When you are buying a home today, a vital step in the process is the professional home inspection. It is a very important part of the process and needs to be done correctly.

BEFORE THE INSPECTION

Generally when you find a property that may be “the one”,  you  view it, walk through the entire house, open the  closets and cabinets, check out the basement, and even might poke your head into the crawl space. Your first look is what tells you that you may have found your ideal home. Typically you are looking at several and at the end of the day it can be difficult to remember details. So most people go back to the house they are interested in pursuing and spend some time checking everything.

Normally you would not hire an inspector at this point, not until you have made an offer and worked out the terms of the contract. It may seem a little backwards, but the rationale is simple. The inspections normally take around 3-4 hours and can cost from around $350.00 and up. You wouldn’t want to spend the time and money on that unless you knew that you were under contract, and that nobody else could step in and buy the house while you were performing your due diligence.

PRE-INSPECT THE HOUSE YOURSELF

But because of the expense of hiring a professional inspector, I think it is important to do as much really careful looking, before you make the offer. There are things that you might catch yourself that could be deal killers. Large cracks in the foundation wall, separation and cracking in the brick siding, swelling and de-lamination of the siding, obviously old and rusted heating systems, old roofs with curling corners and moss growing, water in the basement or crawl space, mold… these things are issues that you should think carefully about before you make your offer.  Read the seller’s disclosure and see if there are any issues that may be too much to handle. Go into the attic and the crawl space (really). Only when the house passes your inspection are you ready make the  offer and get a contract. You might think you aren’t qualified and don’t know what you are looking for, but give yourself a little credit. In the crawl space, things like  standing water,  crumbling foundations,  lots of extra support beams or jacks, obviously rotten wood… these are all potential problems and do you really want to pay someone $350.00 or more to tell you things you could have seen yourself in 10 minutes?

Now if everything looks good, you make your offer and see if you can come to a meeting of the minds with the Seller. Make sure you specify in your offer the right to inspect for at least ten days after the contract is accepted. Georgia contracts used by Realtors, have a section  for “due diligence” and give you the right to cancel the contract if you are not satisfied with the results of the inspection for any reason. Make sure that you check that section and specify how many days you have to inspect. Understand that if you do not respond during the time period you have forfeited the right to cancel the contract or negotiate repairs. When you do negotiate for repairs, understand if the seller does not respond favorably or does not respond at all, you still have to exercise your right to cancel the contract in writing before the ten days is over, or you have bought the house “as-is”

If you get an accepted offer with the right to inspect, then you are on to the professional home inspection. You will want to get this done as quickly as possible because you want to make sure that you are buying the home, before you pay for the appraisal, so time is of the essence. The other reason to inspect quickly is in case there are issues that require further testing.

INSPECT THE INSPECTOR

The home inspection field is not heavily regulated in GA so there are a wide range of skill levels out there. It is important to do your homework when it comes to selecting an inspector. Ask what professional groups the inspector belongs to, and what kind of training he has had.  See if there is any kind of guarantee that the inspector won’t miss anything. Most inspectors only guarantee their report to the price of the inspection (in other words they will refund the price of the inspection if they miss something). Some have a bond up to a thousand dollars if they make an error. Look for referrals from people who have done this before.

UNDERSTANDING THE INSPECTION PROCESS AND THE REPORT

It is important to understand that the inspector is only giving you their opinion. If something seems fishy about the furnace or some other system, they will normally recommend bringing in a licensed HVAC contractor to do further evaluations (or an electrician, or a structural engineer). They do not look behind sheet-rock, or take off fixtures to see if they were installed correctly.  They can tell the age of the systems from the serial numbers and can measure the output of the A/C. They can test the walls with moisture meters to see if ceiling stains are active leaks. When they look in the furnace the see if there is rust or flickering flames or other telltale signs of problems, but they basically just look.  They won’t be able to tell if there is a cracked heat exchanger. So sometimes if the inspector thinks something may be amiss, or even if the systems are just old, it may make sense to get a licensed heating and air company (that you can trust) to check the systems during your inspection period. If there are structural issues you may need to call in a structural engineer. Same with electric or plumbing.

INSPECT MORE THAN THE HOUSE

There are things that the seller is not required to disclose that could have a profound impact on value. Things to check for are: sexual predators in the neighborhood, pedifiles, proposed changes in school districts, crime rates, and more. For crime rates call the local precinct. Call the local schools and ask if redistricting is in the works. For the various predators check: Georgia’s Sex Offender Registry All of these things need to be checked by you during your inspection period. If you are buying a condo, get the bylaws, budgets and minutes of the last meetings. In a condo, find out if the association has a cap on rentals and if they are within the limits set by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac or FHA (not more than 25% renters).  It makes sense to check these things before you hire the inspector.

Disclosure in Real Estate Sales - What can be kept confidential?

What is Disclosure?

First of all, a disclosure is a part of the purchase and sale contract that gives the Seller the chance to tell you about any defects he may know about his property. Why would he ever want to do that? Well, because it’s the law. It’s illegal for the seller to hide defects from the buyer. Yet there are some things that the seller doesn’t have to tell you, some things that you may really want to know.

Do you have to tell if you have ghosts in the attic?

Well, I will start with the silly stuff, like is the house haunted? That’s a grey area in disclosure. The courts tend to rule that if the buyer thinks that something is detrimental then it is detrimental. Yet what if the rumor is that the house is haunted but the seller doesn’t believe it? Is he still required to tell you a story he doesn’t believe at all? It would be like me telling you that there was something wrong with the house because it was built while Mercury was in retrograde, if I don’t believe in astrology. There was a case in New York where a seller was sued for not revealing that the house was haunted, and lost. Part of the case hinged on the fact that the seller published a story in Reader’s Digest about the haunted house, so that proved that the seller believed it.

How about a grisly crime, do you have to tell?

But if you take it a little further, there is something a little more serious that the Seller is not required to tell you in Georgia. That is if the home “was the site of a homicide or other felony (including rape) or the site of a suicide.” The argument behind this rule is that these types of events do not affect the physical condition of the property. The effect is more psychological. But here is the twist: The Seller or the listing agent does not have to reveal the information, but if the seller or the agent knows about such information, and is asked, he (or she) is required to answer truthfully. This is an important point. They are not required to reveal the information but are required to answer truthfully if asked.

What if there was a diseased person living in the house?

What else does the seller not have to tell you? Well if the home was occupied by someone with a disease “which has been determined by medical evidence as being highly unlikely to be transmitted through the occupancy of a dwelling” which includes aids, the seller or agent is not required to tell you about that either. Here is another twist: They are not allowed to tell you if the house was occupied by someone with aids. It falls within the jurisdiction of fair housing law, since aids has been ruled to be a handicap. How do they answer? They should tell you that they are not allowed to answer that question.

How about criminal activity in the neighborhood?

It goes on…. What about sexual predators or paedophiles in the neighbourhood? The lawyers that write the Realtor’s contracts in Georgia have actually added a paragraph warning the buyers that if they have concerns they have to go to the website and do their own research. If the seller doesn’t have to tell you about felonies committed in their own house they definitely don’t have to tell you about felonies committed by their neighbours in other parts of the world.

What does this mean to you, the prospective buyer?

What does this mean to the buyer? Do your own research. Call the local precinct and get the crime records for the area. Go to the web and search the sexual predator database. Talk to the neighbors. Find out if there are ghosts, noisy neighbors or suspected drug dealers on the street. Don’t wait until after you close on the house to find out why you might not want it!

Dan Connolly

RE/MAX OF BUCKHEAD

There has been a long time ongoing discussion about whether appraisal is an art or a science. I think most people assume that it is a science, but is it? Think about what a residential appraiser does. He (or she) is asked to find the value of a home.

To begin to find the value, an appraiser will gather up samples of sales of homes that are similar to the “subject property”, nearby and selling within a recent time period. In this market appraisers are looking only at sales for the last six months. The sale must be a normal sale, without any undue pressure (like impending foreclosure). The records of recent sales are “science” with hard numbers. But then the appraiser takes the scientific data and applies a subjective view. He must evaluate quality of the design, functional obsolescence, desirability of the area, style, décor, and more intangible qualities that make one home sell for more than another. That is where it becomes an art. Just picking which of the homes are most similar, is an art. There may be 20 homes that sold within the last 6 months within ½ mile of the subject, the appraiser may only use 3-6 of them. How does he pick which is most similar? It is important to remember, that the appraiser does not get inside the homes he is using as comparisons. It is very subjective.

But actually we need to go back further for the real first step in establishing value. It is necessary first to figure out who is asking and why are they asking. Why, you ask? Well, first because the appraiser has a fiduciary duty to their client, i.e. the one who pays for the appraisal. That doesn’t seem to make much sense now in the year of the foreclosure, but that is how it works.

There are several reasons why this is true. Value is an elusive thing. There are a number of ways to look at the value of a home. How much will the home sell for today? How much will the home sell for, given 4-6 months of excellent marketing? How much will it cost to replace it if it burns to the ground? How much is it worth to an investor? How much is it worth to a bank if it forecloses? All of these are part of the definition of value and they all paint a different picture. So the client gets to tell the appraiser how and why they want a definition of value.

Imagine a situation where there is a divorce. It could be a husband who has to pay his ex-wife half of the value of the house. If the court orders the appraisal and wants fair market value, the value may be different than if the husband orders it, simply to strengthen his case. The husband could ask the appraiser to look for low value comps. If the wife ordered it she could ask the appraiser for the highest reasonable price.

I took a state certified course in the early 90’s and this is how the instructor put it. It was legal for the appraiser to look out for the interest of the one who hired him. I think the recent mortgage meltdown may change how the end result is supposed to be determined, but the fact that there are subjective choices the appraiser is required to make, means that the answer is, in my opinion not very scientific.

So its important to understand how the process works, so that when a seller offers a home that is priced drastically below appraised value, you actually are entitled to roll your eyes.

Dan Connolly

How to negotiate your best deal

when buying Atlanta foreclosures

The first thing you need to know is that for the most part, THE SELLERS ARE NEGOTIABLE! One of the prevailing myths is that the foreclosure sellers are firm on their prices. This is turning out to be more and more not true. Occasionally you will find some asset managers who have adopted a strategy of listing drastically below the market, trying to start a bidding war. These homes will usually sell quickly and for more than list price. But these would be homes priced at 50 cents on the dollar or less. And I mean 50% of the real price today, not the imaginary, inflated price from a couple of years ago…

Nevertheless, generally today, most of the asset managers are pricing aggressively but not so low that there would be bidding wars. We see many instances where these sellers are taking as much as 15-20% less than list price, especially on foreclosures that have been on the market for awhile. So, knowing that the low offers will not be surprising or insulting to the foreclosure sellers in today’s market means you should not be shy about offering less than what they are asking.

Inspections

If you want to leverage the best deal today in the foreclosure market, it really makes sense to do your inspection before you make an offer on a foreclosure. An as-is offer will have a much better chance of being accepted than one contingent on an inspection. Most of them will not have the utilities turned on, so you have to assume that you may need to replace the furnace or a/c and the price should reflect that. You may get lucky and not have to replace those items, but allowing for that scenario would be a good way to approach this.

Timing

When you offer can have an impact on whether the sellers are willing to negotiate. Most of the asset managers have quotas and are under the gun to get a certain number of houses under contract per month. In the last week of the month you may find that there is more room to negotiate than right after the first of the month.

Financing

Whether you have a financing contingency is a critical factor in how much the sellers are willing to negotiate. If you can arrange the financing before the offer is made so you can make either a cash offer or a fully approved loan offer, you will find the sellers are more negotiable in that case. Some investors use an equity line on their personal home to purchase and then plan to refinance later after they have done the repairs and gotten the property rented. You should make sure that the second loan is preapproved before you start on this approach. Cash is king in the foreclosure purchase arena.

Closing Time

The faster you close the better the sellers like it. The asset managers have quotas for how many they close in a given month as well as how many they get under contract, so by offering a quick closing, before the end of the current month, you stand a much better chance of getting a low offer accepted.

Earnest Money

When you offer earnest money on a foreclosure purchase, it is generally non refundable once the inspection and financing contingencies are waived. When a purchaser offers a substantial earnest money deposit it definitely causes them to sit up and take more notice. The more you put down the more serious you appear to the seller. When low-balling, large earnest money checks are one way to help your offer get accepted.

So these are some tips to getting your lowball offers accepted. Happy house hunting! If you want to start searching for Atlanta Foreclosures click here!

October 11th and 12th 2008

Mark your Calendars, it’s that time again! These will be the days that Candler Park welcomes all of Atlanta to come enjoy the neighborhood and the park. There are a lot of fun activities planned. There is a 5K road race which kicks off at 9:00 am on the 11th and at 10:00 am there will be a “Tot Trot” at the Candler Park Soccer Field.

Music at the Candler Park Fall Fest

The music starts on Saturday the 11th at noon with Atlanta’s own Jeannie Johnson Band and goes through the day with a great lineup culminating with an Atlanta favorite, The League of Decency who starts at 5:30. The sounds resume on Sunday at 1:00 and the days music kicks off with Webster and finishes with the headline act Kingsized who starts at 4:30. Local favorite Delta Moon graces the stage at 4:00 pm

Candler Park Tour of Homes

There will be a tour of 9 homes on Sunday from noon to 6pm. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 on the day of the tour. The tour is a great way to get some exercise and see the classic architecture in the neighborhood. Details, including photos of the homes and info on where to buy tickets can be found here

Artist Market and Food Vendors

There are a wide variety of artists, photographers, craftspeople, political booths, vendors of food and drink, world imports, Green builders, eco-friendly products and more. Come support local artists and craftsmen.

Kids Activities

There are a number of fun activities for kids planned. You can read more about them here

Candler Park has been my home for the last 17 years and we have watched it grow and change. If you are interested in Candler Park Real Estate I have a page dedicated to that with links to search for single family homes by price range and links to search for condos, townhomes and lofts in all of the condominium complexes in this great intown Atlanta neighborhood.

ABOLISH CAPITAL GAINS TAXES

This could be our Golden Parachute.

Okay I didn’t go to Harvard business school but I do think there is a simple solution to the problem of what to do with all of these delinquent mortgages that doesn’t have to cost the taxpayers 700 billion dollars. I wish that I could say I thought it up my self but I didn’t. But at least I am smart enough to recognize a great idea when I hear one. I first got wind of this idea when a colleague sent me a link to a Dave Ramsey article and then I had to turn around and shout it from the rooftops.

One of the most interesting things about this plan you abolish capital gains taxes completely. This lets investors buy these homes facing foreclosure and turn them around. If they don’t pay capital gains on their profits suddenly it becomes worthwhile to do it. Both the stock market and the real estate market would benefit from this.

Then you stiffen the rules for lenders requiring them to rewrite all of the loans that amount to nothing more than predatory lending to begin with. In other words if you were unethical enough to write a loan for someone who actually could not afford the payment when the loan adjusts, then instead of going to jail for loan fraud, Mr Predatory Lender, you can rewrite the loan to a 6% fixed interest rate the borrower may actually be able to pay.

There is a lot more to his plan that makes sense. Follow the link and read the article. Truthfully I haven’t ever listened to his radio show or read any of his books. I don’t really even know who he is

I would add something to Mr Ramsey’s plan. A simple thing that you could do is to make all these new loans rewritten at 6% fixed fully assumable by anyone who actually qualifies for the loan under normal underwriting guidelines. So if the struggling homeowner is facing a health care crisis, or used to work for WaMu, they might be actually able to sell their home to someone.

The biggest problem I have with the bailout and the subsequent nightmare is that it’s all too quick, with no time for other ideas to come to the surface. We are being told that there are dire consequences if we don’t bail out these banks this week. But we are being told this by the same liars that told us that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq! So are we going to let ourselves get scared into the second worst decision of the 21 century?

The House Committee on Financial Services, with Congressman Barney Frank chairman, has released the text of the draft of The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

The bill, widely touted as the “The bailout bill” will go to House of Representatives tomorrow and to the Senate on Wednesday. The speed at which this bill was crafted gives me a profound sense of dread that there is much hinging on the passage of this bill… perhaps much more than they are telling us.

My basic feeling is that if the banks made risky loans and are in danger of going under because of that, we should let them fail. But the speed at which this bill was crafted and the willingness of the proponents of this bill to reach across the isle, leads me to believe that there are some dire consequences brewing, that they are not sharing with the American people. The obvious answer, you might be thinking, is that I am falling for the scare tactics employed by the backers of this bill, but it really doesn’t seem that way to me.

A brief summary of the 110 page draft can be found here: Summary of the “Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008″ . Congressman Frank’s office prepared a Section by section Analysis of the Legislation.

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Well this weekend I met a young couple at a home that they found on my website. It wasn’t one of my personal listings, it was listed with another company. They walked through and liked what they saw. This was a foreclosure that was listed for sale for $79,000 and it had three bedrooms and two baths on the main level. As we opened the door the first impression was pretty good. The home had a split foyer so there were steps going up and down from the front door. Up to the main living area and down to the garage level. We went up and the house looked pretty good. The carpet and paint were in pretty good shape. There were still all of the appliances in the kitchen and the home was basically clean. There were three bedrooms and two baths in decent condition. Not your typical foreclosure.

We moved on to the lower level and found a nice surprise. There was a family room and another bedroom and bath, in addition to the two car garage. They liked the whole package. Then, the big question: “How do we get started”?

Well that is a question that defines a Realtor and is not the easiest to answer. I thought it would make a good subject for a blog post. ,

So when you find the house of your dreams, how do you get started?

When I am trying to explain the process of making an offer on a house like this, here is where I like to start.

• What is our relationship?

I am a buyer’s agent in this transaction. That means that I represent you, the buyer, in this process. The seller has an agent representing his interest, and they have their sign posted in the yard. In the Atlanta area there is generally a buyer’s agent and a seller’s agent in every transaction. It is my sworn duty, as your buyer’s agent, to protect your interest in the process. In the offer process there will be a form that establishes this buyer’s agency.

• How do I get paid?

We have an agreement in the Atlanta market that any home listed in either of the two big Multiple Listing Services (the FMLS and GA MLS) has an automatic agreement in place that the listing agent will share their commission, whatever it is, with the Buyer’s agent. Generally it is a 50/50 split but whatever it is, is disclosed in the MLS and FMLS. So if the house is listing in one of the MLS’s, the Seller pays both agents, even though only the Listing agent represents his interests.

What do you need to actually make an offer?

1. The prequalification letter.

In nearly every purchase with a foreclosure seller or a regular Seller, they want to see a letter from a lender stating that they have pulled your credit report, and have interviewed you and based on normal lending guidelines, you are qualified to get a loan to purchase the property. In the interview, they find out about your job history and your current debts. They find out how much money you can put down and where it is coming from. Lenders are normally concerned about the source of your funds. They traditionally do not want you to borrow your down payment. The letter is not a guarantee, but states that you should qualify for the mortgage. Some of the foreclosure sellers insist that you get prequalified with them. (Countrywide and Wells Fargo are two that generally require this) This can be aggravating because they pull a credit report before they look at your offer. Even if there are multiple bids and you don’t end up winning the bid, they still want to check your credit. As we all know every time someone checks your credit it impacts your credit score. The only way around this is to find a different house, or have a fully approved loan subject only to appraisal. Even with that there is no guarantee that they will look at your offer.

1. The earnest money.

In order for your offer to be considered there must be earnest money. Earnest money is like a security deposit, in some ways. It is there to guarantee that you will perform as promised. There are several ways that you can get it back; if your house fails inspection or appraisal, the earnest money would normally be returned to you. If the Seller cannot deliver clear title, or if the property is substantially damaged before closing, then there are provisions in the contract to have your earnest money returned. When you go to closing the earnest money you have put down becomes a part of your down payment. Generally the minimum earnest money deposit is $1,000.00 for a foreclosure (except with a HUD foreclosure under $50,000, in that case the earnest money is $500). I have seen earnest money of $500.00 accepted in normal non foreclosure homes under $100,000, but generally only in the 100% financed transactions where the Purchaser may not have funds available. Those 100% loans are few and far between these days.
Earnest money is made out in the form of a check. Generally the Buyer’s agent’s company holds the funds in traditional sales. In foreclosures, many times the Sellers insist that the listing agent or the closing attorney hold the earnest money. They will frequently ask for it in certified funds. In foreclosures I suggest that we add a stipulation that the earnest money will be paid to the holder of the Seller’s choice within 48 hours of verbal acceptance of the offer.

• The Purchase and Sale Agreement

Most offers are made on a form that has been agreed upon by the Georgia Association of Realtors and is used by all Realtors in the state of GA. When you fill in the blanks and sign it, it is an offer. If the seller accepts it “as is” and signs it, it becomes a contract. If the Seller doesn’t accept it and chooses to counter offer, they will either fill out a counter offer form, or strike out whatever they don’t agree to and write in their counter offer. For example they would draw a line through the price offered and write in a price they would accept and “initial” the change. When dealing with normal (non foreclosure ) sellers, the forms and amendments and exhibits drafted by the Georgia Association of Realtors will be used.
Most foreclosure sellers have a set of unique addendums that basically restate everything in the contract. They attach these to the contract and send it back. It generally is a large document with 10-20 pages. It must be gone over carefully and understood. 9 times out of ten, it takes a week to 10 days to get the contract signed and returned.
The basic contract is all cash at closing, and we add exhibits if the Buyer is going to get financing. There is a provision for inspection or a choice for “as is”. There will be a time limit for getting financing, appraisal and inspections. The times can be negotiated. When we make the offer we sit down and go over the contract and make sure you understand every provision. I would allow a couple of hours for the process, especially on your first offer. There are all kinds of issues to consider.

So that is a snapshot of the beginning of the offer process. This is just the beginning, there is still the disclosure, the inspection, the appraisal, the loan, the title search, the walk-through, and finally then, the closing. I will cover the explanations of the rest of the process for other blog posts!

Well I hear that question a lot! In fact that is probably the single most important question in a Realtor’s day! And I am here to tell you that there is no easy answer. There are some easy questions, that may help you figure it out, but no easy answers. Everyone’s brother tells them not to pay more than 50 cents on the dollar, and to try to get it for 30 cents. But there is something important to understand about rock bottom bargain deals!

Bargains smell like cat.

One of the unfortunate truisms is that there is no free lunch. Yes there are occasionally some killer deals that are in great shape, but the best bargains smell like cat. Well not all of them, some smell like mildew, or need every surface cleaned and painted, foundation work, roof work, mold remediation, and asbestos removal. Some have problems that are tougher to fix; like they back up to the all night bowling alley, or the train, or the power lines, or the expressway. The best deals have rotted gutters and roaches, no insulation and building materials that have been targeted by class action lawsuits. The very best killer deals have the floors caving in. I know you think I’m kidding but I am not. Truthfully there are some pearls that need no repair in this low tide of polluted mollusks, but be forewarned that there are hoards of folks just like you out there looking for them as well. The average low priced foreclosure is pretty beaten up. So it begs the question, can you take a sow’s ear and make it into a silk purse? Are you willing to invest either the sweat equity, or the time it takes to manage others to take care of the issues? So that takes us to the First easy question: Do you like fixin’ stuff up?

Timing is Everything

Is this a stepping stone to bigger and better things, or is this where you plan to live for a long time? It is important to establish this, but not just according to your wishes, but your realities as well. Is your job likely to change? If the company you work for went out of business, could you find another job locally? If an incredible opportunity in a different city opened up could you resist? Are you sure that you may be here for the next ten years or so? Are you single or married? If you are single would you change cities for the ideal mate? If your married, do you get the sense that it is going to last for the duration? Why is this important? Because if you know that there is a chance that you may have to move in the next couple of years it will really affect what you should pay for a house. We are not in an appreciating market, yet there are costs that will be incurred each time you sell, so if you buy now and you may need to move soon you’d better be sure you get a slam dunk killer deal. That takes us to the Second Easy Question: How long will you live there?

Are you an Ant or a Grasshopper?

Understanding you motivation for the Purchase is an important bit of knowledge that will help you make the right offer. If you are an Ant and your house is a home, a castle, a refuge from the wild world, a place for family dreams to flourish and for community ties to develop, you may have different needs in determining how much to pay than the Grasshopper. The grasshopper doesn’t get emotionally involved with their house, for them it is simply a place to crash, sleep, eat, and launch back into the world. Gardening and decorating don’t matter, only the investment vehicle and a tax deduction. The grasshopper looks at the price first and foremost. Mr Grasshopper won’t buy the house that reminds him of his favorite childhood home if the price isn’t a killer deal. If your real goal is to relax and live in the house for a number of years, and which house it is, is very important, then don’t make it all about money. Here comes the Third Easy Question: Why do you want to buy a house?

Who do you like better Nancy Grace or Walter Cronkite?

So it’s very difficult for the average Buyer to know what to do! If you believe the bobble headed news anchors, the sky is falling, the sky is falling, and at eleven they have a report on really breaking news, which is that the sky is falling. Real Estate is local, not national. Some parts of the country are doing great and some are sliding into the volcano. National news needs to step away from the hype. In a smaller level local market, like… say Atlanta GA, some areas are doing great and some are really suffering. So the decision of how much to offer for a house, has a lot to do with the subtle neighborhood factors like the quality of the schools, the crime rate, and whether the area has charming historic architecture. If the neighborhood offers galleries, restaurants and coffee shops, within a short walk, and is it an area where people really want to live, it may be worth considerably more. Some people will pay considerably more for these things. Public transportation, traffic, taxes, access to public parks and recreational areas, all make some areas much more valuable than others. How do you figure out how much to offer? Well everyone has a friend who will tell them not to offer more than 50% of the list price of any home that they want. They forget that most Sellers pull their prices from… uh, the air. We hear about the crap market in every news media out there. So it would make sense to lowball everyone right? Well maybe it is not, if you are an ant who has no plans to move, who doesn’t want to fix anything up, and who doesn’t think Nancy Grace always knows what the hell she is talking about. There is no concession or agreement by any of the talking heads, economists, politicians, financial consultants, presidents or special task groups of when the market will recover. But they all seem to agree on one thing that eventually it will recover. So at that point when inflation has us paying $10 a gallon for gas and $7.99 for a loaf of bread, I think the well maintained updated charming home in a great neighborhood that is a local favorite will probably recover nicely. Probably better than a dumpy home in a more marginal area that was bought for 50 cents on the dollar. And finally Fourth Easy Question: When will the market recover?

Oh!…Were you expecting an answer

to that question? Well here it is:

“It Depends!”

Low flow fixtures are now required
for DeKalb County homeowners
who buy and close after Jun. 1, 2008

Due to the recent drought conditions that have plagued Georgia for over a year, a New Ordinance has been passed by the DeKalb County Commissioners. This requires that in all home purchases which occur after June 1st 2008, the plumbing fixtures have to be replaced in order for the new owners to get water in their name. The DeKalb County Department of Watershed Management is enforcing this rule. It applies to everyone who gets their water from DeKalb County. This excludes the parts of the City of Atlanta that fall within DeKalb County, as they get their water from the City of Atlanta.

• Basic Requirements:

  As June 1, 2008, when you buy a home in areas that get their water from DeKalb County Water, you will have to replace all of your plumbing fixtures with new low-flow fixtures before you can get water turned on in your name.

• Exceptions:

  There are some exceptions to this rule, 1)Homes built after 1993, 2) foreclosures, 3) Homes being sold to relatives, and 4) Homes that are sold which are going to be torn down.

• Incentives:

  There are some Rebates available to Homeowners (while they last) who change their fixtures to low flow, whether or not they are new homeowners. So if you just want to help save some water there is a $50 rebate for replacement with a toilet that uses 1.6 gallons per flush, and $100 if the toilet uses 1.28 gallons per flush.

• Procedure

  In order to get this approved, either a representative from DeKalb County Watershed Management has to come out and inspect the fixtues, or a licensed plumber or inspector (as in home inspectors who do standard inspections) can fill out this form and sign it. Then the settlement statement from the closing along with the compliance form must be submitted with the application for water.