Adairsville, GA Real Estate

What an opportunity to buy an adorable 3 beroom, 2 1/2 bath cottage!  The George Street Cottages in Adairsville, GA are currently listed as short sales which means they could be a great deal for you.  These homes were built in 2006 and feature 1 car garages.  The master bedroom is on the main and the homes include gas heat, fireplace, formal dining room, and breakfast bar.  These homes reside in the city limits of Adairsville which make them easy acces to I-75 and the city schools.  They have an Old English cottage feel with all of the craftsman style amenities. 

2 Georgian Circle, 3 Georgian Circle, 5 Georgian Circle, 7 Georgian Circle, 13 Georgian Circle, and 16 Georgian Circle are being offered for $94,850.  Don’t miss out on this great opportunity!

For more information or for directions, call our office at (770) 606-0054 or visit our listings at www.mullinaxteam.com/properties

Since its inception in 1935, the Federal Housing Administration, or FHA, as it is commonly called, was intended to provide affordable loan programs to homebuyers. These consumers were mainly underserved American families. FHA was created by President Roosevelt. During tough times or otherwise, FHA has always been considered a good financing option for consumers during tough times, especially, FHA historically has been good for Americans and good for our mortgage markets in the USA. Earlier this week HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan testified before the US House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services. He explained how FHA has helped the housing market and the US economy begin recovery. This year alone, more than 75% of FHA’s purchase loans have been first time homebuyers. FHA, he testified, is the leader in helping minorities purchase homes. FHA has always been consumer friendly. For example, in the past, credit scores were not important. The agency was very flexible with a borrower’s credit history. Up until the fall of 2008, down payment could even be financed rendering a borrower’s cash out of pocket to virtually zero in many cases. Based on Secretary Donovan’s testimony, it appears several changes are in the works for FHA. Regrettably, these expected changes won’t be very homebuyer friendly. This is my opinion after 21 years of originating home loans.

At some point in the near future, FHA is expected to reduce the amount of money a seller may contribute to a transaction from 6% to 3%. This means many homebuyers in lower price ranges will not only need a down payment but also will have to pay a significant amount of their transactional costs. So, a homebuyer’s cash investment is going to increase. The current 3.5% down payment is expected to increase, though just how much is not known as yet. FHA is also considering increasing the up front mortgage insurance premium which currently is at 1.75%. By doing so, HUD raises capital in order to protect against future uncertainty in the market. Finally, an increase in minimum credit scores is almost certain. Currently most lenders require a borrower to have a middle score of 620. Before long, that score is most likely going to be 640. So, it appears FHA loans will not go away but will become more stringent for a homebuyer. Good news and bad news.

The wisest and best action for a prospective homebuyer is to prepare properly for buying a home, and that means safeguarding credit and saving money.

Post courtesy of Rena Rogers with Pine State Mortgage Corp.

12/3/09-12/5/09 Las Vegas, NV

We joined 180 of the top real estate professionals across the US and Canada to discuss the trends in the current real estate market.  It was a great time of networking, sharing ideas and learning what has been succesful.  Discussions were focused on the state of the real estate economy, the short sale and foreclosure markets, as well as staying abreast of social media marketing.

GREAT LOCATION! CLOSE TO I-75 w/EASY ACESS.  3 BEDROOMS, 3 BATHS, BEAUTIFUL HARDWOOD FLOORS IN KITCHEN w/LARGE DINING AREA. THE BASEMENT IS EXPANSIVE & COMPLETELY FINISHED w/BED, BATH & LARGE RECREATION ROOM, PLUS OFFICE OR 4^TH BEDROOM. WHAT A BUY IN THE REMINGTON OAKS SUBDIVISION!

TOO PERFECT TO DESCRIBE!! 6 BEDROOMS, 5 FULL BATHS, 2 HALF BATHS, BANQUET SIZE DINING, GOURMET KIT W/KEEPING RM,MASTER STE W/SITTING AREA,MORNING RM, & FRENCH DOORS TO UPPER TERRACE,HIS/HER CLOSETS, UPSTAIRS BONUS,FIN TERRACE W/BR,1.5 BAs,KITCHENETTE,HOME THEATRE,INGROUND POOL,INTERCOM SYS,APPROX 600’ OF ETOWAH RIVER FRONTAGE,WiFi ACCESS,AN ELECTRONIC PARADISE!  CURRENTLY LISTED AT $2,300,000.

Bonnie Mullinax of Keller Williams Northwest

launches website and marketing plan specific to homeowners facing

foreclosure hardship in the Bartow/Cobb real estate market

Cartersville, GA— Bonnie Mullinax of Keller Williams Northwest, a Cobb/Bartow County real estate specialist, has developed a marketing strategy and website that is focused on assisting distressed homeowners find information and investigate options to avoid the foreclosure process. As an expert in foreclosures and short sales, a real estate transaction option that banks will consider instead of foreclosure with specific guidelines, Mullinax is determined to provide essential knowledge to homeowners in Bartow and Cobb County facing this unfortunate circumstance. Read the rest of this entry »

The NEW (up to) $8000 Tax Credit is for purchases between January 1, 2009 and November 30, 2009.

Expanded Tax Break Available for 2009 First-Time Homebuyers Expanded Tax Break Available for 2009 First-Time Homebuyers IR-2009-14, Feb. 25, 2009 WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service announced today that taxpayers who qualify for the first-time homebuyer credit and purchase a home this year before Dec. 1 have a special option available for claiming the tax credit either on their 2008 tax returns due April 15 or on their 2009 tax returns next year.

Qualifying taxpayers who buy a home this year before Dec. 1 can get up to $8,000, or $4,000 for married filing separately.

“For first-time homebuyers this year, this special feature can put money in their pockets right now rather than waiting another year to claim the tax credit,” said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman.

“This important change gives qualifying homebuyers cash they do not have to pay back.”

The IRS has posted a revised version of Form 5405, First-Time Homebuyer Credit, on IRS.gov. The revised form incorporates provisions from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The instructions to the revised Form 5405 provide additional information on who can and cannot claim the credit, income limitations and repayment of the credit.

This year, qualifying taxpayers who buy a home before Dec. 1, 2009, can claim the credit on either their 2008 or 2009 tax returns. They do not have to repay the credit, provided the home remains their main home for

36 months after the purchase date. They can claim 10 percent of the purchase price up to $8,000, or $4,000 for married individuals filing separately.

The amount of the credit begins to phase out for taxpayers whose adjusted gross income is more than $75,000, or $150,000 for joint filers.

For purposes of the credit, you are considered to be a first-time homebuyer if you, and your spouse if you are married, did not own any other main home during the three-year period ending on the date of purchase.

The IRS also alerted taxpayers that the new law does not affect people who purchased a home after April 8, 2008, and on or before Dec. 31, 2008. For these taxpayers who are claiming the credit on their 2008 tax returns, the maximum credit remains 10 percent of the purchase price, up to $7,500, or $3,750 for married individuals filing separately. In addition, the credit for these 2008 purchases must be repaid in 15 equal installments over 15 years, beginning with the 2010 tax year.

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=204672,00.html

 For more information on the tax break in the Bartow County area, contact our local Pine State Mortgage Lender, Steve Duvall or Rena Rogers at 770.382.4504 or visit the website at www.pinestate.com

Question: We have a number of vacant homes in our homeowner association. Does the HOA have a responsibility to secure and protect them?

Answer: This is more of an issue in HOAs that have attached or common wall housing like condominiums and townhomes. Most of the damage to vacant units is caused by rodents, freezing pipes that cause flooding, and vandalism. An unheated unit could have pipes freeze which causes flooding to it and neighboring units. This could be disastrous in a high rise condominium.

Controlling the freezing issue is extremely important in units vacant for long periods of time. While most HOAs have the legal right to have access to vacant units for emergencies, the HOA needs to pre-plan by being aware of specific units which are vacant and know whether they are abandoned or merely temporarily vacant.

If a unit has been abandoned due to foreclosure, the HOA should take proactive measures to ensure that the unit is winterized (pipes, toilets and hot water heater drained). Beyond that, the HOA is not responsible to damage the unit interior may suffer due to extended vacancy. Abandoned units are usually in some stage of foreclosure, so at some point a lender will take measures to secure and protect their collateral. Until then, the HOA needs to do what is necessary to protect neighboring units.

Question: Our governing documents are over 20 years old and outdated. What process should we use to bring them up to date?

Answer: You should always use a knowledgeable HOA attorney when amending documents to ensure they comply with proper form, current statutes and get properly recorded. Amendments to the governing documents require an appropriate vote (as defined by the governing documents) of the members which varies sometimes depending on the type of amendment. In other words, some amendments may require a larger or smaller number of “yes” votes. If you plan many or some sweeping changes, break out the individual amendments and vote on them individually.

Question: Do you have information regarding the Americans with Disability Act and its affect on HOAs?

Answer: In general, HOAs are required to provide “reasonable accommodations” to persons with verified (like a doctor’s letter) disabilities. That means the board needs to allow necessary installations like ramps to a unit or reassign HOA controlled parking spaces to disabled residents for easier access to their unit. The HOA is not required to pay for these installations and can require reasonable quality standards.

That said, if a majority or sizeable number of members have disabilities (like many senior residents who can’t climb stairs), it is certainly permissible to have the HOA pay for and maintain commonly used ramps, handrails and other installations which many would use.

Question: We recently received notice of a $300 special assessment which is due in 30 days. This special assessment was necessary due to a number of foreclosures that made some past due accounts uncollectible. Why should the other members have to pay for this?

Answer: You are describing a fundamental reality of HOA living: If all members don’t pay their fair share, the rest have to fill the gap. That is why it is so critically important to have an aggressive collection policy that includes filing liens to protect the HOA’s interests. “Aggressive” means that any amount that is at least 10 days past due should receive a late notice and late fee. Any 30 days past due, should receive a 10 day notice to pay or the matter will be turned over to an attorney for collection. All legal and collection costs should be charged to the delinquent owner. There are other important collection considerations.

For more innovative homeowner association management strategies, see Regenesis.net.

Written by Richard Thompson

No matter the market, capitalizing on industry knowledge has always been a major ingredient to overall business success. For builders looking to better understand the real estate market, they should take note of a new report by the Urban Land Institute. According to the “Emerging Trends in Real Estate® 2009″ report, released by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, real estate industry experts expect financial and real estate markets in the United States to bottom in 2009 and then flounder for much of 2010, with ongoing drops in property values, more foreclosures and delinquencies, and a limping economy that will continue to crimp property cash flows,

“Commercial real estate faces its worst year since the wrenching 1991-1992 industry depression,” conclude industry experts interviewed for the report, which projects losses of 15 percent to 20 percent in real estate values from the mid-2007 peak. “Only when property financing gets restructured will pricing recorrect so we can find the floor; and this transition could wipe out companies and people,” said one respondent interviewed for the report.

In general, interviewees believe that financial institutions will continue to be pressured into moving bad loans off balance sheets, using auctions to speed up the process. Investors will be discouraged until the “bloodletting’ is over, states the report. When that occurs, cash and low-leverage buyers will be “king;” surviving banks will impose strict lending guidelines; commercial mortgage-backed securities will revive, but in a more regulated form; and opportunity funds will need new investment models.

“The industry is facing multiple disconnects,” said ULI Senior Resident Fellow for Real Estate Finance Stephen Blank. “Many property owners are drowning in debt, lenders are not lending, and for many (industry professionals), property income flows are declining. There is an unprecedented avoidance of risk. Only when financing gets restructured will pricing reconcile, giving the industry a point from which to start digging out of this hole.”

“The cyclical real estate markets always comes back, and they will this time too, but not anytime soon,” said Tim Conlon, partner and U.S. real estate sector leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers. “Commercial real estate was the last to leave the party, will feel the pain in 2009, and may be the last to recover. In the meantime, smart investors are going to hunker down and manage through these tough times. We expect to see patient, disciplined, long-term investors rewarded, and return to a back to basics approach to property management, underwriting and deal structure.”

Distress in the housing market is benefiting the apartment market, which the report lists as the number-one “buy.” Moderate-income apartments in core urban markets near mass transit offer the best buy, a trend that carried over from the previous year.

The report acknowledges that commercial markets will recover more quickly than most housing markets, and homebuilders may have to sell land tracts for “cents on the dollar” or face foreclosure on their holdings, adding to the already high rate of mortgage defaults and foreclosures.

One silver lining: Interviewees agreed that eventually, savvy investors will be able to cash in on the inevitable recovery, which some see occurring as early as 2010. “Money will be made on riding markets back to recovery and releasing properties, not on…financing structures,” finds the report.

Before a rebound, Emerging Trends says the following needs to happen:

 
• Private real estate markets need to correct – lenders must force distressed owners to become motivated sellers. 
• Debt capital needs to flow – lenders will need to learn to deal in a more stringent regulatory landscape. The commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) market must “reformulate.”  Regulators need to restore confidence in the securities market. The government will insert itself into overseeing mortgage securitization markets. Systemic overhaul promises more measured debt flow. 
• The economy needs to improve. Falling demand for space won’t affect real estate markets severely until 2009.

The Report also offered these tips for what to do in 2009:

 
• Recap distressed borrowers – invest in maturity defaults, construction loans/bridge loans, or take mezzanine positions and equity stakes in properties. 
• Focus on global pathway markets – 24-hour coastal cities. 
• Staff up asset managers, leasing pros and workout specialists. Separate good assets from bad. 
• Retrench on development and reorient to mixed-use and infill. Higher-density residential with retail will gain favor in next round of building.  Go green – cutting energy expenses is likely to be a priority. 
• Buy or hold multi-family; hold office; hold hotels; buy residential building lots, but be prepared to hold. 
• Purchase distressed condos in urban areas near transit.

Lastly, the Report listed a number of markets to watch in 2009. Here’s a look at the Report’s Top 5 Markets:

 
• Seattle boasts its “corporate giants,” but the market braces for rising downtown office vacancies; now at 10 percent. Tepid job growth will flatten rental rates. Housing demand drops and prices will slip, but stay above national averages. Interviewees rate the market a strong “buy” for apartments, and the “number-one buy” among industrials is the Puget Sound ports. 
• San Francisco offers a Pacific gateway and a high quality of life with a well-diversified economy. The city ranks first for development and homebuilding, and is a leading “buy” city for apartments and office. Even though housing prices are expected to decline, foreclosures should remain in check, the report notes. 
• Washington is the “ultimate hold market when the economy struggles.” Downtown office vacancies should remain below 10 percent, and apartments lease “no matter what.” The above-average employment outlook offers promise for the retail sector, the report says. Still, office vacancies continue to soar in northern Virginia, and further declines in condominium and home prices can be expected. 
• New York takes a beating with the Wall Street “implosion” creating job losses and office vacancies. Hotels should continue to draw tourists with the weak dollar. Retail frenzy ends, but the wealthy keep Madison Avenue boutiques alive. With the condo/coop market at a “crest,” developers “should worry about flagging buyer demand,” the report notes. 
• Los Angeles downtown benefits from condo/apartment projects. “It’s almost impossible to lose money on apartment investments if you have a five- or 10-year investment horizon,” notes one respondent. Hotels benefit from global pathway location. One downside — homebuilders in San Bernardino and Riverside continue to grapple with the housing collapse.

Rounding out the top ten markets to watch:

 
• Houston. Stays relatively strong as long as energy stays hot. It makes the top ten for the first time since 1995. Office vacancies drop to 10 percent, “a good buy opportunity,” but apartments soften. Cheap land results in cheap housing, and prices have not gone up dramatically. 
• Boston. Job outlook is more favorable than most cities, with office space “tight” in the Financial District and the Back Bay area. New “harborside hotels threaten older product.” 
• Denver. The state capital has a major federal government presence, which should buffer job losses. Steady population growth and broadening diversification of the industry keeps the housing market stable. Mass transit should pay future dividends. 
• Dallas. Compares favorably to other “hot-growth” markets. Although office vacancies downtown are 20 percent or higher, apartments do well and developers keep building single-family homes. 
• Chicago. Apartments do well, but condos weaken as speculators leave the market. Office vacancies are in the low teens, and O’Hare International Airport keeps industrial space in the “global pathway.”

While most of the findings in the ULI Report were unfavorable, there were ’silver linings’ mentioned. For builders looking to seek competitive advantages, possessing the best knowledge available about the industry should help the process lead to greater success.

[Note: Now in its 30th year, Emerging Trends is a highly regarded annual industry outlook for the real estate and land use industry and includes interviews and survey responses from more than 600 leading real estate experts, including investors, developers, property company representatives, lenders, brokers and consultants.]

Written by Peter L. Mosca

Those jumbo loans that came with lower interest rates and smaller down payments may disappear any day now.

The Federal Housing Administration, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac earlier this year announced eased underwriting standards for so-called “conforming jumbo loans” of up to $729,750 through December 31, 2008, thanks to a mandate by the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008.

Recently, however, all three agencies said they would roll back that temporary limit to $625,500 in 2009.

Many lenders won’t wait for 2009 to roll back the limit, but will soon start, if they haven’t already, to apply eased underwriting standards only to the new, lower loan level. Eased underwriting standards included lower interest rates and smaller down payments than those typically associated with so called “jumbo loans” before the stimulus act.

Beginning in January, the FHA will insure single-family home mortgages up to $271,050 in low cost areas and up to a maximum of $625,500 in high cost areas of Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The new $625,500 maximum, however, represents a significant increase over the $362,790 limit that was in effect prior to the stimulus package, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Affairs (HUD) .

According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (formerly the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight — OFHEO), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will retain their $417,000 conforming loan limit for conventional loans, lower the temporary conforming jumbo limit of $729,750 to $625,500 for certain higher cost cities and counties and a set the maximum loan limit to $721,050, but only for Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

On the endangered species list in the mortgage world, $729,750 “conforming jumbo loans” experienced mixed reviews from risk averse lenders who never fully embraced the loans. Lenders buried under foreclosures, barely opened the doors to offer the loans until months after they were available. The larger the loan the greater the risk. The riskier the loan, the tougher it is for a home buyer to get the mortgage approved.

It wasn’t until months after they were allowed, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced they would purchase the larger conforming loans with the same requirements they use to purchase loans at the old conforming loan level.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had also reduced down payment requirements on some loans to as little as 3 percent down. And new FHA loan plans with higher limits also helped put more big loan mortgage money on the market.

But as the economy sank into recession, the jumbo conforming loan at the $729,750 level never really managed a strong toehold.

“In today’s environment where access to credit is being restricted, we need to make mortgage loans readily available to households throughout the country, and especially in high-cost areas,” said HUD spokesman Steve Preston.

“These new loan limits will ensure FHA can to continue help struggling homeowners refinance into safe, affordable government-insured loans, and allow many first-time buyers take advantage of today’s buyers market,” he added.

Written by Broderick Perkins