up on Monday.

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By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

Sales have been steady over the last few months, and some areas are selling exceptionally well right now. Here is a brief overview of the hottest subdivisions in the Dothan real estate market right now. Click on the neighborhood name for a map of homes for sale in that area.

Cloverdale

Cloverdale is really more of a neighborhood than just one particular subdivision. Located in southeast Dothan, Cloverdale area homes sold recently have been priced from $69,900 up to $139,000, making it a great area for affordable housing.

Deer Valley

Deer Valley is located in extreme northwest Dothan, but is only minutes from lots of shopping and several schools. This subdivision is not that old, as the first home built here was in the late 90’s. A new phase recently opened up, but of the eleven homes recently sold, half were resale. Prices ranged from $127,900 to $189,400.

Grove Park

Always a popular neighborhood because of its unique style, there were eight homes sold in Grove Park over the past few months. Prices ranged from $182,000 for a small garden home up to $329,900 for a larger home. There are a very high number of homes for sale in Grove Park right now, which helps explain the high number of sales.

Pine Lake

All new construction homes in a brand new subdivision located in southwest Dothan. It is good to see new construction selling, and this neighborhood has been one of the hottest. Prices ranged from $154,900 up to $195,900. Unfortunately, Pine Lake is so new that it hasn’t been mapped by Google yet. If you would like a list of homes for sale in Pine Lake, just drop me an email at charles(at)dothanhomesearch(dot)com.

If you are interested in information on homes for sale in other Dothan area subdivisions, neighborhoods, or towns, leave a comment below and I will post that information. You can also give me a call at 334–793–6990 or use our Contact page.

View Larger Map

If you find this information valuable and would like to share it with others, please click on the link below to your favorite Internet sharing site.

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By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

The 2007 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers from the National Association of REALTORS reveals that 84% of home buyers use the Internet as an information source. What are they looking for? 95% were looking for properties for sale. So it stands to reason that sellers whose home is listed on the right websites will have a better chance of getting it in front of the right buyer.

So what are the best sites for home listings? What sites are buyers using the most? Here is an overview.

REALTOR.com is still the leader with the most listings and the highest number of viewers. If your home is listed in a Multiple Listing Service (MLS), it should show up here automatically.

Trulia and Zillow are two up-and-coming real estate websites challenging REALTOR.com. Trulia’s fortay is the ability to price compare properties using current listings and recently sold properties. Zillow’s is similar, except they estimate the value of all houses, not just recently sold and currently listed. Keep in mind that having your home listed on Trulia and Zillow is not automatic. Check with your agent to make sure they list there.

Where do people that are relocating to an area typically go for real estate information on the Internet? Google and Yahoo are likely the top two choices. Judging from the visitors we get here on this site, the usually search terms are “Dothan real estate”, “Dothan homes for sale”, or something similar. Having your listing show up through an MLS search on these local websites is critical. Folks usually won’t go past the first page of results, so make sure the company you list with comes up at or near the top for these search terms.

This is by not means an exhaustive list. There are plenty of websites out there for real estate listings. The point of this post is that home sellers should agressively question their agent about their Internet marketing strategy. With so many buyers on the Internet, you can’t take a chance of missing any of them.

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By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

The Notorious ROB has an excellent post making some comparisons between lawyers and REALTORS. If you have ever had a bad experience with a real estate “professional”, take a few minutes to read his post. You may walk away with a better understanding of why there can be such a huge discrepancy when it comes to the quality of real estate agents.

One quote particularly interests me:

Neither the legal industry nor the real estate industry will change towards a regulated system of limiting the number of people who can claim to be an attorney or a realtor. There�s too much money being made by ambulance chasers on the one hand and the sleazy, know-nothing agents on the other.

But in that environment, an opportunity does exist for the elite firms to separate themselves. (emphasis mine)

I hope that no one reading this has had a bad experience with a REALTOR here at CENTURY 21 Key Realty. If you have, I would like to apologize. I would also like you to know that we strive everyday to separate ourselves from the pack. Yes, it may be a little cheesy, but we would like to be the “Gold Standard” for real estate service in the Dothan area market. That is what we shoot for. We may not always make it, but I can promise you it won’t be from lack of effort.

Regardless, please know this; We do require a higher level of education and training in our office, so anyone you talk with on The Key Team will likely have at least some more real estate know-how than the average agent around town. Every REALTOR here cares about their perception in the marketplace, and I think it shows.

I really didn’t intend for this post to be a commercial for our office. It probably comes across that way, and that is alright. I just wanted you to know that if you have a real estate need in the Dothan area, we are here to help. And I promise will be do the job to the best of our ability.

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By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

Both homes sold and pending sales were up in March, a good sign that the Dothan real estate market is still healthy. New pending sales were up almost 25% over March, 2007 and last month. There were over 100 homes sold in February and March which is the first time that has happened in two consecutive months since last summer.

Pending home sales are at their highest level in several months. In fact, there are more pending sales right now than at any time since April, 2007. This a good measure of activity to come in the next 30 to 60 days.

The number of homes sold is closely following totals from last year, which is another good sign that the Dothan housing market is in good shape. As you can see just to your right, mortgage rates are below 6% and the Dothan area economy is in good shape.

I�ll have a more detailed trends analysis in the coming days, so watch for that, and a report on inventory will be posted next week.

If you are reading this and wondering if it is a good time to buy or sell a home in Dothan, then we need to talk. Pick up the phone and call me at the office, 334�793�6990, or on my cell, 334�596�0808. I�m not going to give you a hard sell or anything like that, we will just talk about your situation and try to figure out what is best for you right now. Sound fair?

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By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

Last week at a closing, one of our sellers got a not-so-pleasant surprise. Here is their story. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Mr. Seller took out a $10,000 home improvement loan with a national department store back in the early 80’s. Not realizing it at the time, said store placed a second mortgage on this home as collateral. Mr. Seller made his improvements, repaid the loan early, and continued to enjoy his home.

Fast forward 25 or so years, and the seller discovers, at the closing table mind you, that said national department store never recorded a satisfaction of the loan. In other words, they never publicly recorded that the loan had been paid in full. When properly recorded, a subsequent search of the title of a property, such as when the home is sold, will reveal the recorded satisfaction. But what happens in this case? Now obviously the loan was paid off, or Mr. Seller would have long ago ran into trouble with the store, right? Regardless, the title company is now obligated to hold $15,000 of this seller’s money until such time as the seller can prove he paid off the loan.

Think about that for a minute. If you were in this situation, how easy would it be to prove? Do you keep your home financial records for 25 years? Do you check your records at the county courthouse regularly to make sure everything is as it should be? Maybe you should, because you just never know when you will run into a problem.

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By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker

http://www.dothanhomesearch.com

A couple of things that are on my mind as we start the week.

Jim Duncan had lunch with Dr. Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist of The National Association of REALTORS, one day last week. Dr. Yun had some interesting comments on a lot of things, including the days on market statistic. Take a quick read of Jim’s post, paying particular attention to the part on this subject.

Jim and I agree on the irrelevance of days on market as a statistic, although for different reasons. Withdrawing and re-listing a property (Jim’s beef) to reset days on market to zero skews the data. I have been guilty of doing this, as have most REALTORS, reasoning that sometimes a listing needs a fresh start. Yes, that is gaming the system and shouldn’t be allowed. However, if you read my earlier post on this subject, I have come to feel that days on market should not be relevant to a buyer anyway, regardless of whether it is accurate or not.

Dr. Yun gives the impression he isn’t too keen on using DOM as a meaningful measure either.

Phil Hoover is another real estate blogger that I like. Phil blogs about the Boise, Idaho real estate market and posted this gem last week about listing agents auditioning for sellers.

Phil couldn’t be more right. Too many sellers think they are hiring the best agent when they hire one that will tell them what they want to hear. Look, you need to know exactly what is going on in the market if you want to have any chance at a sale. Are they telling you the real estate market in Dothan is down over 24% so far this year compared to last? Are they telling you what you need to do to get your home sold when competition for buyers’ attention is tougher than it has been in years? If they are, then you’ve likely snagged a good one. If they aren’t, you might want to look elsewhere.

Ok, now on with the week!

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