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Best performers in Atlanta

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In the past two posts, I wrote about distressed properties. Today, I am writing about two of the best performing neighborhoods of Intown Atlanta and Decatur. Last night, my daughter was the best performer in Kirkwood. So, when thinking about real estate values, one of the safer notions to consider about today’s real estate market is that even the best performing neighborhoods of Atlanta are “down about 10% or so…” I looked up 2 neighborhoods that offer tremendous value, two neighborhoods that have pretty consistent demand, just to see if my notion is valid. 1. Morningside  - there were 209 sales in 2007, at an average sold price of $578,072, and the number of days on market average was 74 … there have been 143 sales so far in 2011, at an average sold price of $524,815, and the number of days on market average was 81 2. City of Decatur - there were 273 sales in 2007, at an average sold price of $391,342, and the number of days on market average was 64 … … [Read more...]

Buying beats renting, dollar for dollar in Intown Atlanta

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Trulia.com's "rent versus buy index" is the best resource on the internet for answering a very generic question - should you rent, or should you buy in metropolitan Atlanta? For the past few months, Atlanta property, dollar for dollar, is better to buy than to rent - on average - across many counties. The BUY NOW versus RENT NOW numbers get even more dramatic for buying now when certain submarkets are studied. Here's two examples: 1. just about any close in condominium, loft or townhome 2. just about any house in a great Intown school district My friend Scott Mauldin sent me a 16 page document yesterday entitled "Housing: A Time To Buy" written by some of his folks at JP Morgan Asset Management - the overwhelming evidence supports buying in the best Intown Atlanta submarkets - is it time for you to make the move up? You can find the article within two clicks, here. … [Read more...]

The 106 page offer is pending, ants notwithstanding

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We’ve been under contract for 7 days and today, we have until Midnight to present concerns to this corporate seller. We have about $5000 worth of HVAC repairs and replacements cited on this 16 year old house. One of the repairs requirements involves pest control.  There are these ants that are attacking the wires on one of the exterior condenser units – I’ve never encountered this before, but check out the photo: I’ve never seen this problem before, but when I googled “ants, electrical wires” – I found over 1 million results and a link to this article about ants in Houston that contains this quote: “May through September is their peak period — a time when billions of the critters with a reluctance to sting and a habit of chewing up electrical wiring may infest a single acre.” We just saw a few, but we did see the “pitting” that they cause on the wiring… We have a hot water dispenser to replace too. Stay tuned – I just added 7 pages. … [Read more...]

The secrets to finding a buyer in the Intown Atlanta real estate market

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Many different features attract buyers to a real estate purchase, but the seller only has control over two of them. Sellers can still get the highest possible list-to-sell ratio and sell their homes as quickly as possible if they are willing to put their trust in two time trusted principles of real estate: condition and price. Since 72% of all sales transactions are “equity” transactions – not distressed, not some odd luxury transaction and not an estate sale, the chances are favorable for sellers who “get it.” Here are the the top ten features that attract buyers according to the Keller Williams Realty International survey conducted for our 2011 Market Navigator booklet. 1. Location – favored by 69% of buyers 2. Neighborhood – favored by 55% of buyers 2. Floor plan – favored by 37% of buyers 3. Updates to the house – favored by 36% of buyers 4. Curb appeal – favored by 30% of buyers 5. Square footage – favored by 28% of buyers 6. Back yard – favored … [Read more...]

83 pages + 23 more pages = a 106 page offer

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As reported, I recently presented an 83 page offer. Well, we just added 23 more pages – the seller responded to my client’s 83 page offer, with an email that countered on price and shortened the due diligence period by 5 days. And then… I wrote back and told the agent that my clients will have a difficult time accepting their counter when they know that the 40 page “Relocation property assessment” details a lot of repairs and that these repairs will total a substantial 5 figure number. He responded with “oh” they fixed most of those…and produced a 23 page report with handwritten notes that is supposed to be proof of repairs. So, now we have a 106 page offer document – and my buyers will counter it, thereby adding more pages!!! Stay tuned… … [Read more...]

I just presented an 83 page offer

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The fax machine failed me after 2 attempts – the most that I ever got across was 35 pages and I still got the “NG” error code… Reedonkulous! Email would not take the 8.37 MB file. Regardless, this is the largest file that I’ve ever presented as an initial offer, and nearly 60 pages of it is disclosure that is not really disclosure – merely assessment and acknowledgements…you would have to see it to believe it. It’s a corporate relo deal – stay tuned for every fascinating, excruciating and painstaking initial, signature and ratification. … [Read more...]