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 outdoor bar.

There is a large area in the backyard that can be used for private events when the weather permits.” Some of my fellow Keller Williams Realty metro Atlanta agents hung out yesterday in the outdoor area near the bocce ball arena, and we had a blast.

Check it out!

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 some of the vibrancy in Intown Hot’lanta:

“ One piece of evidence of the pent-up demand for walkable urban space: The only ZIP codes to actually gain housing value in the past decade were Virginia-Highland, Grant Park and East Lake. All of these were considered slums 30 years ago. Today they are among the highest price per square foot for housing in the region.”

When I decided to move Intown in 1998, I never looked back – isn’t it great to hear those stats about VAHI, GP and East Lake???

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 steadily. A more robust housing market recovery could spur faster overall growth. The odds of this scenario, however, are low and we think the most likely outcome is another year of frustratingly slow economic growth and stubbornly high unemployment.”

“We expect that mortgage rates are at or near their low points, but we have been wrong on this call before. Our rate forecast assumes that the Fed maintains short-term rates near zero for the next two years, and also assumes that mortgage-Treasury spreads remain wide, given the current supply and demand imbalance in the market. If the economy tips into recession, rates would stay lower for longer, but we do not anticipate they would drop significantly. If the economy recovers more quickly, even with the Fed’s Operation Twist, longer-term rates could rise faster.”

“A faster economic recovery led by the housing market would mean faster home price growth and more sales volume, increasing purchase originations somewhat, but would cut off refinance volume sooner than in our forecast.”

Here’s the forecast summary: 

• Slow, sloggy GDP growth

• The unemployment rate will increase slowly and will continue to slog for the next decade

• Fixed mortgage rates are expected to remain low by historical standards, finishing 2011 at around a 4.5 percent average for the year, falling slightly to 4.4 percent for 2012 and climbing back up to 4.9 by 2013.

• 2012 home sales will mirror the sales performance of 2011 nationwide, and new home sales will lead some growth in 2013

• Certain markets are showing year over year appreciation

• Purchase originations will likely decrease in 2011 from 2010, totaling $400 billion from an estimated $472 billion in 2010. Seeing as 2012 will likely be another year of slow economic growth, purchase originations will increase slightly to around $412 billion for the year. As the economy picks up a little more speed in 2013 and home sales and home prices also start to increase, purchase originations are expected to increase to $770 billion for the year.

• Despite lower mortgage rates people have “REFI” burnout and with rates at historic lows, many won’t return for “another” REFI – weak appraisals have hurt this phenomenon as well

Here’s some love for the MBA, who provided most of the content of this post…

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is the national association representing the real estate finance industry, an industry that employs more than 280,000 people in virtually every community in the country. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the association works to ensure the continued strength of the nation’s residential and commercial real estate markets; to expand homeownership and extend access to affordable housing to all Americans. MBA promotes fair and ethical lending practices and fosters professional excellence among real estate finance employees through a wide range of educational programs and a variety of publications. Its membership of over 2,200 companies includes all elements of real estate finance: mortgage companies, mortgage brokers, commercial banks, thrifts, Wall Street conduits, life insurance companies and others in the mortgage lending field. For additional information, visit MBA’s Web site: www.mortgagebankers.org.

Stay tuned to the Intown Insider for the Metropolitan Atlanta 2011 Q4 residential real estate statistics – coming in the next few days…you’ll find that we have a rosier 2012 outlook here in Atlanta, at certain price points and in certain neighborhoods.

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 that dangerous – it’s there to “get me out of situations…” I haven’t had to use it yet, and y’all know where I get deployed from occasionally. I do think that my handgun is an intuitive combination device…

2. seamless and instant video sharing – my 4 year old Flip Camera will soon be obsolete. My Iphone doesn’t have enough video portability for longer videos. So, 2012 is going to be the year for me to step up to a new video camera. Stay tuned. Leetaylor.tv is coming…

3. enabled and enhanced on-the-go products and services – I just mentioned a few in the first paragraph, but Emily’s feature on the pocket-sized PowerTrekk really caught my eye. It is coming this Spring and it “uses fuel cell technology to power up mobile phones, cameras, GPS devices, and other electronics. The pocket-size charger provides instant power to your devices by converting hydrogen into electricity. It can produce the power of up to four AA batteries–suitable for powering up your phone for 10 hours. You just insert the fuel pack and add water to start recharging your portable devices.”

How cool is that?

4. thin is in – form is meeting function – Emily talks about the ultrathin notebook in her post. I believe I’ll move to an Ipad sooner rather than later. More and more, agents that I know are working Ipads almost exclusively. Cloud apps are making lightweight dreams a reality.

I have a lot of tech savvy, creative clients and they have always kept me engaged on the latest and greatest devices, tips, tricks, tools, shortcuts, hacks and applications that make my real estate business better. If you know about a tech trend that I should know about too, please contact me and keep me in your loop!

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 exposes the FHA and borrowers to excess risk by creating an incentive that inflates the appraised value.  FHA first mentioned this as a possibility all the way back on July 15, 2010.  After bringing up the possibility of such a reduction a full year and a half ago, nothing has been heard from FHA again on the subject, until now.  Reducing how much of the buyer’s costs that the seller can pay at closing would be a major blow to the real estate industry.  Reducing this limit from 6% to say 3% would require most FHA buyers to bring more money to the table, to the tune of several thousand more $’s.  This is money they simply don’t have in many cases.  The official proposal will be finalized soon and then there will be a 30 day comment period in which we’ll be able to make lots of noise.  Hopefully, our industry lobbyists will show up in a big way and keep this limit from decreasing!  I will send you more info on how you can make your feelings known about this once the proposal is officially issued.

In the same announcement, FHA also mentioned they may soon require indemnification for “serious and material” violations of FHA originated loans.  This means that any inaccuracy in a loan file could be interpreted as fraud or misrepresentation and cause the lender to have to repurchase the loan.  A few of these repurchases could put a small lender out of business.  Stated another way, FHA is proposing to make it harder for lenders to make FHA loans.  Just what we don’t need right now!

What Every Lender Wants the Realtor to Know When Writing a Contract: Tip #8

When writing a contract, be thorough and make sure you complete all of the applicable Exhibits.  If your buyer is obtaining an FHA or VA loan, be sure to include the FHA or VA Exhibit.  Be aware that these forms cannot be dated after the binding contract date!  Also, always make sure the Community Association Exhibit is complete and accurate, especially the HOA initiation and monthly fee.  Be aware that the lender is closely analyzing the information on this form, so if you just wing it and all of the info is not accurate, there could be problems later.

One additional good tip:  if the property is a condo, proactively give the lender the person’s contact information who can complete a Condo Questionnaire on the front end of the transaction.  Every lender needs a variation of this form completed if the property is a condo.  The sooner you get the contact information to the lender, the quicker they can identify any potential problems!

Rate Update: Good Economic News Bad for Mortgage Rates

An improving US economic outlook was negative for mortgage rates over the last week.  Reduced concerns about Europe also caused a partial reversal in the “flight to safety” trade.  As a result, mortgage rates ended the week higher.

Early in the month, the December Employment report showed a larger than expected increase of 200K jobs, and the Unemployment Rate continued to move lower.  Last week, Weekly Jobless Claims fell to the lowest level since April 2008.  The labor market is one of the most important factors in the health of the economy, and many investors now view the outlook as brighter than it has been since the financial crisis began.  If this is the case, it will be great news for the economy, and job gains will increase the willingness and the ability of people to purchase homes.

The Housing sector data released last week was encouraging as well.  January Existing Home Sales increased 5%, while the inventory of unsold homes declined 9%, to the lowest level since March 2005.  December Housing Starts for single-family units increased 4%, and Building Permits for single-family units rose 2%.  Finally, the January NAHB Home Builder confidence index rose for a fourth consecutive month to the highest level since 2007.

Improving economic conditions, high affordability levels, and low mortgage rates are three solid reasons to be optimistic about the housing market.

Looking Ahead
The most significant economic report will be Friday’s GDP data for the fourth quarter.  GDP is the broadest measure of economic activity.  Before that, Pending Home Sales will be released on Wednesday and Durable Orders and New Home Sales on Thursday.  Leading Indicators and Consumer Sentiment round out the schedule.  In addition, there will be Treasury auctions on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday

Please call me if you have questions about real estate financing – I’ll point you in the right direction!

I was at an Atlanta Falcons tailgate party about three years ago, down in “The Gulch.” “The Gulch” is going to be the subject of another blog post soon, but in the meantime – if you don’t know about “The Gulch” and want to know exactly what it is – click here.

I looked up, and saw that on the very top of an old, decrepit building that sits at the edge of the US federal government buildings was a massive graffiti name tag  – actually two tags – quite an accomplishment, and because of the limited and probably dangerous access, quite an effort just to get the names up there.

Those nicknames, HENSE and BORN have been tags that I have seen for years around town. I have immense respect for the staying power of GREAT graffiti artists.

I have immense disrespect for those who vandalize, and I tried to run off untalented taggers when I was living in Inman Park – so to me, the HENSE and BORN tags on top of the dilapidated building are artistic, cool and worthy of respect – they are an improvement to the building.

So, when the Rocky Ford Road and Arizona Avenue underpasses were recently improved with beautiful new artwork that covers the depth and breadth of the walls, I was quite happy – these displays are not likely to be painted over with stupid, unskilled tags, cursewords and generally weak, eyesore sprays from amateurs.

I found this photo of the lovely artwork at the Arizona Avenue MARTA bridge on HENSE’s website – great artists can turn an eyesore into a street level, free gallery. I write this post to say thanks to HENSE for doing cool work and to anyone else involved in enabling these improvements. Read more about HENSE and this particular piece, here.

He calls it Float – “The public works are roughly 18×100 feet and painted with exterior latex enamel and aerosol on concrete. The pieces were funded with a grant awarded by the City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs. These murals are now an asset of the City of Atlanta and will be included in the permanent collection of public art.”

Lets see more of this! The Beltline is leading the way…stay tuned, and maybe, just maybe, the punkass, untalented taggers will remain on the sidelines and away from our beautiful Intown neighborhoods…

It means “to have a common center.”

I just learned that in the world of fiber optics, the definition of concentricity is about being “well-centered.”

At any given real estate brokerage office with more than a few agents on staff, even the most free-wheeling and independent agents are part of the culture – the good, the bad, and the ugly.

At my “market center” in Decatur, Georgia – we live up to the title of market center. We sit in the center of our core submarkets and we dominate the numbers in FMLS Area 52 – the “Greater Decatur” submarket. We also have significant market share in the nearby areas both inside and outside the perimeter. How do we do it? Well, pretty much just like other successful, mature Keller Williams market centers do it.

1. provide the The Best Technology tools to our agents

As technology continues to transform the ways in which buyers search for homes and real estate professionals communicate with their clients, Keller Williams Realty’s, agent driven technology development group is on the forefront of advances that continue to sharpen our agents’ competitive edge.

Read about our latest technology initiative, the eEdge, which is making news in the real estate industry!

2. offer The Best Training and Coaching in the area

A commitment to training and coaching at every level is at the heart of what sets Keller Williams Realty apart. Keller Williams University provides an industry-leading curriculum addressing every aspect of success in real estate. Multimedia training is offered online, via KWConnect, the real estate industry’s most innovative distance learning program. Among the industry’s top tier coaching programs, MAPS Coaching, led by Dianna Kokoszka, is having a profound impact on the careers of thousands of real estate professionals.

3. offer The Best Wealth-Building Opportunities

In keeping with the philosophy that agents are partners and stakeholders in the success of the business, Keller Williams Realty has created a distinct profit sharing program in which approximately 50 percent of every market center’s profits every month are returned to those who have contributed to a market center’s growth by attracting productive associates to the office. To date, 14 Keller Williams associates have earned more than $1 million in profit share and fully 23,769 associates are participating in the profit share program.

Read the recently published White Paper on profit share.

Find out how profit share is changing lives.

4. instill A Culture of Caring

Become part of something bigger…

Keller Williams Realty is a company that changes lives. The culture is as diverse as the countless ways in which associates and market centers commit themselves to finding and serving the higher purpose of business, and is united by cohesive understanding of our Mission, Vision, Values, Beliefs and Perspectives.

During the first, annual nationwide RED Day, which is now a companywide tradition, 22,000 associates participated in a coordinated effort to give back with their local communities.

At the heart of Keller Williams culture in action is KW Cares, a public charity created to reach out and support each other during times of extreme and unexpected hardship

Now,  take all four of those components of success, and find it in action at Keller Williams Metro Atlanta – my market center in downtown Decatur, GA.

1. technology is driving the success of our agents – we have 100% adoption of an online “paperless” real estate processing platform, we train and certify our agents on many MLS tools, research tools, and business operational tools that are in play today – we make things happen for our clients with savvy use of the latest and greatest technologies

2. the best local training and coaching comes from our association with Rick Hale – one of the top real estate agents in Georgia, and the owner/operator of 4 market centers that comprise the Heart of Atlanta Group. Our group is one of the top places to work in Atlanta according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Name another real estate office that can claim that!?

I can name another one – can you? No surprise – it’s another Keller Williams Group…

3. the best wealth building opportunities – in the past year, we’ve had Kay Evans, Bob Kilinski, Jennifer Barnes, Shaun Rawls (twice) and one of KW’s leaders in individual agent profit sharing Aaron Kaufman, plus attornies, accountants, and financial planners, all come to our market center and work with our agents on wealth building. There is not another real estate office in Georgia who can claim that who’s who list.

4. a culture of caring in Decatur, GA – In 2012, we will have a big Decatur Red Day in May! We will host our fourth annual charity event The Taste of the Town in August. We have fun things and heartwarming things and socially bonding things happening on our calendar every month.

One guy, our Team Leader for 13 months, Sean Damman stands as a shining example of the culture in our market center. We are proud to have him as our day to day, face to face, or better yet – IN YOUR FACE, leader – he’s a real estate agent first, with a decade long track record of success. When he left Re/max a few years back, he took full advantage of the technology, the coaching, and the wealth building opportunities at KW Metro Atlanta and shifted his entire team’s business so that he does not have to operate it on a day to day basis. He leads our team of nearly 100 agents. Sean, like Rick Hale, like Gary Keller, sets a terrific example.

And Sean cares. He proves that daily.

What’s really cool is that we are celebrating our TENTH ANNIVERSARY as a market center later this year – we see ten plus more years ahead of continued success, and we welcome anyone to call, stop by or inquire online about what we are up to.

I know that this has been a long blog post, but I hope that it helps some of you who might be looking for some CONCENTRICITY!

We got it in Decatur…

The folks at Local Market Monitor, a Cary, N.C.-based real estate research firm, helped Forbes compile a list of the top ten markets poised for a rebound. “They sorted through a plethora of housing and economic data for the 100 most populous cities and their surrounding suburbs, defined as Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) and Metropolitan Divisions (MSADs) by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. LMM assessed home prices over the past 12 months, unemployment rates, 12-month job growth projections, population increases from 2006 through 2009 (the most recent data available from the U.S.Census) and new-home construction rates for the third quarter of 2011 as compared to the same quarter in 2010. Home price changes over the past three years were also taken into account, as markets that lost less value in the downturn have the potential to recover and appreciate that much faster.”

Atlanta is not one of those top ten markets. “Markets that will experience further price drops this year include Atlanta, Ga. (14.4% anticipated loss), Los Angeles, Calif. (10.3% anticipated loss), Seattle, Wash. (7.5% anticipated loss), Oxnard, Calif. (6.7% anticipated loss), and  foreclosure capital Las Vegas, Nev. (6.4% anticipated loss).”

Housingpredictor.com calls for a 6.7% drop in Atlanta – they’ve been about right for the 4 years that I’ve been reading their forecasts…

So, all real estate is local. Using the word “ATLANTA” does not accurately depict specific real estate submarkets. As an example, Decatur prices are up year over year and are trending upward. Inventory is down and a seller’s market exists in some cases. Some Buckhead neighborhoods are up and trending upward. Some Eastside neighborhoods are in flux and trending downward until the public schools get reoriented and reset for an honorable future.

So, stay tuned and know the facts and the data that drive your street’s value – your property’s value. The macroeconomists are not wrong about 2012 in “Atlanta,” so filter these forecasts with a hyperlocal lens, and please call me if I can help you with the valuation of a property, OK?

The Fairfield site is loaded with information – here’s the links page if you want to do some further reading.

First, the biggest news of the week – The Mortgage Insurance Tax Break is Gone.

On Dec 31st, Congress let 58 tax code benefits expire, including credits for home energy improvements, credits for builders of energy-efficient new houses, and home buyer tax deductions for mortgage insurance.  The mortgage insurance deduction has been a key mortgage financing benefit in place since 2007 which benefitted home buyers with income of $110k per year or less.  Combined with the new fees they are imposing on Conventional loans this Spring, Congress continues to increase the costs of homeownership rather than reduce them!  It should be noted that Congress still has the power to reauthorize all or some of the write-offs retroactively this year, but the current political atmosphere raises doubts about that happening.  Its time to let our elected representatives know how we feel!

FHA Extends Anti-Flipping Waiver Through End of 2012
To cut down on fraud, FHA has had an anti-flipping regulation in place for years preventing a seller from selling a home owned less than 90 days.  In an effort to accelerate the resale of foreclosed properties, FHA waived this rule in Feb of 2010 and then extended the waiver through the end of 2011.  FHA recently announced that they are extending the waiver through the end of 2012. This announcement has been well publicized but its important to understand that this is simply an extension of FHA’s policy for most of the last two years.  So, although this is good news, it is not necessarily new news.  It is also important to understand that most every FHA investor has "overlays" on top of the stated FHA guidelines that make the FHA guidelines more restrictive.  The most liberal overlays allow for the anti-flipping waiver BUT with the strict limitation that the resale price not be more than 20% greater than the acquisition price, even if there were renovations.  An exception would need to be granted for a resale value of more than 20%.  The bottom line is always be careful when your FHA buyers are buying homes that the seller has recently acquired.  Check to see when the seller acquired the property and make the Loan Officer aware of the acquisition date if it was within the last six months. 

What Every Lender Wants the Realtor to Know When Writing a Contract:
The “Financing Contingency Exhibit” is a wonderful addendum to the Purchase & Sale Agreement and something that the realtor should make a standard part of every financed transaction.  Here are a few tips when completing this form:

Always show the interest rate a good .25% to .5% more than the prevailing rate in case rates rise between the binding contract date and the rate lock-in date.

If you are not sure how much the buyer will put down, shoot high on the loan-to-value showing the highest % you anticipate the buyer will finance.

Selling Agents, always maximize the number of days that your buyer has to satisfy the Financing & Appraisal Contingencies.  Anything less than 20 days will not leave enough time for the lender to get the home appraised and the loan approved.  Be firm that at least 20 days are needed!

Listing Agents, always write the name of your most trusted Loan Officer in the space underneath Section 2.  What an opportunity to require the buyer making an offer on your listing to pre-qualify with your favorite Loan Officer. 

Rate Update

The news from Europe has been mostly negative over the last week.  Economic growth in Germany has been slower than expected.  Negotiations on restructuring Greek debt also have not progressed as planned.  S&P is downgrading the debt of several European countries, including France.  Lastly, the European Central Bank (ECB) has given no indication that it will provide relief to the troubled countries.  As a result of all of this turmoil, investors shifted funds to relatively safer investments, including US mortgage-backed securities (MBS), which has helped mortgage rates move lower. However, we already know that Congress is imposing new fees on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac later this spring that are going to cause mortgage rates to bump up as much as .25% over the weeks ahead.  Anyone in the market to lock a mortgage rate should do it as soon as possible.

Looking Ahead
The most significant economic data due out this week are the monthly inflation reports.  The Producer Price Index (PPI) focuses on the increase in prices of "intermediate" goods used by companies to produce finished products and will come out on Wednesday.  The Consumer Price Index (CPI), the most closely watched monthly inflation report, will come out on Thursday.  CPI looks at the price change for those finished goods which are sold to consumers.  In addition, Industrial Production, an important indicator of economic growth, will come out on Wednesday.  Housing Starts will be released on Thursday, and Existing Home Sales will come out on Friday.  Philly Fed and Empire State round out a very busy week.

Please call me or call Jeff if we can answer any of your specific questions…

Why? Well, because most of these properties are not worth buying…

But, this one is…

for the right price.

This one belongs to one of my clients, who needs to short sell this house in Oakland City – I listed it for $9000 in September – it remains unsold.

We are relisting the property soon, and I am thinking that $4000 is the right price. His mortgage lender may differ with me, but I let them set the $9000 price back in September. No offers followed!

Some of you may be thinking – huh? what? Is he really talking about this like it matters? Well, my client matters – he needs this short sale!

So, check out these FMLS statistics – 8854 houses sold for under $50,000 in Georgia last year, 1422 in Atlanta, 147 in 30314, 265 in 30310, and 205 in 30315.

363 houses sold for under $10,000 in Georgia last year, 266 in Atlanta, 39 in 30314, 73 in 30310 and 47 in 30315.                   

Only 4 houses sold for under $10,000 in Decatur’s 30032 – the most downtrodden Decatur (unincorporated Dekalb) zip code. 285 houses sold for under $50,000 in that zip.

Now, looking back just one year, there were 6279 residential properties sold in 2010 in Georgia for less than $50,000. That means that there were 2575 more sales last year for under $50,000 than there were during the year before.

There is a seller’s market in this price range, for the most part, so why did the $9000 house not sell quickly?

Because it is overpriced by 50%. Because, for $9000, on the edge of Oakland Park, this house is overpriced. Simple, right?

To relate this phenomenon back to any other price segment of the market, I simply suggest that the street matters most, and that chasing the market is never good, especially when  about 7-8 other houses per month are selling in the same zip code in the same price range.

Check this out and see how well this carries. On any given listing at higher price points I can probably find the same basic statistic – 7 or 8 other houses will sell nearby that month, while the overpriced listing languishes.

This will be my last article about houses in this price range for a while, but I’ll continue to make these same points about value. Because, most real estate listings are still initially overpriced and either chasing the market, or failing to sell. Lets use the bottom of the bottom of the real estate market to remind us that pricing matters most!