You are currently browsing the monthly archive for January, 2007.
Below are the final three economic indicators I have promised you in this series. If you would like to see the first two posts, click here: Part One: Economic Indicators; Part Two: Economic Indicators.
- Residential construction nationally may be down by 5% from last year, and a slowdown in home sales in the Northeast corridor, California, and parts of Florida has occurred. However, in metro Atlanta, home sales are persistently healthy, at strong and realistic levels. We’re fortunate the media-touted housing boom never inflated home prices in our area.
- Interest rates remain quite reasonable and among the lowest in our lifetimes
- A reduction in Federal spending has been counteracted by a surge in spending by state and local governments, up more than 7% for four consecutive quarters.
These indicators reinforce a vibrant economy and, correspondingly, a sound, brisk residential real estate market that assures homebuyers solid investment potential and home sellers attractive gains. We encourage you to take advantage of these opportunities and to call on one of our agents, justifiably described as “the most respected names in real estate” for their expertise, integrity and personal attention.
For example: items at the property that you are buying
If you are buying a house and find the perfect “play set” in the backyard and fail to mention that this is important in your decision to buy this property to your agent, it can be a serious disappointment when you arrive at move in and the “play set” was taken by the Seller.
A Seller’s Disclosure is typically attached and made a part of the sales contract, but if the Seller noted that the “play set” was being removed and taken to their new property……..and the agent and you failed to have a discussion about this particular item, the result is less than satisfactory.
Be sure that a Special Stipulation is included in the contract that specifies all of the items that are to be included in the purchase price and to remain with the property in or to avoid disappointment.
Helen Lynch
Senior Vice President
Managing Broker, Sandy Springs office
So it may be a little corny but this morning at our first Managers’ Meeting of 2007, we had a small glare problem that was easily fixed with some shades for all. We couldn’t help but say “The future is so bright we have to wear shades.”
In fact, David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, said annual totals for existing-home sales will be fairly comparable between 2006 and 2007. “We have to keep in mind that we were still in boom conditions during the first quarter of 2006 with a high sales volume and double-digit price appreciation,” he said. “We are starting 2007 from a relatively low point, so even with a gradual improvement in sales it’ll be pretty much of a wash in terms of annual totals. The good news is that the steady improvement in sales will support price appreciation moving forward.”
Click here to see the entire article posted on realtor.com.
As a follow up post to the first one last week on economic indicators, below are three more sound reasons to be confident that our real estate market will be supported by forward steps in the economic arena.
- The Treasury Department’s efforts to engage China in allowing its currency to rise in value against our dollar promises to narrow the substantial Chinese trade surplus with the U.S.
- Consumer spending marches along as strong as ever, with the third quarter of last year (the most recent data), up 5.4% from a year earlier; consumer consumption bolsters the economy, even despite weaker car sales.
- Non-residential or commercial construction spending soared at its fastest rate of gain in 25 years, coming in at a robust 27% higher in the third quarter than the previous year.
Have a great day, and please consider using Jenny Pruitt & Associates for the purchase or sale of your next home.
On jennypruitt.com, it’s easy to find a fantastic home in the subdivision you have always wanted to live in. First click on Property Finder, then select and click on the tab that is marked “Subdivision Search“. As you know, there are hundreds and hundreds of subdivisions in metro Atlanta. You can narrow it down by selecting the first letter of the subdivision name and the list will produce subdivision names accordingly.
Once you have selected the subdivision(s), you may enter the price range, beds, baths, and other search criteria to see which homes are available currently. To take this idea one step further, we recommend you save your search so when new homes enter the market (or price changes on currently listed homes), you receive an e-mail with the information. And no, we don’t sell your e-mail addresses when you sign up with us.
Here’s a tip: if the subdivision you’re after has more than one spelling or is listed more than once, you may want to press and hold the CTRL key while clicking on those subdivision names; this will include multiple subdivisions in your search.
Homeownership, to use an old cliché, is truly the “American Dream”. A home not only provides shelter, but for most of us it is the largest financial investment we will ever make. In Metro Atlanta, we have been fortunate to have experienced healthy, sustainable growth in housing appreciation. When it comes time to sell, we all want to walk away from the closing table realizing that appreciation through our “net equity”. This a first in a series of articles on how to sell your home for top dollar.
Pricing – Selling Your Home For Top Dollar
When selling a home, it is critical that it goes to market priced properly. The magic is in determining “market value”, the price that most buyers would be willing to pay. This is determined by studying comparable homes that have recently sold in the same neighborhood or community. Homes that are currently on the market are not the best indicators of value. While it is important to take these homes into consideration (after all they are your competition) you should not price your home based on that data alone. Anyone can “ask” any amount for a property. It is the “solds” that are the true indicator of market value.As Realtors®, we understand the temptation of many sellers to price their home higher than the comparables. Let’s address some of the common reasons for overpricing a home.
“Let’s just try it for a few weeks” The most activity is during the first few weeks of marketing. If you overprice during this critical time, you risk alienating your best potential buyers. Don’t overprice your home during your best marketing time, then reduce it when the buyers are gone. Someone can always make an offer.
When you overprice your home, the right buyers will not even see it. Let’s say the true market value of your home is $400,000 but you decide to “try it” at $450,000. The buyers who are looking at $450,000 homes that are priced correctly are seeing your home in a negative light. So by overpricing your home you are actually helping to sell those homes at $450,000 that are priced correctly!
We can always come down later
Think of a home you know that has been on the market for a long time. Typically these homes started off overpriced. They sit for months and finally the seller gets motivated and reduces the price to market value. You would expect that it would sell, now that it is priced fairly. Unfortunately, that does not usually happen. Why? The property is now “shopworn” and potential buyers wonder what is wrong with it. The buyer, especially in a buyers market, will submit a low offer. The perception now is the seller is desperate. The seller is indeed months into the process, frustrated, and often out of time…and money. The sad reality is they end up selling for less than they would have if the home had been priced properly initially.
We need the money
The harsh reality is our need for money has absolutely no effect on the market value of our home. As a buyer, would you pay more for a home simply because the seller “needed the money”?
We had a higher appraisal
When was the appraisal completed? For what purpose? In certain instances, it does make sense to have a “pre-marketing” appraisal to determine a solid list price. An appraisal more than a few months old is likely not valid. The market is continually changing and a current appraisal may be in order.
When it is time to sell, hire a professional that can assist you with determining a solid asking price…one that will help you realize as much of your equity as possible!
Rhonda Haran
Senior Vice President, Managing Broker
Johns Creek Office
Jenny Pruitt & Associates held their Annual Kickoff meeting last week at the Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead. The keynote speaker for the event was Barbara Corcoran, the well-known residential real estate expert from Manhattan. Barbara has over 25 years experience in the business, and has authored a book, If You Don’t Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails.
Barbara spoke to our agent audience numbering 400 about her experience and pathway to success. She explained that the mark of a succesful sales person is how quickly they pick themselves up after failure and rejection.
For entertainment that day, the Atlanta Lyric Theater sang famous broadway tunes including “New York, New York” and selections from Phantom of the Opera.
There are many indicators in our economy that reinforce a vibrant economy and, correspondingly, a sound, brisk residential real estate market that assures homebuyers solid investment potential and home sellers attractive gains. Below are two examples….more to come in subsequent posts.
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Residential construction nationally may be down by 5% from last year, and a slowdown in home sales in the Northeast corridor, California, and parts of Florida has occurred. However, in metro Atlanta, home sales are persistently healthy, at strong and realistic levels. We’re fortunate the media-touted housing boom never inflated home prices in our area.
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Additionally, interest rates remain quite reasonable and among the lowest in our lifetime.
We encourage you to take advantage of these opportunities and to call on one of our 450 agents, justifiably described as “the most respected names in real estate” for their expertise, integrity and personal attention.
Another great way to search for a home for sale in Atlanta is by our Radius Search feature. The concept is simple and easy use to buy your next home! All you have to do is go to www.jennypruitt.com, click on “Find a Home“, and then choose “Radius Search” at the top right hand side of the page.
Once you get there, type in the address that is your starting point (like your work place, a relative’s house, or even the mall!). Then, you select how far you want to live from that location, one mile up to 20 miles. Also, you may input the criteria you want in your new home in metro Atlanta - bedrooms, baths, price, age, single family or multi, new homes, etc. Then press the gold Search button at the bottom of the page, and voila, all the homes in FMLS that are within the distance you entered will appear.
This is great when you’re planning to relocate to Atlanta and you want to live a certain distance away from your office to reduce your commute time, or if you need to be near a family member or other location. Have fun searching for your new home in metro Atlanta!
Jenny Pruitt & Associates Realtors is ranked among the Top 100 Brokers in the United States by REALTrends, an industry-tracking organization endorsed by the National Association of REALTORS® and the Real Estate Brokerage Manager’s Council. The company was chosen in 1995 and 1996 by Robinson Humphrey and The Atlanta Business Chronicle as one of Atlanta’s fastest growing companies. In 2001, the company was purchased by HomeServices of America, Inc. A Berkshire Hathaway Affiliate (with majority ownership by Warren Buffet). HomeServices, based in Minneapolis, is the second-largest, full-service independent residential real estate brokerage firm in the United States.
Atlanta continues to grow and grow! We thought you might like to see the population numbers for the past one hunddred years. After steadily growing for its first 100 years, the population within the city limits of Atlanta began to fall while the metro area continued to grow. The intown trend has reversed as of the mid-1990s.
1900 - 89,872
1910 - 154,839 (metro 522,442)
1920 - 200,616 (metro 622,283)
1930 - 270,688
1940 - 302,288 (metro 820,579)
1950 - 331,000 (metro 997,666)
1960 - 487,000 (metro 1,312,474)
1970 - 497,000 (metro 1,763,626)
1980 - 425,000 (metro 2,233,324)
1990 - 394,017 (metro 2,959,950)
2000 - 416,474 (metro 4,112,19 
2005 - 470,688 (metro 5,103,766)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
10. Atlanta, GA
Sure, the projected price gain is only a third that of top-ranked Panama City. But it’s dramatic for a metro region with a population of more than 5 million people. Andrew Schiller, founder of NeighborhoodScout, notes Atlanta’s strategic importance as the primary “growth pole” for the entire Southeast, and Bruce Katz, head of the urban development program at the Brookings Institution, says Atlanta is “sprawl on steroids.”
While the city itself is home to only 400,000 people, the greater region includes 110 municipal governments, each determined to beat its neighbors in growth. With the greatest job growth expected near Atlanta’s heart, commuters from far-flung suburbs are fighting harder each day to get back inside the I-285 “perimeter” that encircles the city. That has already pumped up prices in the more desirable north Atlanta neighborhoods, including swank Buckhead, forcing less well-heeled newcomers to look outside the perimeter for a price break. Expect to see the greatest appreciation along Atlanta’s southern perimeter fringes, particularly in and around Peachtree City.
CAUTION: Atlanta has never been known for record-breaking housing appreciation. This year’s closure of Ford’s assembly plant in Hapeville and the scheduled closure of General Motors’s Doraville plant in 2008 could also slow things down.
To read the entire article, visit: CNN Money
On jennypruitt.com, there are nine ways to search for a home for sale in metro Atlanta. Our newest offering for looking for residential real estate on our web site is the Map Search.
This feature allows the user to begin their search on an actual map of Atlanta. By clicking twice with the mouse on the map, one can zoom into the desired area of metro Atlanta. As the search is more defined, the number properties found also zeroes in to what is available in the area shown on the screen. Once the final area is chosen, you can scroll to the bottom of the page and add price ranges, number of beds and baths, and more. The coolest thing about this search is that you can select the “ariel” view and search, using the satellite photo.
