Free parking for my guests. My office is located at 315 W. Ponce De Leon Avenue Suite 100 Decatur, GA 30030. That's in downtown Decatur, at the corner of Ponce De Leon Place, in a tall, white office tower called "Decatur Court." We have free parking for my guests - the spaces marked "Keller Williams Guest" are parallel spaces, along the eastern side of the building - those spaces are accessed by pulling into the driveway that leads to the Wells Fargo teller lines on the Eastern side of the building. If you have trouble finding those spaces, just park and come in - we are located on the first floor. … [Read more...]
The cavalry ain’t coming to your expired Atlanta listing
February 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment
But a US Army logistics officer named Lee Taylor is. I met Chris Gardner yesterday – the guy that wrote the book, “The Pursuit of Happyness.” He’s a remarkable man. He says some things in his recently published book “Start Where You Are” that should resonate with Atlanta sellers who really, truly want to sell their houses in 2012, even if their attempts at being ON the market haven’t worked so far. Chris teaches a lesson that should resonate with you if you are among the more than 50% of all listed sellers in the past few years, that failed to sell. Chris learned this lesson from his Mother one night while they were watching an old Western TV show – “The cavalry ain’t coming!” Here’s a further look into what that means, from page 33 of his recent book: “yes, I can speak to factors outside of my control and blame them for the predicament or make excuses about why things didn’t work out like they should have…maybe it’s all true, but that doesn’t … [Read more...]
2012 will be better than 2011
February 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Zillow, with all of it’s pitfalls, can’t be all wrong. Whenever someone tells me about a Zestimate, I just say, please speak with a Zappraiser about that. I’m in the business of selling houses, not zestimating. Metro Atlanta’s home values fell 12.9 percent in 2011, according to Zillow ’s Real Estate Market Reports. The area’s home values averaged $109,100, which was down 37.9 percent from the market’s peak several years ago. So, with the fourth quarter numbers in, here’s a little bit of a forecast for 2012: “…Fortunately, against a backdrop of modest further declines in home values, we expect that home sales will pick up briskly this year as affordable prices bring more buyers to the table, especially investors and second-home buyers.” Zillow does not forecast a definitive national bottom until 2013 and predicts a national decline of 3.7 percent in 2012. Click here for more….” … [Read more...]
Under contract but in limbo
February 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment
One of my clients is under contract on a short sale, but thinking about placing an offer on another property. There are two things that my client needs to know if they decide to do this. 1. they could be under contract on two properties, but they would be violating a clause in contract #1, and before they get a preapproval for contract #2, their lender would want to see a termination of contract #1, unless they didn't tell their lender about contract #1, so that means that they do indeed need to be working with two lenders who don't know about one another - they could do this if they want to put two earnest money checks in play, and as long as they understand the other legal risks. They might lose their earnest money(ies), and/or they might get sued if they don't protect themselves. 2. they can obtain enough cash to buy both and move forward without consequences … [Read more...]
9.5 ways to protect yourself when buying a home in Georgia
February 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment
1. read and keep a copy of any signed contract 2. inspect your property, and better yet hire a professional home inspector 3. inspect the neighborhood 4. inspect for wood destroying organisms 5. investigate, test and verify everything about the property and it's improvements 6. get a survey and verify zoning if you have development plans 7. buy an owner's title insurance policy 8. consider obtaining a home warranty 9. establish a fiduciary relationship with a Realtor 9.5 never buy a house in a hole Got that? … [Read more...]
The Harbour Bar and Fish House in Decatur has a 15% Realtor discount!
February 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment
That’s right – the owner is married to a Realtor, and they are showing love with a 15% discount if you are a licensed agent, when you present your business card. I’ve been twice and it’s definitely worth a visit. It’s becoming a busy restaurant and I expect to see it become a real sunny weather destination restaurant for happy hours and gatherings. From their site: “The Harbour Bar & Fish House is a casual seafood restaurant designed to give our customers a local place where they can come together to enjoy themselves with family, friends, and co-workers. Harbour Bar & Fish House feels like a Coastal Restaurant that you may have experienced while on vacation in Hilton Head, Charleston, Cape Cod or Newport RI. We want you to feel as if you are on a vacation in your own backyard. The interior decor is comfortable and relaxing, accented with natural woods and nautical tones of gray and blue. The exterior has outdoor deck/patio seating, two bocce courts and an … [Read more...]
Hot’Lanta is rekindling
January 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Curbed.com’s regional real estate reporting is superb. Their site is interesting and they are really on point with the style of their site. Recently, they reported on a grim forecast that surfaced for Atlanta’s metro economy, bringing up the bad and the ugly that “planners” statewide need to consider. The article cites ““Atlanta's persistent unemployment, traffic congestion, a 29% loss in average per-square-foot housing prices between 2000-2010, and the fact that the city is increasingly offering a lifestyle opposite of that desired by the most desirable workers and companies. The opportunities he sees are also legion, though, and many of them simply involve re-embracing our transit roots: i.e. investments in commuter rail, continuing to capitalize on the power of our airport, making The BeltLine everything it can be and getting T-SPLOST passed.” The AJC reported on the same Brookings Institution report that brought up these findings, stating the following about … [Read more...]
A not so rosy forecast from the Mortgage Bankers Association
January 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) expects to see mortgage originations fall from an estimated $1.2 trillion in 2011 to $900 billion in 2012. I went to google images to find something “rosy.” I found this - a photo of a “Rosy lipped batfish.” The Rosy lipped batfish is a rather apt spokesfish for this 2012 forecast… Here are some choice excerpts from their always thorough review of the year ahead. ‘The drop will be driven by a significant decline in refinance originations, while purchase originations will increase only slightly. The economy will see another year of anemic growth in 2012, and then will grow somewhat faster in 2013. Refinance originations are expected to fall despite low mortgage rates as economic uncertainty lingers and fewer eligible borrowers remain” “However, the uncertainty is not one-sided. We also see a path for the economy that could lead to above-trend growth in 2012. Housing inventory and shadow inventory is declining … [Read more...]
Tech trends in real estate agency
January 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment
I regularly read the Trulia Pro blog for real estate professionals. Emily from Trulia is a terrific marketer, and she makes the Trulia Pro world a better place. On January 17, she published a quick read on technology trends in the business, and featured some cool photos and stories on 4 Tech trends to watch in 2012 that she gleaned from the CES earlier this month. I decided to repackage her findings a little and add some local color. 1. intuitive combination devices – I am going to kill my Dell laptop after I turn it in for it’s second keyboard in 15 months, and just go Ipad or with a super thin ultrabook or something. I already rely so much on my Iphone, and with apps like GAMLS, Kurio and Trulia’s mobile apps, plus a killer app like Dropbox, field level functionality for agents has never been better Add KW’s eEdge paperless real estate and client service platform, and a guy like me is highly dangerous. The .25 calibre ACP that I carry sometimes really isn’t … [Read more...]
This week’s Georgia mortgage news you can use
January 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment
My friend Jeff at Fairfield Mortgage provides his weekly update… Mortgage Minute and the monthly video review HARP is an acronym for the government sponsored Home Affordable Refinance Program. In this month's Mortgage Minute, Shelter Mortgage President Jill Belconis talks about the latest changes to HARP and how "upside-down" homeowners nation wide will have a better chance of refinancing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans starting this spring. Who is Fannie Mae anyway? We also asked people on the street if they knew who Fannie Mae was and their answers might surprise you. Click here to watch this month's short video: http://www.shelter-mortgage.com/Mortgage_Videos.aspx FHA Contemplating Reduced Seller Paid Concessions On Friday, FHA released a letter proposing that the maximum allowable seller concessions be reduced from the current 6% limit to something less. FHA is contemplating this change to "better manage risk" as they feel the current level … [Read more...]