About Hall County, GA

People ask me all the time are we at the bottom? The tough part about that questions is we won't know until we've hit the bottom and are on our way back up. Then we'll look back and say "Oh, the bottom was 6 months ago", which is too late to hit "the bottom".

At any rate, the longest recession since 1937 we have seen recessions has been 16 months. According to NAR, our recession started in December of 2007. Sixteen months would bring us to April of 2009. If we actually see a trend that is as long as 16 months the light at the end of the tunnel is just ahead. Yes, the nation is on the edge, companies are makeing HUGE cut backs, and change is happening today in the White House, but I'm looking forward to see what this clensing does for our economy. We, including myself, need to get back to basics. First God, then Family, then Work, then everyone else...should be our priorities.

Don't wait on legislatures to stimulate the economy! If you are on the fence to buy a house, now is the time. Prices are low, interest rates are at record lows, and the market will come back. Remember rules of buying stocks? Buy LOW, Sell HIGH. Well....we are having a SALE in Real Estate and LOW prices for homes and the stock market are now available.

Millionaires are made in this type of economy...is it going to be you?

Pre-Foreclosure, Short Sale, Bank will look at all offers!! Townhome for sale in Oakwood GA! 2 bedroom, 2.5 bath home for sale. Home has large kitchen, fireplace in familyroom, single car garage, and partial unfinished basement, perfect for storage or finish for additional bedroom. Townhome is located in Oakwood, GA close to Flowery Branch, Gainesville and Buford. Located in Crawford Oaks, home has access to swim, tennis, and basketball courts. If you would like to view more photos of this home or to see other townhomes for sale/ homes for sale in Gainesville, Cumming, Flowery Branch, Clermont, Dawsonville, and Dahlonega visit http://www.meganthoroman.com or http://www.gainsvillegarealestate.com . If you are a seller looking to sell your home in Gainesville GA or the surrounding areas of North GA, please contact me for a free market analysis.

The short answer is NO to both questions, not if it your home is tastefully decorated. There is such a thing as "Holiday Curb Appeal". Most people realize that during the holidays people decorate their homes inside and out and most people like homes that are decorated. When selling your home it is a plus for potential buyers to envision just how their decorations and trees will look in their "new" home. The more they can "see" themselves in your home, the better the chances are for selling your home to that buyer.

So decorate tastefully and if in doubt ask your local realtor which homes in the area have great holiday curb appeal, then drive by them and see for yourself. Holidays should be a time for fun and excitement, so give your potential buyers all this and more when they pull up to your home.

Bake breads or cookies before showings to give the potential buyers that real at home feel. The sense of smell is the most powerful memory booster. People smell fresh baked goods and it usually conjures up some really wonderful memories for them. Don't forget to give the appraiser some home baked goodies! Just kidding, buttering up the appraiser will NOT get you a higher appraised value...but I am sure you already know this!

Not big into baking? Try a little tip - place a little dab of vanilla extract onto the top of your light bulbs on your lamps and once the lamps are lit for a few minutes it will smell like a something is baking in the oven.

So go ahead and decorate to your hearts content, enjoy the holidays and you may just get yourself a buyer.

Happy Holidays everyone and come on back for more tips during the holidays if you are trying to sell your home during this special time of year.

Photo above provided by www.inmagine.com

Mary Thompson your North Georgia Real Estate Examiner. Click Here

Before you look any further what is your answer? Tell me if you got it right please!

Ok, here is the answer.....NO! (only 1 exception and I will discuss this a bit later)

There is a huge misconception out there that I need to correct. Many people believe that if the appraisal is done for refinance purposes that the appraised value can be and typically is higher than if you appraise the home due to a sale.

If any appraiser tells you that this is true....run far and run fast away from that appraiser!

Here is the bottom line, the MARKET determines value, not the reason for the appraisal. The only exception to this rule is if the client or lender wants what we call a "Fire Sale" value. In other words a value for the property with a shorter marketing period than what is typical for the area.

If your normal marketing time or days on market before the home sells is 120 days and the client wants to know the value of the home with a market time of 60 to 90 days, this affects the end result or value. We have to make an adjustment for marketing time being shortened and this typically lowers the value of the home.

Unless a fire sale value is requested, we should not care as appraisers if it is a sale, refinance, divorce, or estate tax deal. As long as the client has not dictated a marketing time shorter than is typical for the area, the reason is NOT a factor. And just so you know the client cannot dictate that you be conservative or generous on the value due to a divorce or estate tax appraisal, etc. They will certainly try to tell appraisers which way they want the appraisal to go, but this is undue influence and bottom line is these deals can wind up in court and the appraiser better be able to justify his or her numbers based solely upon facts, market conditions etc. and not on what the clients wishes were in this case.

This does bear repeating....the MARKET dictates value. We analyze market conditions, the list prices, the days on market, the seller concessions, listing to sales price ratios, the actual sales prices, etc. Then we reconcile all of these items among others and determine market value for the subject.

Market value for the subject is what we would expect to see on a sales contract. So if we appraise a home for $150,000 and you are considering selling the home, you would list the home above this price to take into account the typical list to sales price ratio for your area.

I hope I have clarified this matter for many.

Happy Halloween!

Mary Thompson, Certified Real Estate Appraiser

I was just blogging on AR about zero comments and why some people seem to be featured over others and BINGO I write a blog about Appraising homes in a Declining Market Appraising in a Declining Market which is my business and I get featured. Thanks to all of you who reposted this blog and to those who subscribed to my blog and of course AR for featuring my blog.

Who knew that sticking to your line of work would get you featured. It seemed that there were so many other posts about everything but the real estate business, that I was beginning to wonder. So I have a new lease of life now....LOL .... I digress.

BIG THANKS GO TO ALL THOSE WHO COMMENTED AND WHO TAUGHT ME SOMETHING. YOU GUYS REALLY NEED AN APPRAISER ON YOUR SIDE TO GIVE YOU THE STRAIGHT SCOOP and I am very happy to be the one to help you out in this regard.

There were many questions about my post. I will continue to post other "insider appraiser" knowledge so that you know what to expect from this point forward. Since appraisals DO affect your business in a vital way you need to be kept up to date on how our business is changing and how it affects Realtors and Consumers. Big changes are on the forefront in 2009....Keep reading please, more good stuff in this post about changes.

Appraising in a Declining Market Just in case you missed it. Please review it as there were alot of good comments and questions.

What struck me was that there were so many of you that were surprised and/or did not know about some of the information that I brought up in my blog, so I wanted to repost MY replies in the hopes that more of you will see this and pass it along to others who may have missed it.

Darla: Correction in the market: is when people have to reduce and sell their homes at the price they were selling in the previous year. So even if they started out at say $150,000 and had to reduce the home to $120,000, but that same home was selling for $120,000 in the previous year, they just went thru a correction in the market, not a decline. Also it is considered Stable in this example. Hope that helps to clarify.

Roxanne: As for foreclosures the loans are usually for rehabbing of these homes and the lenders know the condition upfront. We do indicate what the condition is and any issues with these foreclosed homes in our reports, however, if it is an investment loan, where they plan to renovate and then resell, the lenders typically want a "Subject to (repairs) value rather than an AS-IS value and that is how they have been able to do these type of loans. Hope that answers your question.

Neal: Yes, in that situation an appraiser needs to make an adjustment for MARKET conditions, if they feel that the homes are declining that fast from contract to closing.

A couple of comments I would like to address: "Declining market appraisals becoming a self fulfilling prophecyin certain markets". Appraisals do not drive the values, the market drives us to determine values, so our process only reflects what is happening in the market, not the other way around

As for appraisers making the NUMBERS work....This is BAD, BAD, BAD, this is part of what got us in this mess to begin with, appraisers who just appraised to the sales price or estimated value amount and did not appraise based upon what the market would really bear for that property. So if you ever come across an appraiser who says, what number do you need to make it work....watch out! That is all I will say on that subject.

As for short sales, it really boils down to what the lender is asking of us on our opinion of value. We look at the terms of the loan in our appraisal process, but bottom line is if they want a true opinion of value as opposed to a "fire sale" value, this is what we will provide and advise them of the current market conditions in the process. If they want a fire sale value, then we adjust for this and that means the value is going to be lower as they want a value based upon a quick sale of the property.

I do think that banks are getting used to declining markets in their loan process, but usually at least here, you still have to have more money down or the loan to value ratio has to be lower in order to get a loan in a defined declining market.

Most of the counties in Georgia at one time were defined by the banks and powers that be as a declining market and some lenders were trying to force the issue with us to mark all of our appraisals in these counties as declining. There lies the problem, the banks telling the appraisers what to do as they have in the past with pushing us for values. How can an out of state bank know which areas are declining and which are not? As it turns out in our area, it can get as specific as neighborhoods that are declining and others that are not. So the appraiser must really know the area and review the sales and listing thoroughly to determine if they are dealing with a declining market

***If you have an appraiser coming from another part of town or different county to appraise a property, you need to make sure they are very familiar with that area and many times they are not, so the value could be flawed!

As for people getting appraisals BEFORE they make an offer, we see that more and more and I think it is an excellent idea to protect yourself. We are seeing buyers and sellers get appraisals before they list or purchase. Smart move!

Many of you may want to revisit my post on the new HVCC regulation (link below) they are working on that will come into effect in 2009, assuming it passes and it looks like it will in some form or another, which can impact your business and will impact the appraisal process greatly.

HVCC-will-affect-YOUR-business

As for buyers wanting appraisals ahead of time, well the HVCC will affect this. The lender will likely need a new report anyway as they will not be able to use one that a buyer brings to them any longer. As for buyers getting them just for their own purposes they can certainly continue do this. If it kills the deal, I am sorry, but the buyer is just being prudent and smart and protecting his potential investment in the property. When acting as a buyers agent, I would assume Realtors would want their buyers protected?

Eva: Sounds good to me. Laminate away (my post and give it to clients)

Joshua: Thanks! The market has always played a role or at least is should have! The market is what defines and determines the property values. Every thing we do is based upon market conditions. Underwriters continue to surprise me, some are by the book procedural fanatics and request things that clearly are not needed or do not apply in various markets and others could care less about the appraisal report, which is scary, but sometimes the underwriters are working in the production side of the bank and that should be outlawed!

On my next post I will include some of the data on the appraisal reports and how we address each section of the report when it comes to evaluating property and the adjustments we make for various items. Realtors always ask me what kind of adjustments I give for basements, pool, baths, garages, etc. TIP: The answer will not be the same across the board, but I will tell you why this is and it should help you in the future to determine how we make our all important adjustments.

Thanks again for all your very nice comments on my featured post and I am so glad to be of assitance to you now and in the future.