It's like "Pulling Teeth" to get Sellers to Price Correctly

Below there is a great article about sellers and their unwillingness to see the reality of the housing market. Real Estate agents are constantly battling with their clients about the correct price of their home, but now is not the time to price incorrectly. I always like the quote " Your home is worth only what the buyer is willing to pay for it". So please talk to me or your agent about what your home should be listed at.

• http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27648884/

U.S Takes Over Mortgage Giants

With the government taking over Fannie mae and Freddie mac, I only see goods things coming from this. This will beneifit lenders, which benefits real estate agents, which in turn benifits the most important person: you, The Consumer! Good Stuff! Some additional articles are listed below.





More Articles:

• Experts: Fannie, Freddie takeover helps in limited way - AJC.com
• U.S. bails out Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, ousts CEOs - ABC
• MCCAIN: FOCUSING ON FREDDIE/FANNIE - MSNBC.com

Grant

Pending Home Sales Increase

According to the National Association of Realtors, the pending home sales increased 5.3% from May to June. Pending Home Sales are a leading indicator of future housing market activity, so the next Existing and New Home Sales reports may show increases as well. It seems that buyers, especially first time home buyers, are taking advantage of this market. Good to see!

More on Pending Home Sales Increase

- Atlanta Business Chronicle

- msnbc.com

- USATODAY.com

Grant

Atlanta Family Selling Their Home To Help Hunger

The Salwen Family here in Atlanta is selling their home and donating half the price to The Hunger Project. The 5 bedroom home is listed at $1.8 million and has been on the market for almost a year. This idea was started by 15-year-old Hannah Salwen, and if you want more information on their project, click here.



If the video doesn't work, here is the link to it.


Grant

More Help for Homebuyers

Next week the Fed will set up new rules aimed at protecting homebuyers from the shady lending practices we have had in the past. This current mortgage meltdown was caused by lenders giving loans to people who weren't the best candidates for a loan. Negative amortization loans, no documentation loans, and loans given to people with poor credit are all things of the past. The rules include getting rid of the prepayment penalties for paying a loan off early, requiring borrows to set aside money for taxes and insurance, and having the lender see proof of income from all borrowers. This is a good move, and it should help homebuyers get themselves in a better situation when dealing with the financial obligations of owning a home. For more on this, Yahoo! News has an article.

Grant

More On Mortgage Rates

The Today Show once again has a great segment about the tips and strategies buyers and sellers should take when finding a mortgage.



Here Here!


Grant

Atlanta's Real Estate Market is Doing Better

According to an Erin Moriarty article of the Atlanta Business Chronicle, Atlanta's real estate market is fairing better than 20 major cities across the county. Our home prices aren't declining as fast as the west and sales are starting to pick up. High end property, homes around the city, and first time home purchases are all doing well. When we hear about the "real estate crisis" , just remember that your market might not be as bad when compared to the county as a whole. Just know that Atlanta's good, and we shouldn't hold back from taking advantage of the market we are currently in.

Grant

Georgia's Drought Still Not Getting Any Better

I woke up this morning thinking it was going to rain, but once again, the sun is out and the temperature is climbing. So I thought I might put a little information about the drought we are in. Stacy Shelton of the AJC reports that conditions are much worse than they were last year. She explains that last year Lake Lanier was 5.4 feet below and now it is 14.4 feet below. So follow your local water restrictions and conserve the best you can.

Grant

More on Mortgage Rates

In this video, Bill Liss of 11Alive discusses the rise of mortgage rates we've had the past few months. Good news is we are still below the national average.




Grant

Three Month Rate Increase

The last post I told you how rates are increasing, and I thought I might show you a graph of this. Robert Gilbreath in my office came up with this. The graph shows the change between April 15 to June 16.


Grant

Mortgage Rates Increasing

After months of rate cuts, interest rates have been slowly increasing. In a Freddie Mac survey, rates are at the highest they have been in eight months. But the good news is that rates are still low, and there is such an opportunity for you buyers out there. So take advantage of it while you still can.

Grant

Stats Looking Good For Vinings

As someone who grew up in the Vinings area, it is good to see the market not negatively affecting its housing numbers. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, prices jumped 57%, and the number of units sold increased 21.5% from a year ago. Vinings has a great old town feel that is only miles from downtown Atlanta. I believe this reason and the location, being on the corner of I-75 and I-285, have driven people to become interested in living there. Some places to check out if you are in the Vinings area include:

• Canoe - The wonderful restaurant hugging the Chattahoochee River.
• Vinings Jubilee - A development of shops and restaurants in the heart of Vinings.
• Garrison's - Very nice restaurant in the Vinings Jubilee shopping center.
• And many more you can find from the Vining's website.

If you are interested in the Vinings area, please contact me or click here to view current listings.

Grant

Buyer Incentives

With the market where it is, builders are dishing out all kind of incentives for you buyers out there. I have already seen cars and appliances included in these incentives, and I will continue to stress that you take advantage of this. Again, the Today Show had a segment today giving buyers some great tips and examples about these special opportunities. So Take a look!



Grant

Atlanta Home Sales Report

The Atlanta Journal Constitution came out with there Atlanta Home Sales Report yesterday and it provides some good information about the home sales around the areas of Atlanta. They show stats like the largest growth in sales and prices to the largest decline in sales and prices. They have also separated all the information by zip codes to show the market in a smaller spectrum. Everyday we hear large media types saying the real estate market is "bad", but it might be great in your market. So if you want to know how your city is doing, just type in your zip code and you can compare your real estate market to others around Atlanta. I will be looking into this more and i will post more information for you later.

Grant

Tribute Lofts Holding Auction

The year old Tribute Lofts off of Freedom Parkway will hold an auction for 40 condos on June 22nd. In an article from the AJC, the lofts are dealing with this market and prices should be discounted from 34% to 54%. So if you would like to live in the city, you really need to look into this.

Grant

Taste of Chamblee

On a beautiful day, Chamblee kicked off its first annual Taste of Chamblee. With a large crowd, I'm sure everyone from the neighborhood was out tasting some food and having some drinks. Don't forget, The Taste of Brookhaven will be on Saturday, June 14th.

Mortgage Brokers with Higher Fees?

In an article today from the Walls Street Journal, The HUD published a study showing higher fees when dealing with mortgage brokers. This may or may not be true, but my advice is to shop around when looking for your mortgage. Get the good faith estimates from 3 - 5 mortgage companies, whether it is your local bank or an Internet broker, and compare the GFEs to each other. It is also a good idea to tell them you are shopping around, and one company might reduce fees in order to earn your business. If you do the research, you can find the best deal with the least amount of fees. Oh, and seek some advice from your real estate agent. We are very helpful when it comes to dealing with mortage companies.

Grant

Don't Miss The Taste of Chamblee May 31st

This Saturday Chamblee will host the first annual Taste of Chamblee. Being that I live in the Chamblee/Brookhaven area, I wanted to get the word out to as many people as I could. So please stop on by Saturday and enjoy the festival. The day will begin with a garden tour in the Huntley Hills neighborhood from 9am-3pm and a food festival in downtown Chamblee with live music, a beer garden and a silent auction from 4:00pm-8:00pm. The Taste of Chamblee street festival will be in front of Chamblee City Hall at 5468 Peachtree Road. There will be a variety of restaurants offering sample sizes of their food, ranging from authentic Chinese to pizza, BBQ, hand-made chocolates, ice cream, smoothies & more! You can purchase 8 tickets for $10 which can be exchanged for one food sample each (additional tickets will be $1.50). Parking will be at the lot across from the Chamblee MARTA station.

Grant

New Homes Sales Increase!

The Associated Press reported today that sales of new homes increased 3.3% through the month of April. The article explains increases were across all regions, except the lovely south. This is mostly because of the large number of new homes in the south. This number also doesn't include all the incentives that builders are willing to dish out. Take it from me, I recently negotiated $5000 worth of new appliances for my buyer, and I have recently heard of builders paying for two year leases on brand new BMW's. So anything is possible when dealing with builders these days. I believe it is better than you think out there, and it is just good to hear "market" and "increase" in the same sentence.


Grant

New Water Flow Rule in Effect June 1st for Dekalb!

In Dekalb county come June 1st, if you buy a home built prior to 1993 and plan to establish water service, you will have to replace the old sinks and toilets to new low flow options. This law will put the responsibility on buyers to replace the older toilets for every home sold that falls under to law requirements. This law is in reaction to the drought we have been experiencing. I personally don't like this law, but I do have a tip for all you buyers out there. If you are a buyer, you might want to negotiate with the seller to have the water left on after closing so as to avoid the new buyer being stuck without water service while getting a plumber to change out the required toilets and sinks. Dekalb County also has a rebate plan to help out with this financial burden buyers have to look forward to. You will have to fill out an application and you can find all the information here. If you have any questions, please just comment to me and I will get back to you.

Grant

Kenny Rogers is Selling His Buckhead Home

Kenny Rogers is selling his 6 bedroom, six and a half bathroom estate in the heart of Buckhead. The 9,000 square foot house, listed at $7.95 million with Heather Steiner of Atlanta Fine Homes, has a seven acre lake as well as 150 acres fenced in. Rogers is apparently moving back to Athens where he lived for most of the 80's. I happen to have had my graduation party at his Athens estate, and I must say it is absolutely amazing. But for a man who has been buying a selling real estate in Atlanta for sometime, this house is quite amazing as well.


Grant

Get out there and enjoy your Atlanta Braves!

I’ve started this blog to give you some information about the real estate market in Atlanta, but also show you some of the entertainment this great city provides. This morning the Today Show had a piece on the new Atlanta Braves All-You-Can-Eat tickets that they are selling this year. They range from $30 to $65 depending if you want the hotdog and Coke package or the hambuger and beer package. This is a very affordable deal and you should definately get to the ball park and try it out. If you don’t feel like paying the $30, you can still get a good seat for only $5. We are very lucky to live in a city where you don’t have to break the bank to go see a great pro baseball team who is playing some really good ball right now.








Grant

Housing Crisis Over?

Cyril Moulle-Berteaux of Traxis Partners LP wrote a great article in the Wall Street Journal a few days ago about the current housing situation we are in. He explains what caused this burst and his outlook into the future of housing in America. Like we all know, it is a buyers market, and he explains that there hasn’t been opportunity like this for buyers since the early 90’s. So check in out, it is a great read.


Article: http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB121003604494869449.html


Grant

I've Started a Blog!

Hello All! I just wanted to let everyone know that I will begin my blog this week of May 19th - 23rd. It will be short and sweet but very informative for anyone looking for information about today’s real estate market in Atlanta. I might also throw in things about the goings on in Atlanta like entertainment, sports, or changes to the city. So please keep up with this blog, and I will post something new soon.
Thanks!


Grant