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To all who think that THEIR homes have not lost value in this crisis...please let me inform you. YES THEY HAVE.
Recently, I posted a link for Mecklenburg county whereby you could do an analysis of your home's value. I don't know if the surrounding counties have the same tool available. What this does is tells you how many foreclosures are in your area. (evidenced by the "0" sales price). If there are any true sales, that will give you an idea of what your home's value is.
Now, this is very simplistic and certainly not a thorough nor ultra-accurate form of home appraisal, but, it does give you an idea. Remember, you could have put $$$ of improvements in your house, have granite everywhere, top of the line heating system...none of that matters if there are 4 foreclosures in your area (like there are in mine). I know all of the arguments. That does not make sense. I did everything right. Yes, you did. But, for those that didn't...for whatever reason...THEIR foreclosure or short sale is destroying YOUR value. And, that is the way it is. Just as an FYI, that is why the gov't is pushing so hard to stop the tide of foreclosures. That really DOES help those of us that have always done everything right by keeping our values at a more realistic/reasonable level.
I say all of this in the event that you receive a letter in the mail saying that your equity line of credit is reduced or suspended due to lower property values. I don't want you to be surprised about that if you keep a check on the market. An HONEST check. Not the arrogant, MY-HOUSE-HAS-NOT-LOST-ANY-VALUE type. I know those very well and they are very annoying. Nobody is in a bubble here. I could tell you stories that would curl your hair.
Another thing that you would want to do: petition your HOAs. Ensure that they don't initiate any foreclosures due to non-payment of dues anytime soon. None of us need/want another hit on our property values!!
Just as an example that I am serious. I had a client today who lives in Cotswald. For the newcomers, that is a very nice, old neighbourhood; the homes are lovely and stately. He was complaining that his property value had fallen by 50%. Would not listen to any explanations. Once he hung up the phone I found out why. The only sales in his neighbourhood since Jan were 4 foreclosures. I only wish that I had pulled that information up while I had him on the phone. His property value had most likely (truly) dropped that much and may fall even more if this trend continues.
My home value went up 3% this quarter according to Zillow (not that I care or trust it).
No foreclosures in my neighborhood, although there are 4 on the market, owners are saying activity is brisk.
I don't have an equity loan so I have no idea about that - I hope to pay off our home in the next 10 years.
VERY hard to believe Cotswold has fallen 50% - I will look into that Monday.
A nice big lot (.5-2 acre) with a short commute to downtown, seems like a serious buying opportunity to me.
If I can buy a house near Cotswold off Providence for 50% off what I looked at 2-3 years ago I will buy two or three.
I do not think things are as dark as you paint, you must be a realtor who mainly works outside Hwy 51 (being hit particularly hard).
Honestly we are shopping investment property.
My home value went up 3% this quarter according to Zillow (not that I care or trust it).
No foreclosures in my neighborhood, although there are 4 on the market, owners are saying activity is brisk.
I don't have an equity loan so I have no idea about that - I hope to pay off our home in the next 10 years.
Hard to believe Cotswold has fallen 50% - I will look into that Monday.
Seems like a buying opportunity for us.
I do not think things are as dark as you paint, you must be a realtor.
Honestly we are shopping investment property.
No, a mortgage underwriter. I see this daily and talk to people whose houses have depleted in value every day. People don't understand or believe me. Even when we get the full appraisals in, many times, those values are 95% even lower than the electronic values that were pulled which showed the initial drop in value.
Not all of Cotswald may have dropped, but, this particular part did. I don't remember where in Cotswald.
I just feel sorry for people and want them to take a realistic view on their property so I don't have to have heart-wrenching talks with them down the road to say..."no, sir, there is no more equity in your home and I am sorry that I cannot give you a loan despite the fact that you just had a heart attack and cannot work and need this money to live on until you get back on your feet"... My heart has gotten too soft, I think.
Yes, there are great deals to be had out there. A house in my neighbourhood (U/C) just sold for about $75k under foreclosure. That is less than what it cost to build it in 1989. You just have to look for them.
Oh, and BTW, zillow can't keep up with the foreclosures. They used to be accurate, not anymore. Try the market analysis tool on the Real Estate Lookup for good information.
I checked out my house using the tool you had posted and we have had no foreclosures anywhere around us. I even checked back to 2007. I knew we had not heard of any and none that I suspected were foreclosures. We are inside 51 off Carmel. I think most of the homes in neighborhoods like mine (older) are not as susceptible to foreclosures as the newer neighborhoods, b/c these older neighborhoods usually attract a different type of buyer - conservative and less young families. We do have kids in our neighborhood but not as many as most newer neighborhoods. We also have several retirees as well as empty nesters. Most owners have been here 10 plus years - and doubtful we have many people who got subprime loans or ALT A loans. If a person bought b/f 2000, those loans were not being pushed so much then. Plus, if you have owned your home 10 years or more, no way you are upside down on a loan, even if the values have dropped.
I am very surprised to hear about foreclosures in Cotswold. Are those actually in Costwold or the periphery?
I checked out my house using the tool you had posted and we have had no foreclosures anywhere around us. I even checked back to 2007. I knew we had not heard of any and none that I suspected were foreclosures. We are inside 51 off Carmel. I think most of the homes in neighborhoods like mine (older) are not as susceptible to foreclosures as the newer neighborhoods, b/c these older neighborhoods usually attract a different type of buyer - conservative and less young families. We do have kids in our neighborhood but not as many as most newer neighborhoods. We also have several retirees as well as empty nesters. Most owners have been here 10 plus years - and doubtful we have many people who got subprime loans or ALT A loans. If a person bought b/f 2000, those loans were not being pushed so much then. Plus, if you have owned your home 10 years or more, no way you are upside down on a loan, even if the values have dropped.
I am very surprised to hear about foreclosures in Cotswold. Are those actually in Costwold or the periphery?
The gentleman stated that it was in Cotswald. It had a zip code of 28211. I don't know the area that well to determine WHERE it was. He stated that he had lived in his house for 20+ years. I just had to say.."I'm so sorry,sir".
Ani, great news. But, keep watch. NO ONE IS IMMUNE. I have seen these serious drops in value across the country; million dollar homes as well as the lower dollar amounts. In fact, lately, it has been the higher-dollar homes that have caught my attention...some dropping 57-60%. People will argue with you, complain, but, this is the way that it is.
I just don't want to ever have another conversation like I had earlier today telling this poor man that there was nothing that I could do to help him...and he really needed the money, just having suffered a heart attack. I will probably dream about him for some time to come. He was in FL, not NC, but, still...I don't want any of my C/D friends to suffer the same fate or anything similar....
One more thing, Ani...these foreclosures are not limited to Alt A or subprime loans. They are also basic HUD or FHA loans, older folks, younger folks, there is no discrimination....and no particular type of neighbourhood. One lady I spoke with lived near to Wesley Chapel and had owned her property for many years....her value destroyed by foreclosures. One of my co-workers was notified, too. I am not sure where he lives in Charlotte. This is also happening in Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Curritek county on the coast...Greensboro...Gastonia....Belmont...and these are only the people that I have either spoken with or underwrote their values...
To all who think that THEIR homes have not lost value in this crisis...please let me inform you. YES THEY HAVE.
Recently, I posted a link for Mecklenburg county whereby you could do an analysis of your home's value. I don't know if the surrounding counties have the same tool available. What this does is tells you how many foreclosures are in your area. (evidenced by the "0" sales price). If there are any true sales, that will give you an idea of what your home's value is.
Now, this is very simplistic and certainly not a thorough nor ultra-accurate form of home appraisal, but, it does give you an idea. Remember, you could have put $$$ of improvements in your house, have granite everywhere, top of the line heating system...none of that matters if there are 4 foreclosures in your area (like there are in mine). I know all of the arguments. That does not make sense. I did everything right. Yes, you did. But, for those that didn't...for whatever reason...THEIR foreclosure or short sale is destroying YOUR value. And, that is the way it is. Just as an FYI, that is why the gov't is pushing so hard to stop the tide of foreclosures. That really DOES help those of us that have always done everything right by keeping our values at a more realistic/reasonable level.
I say all of this in the event that you receive a letter in the mail saying that your equity line of credit is reduced or suspended due to lower property values. I don't want you to be surprised about that if you keep a check on the market. An HONEST check. Not the arrogant, MY-HOUSE-HAS-NOT-LOST-ANY-VALUE type. I know those very well and they are very annoying. Nobody is in a bubble here. I could tell you stories that would curl your hair.
Another thing that you would want to do: petition your HOAs. Ensure that they don't initiate any foreclosures due to non-payment of dues anytime soon. None of us need/want another hit on our property values!!
Just as an example that I am serious. I had a client today who lives in Cotswald. For the newcomers, that is a very nice, old neighbourhood; the homes are lovely and stately. He was complaining that his property value had fallen by 50%. Would not listen to any explanations. Once he hung up the phone I found out why. The only sales in his neighbourhood since Jan were 4 foreclosures. I only wish that I had pulled that information up while I had him on the phone. His property value had most likely (truly) dropped that much and may fall even more if this trend continues.
Sounds to me like he had an overinflated opinion about what his house was worth to begin with. Cotswold values HAVE NOT fallen 50%.
The gentleman stated that it was in Cotswald. It had a zip code of 28211. I don't know the area that well to determine WHERE it was. He stated that he had lived in his house for 20+ years. I just had to say.."I'm so sorry,sir".
Ani, great news. But, keep watch. NO ONE IS IMMUNE. I have seen these serious drops in value across the country; million dollar homes as well as the lower dollar amounts. In fact, lately, it has been the higher-dollar homes that have caught my attention...some dropping 57-60%. People will argue with you, complain, but, this is the way that it is.
I just don't want to ever have another conversation like I had earlier today telling this poor man that there was nothing that I could do to help him...and he really needed the money, just having suffered a heart attack. I will probably dream about him for some time to come. He was in FL, not NC, but, still...I don't want any of my C/D friends to suffer the same fate or anything similar....
One more thing, Ani...these foreclosures are not limited to Alt A or subprime loans. They are also basic HUD or FHA loans, older folks, younger folks, there is no discrimination....and no particular type of neighbourhood. One lady I spoke with lived near to Wesley Chapel and had owned her property for many years....her value destroyed by foreclosures. One of my co-workers was notified, too. I am not sure where he lives in Charlotte. This is also happening in Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Curritek county on the coast...Greensboro...Gastonia....Belmont...and these are only the people that I have either spoken with or underwrote their values...
I know this has to be terribly upsetting for you to have to deal with. I know it would stay on my mind, too.
Well, I guess my thought is . . . unless you need to get an equity line of credit or refinance your home, this won't affect anyone, right? I mean, if you had to SELL, then it could be a shock to find out what the comps are.
So I guess the people you have spoken with are trying to get HELOC, ELC or do a refi?
I guess what I am thinking is . . . as long as people are not needing to sell or refinance or get a line of credit, then hopefully, values will start going back up when things settle down in the next year.
Now, I can see why values would have dropped significantly on many of the $1M homes around here, b/c they were overpriced to start with. Of course, that is not true for all these homes, but I was aware at the time a lot of these homes south of me were built, that the price of the lots alone was horribly inflated. They weren't in what I would consider "exclusive" areas and they sure were nothing special as far as lots. So right there, I thought people were foolish for paying $150,000 MORE than a lot was worth. Then the houses I would view would appear to me to be worth maybe in the $600,000 range and they were priced at $899,000 - $1M - for example. Hubby and I would just laugh at how ridiculous this was. Some of the materials were nothing special; some were builder grade. We just shook our heads.
So that does not surprise me about the $1M homes coming down at least 25% in value. But the other homes such as those in Cotswold, that seems really odd to me. You are working off appraisals?
Okay. I just realized - you work for a bank here . . . and it is a bank in trouble.
So now that I thought about this a bit more . . . are you working off in-house appraisals? Cause it seems to me, Wachovia just doesn't want to make loans - doesn't want to do REFI, ELC or HELOC. So instead of just saying that upfront, they are making sure no one can qualify for the loans.
Yeah, no chance Cotswold has dropped 50%. Or neighborhoods like Dilworth, Elizabeth, Myers Park, etc. Yeah, values have dropped...especially for those who tore down and built McMansions...there are a number around my house that have either never been lived in, or barely been lived in, and on the market (some bank owned) for ages. Serves them right, IMO.
Unless I am reading this bar chart incorrectly....the City-Data bar chart for sales in zip code 28211 show an INCREASE in selling price in the 3rd and 4th Q of 2008.
Am I reading this data correctly....a little early in the day for bar charts after last nite's wine.
je
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His property value had most likely (truly) dropped that much and may fall even more if this trend continues.
My heart has gotten too soft, I think. 
Not what CD chart shows
