Archive for the 'Georgia Articles' Category

Atlanta foreclosure auctions are starting to slow down as the metro economy starts to improve. Metro Atlanta bucked the statewide trend of rising foreclosures in the first quarter by posting a 24-percent month-over-month drop to 9,494 postings.

In contrast, the number of residential properties posted for foreclosure auctions in Georgia and subsequently repossessed by lenders shot up by 30.54 percent from the previous quarter to 13,607 units in the first quarter this year, accounting for 34.09 percent of all foreclosure actions filed during the quarter.

Similarly, in terms of unemployment rates, Metro Atlanta and the state of Georgia also headed to different directions in March. While the jobless rate in Atlanta improved, the unemployment rate in Georgia worsened. In March, Atlanta posted a 10.4-percent unemployment rate, marking a drop from its 10.7-percent jobless rate in February, based on data from the Georgia Labor Department.

The unemployment rate in Georgia, on the other hand, increased in March to 10.6 percent, up from the February rate of 10.5 percent. Over the past 30 months, the jobless rate in Georgia has been surpassing the nationwide unemployment rate. In March, the number of jobless workers in Georgia jumped up to 497,500 persons, an increase of 3,179 from the 494,321 count in February.

In contrast, a total of 9,900 Atlanta residents gained jobs in March, pushing up the number of employed persons in Greater Atlanta to 2,247,000 and helping cut down the number of properties entering Atlanta foreclosure auctions.

Additionally, the number of jobless workers in Atlanta who filed initial unemployment benefit claims also dropped year-over-year by 13.5 percent to 32,647, although the number marked a slight increase from the February figure.

Nevertheless, there is at least one sector both helping Atlanta and the state of Georgia – the manufacturing sector. Analysts at Kennesaw State University reported that orders, deliveries and jobs in the manufacturing sector have been rising throughout Georgia in the first four months of this year.

Not one of the manufacturing companies surveyed by the analysts were considering job layoffs and that one out of every five companies had gained increases in purchase orders during the four-month period.

Nationwide, there were also positive developments in March and April, such as increases in consumer spending and spikes in factory output. However, many economists still maintain a guarded outlook because of the weak employment situation and the possibility of stepped-up foreclosed homes auction activities.

All the same, despite the slowdown in Atlanta foreclosure auctions, there are still plenty of distressed properties for sale in the metro area.

Search home foreclosure auctions in Georgia cities:

• Home foreclosure auctions in Lawrenceville
• Home foreclosure auctions in Marietta
• Home foreclosure auctions in Lithonia
• Home foreclosure auctions in Savannah
• Home foreclosure auctions in Douglasville

A real estate investor with a heart. This is what could be said of Atlanta-based real estate investment firm Pride of Ownership Partners, which has been offering lease-purchase options to families or individuals in Atlanta who do not yet have the money to buy a repossession property.

The lease-purchase scheme is increasingly being offered in foreclosure-clobbered states like Nevada and California, according to Emory University real estate professor Jim Grissett. He said both repossession property buyers and sellers can benefit from the rising popularity of the lease-purchase scheme.

Cecelia Robinson, a 57-year-old writer from an area near Baltimore, is among those benefiting from the lease-purchase program offered by Pride of Ownership Partners. Robinson said she left Maryland after her business failed and her house almost became a repossession property.

Now she is leasing a three-bedroom repossession property purchased and renovated by Pride of Ownership. Robinson can rent the house for three years, during which time she can decide whether to purchase the house. If she opts for a purchase, the firm will credit half of all the rent she has paid during the three-year period to help pay the down payment. The selling price would be based on the appraisal of the house during the time she signed the lease-purchase contract.

Robinson is ecstatic about the house she now considers her dream house and about the affordable terms Pride of Ownership has offered her.

Tim Cabrera and Jeffrey Britz launched Pride of Ownership Partners in July 2008 with only $1.4 million. But now they have a total of 50 units all bought from repossession property inventories across Atlanta. They said they housing market is still fragile, so they cannot simply buy and then quickly sell at a profit.

So they adopted the lease-purchase scheme to help their company break even and at the same time help people that deserved to be helped. So far, they have no problems renting out the homes.

Cabrera and Britz also educate their clients about mortgages, credit rehabilitation and home ownership. All applicants go through a strict screening process to ensure that they work only with smart and responsible renters or buyers.

Cabrera makes sure that renters and prospective buyers know everything about fixed-rate mortgages, upfront payments, monthly payments and other obligations.

Arlanda James is another renter helped by Pride of Ownership. Her family almost became homeless in December when the house they were renting suddenly became a repossession property. Now she is happily renting a four-bedroom house owned by Pride of Ownership.