MaryAnn McReynolds' Blog: Investors

Let's dispense with all of the media hype and doom prophecies and get down to the real numbers. Many consumers fail to realize that real estate markets are local in nature and the bubbles popping around the nation have little to do with the Douglasville real estate market which never saw the ridiculous appreciations that other markets did. The many foreclosures coming onto the market have helped to swell the inventory but have more to do with poor lender judgement than any problem with real estate.

People are convinced that this is not a good time to sell a home due to what they have been told repeatedly, but what if I told you that home prices were actually UP 9.5% for 2007 YTD over 2006 in Douglas County? The median price of a home sold in 2006…

Georgia's '100-Year Drought' has sparked controversy throughout the region and has already had an effect on area real estate transactions. I have personally been involved in two deals in rural West Ga involving homes being purchased that both used wells which had recently run dry. One of these homes did not have county water supplied yet, the now-dry well was the only source of water for the home. A competent home inspector discovered the situation and the switch-over to county water had to be worked into the transaction. Shallower wells are drying up throughout the region.

A low priced foreclosure, if an investor had snatched this home up without an inspection the additional $3000 needed to convert to county water would have been a hidden cost to…