With thousands of properties in foreclosures lists, prospective homebuyers have a lot of properties to choose from. They can spend days going from place to place looking at houses without the need to immediately decide on buying.
The more adventurous can treat the home buying process as another adventure in life, meeting strangers and discovering things they never expected to find inside houses.
In Gwinnett County, nurse Lila Twiggs is one of those looking for an attractively-priced home and not rushing. She wants to look at as many bargain-priced houses in foreclosure listings as she can before she makes the purchase decision.
Like many other hopeful homebuyers across the country, Twiggs has been enticed to buy by the low mortgage rates and low home prices. She said is separating from her husband so she is looking for a home for her and her daughters. She considers herself realistic, so she is not looking for a dream home among Georgia foreclosures. She will spend only up to $150,000 for her new home so she will not turn out like so many others who are house poor, spending so much on mortgage payments and leaving only a little for living expenses.
At her home price range, it would not be difficult for Twiggs to find something she likes from bank foreclosure lists. Dan Forsman, chief executive of Prudential Georgia Realty, said about 25 percent of the local residential real estate market consists of homes in the $150,000 range.
Forsman has observed that homebuyers are no longer looking for new houses. They are looking for homes in foreclosure listings, hoping to find their dream homes among the low-priced properties. He said foreclosed homes comprise about 25 percent of all home sales and that home prices have declined by 25 percent every year.
Aware of large numbers of homes in foreclosure listings, Twiggs has been taking her time. After six months of looking at properties in foreclosure listings, she has not found one she liked. Based on Twiggs’ home buying decision, it is not surprising that home sales in Georgia are down by 11.3 percent compared to the first months of 2008 and down by 15 percent compared to the first months of 2009.
With Bottom Line Home real estate agent Joyce Cavener as her guide for the day, Twiggs looked at five foreclosed and non-foreclosed houses: a $144,900 home built in 1972; a $143,900 bank owned house; a $119,000 ranch house; a $154,900 house; and a $79,000 renovated house. Twiggs said she liked the first house they saw; but then decided she likes to take a look at some more houses another day.
