Dothan Real Estate Market Update – June

The year is half way over, and that gives us a good opportunity to analyze the market and compare it to previous years. It is worth noting that 2004, 2005, and 2006 were successive record years for real estate sales in Dothan. Let’s first look at the numbers, then discuss what they mean.

There are several conclusions that can reasonably be drawn from this data when comparing 2007 to 2006 year-to-date.

1 Inventory (homes on the market for sale) is way up. June 2007 inventory is up 50% over June 2006
2 Average market time has increased by three weeks, from 101 days to 122 days
3 Overall sales are virtually the same in both units and total volume in the first half of 2007 compared to the same period in 2006.

For home sellers, the good news is statistics show that there are just about as many buyers as there were in 2006, which was a record year for home sales in Dothan. The bad news; you have more competition for those buyers than at any time in the past five years. Our best advice is to not live in the past. Even though your neighbor had multiple full price offers within a couple of weeks of listing his home a year and a half ago, the odds are you aren’t going to be so lucky.

If you are looking to buy a home soon, or are currently looking, the good news is there are more choices in most price ranges than there has been at any time in the last four or five years. The bad news (or maybe not so good news is better) is there are still a lot of buyers looking, so the houses that are priced right are still selling fairly quickly.

The best thing you can do whether you are buying or selling is to work with a real estate professional that is in the market everyday and knows what is going on.

Market Stats for May

Current Trends

- Year-to-date sales are almost identical to last years numbers. Inventory has almost doubled however.

- Median price is considerable higher year-to-date when compared to 2006 and list to sell price ratio is virtually unchanged. In other words, steadily rising inventory has yet to hurt a home sellers ability to get the price they want.

-  Inventory is at or near a five year high, but the last time the inventory was this high, the days on market was closer to 150 days. That hasn’t happened yet, but days on market and median price are usually two factors that adjust right along with rising inventory.

Dothan Lives on YouTube

I have to say I was somewhat suprised when someone sent me this link to a YouTube video about Dothan. It’s a Chamber of Commerce type production, but still provides some good insight into what the Dothan area is about and has to offer.

Enjoy!

Finally, A Fourth of July Celebration in Dothan

I remember years ago when there was a Fourth of July Fireworks show every year at Northside Mall. I don’t remember the last year that was held, but I am sure it has been at least 10 – 15 years since Dothan has had a community wide fireworks display for Independence Day. This July 4th all that will change.

 The Kiwanis Club of Dothan will be the proud sponsor of the Family 4th Celebration this year in the City of Dothan. Events will include a Kids Zone, car and motorcycle show, arts and crafts plus numerous food vendors. Once it gets dark, the fireworks show, appropriately named Red, White, and BOOM! will kick off.

 Make plans to attend. Watch for updates here or on the Family 4th Celebration website so you will know where to buy advanced tickets. All proceeds that the Kiwanis Club takes in are put back into the community.

Market Stats for April

Current Trends

1- March and April have both represented a “leveling off” of the market, with the number of homes on the market and the number of homes sold holding steady. The first four months of 2007 are almost exactly where the first four months of 2006 were in terms of number of sales closed.

2- Time on the market has increase by a couple of weeks since early 2006.

3-Through the first four months of 2006, the market was up almost 10% over 2005. Based on the above and the slow down in new home starts, the Wiregrass seems to be well into a housing sales slowdown.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Home Seller,

{A special thanks to Maureen Francis and her real estate blog covering Oakland County, Michigan for the idea for this category. Maureen has a lot of good information on not only real estate in her area, but the overall market as well.}

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Home Seller,

While studying the 2006 National Association of REALTORS Profile of Homebuyers and Sellers and trying to determine from said profile where is the best place to spend our marketing and advertising funds to find a buyer for your home, it occured to me that you may not be aware of what forms of advertising work toward this goal and what doesn’t.

First, a little background on the survey. Each year, the National Association of REALTORS surveys consumers who have bought a home over the previous 12 month period. The questionnaire includes items that relate to home selling as well, so consumers who have bought and sold answer questions related to both transactions. The results are tabulating and shared with professional REALTORS to help them better serve their clients and customers.

One of the biggest shifts in the real estate industry in recent years has to do with where a buyer ‘finds’ the home they end up purchasing. I think you would agree that the answer to this question should be the bottom line as to where an agent or company should be spending their money to find a buyer for your property. After all, you are hiring us to do a job, and do it as quickly as possible, so do you want us spending time and money on advertising that most likely is not going to result in a buyer for your home?

The top three ways a buyer found the home they purchased and the percentage that used this method were:
1) From a real estate agent – 36%
2) From the Internet – 24%
3) Yard sign – 15%

As you can see, a total of 75% of all homebuyers found they home they bought through one of these methods. I know you are wondering where advertising such as the real estate section of the newspaper and the different real estate magazines falls on this list. Well, a grand total of 6% of buyers found their home using this type of advertising. More buyers found their new home by talking with a friend or relative (8%) than these forms of advertising. Open houses did not even make the list.

So if advertising in the newspaper and holding an open house is not going to sell your home, why do we do them? Excellent question, and there are a couple of answers. First, it makes our phone ring, which allows us to talk with buyers, which gives us the opportunity to work with them to find a home, which gives us a chance to promote your home to these buyers. Second, we do these things because we have done a poor job of educating you on the very statistics I have listed above.

Rest assured Mr. and Mrs. Seller that we will do everything in our power to sell your property. After all, we don’t get paid until we do. And we will continue to use the newspaper and real estate magazines because they make the phone ring. Just remember, it is the ad and the subsequent phone call or website visit that will more than likely generate the a buyer for your home, not the fact that the information on your home is in the ad itself. It is the effort we as your agent put into capturing buyers and showcasing your home on the Internet that will ultimately sell your home.

Top Six Things Every First-time Homebuyer Should Do

Here are the top six things you should do when you are in the market to buy your first home, in no particular order.

1) Ask Questions
The more questions  you ask your family, friends, mortgage broker, real estate agent, etc., the more informed and educated you will be. Use the experience of the people in your life that mean the most to you to your advantage. One caveat however; don’t let friends or family become involved in the process. You need their wisdom, but you also need to do this on your own.

2) Work with a real estate professional
There will not be a better source of information specific to the real estate transaction than an agent that works in the market everyday. Try to find one that specializes in working with first-time homebuyers, or at a minimum works with these buyers on a regular basis.

3) Be realistic
You are not going to find everything you want to have and even if you do you are not going to get it at $20,000 below market value. Look for a home that is below your top price and has maybe 90% of the things you want, then be prepared to pay market value for it. Even folks that build a home will tell you if they had to do it over again, there are some things they would change.

4) Think about resale
The average family/person moves every seven or so years. The likelihood of you spending the rest of your life in this first home is probably close to zero. You need to consider this ahead of time and look for features that appeal to the masses (for resale) when you are home shopping. It is easy to personalize your home to your tastes with decor and amenities, but when you get ready to sell in a few years it may be hard to convince potential buyers of the benefits of having the laundry hook-ups next to the fireplace.

5) Don’t look until you are ready to buy
It causes nothing but heartache when you start looking before you are ready and find your dream home, only to lose it to another buyer because you have to finish your lease first. Get pre-approved and work with your real estate agent to determine, based on market conditions and such, when you need to start looking.

6) Get pre-approved BEFORE you do ANY looking
Ok, so you think you have a good idea of what you can afford. You start looking and find a house you really like, then you find out it is $25,000 more than you can spend. What then? Not only have you lost a home you really liked, but you will compare every single home you look at from then on to that home you weren’t able to buy. Talk about setting yourself up for disappointment.

Buying that first home should be one of the most enjoyable and memorable processes of your life. Follow these simple rules to make sure.

County Commission Chairman Speaks at Luncheon

The Dothan Association of REALTORS was honored to have Houston County Commission Chairman Mark Culver at our April Membership Luncheon yesterday. Mr. Culver talked about several issues that the county is working on.

The expansion of Brannon Stand Road (see map below) to five lanes as well as the replacement of the bridge near Highlands Elementary School is a priority, according to Chairman Culver. The replacement of the bridge is schedule to start in the summer of 2008 once school is dismissed. Chairman Culver stated that the goal was to perform this replacement while school was out and bid it out as a 24-hour contract, which means work would continue around the clock until completion. He also said that there is a possibility of building a temporary bridge so a detour will not be necessary. For those that know this area, there is no easy detour around if this bridge is closed.

Once the bridge replacement is completed, work would then likely start on improving intersections along the route, including Brannon Stand Road at Fortner Street and Brannon Stand at Trawick Road. Improvement would include the addition of turn lanes and traffic signals. Hopefully, according to Chairman Culver, the widening of the road from West Main Street (Hwy 84 West) to Hwy 52 West will be ready to begin in 2009. He commented that this project has become necessary because all the development that has taken place has pushed the traffic count on some sections of this road to over 10,000 vehicles per day.

Another project upcoming on the south side of Dothan will lengthen Taylor Road from County Road 203 (Campbellton Hwy) over to South Oates Street (Hwy 231 South). This would help eliminate the extremely dangerous intersection currently used at County Road 203 and South Oates (Hwy 231 South).

Dothan Planning Commission meeting – April

Interesting developments at this month’s Planning Commission included the approval of three new subdivisions. Tuscany Village, zoned GH for garden homes, will be built in the 500 block of Hatton Road and include 24 lots. You can find a map here (#3 on map).  Bethlehem Crossing will be built in the 1000 block of Bethlehem Road and include between 150 and 200 lots. Deland Place Subdivision, located at the intersection of McCallister and Forrester Roads in south Dothan, was also approved.

There was also a long discussion regarding the rezoning of 1.317 acres adjacent to Princeton Place Apartments. The developer/property owner is looking to build townhouses on this parcel, and there was great opposition from the homeowers in Williamsburg Place next door. Evidently these homeowners got their point across because the attempt to rezone failed for lack of a motion.

A former member of this commission, who was recognized at last month’s meeting, made a statement that I thought was very informative. He stated that all the easy planning has been done, and the commission is now facing increasingly difficult decisions every month. There’s a lot of truth in that statement.

Interesting Links

Links to interesting articles and information that is real estate related or that will have a direct impact on the real estate market, mostly concerning Dothan and the Wiregrass

One Family in northeast Alabama fights back against urban sprawl - Forest Haven amid sprawl

Envision Dothan – regular updates on planning for the future of our area

Massive residential and retail development being looked at in Shelby County – Panel to debate Chimney Rock master plan