DOYLE, Judge.
This case arises from an application for confirmation of a foreclosure sale filed pursuant to OCGA § 44-14-161 by Sea Island Bank against Henderson Property Holdings, LLC, Edwin J. Feiler, Jr., and Andrew B. Feiler (collectively "Henderson Property Holdings"). Henderson Property Holdings appeals the trial court's final order confirming the sale of three adjacent parcels of commercial property in the amounts of $1,030,000, $1,090,000, and $1,680,000. Finding no error, we affirm.
So viewed, the record reveals that Sea Island Bank hired Timothy C. Wilson to appraise the property in July 2009 and January 2010 for the foreclosure sale. His July 2009 appraisals, which were based on "what [he] thought would have been a typical reasonable marketing time" of 24 to 36 months, amounted to $1,800,000, $1,850,000, and $2,850,000.
In January 2010, Sea Island Bank instructed Wilson to update his July 2009 appraisals and reevaluate the parcels assuming a reasonable marketing period of 12 months, as well as an appraisal "based on what [he] thought was the typical marketing . . . an estimate of [24] to [36] months." Wilson stated that the 12-month time period was "what most sellers [were] requiring." Using the 24- to 36-month marketing periods, he appraised the properties to be valued at $1,590,000, $1,685,000, and $2,550,000. Using the 12-month marketing period provided by Sea Island Bank, Wilson appraised the properties at $1,030,000, $1,090,000, and $1,680,000.
The numbers from the 12-month marketing period and 24- to 36-month marketing periods, however, represented the same return. Wilson relied upon comparable sales to arrive at the fair market value. Wilson took the independent analysis based upon the 24- to 36-month periods and applied discounts arising from a hypothetical purchaser's "reasonable expectation of certain costs [and] taxes" to account for time and marketability. These downward adjustments reflected eighteen months of carrying costs, including a fifteen percent deduction for developer/entrepreneurial profit, real estate taxes, and sales fees; one percent deduction for "miscellaneous"; and a discount rate of ten percent, which accounted for opportunity costs of the owner.
John Ganem appraised the property on behalf of Henderson Property Holdings in
After the hearing, the trial court entered an order confirming the foreclosure sales. In its order, the trial court determined that the properties sold for their true market values by adopting Wilson's appraisal. The court found the 12-month holding time reasonable in light of testimony that the carrying costs of the property exceeded $700,000. The trial court also took note of evidence of Sea Island Bank's subsequent sale of the property 28 days after the foreclosure sale and evidence that Henderson Property Holdings could not sell the property in late 2009 for $3,400,000 when given the opportunity by Sea Island Bank.
1. Henderson Property Holdings argues that the trial court erred in adopting "quick sale" values as evidence of "true market value." We disagree.
Georgia's confirmation statute provides that "[t]he court shall require evidence to show the true market value of the property sold under the powers and shall not confirm the sale unless it is satisfied that the property so sold brought its true market value on such foreclosure sale."
Courts may not use "quick sale" valuation in confirmation proceedings "because it presumes that `true market value' may be construed to mean `market value under quick sale conditions.'"
Furthermore, the trial court also noted that "the amount paid by [Sea Island Bank] exceeded the amount received by them ($2,500,000) when they sold the property at the end of March 2010." Kenneth Rabitsch, the commercial lead for Sea Island Bank, testified that the $2,500,000 resale by the bank was "indicative of a quicker sale transaction" compared to the $3,800,000 figure bid by the bank at the foreclosure sale. Accordingly, the trial court did not improperly rely upon a "quick sale" valuation,
2. Henderson Property Holdings also contends that the trial court erroneously accepted
This Court has held that closing costs, as well as extra costs a bank incurs in selling foreclosed properties separately, are considered collateral issues that are irrelevant in determining market value.
Wilson arrived at these numbers using his appraisal at the 36-month point from comparable sales and "back[ing] off the expenses that would require over the holding period to arrive at the lower value" because "the person purchasing and paying the [12-]month number would have the reasonable expectation of certain costs [and] taxes." We have recently held that trial courts may rely on a discounted cash flow analysis to determine the true market value of property sold in a nonjudicial foreclosure sale.
Judgment affirmed.
ELLINGTON, C.J., and MILLER, P.J., concur.