USGS maps

Ok - so I am certainly a geek, and when it comes to maps, I am utterly smitten.

"Hi, my name is Christina," I say.

"Hi Christina," the chorus replies.

"I am a mapaholic and have been my entire life . . ."

At least that is the joke I tell to some folks.

I am evaluating some large land tract sales in Cobb County Georgia, and decided to head back to my trusty USGS 1:24,000 maps of old - we called them quadrangles.  I used to drive in to downtown Chattanooga, taking my life in my hands, park on Broad Street and go into the Map Store.  A wondrous place for certain.

Today, I found that there is a web site (of course) for the USGS - that is United States Geological Survey - where I can search and download, in PDF format (thank you Adobe), current and historical topography maps for the entire United States.

I am floored, and happy, and able to evaluate those sales a bit more thoroughly.  

I do love my work.

under all is the land

It is always exciting to me and fun to explore and evaluate new aresa. We recently were approved for a right of way appraisal project in south Georgia and found that those folks are outstandingly nice and helpful. Our first step is always understanding the market, intitially as evidenced by area overview and land sales. Most things are tied to that underlying land and in today's world of technology (as I write this on my iPad on the way to another bid meeting), we STILL do the same things, only faster. First to the Tax Assessor's office online, great source of subject and comparable property data through qPublic.net. Then, in person to the Assessor's office to look at the 'real' property record cards - which are now, too, online in WinGap - even in their office. The office staff and appraisers were VERY helpful and knowledgeable - they will certainly get a prize from us at the end of the project. These experts can describe and discuss the data in real terms of who is buying and why, who is selling and why, and what trends are showing in the data. We wish them all expedience with the annual digest - which they are working on now. More later about the Clerk of Superior Court - repository of actual deeds (and yes they are available online too).

To buy or not to buy

So my current analysis of land values in a certain southeastern metro Atlanta county revealed that over the past 24 months, the majority of vacant land transfers have been, NOT.  What does that mean?  Well, looking at the thirty some odd sales of vacant land, more than twenty were deeds under power - you know, foreclosures.  That is a pretty significant number for a county with a land size more than 300 square miles and two major interstates running through it.

Although we are seeing some return of commercial market activity, it seems that land ownership is still mostly speculative.  And, lenders seem unwilling to continue taking the risk of a loan without payment and are taking property back for resale, sometimes, apparently, for $0.30 on the $1.00.  If you still have cash, now might be a great time to speculate.