THANKS FOR VISITING GAREALST8.COM, Southgate Realty Group is partnered with Southeast Mortgage. We have over 20 years experience in both Real Property and Mortgage Finance. WE ARE YOUR ATLANTA REAL ESTATE EXPERTS.

 You can search for your ideal home by viewing our Featured listings or by using our free MLS search engine.  Southgate Realty Group is partnered with Southeast Mortgage. We have over 20 years experience in both Real Property and Mortgage Finance.

 

 

 We are an Atlanta based company specializing in default servicing for nationwide lenders and banks. Currently we also offer exclusive buyer agency in Atlanta and surronding areas. Southgate Realty LLC, specializes in managing, marketing, and servicing Reo properties. Our team understands the importance of communication, accuracy and meeting timelines.

 

 We service all phases of the REO process including: Property preservation, loss mitigation, evictions, repairs, cash for keys, marketing and re-securing. Southgate has over 20 years of Real Estate experience. We are you solution for Default Management, Exclusive Buyer Agency and Mortgage Finance

 

Mission Statment: 

 

Our goal is to provide client service on every aspect of the real estate industry. We simply do not just list and sell homes. Our mission is to provide our clients with the knowledge and expertise needed to make there next purchase or investment the most safe and most comfortable life desicion they will make. 

 

 

 

                         Why has the real estate market collapsed in 2007? 

 

The story of how the nation got to this precarious point stretches bact to the 1980's when the saving and loans industries collapsed. In the aftermath of that disaster, regulators began insisting that banks and thrifts with insured deposits start holding more capital to offset risky loans. That spurred the rapid growth of mortgage companies that got there money not from insured depositors, but by selling "securitized" mortgages bundled so they could be easily sold like bonds to investors who collected interest payments. These companies were regulated less than banks and thrifts, and during the 1990's, many of them started lowering there standards to boost business. For example, instead of requiring buyers to fully document all income, some started offering no-documentation loans. Initially, such loans would cover no more than 70 percent of the value of the house being bought. But over time, lenders began offering "no-doc" loans for as much as 100 percent value. Also starting in the 1990s, lending got a major boost from falling interest rates that made borrowing much cheaper ........... continued in MORTGAGE FINANCE

 

 

                                               Foreclosures soar in Georgia

 

Foreclosure filings rose 9 percent from June to July and surged 93 percent over the same period last year. Georgia's foreclosure rate was more than twice the national average, with one filling for every 299 households. The state reported 12,602 foreclosures fililngs, up 75 percent from june. The national foreclosure rate in July was one filing for every 693 households. The filing included default notice, auctions sale notices and bank repossessions. The figures are the latest measure of the failing housing market, which has seen defaults and foreclosures soar as  financially strapped borrowers have failed to make payments or find buyers. In all, 179,599 foreclosure filings were reported during july, up from 92,845 in the year -ago month.  

 

What is Foreclosure?

Foreclosure is a process that allows a lender to recover the amount owed on a defaulted loan by selling or taking ownership (repossession) of the property securing the loan. The foreclosure process begins when a borrower/owner defaults on loan payments (usually mortgage payments) and the lender files a public default notice, called a Notice of Default or Lis Pendens. The foreclosure process can end one of four ways:

  1. The borrower/owner reinstates the loan by paying off the default amount to during a grace period determined by state law. This grace period is also known as pre-foreclosure.
  2. The borrower/owner sells the property to a third party during the pre-foreclosure period. The sale allows the borrower/owner to pay off the loan and avoid having a foreclosure on his or her credit history.
  3. A third party buys the property at a public auction at the end of the pre-foreclosure period.
  4. The lender takes ownership of the property, usually with the intent to re-sell it on the open market. The lender can take ownership either through an agreement with the borrower/owner during pre-foreclosure or by buying back the property at the public auction. These are also known as bank-owned or REO properties (Real Estate Owned by the lender).

This process allows for three opportunities for finding bargains on

 

 

Things to know before buying vacant land

Offsetting costs a challenge without rental unit, marketable timber

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

By Tom Kelly
Inman News

While real estate typically is an excellent long-term investment, vacation-property buyers should be cautious when buying vacant land or raw land even if there clearly is marketable timber on the property.

Raw land or "raw ground" differs from vacant property. Vacant land or lots generally have all or most services, including sewers, water, access and power. Raw land does not have the services necessary for building and usually is a tract larger than a single-family lot. Depending upon location, the costs to turn raw land into a ready-to-build site can easily surpass $80,000.

Like any investment, vacant land and raw land hold boom or bust potential. The boom often occurs through development, while bust is typically brought on by taxes, slow (if any) appreciation in land value, and lack of income-tax deductions or depreciable dwellings. For example, you can depreciate your rental unit, but if the lot is vacant, there is nothing to depreciate. There is no monthly rental check on raw land.

In a land deal, the buyer usually has to pay interest on any borrowed money. The interest on that money most likely is going to be at least 6.5 percent. In addition, when the buyer is going to sell, he's going to have to pay an agent 6-10 percent commission (the going commission rate on vacant land often is higher) on the sales price. In order to offset those costs, the property should appreciate about 20 percent a year.

If you're going to use the property solely as a getaway, however, and expect to derive great joy out of doing so -- consider that as your return on investment.

The idea of using available timber to offset your costs raises a variety of issues. You probably have heard the awful stories of despicable landowners who buy and/or divide their property, clear-cut all or a portion of the land, sell the timber, and then quickly move out of the territory. Those stories become more and more common as the price of timber goes up and more private owners purchase more public land.

An alternative to clear-cutting is a selective "thinning" cut that not only can protect homes from precariously perched trees but also can help prepare and show a site for a potential building while netting several thousand dollars. In fact, some woodsy lots are so thick that a very lucrative thinning often can go unnoticed.

Many timber companies, especially smaller ones working in the immediate area, are willing to dispatch "cruisers" to determine if your lot contains enough (at least one truck load) of marketable timber. On single-family lots, owners can even flag the specific trees to be taken so that only designated trees are harvested. Landowners can also contact a local lumber mill and ask about minimum loan requirements, price estimates, and contractor referrals.

The amount that a landowner realizes after selling timber is called the stumpage price. It represents the value of the trees "sitting on the stump" after all costs of harvesting and hauling are considered.

Many variables affect the price paid for standing timber. On larger tracts, too much is at stake to sell timber without having accurate information on the process, products, volume and value of the timber, and efficient methods for protecting the environment. Prices fluctuate widely given worldwide supply and demand, and seasonal fluctuation.

There are no daily market price reports for stumpage, and smaller landowners must rely on the estimates provided by local mills. In many states, landowners must file a timber harvest plan that is monitored by a licensed timber operator. As always, preparation pays higher dividends -- even in a small-time timber sale.

 

 

 

 

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