MY POCKETS ARE FULL...OF "POCKET LISTINGS"

I know that most of you have never heard this phrase from your friend or neighbor (sarcasm): "If you know somebody who is looking for a home in our neighborhood bring them to my home, I am willing to sell". Yes they are willing to sell: •If the buyer is an all cash buyer so we do not have to have an appraisal •The buyer will pay top dollar for my home including everything I have done to the home •The buyer will close when it is convenient for me •I do want to sell but under my terms My partner and I have pockets full of our neighbor's "pocket listings". We appreciate them giving us the opportunity to sell their home but we are scratching our head on why they will not list with us. Why won't they list their home? •They do not want to pay commission? •They do not want people seeing their home on the internet? •They do not want the neighbors to know they are trying to move? •They do not want to show their home too much? We are trying to wrap our hands around this to give these potential sellers the reasons why they need to list their homes with an agent. •Our neighborhood has no new construction. Buyers have seen the existing inventory and have decided not to come into our neighborhood to look further. They have no idea about these "pocket listings". •We get clients when they find our listings on the internet, or drive into our neighborhood and see our signs. If they do not see a home they like they will not contact us. Therefore we do not get the chance to meet with them and show them our additional "pocket listings". If over 90% of potential buyers start their search on the internet then there is a good chance the "pocket listing" will never be seen. To my fellow real estate agents? What do you think? Meanwhile I remember as a kid when I had army men, bubble gum, pennies, rocks, marbles, and baseball cards shoved in my pants pockets. Ultimately my mom would end washing my pants along with their contents. Unfortunately we do not have a washer big enough to wash my pants with all of these pocket listings. Have a great holiday!

Atlanta Area Real Estate Summary

I was recently able to attend a real estate class highlighting national and local real estate trends. This is our commitment to stay as informed as possible about our industry and how it affects our clients. Our Atlanta area buyers and sellers • Have been on the sidelines • Have been shifting from higher end consumer stores to outlets • Have a consumer confidence, according to surveys, double of 2009 levels but approximately 60% of 2007 levels (national level) • Have seen an increase of 68,400 jobs in Georgia January 2012 vs. January 2011 • Are part of one of the top 25 US job growth markets in the country • Unemployment in the Georgia Mountain Region is 8.3%. Specifically 10.1% in Dawson, 8.2% in Forsyth, 10.1% in White, 9.25% in Hall, 9.2% in Gwinnett, and 10.8% in Lumpkin • Unemployment in the Atlanta Region is 9.3%. This includes Cobb, Fayette, and Rockdale Counties • Median income (2010) in Forsyth County is $95,906, Dawson $58,766, Lumpkin $46,360, White County $42,487, Hall County $56,240 and $81,904 in Gwinnett National Home Sales • 11973 homes sell every day. Of those, 8501 receive a mortgage • 25% of home sales are distressed property sales. This compares with 35% in January 2012 • Months inventory of homes for sale have gone from approximately 9 months to approximately 6.5 months, June 2012 vs. June 2011 • 30 year fixed mortgage rates started at 4.75% in January 2011. Today they are averaging between 3.75% and 4% • California is #1 for amount of homeowners who have negative equity in their homes • Total homes sales 4Q 2011 were approximately 4,300,000 units vs. 4,600,000 units in 4Q 2012 • The highest foreclosure inventory are in Nevada, Hawaii, Florida, Illinois,NY,NJ,and Maine • Florida, 11.9%, has the most foreclosures in process • NY and NJ have the most months of shadow inventory. (shadow inventory are houses owned by HUD, banks and other organizations) Atlanta area home market • Atlanta metro area is comprised of 28 counties including Dawson, Hall, and Forsyth • 65% of the growth in the last 20 years has been north of the Atlanta airport, 35% to the south • Home inventory is shrinking. In the Atlanta metro area there were approximately 42,000 homes for sale in 2010, 25,000 homes in 2011, and 22,000 homes available in 2012! • Median home price (2010) was $230,598 for Forsyth, $134,000 for Gwinnett, $124,500 for Lumpkin, $119,500 for White, $125,000 for Hall, and $156,775 for Cherokee • There are 795 new home subdivisions in the 22 county area • 48% of the building permits in the 22 county areas were for Gwinnett and Forsyth County. In the last 12 months Forsyth has had more building permits than Gwinnett. • There are 285,000 developed lots in the Atlanta area waiting for a house! • 45% of the builders in the Atlanta area are national builders a very large increase • In 2000-2007 land represented 25-43% of the total cost of a new home. That percentage will drop to 18-22% • 70% of all 2011 sales were homes priced under $149K • In the 2011 the lowest number of sales were in the $250K to $750K range! Summary The home sales in our area are a direct reflection of the above statistics. The majority of our transactions for 2012 took place in Forsyth, Gwinnett, and Fulton Counties. One home was under contract in 2 days, one in 6 days, and one in under 30 days! Pockets of Dawson County, especially the Chestatee golf/Lake Lanier community, continue to sell but at lower prices. Counties to the north of Dawson are receiving lower amounts of traffic and are under pricing pressure. This pricing pressure is a result of their median income, unemployment rate, and the high amount of second home properties available for sale. We have not seen pricing go any lower for homes. However they continue to “bump” along with no large price appreciation. Resale homes in Forsyth and North Fulton, priced well, are selling quickly near full asking price. Multiple full price offers have also happened in these areas in resale and foreclosure properties. We are telling our buyers that the conditions are not going to get any better. Interest rates are ridiculously low but cannot stay this way forever. Property prices are not going any lower and the inventory is shrinking. This is the time to buy!