LOCAL,LOCAL, ALL MARKETS ARE LOCAL

The real estate euphoria continues. Here is an excerpt from the National Association of Realtors: "February pending home sales flattened with limited buyer choices, but remained at the second highest level in nearly three years, according to the National Association of Realtors®." No doubt we are busy in the Atlanta area but you need to break down "Atlanta" into smaller segments to get the truest sense of the local market. Th60 e Atlanta area alone comprises between 8 and 14 counties depending on who runs the statistics. Here is my example: February home sales for 8 counties in the North Atlanta Metro Area: Average list price $432,000 Average sale price $247,000 Average days on the market 71 February home sales for Forsyth County. This county is 30-45 minutes north of downtown Atlanta: Average list price $383,000 Average price sale price $280,000 Average day on the market 85 February home sales for Dawson County. This county is 45-60 minutes north of downtown Atlanta: Average list price $413,000 Average sale price $220,000 Average days on the market 112 My neighbohrood Chestatee It is a Lake Lanier community with a golf course one hour north of Atlanta in Dawson County. Average list price $504,192 Average sale price $309,250 Average days o the market 174 Where am I going with this? There is a home listed in the Chestatee neighborhood or $699,000. The home has been on the market, up and down, for three years. The home has been lowered to the current price. We put an offer on the home last month. An offer that dictated a counteroffer. The listing agent is located about 35 minutes south of the neighborhood in area with a buiser market. He told his buyers to counter by lowering the price by $4000. He said the market is great for sellers, and houses are selling very quickly. Do you know that the listing agent had never been to the neighborhood? (his partner had). Moral of the story: When the media says Atlanta is booming and is a sellers market, the buyers need to know more. They need us to break down the market into very specific areas in order to educate them to the fullest. Markets are truly local!

I Want it All Including the Cat!

Real estate transactions are becoming increasingly complex. Put together a contract, add financing contracts, inspection reports, appraisals, and the paperwork adds up. This was a first for The Wells Team: We received an offer on a home in North Georgia. Under Special Stipulations they added the following sentence: Home sold completely furnished! The alarm bells went off! Our seller did not know how to react. All of the furniture? Including the dishes? The silverware? The garden gnomes? The cat? Needless to say that makes it a very complicated transaction. First let me clarify this point. This was the primary home for my sellers. Not a vacation home. Selling a vacation home turnkey is pretty common. This was not. My sellers were trying to place a quantitative amount to all of the furnishings. It is hard to figure out how much a used leather couch is worth on the open market! There were also items that they wanted to take to their next home. To sell some of these items at "used furniture" prices and buy the same item new continues to complicate the decision. Here is my advice very simply: When your buyer wants furniture in a home have them buy the home first then negotiate the furniture separately with the seller. And if you want the cat please negotiate that after we close on the home!