For Sale By Owner?

This is a great article written by John Adams published in the AJC. This is a tough time to try and be an owner without an agent...

Expert: Selling your own home today a tough sell

In some recent years, about all you had to do to sell your own home was stick a sign in the yard and wait for the offers to pour in. In some areas, sales were so hot that owners expected (and often got) offers of more than asking price. The heat of the market led some to question the need for the marketing expertise of a real estate agent.

Things have changed.

Today's home seller is faced with extremely tough (and in some cases desperate) competition. There are many more homes for sale than buyers to buy them, and the few buyers out there are demanding bargains.
Dozens of new subdivisions litter the metro Atlanta landscape, some owned by lenders anxious to unload, others still being completed.

My advice to anyone considering putting his house on the market now in one word: Don't!
The market is stacked against you. When you have too much supply and not enough demand, the product is destined to decline in value. And even though prices are great and interest rates are remarkably low, people worried about losing their jobs just don't buy houses.

This, too, shall pass. As Americans inexorably continue their migration from the Rust Belt to the Sun Belt, and as Atlanta continues its march to become a major American city, our creation of jobs will resume, and demand for housing in our metro area will increase. Add to that the fact that we aren't building anywhere near enough housing to replace what we are losing to neglect, age and decay, and demand must eventually exceed supply.

In the meantime, the toughest job I see today belongs to the homeowner who feels he must sell but has decided to do it himself.

He mistakenly figures that the huge commission may make the difference between a sale and a lost sale, and he secretly wants all that money for himself because he figures he deserves it (in these tough times).
Meanwhile, the hottest buyers in Atlanta aren't sitting in their hotel rooms poring over the for-sale-by-owner ads. Not by a long shot.

Instead, they are referred to our city's elite brokerage firms, are picked up in limos at the airport and whisked off to a plush office where they view a carefully screened list of homes designed to meet their every need. All of which just happen to be listed for sale by a real estate broker.

Thus, it is no surprise that homes sold without the assistance of a real estate professional dropped to a record low this year, only 11 percent of sales as opposed to 13 percent in 2009. This according to research from the 2010 Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers, published by the National Association of Realtors.

My advice: This is no time to go it alone.

Title Insurance

Title Insurance: More Important Than Ever

Understanding the tenets of title insurance is especially important considering the turmoil in the real estate industry and the foreclosure market.

Title insurance is intended to protect the insured from improper titling, including defects in foreclosure proceedings, forgery, or impersonation or cases in which no title is legally conveyed. Other defects are partial, such as a neighboring fence or garage encroaching on the insured person’s property.

The title insurance industry recently set down strict guidelines for when and if they will insure a title to a property on which there has been a foreclosure.

The buyer should be equally vigilant, insisting on a 60-year search and paying for an owner’s policy as well as the lender’s policy that the bank will demand.

Source: Washington Post, Harvey S. Jacobs (11/27/2010)

11 Reasons to List durning the Holidays

11 Reasons to List During the Holidays

1. People who look for a home during the Holidays are more serious buyers!

2. Serious buyers have fewer houses to choose from during the Holidays and less competition means more money for you!

3. Since the supply of listings will dramatically increase in January, there will be less demand for your particular home! Less demand means less money for you!

4. Houses show better when decorated for the Holidays!

5. Buyers are more emotional during the Holidays, so they are more likely to pay your price!

6. Buyers have more time to look for a home during the Holidays than they do during a working week!

7. Some people must buy before the end of the year for tax reasons!

8. January is traditionally the month for employees to begin new jobs. Since transferees cannot wait until Spring to buy, you must be on the market now to capture that market!

9. You can still be on the market, but you have the option to restrict showings during the six or seven days during the Holidays!

10. You can sell now for more money and we will provide for a delayed closing or extended occupancy until early next year!

11. By selling now, you may have an opportunity to be a non-contingent buyer during the Spring, when many more houses are on the market for less money! This will allow you to sell high and buy low!

Americans can’t afford to buy a house.

Credit Score Requirements Stifling Borrowers

Despite record-low interest rates, an increasing number of Americans can’t afford to buy a house.
The nation’s two largest mortgage lenders, Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America Corp., have raised the minimum required credit score on FHA-insured loans to 640 from 620. Requiring a 640 credit score excludes about 15 percent of FHA borrowers, FHA commissioner David Stevens said.
Such a high limit will further delay a recovery in the real estate market, says Ron Phipps, president of the National Association of REALTORS®.
This issue arose at the annual conference of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® last week. FHA Commissioner David Stevens challenged banks to return to underwriting basics rather than continue to rely on automated models that kick out applicants based solely on numerical scores. Read the write-up on Stevens' remarks.

Source: Bloomberg, Jody Shenn and John Gittelsohn (11/17/2010)

Mortgage Rates Continue Record Slide

Mortgage Rates Continue Record Slide

Freddie Mac reports that rates on fixed mortgages again fell to their lowest levels in decades this past week, with the average interest on 15-year loans dipping to 3.57 percent from 3.63 percent a week earlier, and the average interest for 30-year loans sliding to 4.17 percent from 4.24 percent. That is the lowest since 1971.

The impact of the favorable borrowing costs is being muted somewhat, however, by a high rate of joblessness, foreclosures, and tight credit.

Source: Boston Globe (11/12/10)


If you can qualify for a loan, now is the time to buy!  Act fast!

Dekalb County Foreclosure Update

Dekalb County GA is going through some interesting changes that people at risk or foreclosure should be aware of....


DeKalb County, which has more than 14,000 foreclosed properties, is cracking down on absentee owners of such property.


The county launched its foreclosure registry this week as a way to hold property owners more accountable. The registry, which will require a $175 fee, will be online and include owners’ contact information.

Creditors or mortgagees that foreclose on a property have up to 30 days following the foreclosure sale to register the property with the county and become in compliance with all code enforcement rules. Anyone who does not register is subject to a $1,000 fine per day.

Registration forms are available at www.dekalbcountyga.
 gov/foreclosureregistry .

Check with your lender

Talk with your lender and see if you can qualify for a home loan.  This is the best time to buy in nearly 20 years.  Rates will not be this low forever.


30-Year Mortgage Rates Plumb New Depths
Freddie Mac reports that the average interest on 30-year fixed mortgages slipped to an all-time low, for the third consecutive week, to 4.19 percent.

At the same time, 15-year fixed-rate loans and the five-year adjustable-mortgage rate both also hit record lows. Rates on the former were 3.62 percent, while the latter averaged just 3.47 percent.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Nathan Becker (10/15/10)

Georgia Foreclosure Steamlined

With so many changes in the Real Estate and lending industry over the last several months, many buyers are becoming concerned.  There is so much information available, but much of it is difficult to decipher for the average buyer.  I wanted to point you to an article in the online AJC that has a very good outline of the new lending concerns regarding foreclosures.  This is a very basic and understandable article but if you have any questions, feel free to let me know.  Find the article here: Georgia Foreclosure Streamlined.

Introduction

It is finally here!  This is my web page / blog for my Real Estate career.  It is very primitive right now but will see many changes as the needs arise.  This will be a new jumping off point for my Real Estate career.