This chart is a big eye opener.

Take into account the following facts:

1. The <$200K price range had a more severe impact (-24.9 percentage points) on the percentage of listing price realized after a price reduction, but all price ranges are affected heavily when a reduction is necessary

2. The lower price range impact was likely amplified by the number of foreclosed properties in that price range

3. Between $200K and $999,999, Sellers who don’t price their property right the first time are losing anywhere from 5-8% on the sale … that doesn’t even account for the lost capital - time is money, and monthly debts must be paid, month after overpriced month

In the past 2 weeks, we’ve concluded the following, in addition to this bold statement about the effect of price reductions:

A. Sellers are paying some or all closing costs in about 71% of Intown transactions

B. Most Listing Agents and Sellers, most of the time are off by about 7% List vs. SOLD on Intown sales

C. The Median Sales Price is down 10.1% through the first half for the Intown neighborhoods we surveyed

Here are the submarkets that we studied…

1. Ansley Park and Morningside southward to Inman Park and Reynoldstown - that includes Midtown and VAHI

2. Eastside Atlanta Dekalb - the neighborhoods East of Moreland and Briarcliff, plus Johnson Estates and southward to Edgewood and Kirkwood - all North of I20

3. Southside Atlanta Fulton - Grant Park, Summerhill, Boulevard Heights, Ormewood Park, EAV

4. Greater Decatur - South of Mercer U, down to I20 at South Dekalb Mall

If you seek a detailed, street by street market analysis of your neighborhood, or if you are tired of hearing the same old thing from real estate agents and so-called property marketers, then call The Rootdown Group. You will be glad that you did…

My friend Kirk Nace is one of the foremost thinkers in the real estate business - he is an esteemed faculty member at Keller Williams University and he is a renowned business coach for real estate agents.

“Kirk Nace became involved in land surveying and development in 1979 and then became an active investor in 1981. In 1991 Kirk became an active realtor. Since THEN, Kirk has BEEN A PART OF, AND ULTIMATELY trained the top ½ of 1% of real estate salespeople and investors in the US and Canada 

Kirk HAS OWNED OR WORKED  with multiple ERA, COLDWELL BANKER, CENTURY 21 AND REMAX companies; his own private real estate company; mortgage brokerage business; private real estate investment companies; title businesses; property management companies, and his own private business consulting firm.”

Kirk is tough, and his fledgling blogsite “SMASHED FEET”  is a testament to his no-holds-barred style of communicating the reality of the real estate market, today.

In conclusion, visit this website if for no other reason than to peruse this list of “questions to consider if you own real estate today.”

Read the rest of this entry »

In the past week or so, we’ve reported that:

A. Sellers are paying some or all closing costs in about 71% of Intown transactions

B. Most Listing Agents and Sellers, most of the time are off by about 7% List vs. SOLD on Intown sales

C. The Median Sales Price is down 10.1% through the first half for the Intown neighborhoods we surveyed

Here’s what we looked at…

1. Ansley Park and Morningside southward to Inman Park and Reynoldstown - that includes Midtown and VAHI

2. Eastside Atlanta Dekalb - the neighborhoods East of Moreland and Briarcliff, plus Johnson Estates and southward to Edgewood and Kirkwood - all North of I20

3. Southside Atlanta Fulton - Grant Park, Summerhill, Boulevard Heights, Ormewood Park, EAV

4. Greater Decatur - South of Mercer U, down to I20 at South Dekalb Mall

So, those who get this get the quick sale. We’ve found that most of ya want a quick sale, don’t ya?

The Rootdown Group gives good advice to Sellers - call us. We would appreciate the opportunity to earn your business.

Sellers in Intown Atlanta and Decatur paid some, or all, of their Buyer’s closing costs in 71% of the transactions through June, 2008, which is nearly the same as in the last two years…

Seller Paid Closing Costs

1. Ansley Park and Morningside southward to Inman Park and Reynoldstown - that includes Midtown and VAHI

2. Eastside Atlanta Dekalb - the neighborhoods East of Moreland and Briarcliff, plus Johnson Estates and southward to Edgewood and Kirkwood - all North of I20

3. Southside Atlanta Fulton - Grant Park, Summerhill, Boulevard Heights, Ormewood Park, EAV

4. Greater Decatur - South of Mercer U, down to I20 at South Dekalb Mall

Based on my experience, these numbers seem even higher  - like 90% of the time or more. That being said, I’ve also experienced two transactions this Summer where appraisal almost caused the deal to fall apart and the Buyers ended up paying their own closing costs, among other concessions, in order to make the deal work.

It’s business as “unusual!”

Here’s another eye opener…we’ve seen this trend for a long, long time - at least since The Rootdown Group got started in April 2004…but…in Intown Atlanta, which we define thusly:

1. Ansley Park and Morningside southward to Inman Park and Reynoldstown - that includes Midtown and VAHI

2. Eastside Atlanta Dekalb - the neighborhoods East of Moreland and Briarcliff, plus Johnson Estates and southward to Edgewood and Kirkwood - all North of I20

3. Southside Atlanta Fulton - Grant Park, Summerhill, Boulevard Heights, Ormewood Park, EAV

4. Greater Decatur - South of Mercer U, down to I20 at South Dekalb Mall

…We see, that for the first half of 2008:

1. The median of the sales price as a percentage of the original list price dropped to its lowest level in three years during 1Q 2008 and, although higher than in 1Q, remained historically low through 2Q 2008

2. The 2Q 2008 percentage is nearly the same as in the greater metro Atlanta area

So, at 92.6% of original list price most listing agents and sellers are missing significant sales by overpricing - overpricing by over 7% on average.

Median Sales Price as a %age of Original List Price

Does your Realtor get this?

A PBR, some RPG's and thou...

 We love The Consumerist. You should too - they are always on point with some nifty thought or pithy commentary or relevant consumer interest story. I don’t love this website like I love my daughter and my wife, but I love The Consumerist, ya dig?

The photo above is what a night in Kirkwood looks like after a hard day of real estate agency work and before bathtime…

So, they asked: “Would you judge a real estate broker by his blog?”

My favorite comment from this insightful post touches on one of my favorite criticisms of real estate agents - many can not spell, construct illustrative sentences with a subject-verb-predicate sequence, or complete basic mathematical equations.

Here is the comment: “While I can’t say a blog would lead me to use someone as my broker, I have definitely already excluded two based on their (awful) writings! Sorry, but if you can’t spell correctly, or even express your thoughts clearly, I don’t want you fighting for my largest investment.”

Y’all holla at The Intown Insider when you need our expertise, OK? Between Greg, Dana and I we are really good at helping folks buy and sell real estate. Over 150 clients since 2004 can’t be wrong…

Nevertheless, if you judge me by my blogging inconsistency, then you just might think I’m a lousy Realtor.

Just know that we are never too busy for any of your referrals and that we would love to have the opportunity to earn your business!