Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Avoid These Seller Mistakes

You want to get the best price for your home, plus sell it in the least amount of time. In a buyers’ market such as the one emerging now, homes will take longer to sell. Therefore, it’s important that you make the right moves at the very beginning of your homeselling process to remain competitive. Here are some common traps that many homeowners fall into and how to avoid them.

1. Over-pricing — It’s easy to think your home is worth more than the current market may support, particularly after the long run-up in home prices. Since home prices have cooled in markets around the country, home sellers must be prepared to negotiate on price and terms, and stay flexible to other stipulations benefiting the buyer. Sellers must also keep their emotions in check during the process. After all, your home is special to you and your family, and you’re proud of the improvements you’ve made over the years. But, how does your home really stand up to the others? And are those improvements important to a potential buyer?

To determine a reasonable listing price, get sales statistics on homes in the neighborhood including listing prices and actual sales prices, how long it took for the homes to sell, and government valuation comparisons. You’ll also want a market appraisal on your property. Visit homes for sale in your area and compare what you see in terms of sales appeal.

2. Negligent Housekeeping — Buyers need to be able to envision themselves living in the home. Take a good, objective look at the condition of your home. Clean, well-kept homes with an updated appearance always stand out, and a little decorating appeal can go a long way. You don’t have to buy new furniture to create charm, but you can put toys and clutter away, freshen up paint and carpet, make the most of window coverings, and add a few key accessories in order to send out welcoming signals.

3. Failing to Fix-It — Buyers, unless they are looking for a fixer-upper, would prefer to move into a home that is in perfect or near-perfect condition. If they have to fix the roof, a broken tile floor, the garage door, worn carpet or just about anything, this may give them pause about buying. At the very least, it may lower the value of the home in the prospective buyer’s mind.

4. Not Identifying Exclusions — This can be a cause of contention just at a critical point in the sale. Be sure to specify any special sales considerations or exclusions from the fixtures and furnishings list. Generally, anything permanently fixed to the house is an asset that stays with the home after the sale. So if you intend to take your grandmother’s antique chandelier that’s hanging in the dining room, clearly specify that the chandelier is not included in the sale price.

5. Not Understanding the Agent Agreement — Your sales endeavor will go smoothest when all parties have a clear understanding of what is expected. Understand the types of agency agreements when you sign with a real estate professional or company.

Be sure to check on fees, commission percentages, marketing plans and time frames. Most importantly, get everything in writing.


Friday, September 25, 2009

From Savvy with Staging to Scintillating about Short Sales!

The In's and Out's of the short sale is something of interest to buyers and of great concern to sellers today. Here is a brief eight (8) question quiz to see if you understand the process before jumping into the fray.

Several Great Links from Realtor.org

Webinars:

Smooth Short Sales: Tips from a Lender
From the 2008 REALTORS® Midyear Meetings, a lender offers advice for preventing transaction delays and preparing your clients for what lies ahead.

2008 List Issue: 4 Reasons Lenders Want to Work With You on Short Sales

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If you are a buyer in our market, these are probably the best buying conditions in 30 years! If you would like to search the Athens MLS with MapTracks please take a look at listings in our “Classic City” today! On this web MLS search solution you can search every listing on the Georgia MLS for the Greater Athens area or in your Georgia town!

Selling Prices; FSBO vs. Agent-Listed Home Sales

Source: 2009 NAR Member Profile


According to statistics from the National Association of Realtors, all sellers in the Home Buyer and Seller survey reported a median sales price of $204,900.

The survey also found that the median sales price of a for sale by owner home reported was $153,000. The median sales price of an Realtor-assisted home sale reported was $211,000. According to the Survey, "There are a number of factors that play into the sales price of a home, including whether a FSBO seller knew the home buyer. If the seller knew the buyer the median sales price reported was $150,100. Agent-assisted sales can be broken down into two categories. Those who first tried to sell their home as a FSBO and those who were only agent assisted. Those who tried to sell their home as a FSBO first had a slightly lower median sales price."

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If you are a buyer in our market, these are probably the best buying conditions in 30 years! If you would like to search the Athens MLS with MapTracks please take a look at listings in our “Classic City” today! On this web MLS search solution you can search every listing on the Georgia MLS for the Greater Athens area or in your Georgia town!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Ways to Expedite Sale

As we see the end of prime "selling season" coming in the next few weeks, getting your home sold quickly remains a trial in many markets statewide. Here is some advice, and some of it is not easy to hear, but it is reality.

seller

Cut your list price to 15 percent to 20 percent below what comparable properties are listed for in your neighborhood or surrounding area.

Spruce up the outside. Update the landscaping. Power-wash the exterior and paint the door.Anything that looks "uncared for" will appear to today's foreclosure hungry shark of a buyer as a wounded guppy in the water.

It's all about the first-time buyers. Advertise on younger consumers' favorite Web sites, such as Facebook and MySpace. Hiring a photographer to shoot the house with a wide-angle lens, extra lighting, and even do some panned shots to get that virtual tour effect is a great idea. Video that you can place on YouTube is another great idea.

Be aware of how incrementally pricing a house can make a difference. Be aware of how people shop online. For example, a $299,000 house might have a better shot of being seen at $274,900 or $249,900 in most home searches. Think of $25,000 increments and put yourself in the shoes of a buyer to see if "you" would find your house on a given home search based on how its' priced considering your home's features.

Make the deal work. Have a pre-home listing inspection done to know of any potential deal killers that may arise, get an appraisal done to make sure you are on the money regarding price so that a future buyer appraisal has less likelihood of killing a deal, offer to pay part closing costs, and throw in everything including the kitchen sink or prepay HOA fees to make it work. If you live in a neighborhood with no community pool, but there is a pool right down the street, pay for a summer membership to set yourself different than your neighboring competition.


If you are a buyer in our market, these are probably the best buying conditions in 30 years! If you would like to search the Athens MLS with MapTracks please take a look at listings in our “Classic City” today! On this web MLS search solution you can search every listing on the Georgia MLS for the Greater Athens area or in your Georgia town!

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Wednesday, September 9, 2009

One More Reason to Move to Athens, we are Undervalued

Athens, Georgia's latest press coverage; One More Reason to Move to Athens!

According to the article from U.S News and World Report, and based upon IHS Global Insight’s first-quarter 2009 House Prices in America report which uses population density, household income, and other data to compare a housing market's current value with where it should be on a purely statistical basis, U.S. News states that they put together a list of the top underpriced college towns.

Of Athens, they state that our “Classic City” is undervalued by 17 percent according to the IHS Global Insight data. That is “undervalued,” which if you are looking to make a move to a new lifestyle for all your tomorrows, this is one more reason why I have to encourage you to look hard at Athens, GA!

  1. Houston: 37 percent undervalued
  2. Atlanta: 24 percent undervalued
  3. Bryan-College Station, Texas: 21 percent undervalued
  4. Columbus, Ohio: 21 percent undervalued
  5. South Bend, Ind.: 19 percent undervalued
  6. Ann Arbor, Mich.:19 percent undervalued.
  7. Athens, Ga.: 17 percent undervalued
  8. Tallahassee, Fla. : 17 percent undervalued
  9. Gainesville, Fla.: 17 percent undervalued
  10. Lincoln, Neb.: 16 percent undervalued
  11. Minneapolis-St. Paul : 16 percent undervalued
  12. Boston: 16 percent undervalued
  13. Fayetteville, Ark: 15 percent undervalued
  14. San Luis Obispo, Calif.: 14 percent undervalued
  15. Columbia, Mo.: 14 percent undervalued


Saturday, September 5, 2009

Distressed Property: Below Market Prices in a Bifurcated Market

By Jed Smith, Managing Director, Quantitative Research, Wannasiri Chompoopet, Manager, Housing Statistics, and George Ratiu, Research Economist

The existing home sales market is currently bifurcated between distressed and non-distressed sales. Distressed sales declined to 33 percent of the market in May from a high of 49 percent in March. As part of the Realtors® Confidence Index Survey we obtain data on “discount from market,” the degree to which distressed property is being sold below the market price it would otherwise command if it were not distressed. As of May 2009, estimates are subject to an approximately 3 percent survey margin of error.

  • The median discount from market for foreclosures was 20 percent in May; for the time period February through May the average median discount from market was 18 percent.
  • The average discount from market for foreclosures was 21 percent; for the time period February through May the average discount from market was 19 percent.
  • The median discount from market for short sales was 12 percent; for the time period February through May, the average median discount from market was 14 percent.
  • The average discount from market for short sales was 17 percent; for the time period February through May, the average discount from market was 18 percent.

One issue raised by Realtors® is that of buyer confusion in terms of home values, most succinctly phrased as “Everybody wants 50 percent off due to foreclosures.” In fact, non-distressed property is actually commanding a premium relative to distressed property, other things being equal. In the case of distressed properties, real estate in physical condition that is below average market condition actually sells at an even greater discount.

"Copyright National Association of REALTORS®, Reprinted with permission."

If you are a buyer in our market, these are probably the best buying conditions in 30 years! If you would like to search the Athens MLS with MapTracks please take a look at listings in our “Classic City” today! On this web MLS search solution you can search every listing on the Georgia MLS for the Greater Athens area or in your Georgia town!

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Friday, September 4, 2009

Athens GA Home Sales, week of August 31, 2009

What's sold in Athens, GA this week? As we conclude the week leading up to Labor Day 2009, this week's home sales statistics are as follows;

Statistics
(16 listings)
LowHighAverageMedianTotal
List Price$29,900$299,900$145,725$124,000$2,331,600
Selling Price$25,000$250,000$135,043$113,122$2,160,688
List/Sold(%)83.36%100.00%93.16%93.43%--
Days on Market26567142110.5--


East Athens had 11 of these sales while Five Points had three (3) and North Athens the remaining two (2) for the week. Average and median priced sales were lower than in recent weeks showing a bias toward the lower end of our market. Out of sixteen sales only three (3) were in excess of $200,000. This is typical of what we see in the Athens market with a predominate average sales price this year in the $160k range.

With 16 sales this week this would be a prorated 832 sales in a 52 week year which is off a little from the pace set in the last 30 days in Athens where we have seen 76 homes sold (988 in a year). This figure over the past month is getting more respectable. To get inventory levels down however our market needs to sell at least 100 homes a month in Athens just to start making a dent.

This same 30 day window a year ago saw 106 homes sold where 24.6 percent of homes sold were in excess of $200,000 (versus 18 percent this year). This still shows a stagnation in sales over $200k in our area.

The good news is that we had a good month. After the most recent 12 months sales figures sat at less than 800 homes sold, in the last two months in Athens we have seen roughly 185 homes sold. That is good news for everyone!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Did you Know? Information on Athens GA at your Finger Tips!

At Athens GA Homes for Sale I have made it my goal to provide information about many aspects of our Classic City!

The following are on the Tool Bar to the Left hand side of the Home Page. Please use them as a resource for information Athens!

  • Property Searches
  • Your Home's Value
  • Your First Home
  • Buyer Concierge and Buyer Rewards
  • Athens GA Rankings, Stats, and Facts
  • Historic Districts of Athens
  • County Maps of Athens-Clarke and Surrounding Counties
  • Subdivision Map of Athens-Clarke and Oconee County
  • Telephone Numbers you might need when moving to the area
  • Short Sale information
  • You Tube Videos regarding home ownership and Athens, GA
  • Athens area attractions
  • Price Reductions in the Athens GA area
  • Foreclosures
  • Boulevard, Beechwood, Kingswood, and East Athens information
Please take a spin over to AthensGAHomesForSale and join the 1000 visitors a month that bookmark this site on the Web!


Months Supply of Housing Inventory in Oconee County, GA

We have all heard that nationally the inventory level is supposedly at 9.4 months. I have indicated via a recent blog post that in Athens it is more like 12.5 months based upon recent 12-months sales figures. Today I wanted to look at Oconee County, GA. I also wanted to break it down to various price points. It seems that homes in excess of $250,000 are selling much slower with longer days on market this year. Let's compare inventory levels of below $250,000 and those over $250,000 in Oconee County, GA.

To begin with there were 303 homes sold in Oconee County, GA over the last 12-months (through 9/2/09). Of these home sales, 148 homes were over $250,000 in sales price. As of today, and according to the Athens MLS, there are 394 homes on the market for sale. (Of these only 11 (or 2.7%) were foreclosure resales too by the way, but that is for a different blog post.) From this you could deduce that we have roughly 15.6 months of inventory on the market for sale. To have a balanced market we need to get this figure down to about six (6) months supply of homes on the market for sale or an inventory level of 151 homes.

There were also 280 out of 394 homes currently on the market are listed for sale at over $250,000. At a current clip of 12.33 home sales per month in Oconee County, GA over the past 12-months, inventory levels for homes in excess of $250,000 would be said to be at a whopping level of 22.7 months or almost two (2) full years.

Actually if you are one of the lucky one's that have your home on the market for sale in Oconee and it is listed below $250,000 the level of inventory is 'only' 8.8 months. This is below the national average and closer to a balanced market between buyers and sellers.

What does this mean for homes over $250,000 that are on the market for sale? Either sellers need to understand that the road is long and patience is definitely a virtue as they market their homes for sale or drop your price and try to be as competitive as possible if you must sell sooner rather than later. Dropping your price however is not a guarantee as there is so much inventory to pick and choose from today with a limited number of buyers in today's market for sale. Contact me and I will tell you how I can sell your home in 90 days, but only contact me about my 90 day home sale plan if you are motivated!

Top Real Estate Web Sites

According to Hitwise.com, websites for 'Business and Finance - Real Estate', ranked by Visits for the week ending 08/29/2009.

1. Realtor.com 7.32%
2. Zillow 3.52%
3. ZipRealty 2.59%
4. Yahoo! Real Estate 2.44%
5. Rent.com 2.26%
6. Trulia.com 2.15%
7. MSN Real Estate 2.07%
8. ServiceMagic 1.95%
9. Homes.com 1.76%
10. RE/MAX 1.50%
11. HUD 1.45%
12. Apartments.com 1.39%
13. AOL Real Estate 1.26%
14. Century 21 1.24%
15. Homegain 1.24%
16. MyNewPlace 1.22%
17. Apartment Guide 1.11%
18. RealtyTrac 0.86%
19. mlsfinder.com 0.82%
20. ForRent.com 0.81%

As has been typical, the Top five (5) sites attract roughly 1 in 5 visits to real estate search sites while the Top 20 control almost 40 percent of all visits. Are you getting the right kind of exposure to your Athens GA area home for sale?

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Reasons to Buy a Home

If you're not sure whether to buy a home, consider some of the reasons that most home buyers give. People buy homes as investments, to save for their futures, to accomplish the American dream. Once you have saved for down payment and made the emotional commitment you're ready to buy your first home.

Planning Renovation During a Tough Economy

You may look at your personal finances and the bad economy around you and think that now is not the time to be putting money into a home renovation. Advice from a professional builder says now may be the best time to look into that renovation project.

Are you Ready to Buy a Home?

From Award-winning syndicated real estate and personal finance columnist, WSB Radio talk show host, and best-selling book author Ilyce Glink.

Did You Know: Size of Home Purchased

By Jessica Lautz, Research Economist

  • The American Institute of Architects recently released a study, AIA Home Design Trends Survey, showing there is a growing demand away from McMansions and towards homes that are smaller.
  • From the survey only 4 percent of architects reported their clients wanted more square footage this year compared to 16 percent last year.
  • The smaller home size could be a reflection of a number of factors including the affect of the recession on home owners and home buyers mind set. Smaller is better and less is more. It could also be a reflection of home owners moving towards a more energy efficient home to lower energy consumption costs.
  • The 2008 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers showed the average home buyer purchased a home that was 1,825 square feet.
  • Those who purchased new homes typically purchased home that were larger than those who purchased home that were previously owned.

Source: 2008 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers

Copyright National Association of REALTORS®, Reprinted with permission.

If you are a buyer in our market, these are probably the best buying conditions in 30 years! If you would like to search the Athens MLS with MapTracks please take a look at listings in our “Classic City” today! On this web MLS search solution you can search every listing on the Georgia MLS for the Greater Athens area or in your Georgia town!

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