DEL.ICIO.USCARROLL COUNTY'S VACANT LOTS
In metro Atlanta’s unfinished subdivisions, quiet reigns
Amid housing crisis, 148,000 home sites across region sit empty
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday, January 11, 2009
David Parker’s family lives in one of the quietest subdivisions in metro Atlanta, Winchester Farms in Carroll County. No music, no barking dogs, no traffic.
Why? Because the Parkers don’t have any neighbors. The rocking chairs on the front porch of their $399,000 house face empty lots.
KEVIN DUFFY /kduffy@ajc.com
The Winchester Farms subdivision in Carroll County is mostly empty home sites. Carroll County is the metro leader in the time it would take to absorb all its vacant lots.
KEVIN DUFFY/kduffy@ajc.com
Empty home sites are shown from inside a pavilion at Winchester Farms, a partially built subdivision in Carroll County. Housing’s sudden sickness caught many unaware.
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Winchester Farms was supposed to have 50 homes, but only a handful were built before construction halted in the housing market crash.
So far, only the Parkers have moved in. The Parker children ride their dirt bikes over the empty land and thrill to the site of turkey and deer.
“It’s nice to have a subdivision all to yourself,” said their 47-year-old dad, a youth psychiatric counselor.
The Parkers’ situation is not unique. Just down Flat Rock Road in northeast Carroll is another subdivision, Round Rock Estates, with only one family.
The home construction slump means more Atlanta subdivisions are sitting incomplete, with few residents and big empty spaces.
Approximately 148,000 vacant home sites dot the 22 counties tracked by Metrostudy, a real estate research company. That’s up 42 percent since 2006, when the market decline began, Metrostudy’s numbers show.
Empty home sites can turn into ugly erosion problems or dumps. They tend to depress home values. Governments have to expend time and money monitoring them so they don’t fester into sore spots.
Carroll County, about 40 minutes west of Atlanta, employs two people whose job is to patrol the county to make sure erosion control measures are in place at dormant construction sites.
Carroll is the leader in terms of how long it would take to absorb all those vacant lots. If home construction were to stay at its current sluggish pace and no new sites were approved, Carroll would have to wait 26 years for the last house to be built, Metrostudy said.
Of course, that’s not going to happen. But it does show just how out of whack the market has become.
Housing’s sudden sickness caught developers, bankers and local governments unaware. A symptom is the glut of lots.
“Things just kind of ran up and hit a wall, and everything stopped overnight,” said Steve Bridges, president and CEO of the Community Bankers Association of Georgia. “Believe it or not, lots in most markets around Atlanta were actually considered to be in short supply not so long ago.”
Reality vs. rules
In Carroll, like other areas, new home sites are generally approved if they coincide with the county’s long-range plan and would not create environmental or transportation problems or strain services.
Governments generally don’t consider population growth and existing lot supply when asked to approve subdivisions. They have to be careful about trampling on property-owner rights.
“There are no regulations in place that would govern how many lots the commission would approve based on population data,” said Lee Gorman, Carroll’s community development director. “They don’t say, ‘We don’t want 50 houses here, but we can live with 25.’ “
Banks, however, do consider whether a new subdivision makes economic sense, said Joe Brannen, president of the Georgia Bankers Association.
“Banks have long looked at absorption rates, economic conditions, population trends, etc., when making credit decisions to developers,” Brannen said.
But land development is a multiyear endeavor, he added. And when investors quit buying mortgages in 2007 in the subprime loan crisis, “the tracts of land were already purchased, county governments had already given approvals, dirt was disturbed, and work had commenced.”
Local government planning has never been sophisticated enough to adequately address Atlanta’s population boom, and that’s allowed lots to mushroom, said Dan Reuter, the Atlanta Regional Commission’s land use division chief.
“We were just dealing with it and not guiding it,” Reuter said. “We should be more aware and more demanding of looking at what are our needs and what kind of housing stock we’re permitting, and where. We’ve oversubdivided, and we’ve overbuilt. Building a subdivision is the easiest development that exists.”
Rick Porter, an instructor in the building construction program at Georgia Tech’s College of Architecture, said “land development is a local, small business, 500 people making decisions. There’s no coordination.”
Historically, lots usually were approved in small chunks, limiting developer exposure. In the last 10 years, however, big developers became bigger players in the Atlanta market, so project sizes grew, Porter said.
“The development industry tried to change the business model of land development, and it has come home to roost, terribly,” he said.
‘Sell or get taken’
Developer Lyn Loveless’ plan was to sell 50 lots at Winchester Farms in Villa Rica. He sold 30 percent of them before sales stopped.
Now, Loveless travels 50-plus miles from his home in Fayetteville to Carroll to check on silt fences and disburse seed to keep dirt in place.
He put his 27-acre home on the market for $2.2 million.
“Everything I’ve got is for sale,” Loveless said. “It’ll sell or get taken. I’m just like everybody else. I’ll probably lose everything I’ve got. Give me a job cutting grass. I’ll cut grass.”
Parker, Winchester Farms’ lone homeowner, said a house up the street is under contract, so his family might have some neighbors soon.
For now, he’s smoking his cigar and grilling in the quiet. “I’m perfectly fine with it,” he said.
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Comments
By Jim
Jan 13, 2009 4:01 PM | Link to this
The real problem was real estate speculators that bought 5,10,20 of these properties with 110% loans on them to "flip" them or rent them for profit and when it all went bad they "let them go back to the bank." Believe me, I know plenty of them! THAT is the biggest problem and one you don't hear a great deal about. Still, many of those "investors" are living "high on the hog" right now and have not lost their personal homes, cars or anything else. They put each property into a seperate LLC and when it didn't work and the economy crashed they, "Let them go back to the bank!!!" Sickening! No responsibility for what they helped do to millions. They should atleast have had to "personally" guarantee these loans with their own property and they should be forced into bankruptcy. But...unregulated "get rich on real etstate" programs enticed these investors, along with the lenders, to "run it 'till it drops," just like the "savings and loan" and "dot com" failures. It is nothing short of "financial treason!"
By Morgan
Jan 13, 2009 1:03 AM | Link to this
Now isn't the time to focus on who is to blame. The fact remains that we, as a country and as a state are in major trouble. Regardless of whose to blame, we are all suffering because of this crisis. Every hard working person should be able to have a roof over their head. That is a fundamental necessity.
Fulton County has the most foreclosures. This is my county and I will stand up for my community. Instead of complaining, we should be pushing for legislation that will help our neighbors recover. Our state representatives are there for us. We should be writing letters, making phone calls, getting signatures; anything we have to do to make sure that we are heard.
I once heard the Representative for my district , Representative Roger Bruce (Chairman of the Fulton County Delegation) say, "Rules don't favor, rules change because of the majority." Well, as citizens let's become that majority that can get some rules changed that will help us weather this economic and housing crisis. We can't do that by constantly searching for gone goose.
By Jim
Jan 12, 2009 1:35 PM | Link to this
I saw some of the same things happen during the great depression in the Detroit area. It seems that history repeats its self. The country will come back. In 1935 we were in a depression, in 1945 we were the most powerful country on this planet. 10 years. It won't happen again, but times will improve.
By amazed
Jan 12, 2009 11:44 AM | Link to this
I am amazed by the lack of intelligent commentary on this subject. Maybe the AJC should run an article on the real roots of the problem so that many of these poorly informed (and educated) knuckleheads can finally grasp the situation. It wasn't one party to blame in the housing "ponzi scheme". Let's just say that it eventually gets back to the idiots that purchased homes well beyond their simple means, and the parties that fed them the homes (yes, the builders and the financial institutions that thought they could benefit from the situation without a simple analysis of the risks at hand).
By Fred
Jan 12, 2009 12:20 AM | Link to this
Some of these comments are so ignorant, I wont even acknowledge them.
Builders have fueled the growth that made this area what it is. The money funneled into the communities, built schools, stores, highways, any structure funded by tax dollars was put there by builders. Where were the complaints then?
It wasnt greed, it was NEED. They predicted a shortfall of available lots to build on for years to come.
What ruined it was greedy BANKERS, and REAL ESTATE salespeople, those creative loans to get people into homes they couldnt afford caused this.
But, what does it matter?
We are where we are, and I mean WE with capitol letters.
Quit whining and pointing fingers, and lets get smart and vote in some people who will work for the public and not the bankers.
The banks were GIVEN the money to bail out these loans before they defaulted, instead they chose to foreclose, and write the loss of on their TAXES, thats right, we pay for their loans, then we pay again, after they throw the builders to the dogs.
Write your congressman, demand they investigate each bank that continues to foreclose, even after receiving their bailout money. Put blame where it belongs people.
By atloverdeveloped
Jan 12, 2009 12:10 AM | Link to this
hey atldeveloper,
it was the greed & stupidity of developers who ruined the atlanta metro area, buying into realtors "stats" that showed continued growth, etc. guess what, too many people have moved here from the upper midwest & northeast with no hope for a job, along with immigrants from texas, etc. and of course this mass migration to atlanta was bound to end some time, along with the constant overinflation of home pricing.
looks like atlanta as a city/metro area has that limit of around 5 million, especially when there aren't enough jobs for the 5 million people to work and actually afford their lifestyle, a good reason why georgia (let's be honest here..atlanta) leads the nation in bankruptcy filings.
By hardmanb
Jan 11, 2009 11:21 PM | Link to this
We were all fooled by an ever-expanding economy and are in for tough times that we have no experience in enduring. Our young people will have their "great depression" and will hopefully emerge stronger and more prudent. We WILL muddle through and survive.
Now, State and local governments are facing massive budget imbalance, which means service cutbacks. The majority of the option-reset mortgages will reset in 2010 and 2011, so recovery for many will take a long time. The worst is yet to come.
Help your neighbor, start making sacrifices to protect your family and future. Save for your retirement, and hope that Obama and those who are trying to stem the carnage are successful. Pray for them and all those who are suffering. We need to pull together.
By DW
Jan 11, 2009 10:01 PM | Link to this
Had a neighbor who won 1 million on a scratch off lottery ticket. Mcdonough. He had 3 vehicles repossessed and his home foreclosed. He ripped me off for $1700 his lottery winnings are paid out over 20 yrs. I called the bank who had his mortgage and told them about his winnings and how they could get their money back. But the guy I spoke to was rude to me and said they did not really care. He probably got that job as he had a degree of one sort or another but I thought he was a retard. Bankers are like the govt inept and clueless,and we give them the keys to the kingdom. Yup everything will be fine real fine,thats why I just purchased my 1st gun at 50 yrs of age.
By Steamboat
Jan 11, 2009 8:39 PM | Link to this
Barney Frank ruined my life.
By Wake Up!!!
Jan 11, 2009 8:21 PM | Link to this
People please educate yourselves. This is but a small piece of the global puzzle. Listen to some people outside the mainstream media. Research the facts about the economy and why it is failing all of us.
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