Poor choice of mortgage provider

By all means, go online to your favorite search engine and type “low cost mortgages” or something similar in the search box, then surf on over to AllICareAboutIsMyRate.com to get the “best deal” on your new mortgage. It won’t happen every time, but we see the vast majority of such endeavors end in misery for the buyer. Everything from bouncing rates and fees to asking for the same documentation five different times. If you are really interested in weeks of stress and confusion, don’t use a local mortgage broker or a reputable online one.

Buy a car a couple of weeks before closing

You may be approved and ready to close, but your mortgage provider is going to check your credit again a couple of days before closing. Any new line of credit, such as financing a car, will likely change your credit score enough to cause questions to be asked by the mortgage company. So be ready to explain to your lender how you are going to pay for that new boat AND make your new house payment.

Don’t check the repairs

You will likely (or you should) have the home you are buying professionally inspected. You should have reserved the right in the sales contract to request certain repairs, based on this inspection. Once you submit your list of repairs to the seller, don’t worry about checking to make sure they are done. You’ll be able to determine that at your walk-thru, which is usually the day before closing. After all, 24 hours is probably plenty of time to get that piece of damaged drywall repaired and painted, or have a contractor come back to fix something they did a poor job on.

BONUS ROUND - Don’t ask for a survey

If the home you are buying is in a platted subdivision, there is no need for a survey, right? Except that things change. Fences and storage buildings are built and driveways and parking pads are expanded, and it is not uncommon for encroachments to present themselves after closing. So while this one might not cause problems at closing, the problems down the road will be enough to cause you some stress.

Keep these ideas in mind as you think about your closing. If you have had an experience at closing of your home, share it with us by commenting below.

Tags: home+buyers, closing

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Inventory

We seem to be stuck, at least for the time being, at between 950 and 975 homes on the market, which again means we are in a strong buyers market. It is hard to imagine much fluctuation in these numbers in the near future.

Absorption rate

The absorption rate for July is down again to 8.59 months of inventory. What this means is that it would take about eight and a half months to sell every home currently for sale in Dothan at the current rate of sales, if no new listings came on the market. The downward trend is continuing, and that is a good sign that the Dothan real estate market is healthy.

Inventory and absorption rates can vary between different areas around Dothan. If you would like to see these numbers for a particular area, drop us an email or leave a comment below with your request!

Tags: absorption+rate, Dothan, real+estate+market

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Monday Market Snapshot - July 21, 2008

Coming later this week we’ll have the July Inventory report, as well as a look at the new proposed school zones for Dothan.

Homes on the market stat is the total of single family residential properties currently listed for sale. All statistical information is from the Dothan Multiple Listing Service (Dothan MLS) and is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.

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Chattahoochee State Park

Location – southeastern Houston County, right on the Chattahoochee River and the Florida state line.

Drive time from Dothan – around 30–40 minutes from just about anywhere around town

Cost – $2 per person, $1 for kids and seniors. $2 per person for fishing, kids 12 and under free. Camping and RV hook-up available, as well as a small charge for horses

Amenities – Swimming and fishing, lots of picnic and play areas

Best advice – if you go during the summer, take some bug spray. Watch out for poison ivy!

Website – Houston County Parks – Chattahoochee

Built in the 1930’s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, Chattahoochee State Park contains nearly 600 acres of south Alabama nature at its best. Despite the name, the park is now maintained by Houston County, which has performed several upgrades to the park, including an hunting area for the handicapped. The twenty acre lake was also restocked after the county took it over. CC Pond, as my dad used to call it, has in the past been a great fishing spot. The Alabama State record for Shell Cracker was caught in the lake back in 1962. The park includes primitive camping areas, a RV camping site, wildflower areas, and a 20 area lake. The park also has a designated horse trailer parking area, picnic areas, swimming, fishing as well as the hiking and horseback trails.

There are many remnants of the long abandoned CCC camp still around, including a fireplace, a flag pole area, goldfish pond, and other features. The history of the Civilian Conservation Corps, began in the early 1930’s as part of President Roosevelt’s plan to put young men to work during the depression, is an interesting one. If anyone knows of any other projects the CCC had in our area, I would be very interested in hearing about them. Let us all know by commenting below!

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Items approved include a recommendation to rezone 0.87 acre at the corner of Third Avenue and Trim Street from M-1 (manufacturing) to R-50–S (residential). Pending rezoning approval by the Dothan City Commission, this parcel will be divided into six residential lots for home building. The other two items, both approved, were the expansion of an animal hospital on South Oates Street and re-plat of a small parcel on North Herring Street.

A proposed new zoning, designated O-2A, was presented to the commission by the planning office. The new zone could by used in situtations similar to a denied request last month, where residential property adjoins high traffic, more commercial areas. The home or property that was looked at last month is on the corner of Ross Clark Circle and Kent Drive. It is basically uninhabitable as a residence because it is so close to a major roadway, but the neighbors objected to it being rezoned because current zoning left too many possibilities of businesses that could locate there. This new zoning would fix a problem that effects several areas around Dothan.

The Dothan Eagle has some more details on the proposed O-2A zoning. The Planning Commission will vote on this next month, and if approved, it will go to the full Dothan City Commission for a vote.

Tags: Dothan+Planning+Commission, Dothan+real+estate+development

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Home sales

Prediction – down 10% from 2007
Actual year-to-date – down 12.4% in units, 9.1% in volume

Nothing surprising about this stat. Pending sales are strong, so I’ll stick to this prediction.

Homes on the market

Prediction – remain steady between 850 – 950 units
Actual – inventory today is 956 single family homes

I may have underestimated this one by a bit. Inventory in other areas of the country is steady to falling, so I am going to revise my prediction and say that the number of homes for sale in the Dothan area will hover between 920 and 980 for the rest of 2008.

Mortgage rates

Prediction – steady around 6% with less than 0.5% fluctuation
Actual – today’s rates are around 6.25%

The only change I will make here is to say that there is a far greater likelihood of rates being closer to 6.5% at the end of the year than under 6%.

Foreclosures

Prediction – upward trend
Actual – steady to slightly up

Up until May, the number of homes in foreclosure in Alabama had dropped significantly. Then June came and they jumped 22%. The upward trend will likely continue, if for no other reason than the overall weak economy.

New Construction

Prediction – housing starts in Dothan down
Actual – housing starts in Dothan down

We nailed this one. There were 178 residential new construction permits issued in the first six months of 2007, compared to 133 so far in 2008.

Median Price

Prediction – down
Actual – no change

The median price of homes sold in the Dothan area in 2007 was $135,000, and the median price so far in 2008 is exactly the same. I still think we will end the year with a slightly lower median.

The overall Dothan real estate market is sound, especially when compared to some other markets around the country. Expect the remainder of 2008 to be much the same as the first half.

What are your thoughts on the real estate market here in the Dothan area? What do you see happening in the future? Chime in by commenting below!

Tags: Dothan+real+estate+market

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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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Monday Market Snapshot - July 14, 2008

Tomorrow, we’ll have our monthly report on home sales in and around Dothan, as well as a look back at our 2008 predictions for the Dothan real estate market, and how they’re holding up through the first half of the year.

Homes on the market stat is the total of single family residential properties currently listed for sale. All statistical information is from the Dothan Multiple Listing Service (Dothan MLS) and is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.

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Wachovia eliminates “Pick-your-payment” loans, eliminating all loans that can lead to higher balances over time.

U.S. Home Construction hits 17 year low - Goes along with our most recent Dothan new homes and construction report

Statewide Home Sales down 23% -  Home sales in Dothan are not down quite as much. Look for a mid-year Dothan real estate market update early next week.

Economists say Alabama economy not following national trend because it will grow by 1/2 of one percent in 2008.

Dothan City School Board approves new zoning plan - lots of changes coming…we’ll cover them on Wednesday on next week

New bicycle and walking trails coming to Dothan

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Here is the trend over the last twelve months.

Inventory of new construction homes on the market remains steady. There are currently 221 listed in the Dothan area MLS, up slightly from last month. The median price of these listed homes is $199,900, over $60,000 more than the overall market median which is around $135,000. Average days on the market is 196 days.

Is the long-term trend any better? Maybe. The new home market in Dothan hopefully bottomed out around the first of this year.

What does all this information mean to you? If you are in the market for a new home, then you have a lot of choices and some bargaining power, especially in higher price ranges.

If you have an interest in building or purchasing a new construction home, give me a call or use the contact form. As a Certified New Homes Specialist (CNHS), I have extensive training in the new home market and would be happy to consult with you on your real estate needs.

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