Chestatee Neighborhood, Dawsonville Ga, Market Update

We recently sent out this market update to our clients:

The summer is heating up bout our market seems to have cooled slightly.

We wanted to start with some recent statistics:

Here are the May statistics for Dawson County:

426 homes for sale throughout the county

24 sold in May

29 Pending (under contract but have not closed)

Dawson County has a 14.7 months of inventory.

The average home sits 110 days on the market.

When the home is sold it is receiving 93% of its current list price

Positive points about the preceding numbers:

The number of day that the average home is on the market has dropped 21.4%

The final price received has gone up 4.5%

Chestatee update: Barb and I have some clients that we are currently working with on homes in the neighborhood. At the same time other clients have disappeared. Some of them have grown nervous in the decline of the stock market, others appear to be on a different page then their significant other, and others cannot the find the "perfect house". Our phone calls from real estate agents has also decreased. The amount of activity at this time of year will also decrease slightly as summer vacations begin for most families.

There have been four recent sales in the neighborhood. All of them were foreclosures with prices ranging from $319,000 to $855,000. That portion of the market continues to intrigue buyers in search of the bargain. We have also seen three homes advertised for foreclosure in the newspaper. Unfortunately this continues to hurt all of you with your homes as we try to compete. Pricing pressures continues.

THE CHESTATEE NEIGHBORHOOD CONTINUES TO HAVE GREAT OPPORTUNITIES! IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THE ONLY GOLF COURSE/LAKE LANIER NEIGHBORHOOD GIVE US A CALL! BARB AND RANDY, OF THE WELLS TEAM, ARE BOTH 10 YEAR RESIDENTS OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD WHO HAVE RECORDED THE MOST RESALES!

GO TO OUR WEBSITE AND SEE OUR CHESTATEE LISTINGS: www.randywellsteam.com

I WANT IT ALL!

The last time I heard this line was from Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory! (Remember the scene?)

This is what The Wells Team is seeing with home buyers in the North Atlanta area.

There is very little new home inventory available. (The builders are gone).

The buyers are looking at the large amount of reslae inventory including foreclosures.

What are the comments?

"A lot of house for the money but the bathroom needs updating".

"Where is the granite in the kitchen"

"The Dining Room needs to be repainted".

"The entire home is outdated".

ENOUGH!

Here is the reality concerning resales and foreclosures.

Look at the price per square foot of the home. Compare the cost of buying the home or building the home with the latest bells and whistles.

The conclusion is obvious.

The Wells Team has homes that average under $100 per square foot. Compare that to the $135+ per square foot to build the same home new. Take the diffrerence in price and update the bathroom, kitchen, or both. You still come out ahead.

The deals are still there. They just involve a little extra work to give them your personal touch.

With that extra effort YES YOU CAN HAVE IT ALL!

The Listing interview: An inexact science

The Wells Team has had overall success in securing listings through our listing interviews!

However the way it ultimately happens is different from what we envisioned.

Here is how The Wells Team goes into a potential listing interview:

At least one day prior we leave a listing presentation with potential sellers. We ask them to read the information and be ready to ask questions.

We meet the sellers for the first time in their home. At this point we could be seeing the home for the first time. We take a tour, take diligent notes, ask questions about upgrades, repairs, utilites, and other pertinent information. After the tour we sit with the sellers, ask them what questions they have for us, and then cover other information that they had not asked previously.

We thank them for their time, have a team meeting to discuss pricing, and make an appiontment to visit them for a second time. At that time we are then ready to give them more exact information on pricing their home and working with us.

That is the way we envision it.

Now here is what happens:

We give the potential seller the listing presentation in advance. They might, or might not, look at the information.

We meet them for the first time and take a tour of the home. After the tour we are ready for their questions about marketing, and how we have achieved overall success in the industry. Instead we receive two questions. How much is my home worth? What is the commission cost and can we change that?
In most cases we have a price in mind for the home. We ask the ability to have a meeting among the team to discuss the home price, as well as, commission options for the seller.

What have we found? If we give the potential seller an immediate price for the home we receive different reactions. We were too blunt with the home price or we were not pricing the home aggresively enough. Either way we lose! The same goes for negotiations on the commissions. Different circumstances allow The Wells Team to discuss possible commission changes. This needs to be done among the team, in private, assessing all of the variables in order to give them options. If we do not have an immediate answer then we appear resistant to change.

Bottom line: There is not a winning solution. The sellers each look at the realtor/seller relationship differently. As well as we try to prepare we never know what to expect.

It is truly an inecxact science!

Market thoughts for the first four months of 2010.

Spring has hit us quickly in North Georgia with summer right around the corner.

Every real estate market is local and the Wells Team knows this market as well as anybody.

We saw a surge of lookers (drive bys) in Mid April. This group gave us some of the best open house results we had seen in a year. This group is pretty consistent in their home buying status. They will soon be emptynesters, retiring, or move back to the area to be with their family. Some return to work with us. Overall they procrastinate waiting for the perfect home to be found. They are a test of patience.

Those that buy now represent the "sharks". This group wants an upper end of foreclosure home with all the bells and whistles. They have circled knowing which ones are appearing. They strike quickly and land themselves a victim of a home!

Then our last group: Return customers who are looking for a home that does not exist, the price that does not exist, and with the intent of torturing themselves looking for perfect situation.

In other words the players are the same from last year.

However we state this fact our first four months of 2010 have far exceeded this time last year. We have gone from 0 closings in 2009 to 4 closings in 2010 with number 5 on the way!

Why the improvement? Working with long-term customers has finally paid dividends! The Wells Team has the patience, and the expertise, to eventually place our clients in their "dream home".

Conclusion: We believe the market will loosen up slightly the remainder of the year. Price will drive the sale of the home unless the home has that "extra special feature". Buyers still want to think that they are getting a deal. At the same time they are beginning to realize that there is not an unlimited supply of those deals available. If they continue to "snooze they will lose"!

As for our sellers: The market has not come back to "normal". If they bought their home in the last five years, and want to sell, do not expect to walk away with a large profit. If they do not need to sell we ask that they wait a while longer. If they are in a position that they need to sell they need to realize that the market dictates the price of their home instead of how they feel about their home. This can be a source of friction between the seller and The Wells Team.

The first four months have given The Wells Team an excuse for guarded optimism. However our expertise, and research, tells us to wait a while longer before beginning the celebration on the home market.

If we can help you in the North Atlanta area give us a call! We are The Wells Team of The Norton Agency. www.randywellsteam.com

SHOULD WE CHANGE OUR REAL ESTATE BUSINESS INTO A 501c NON PROFIT?

We have a dilemma on our hands? Do we change our real estate business into a non profit? We ask this question because we have recently been asked to cut our commission by 33% on a recent sale! This is in addition to the never ending request for real estate help requested by the
For Sale by Owners!

The Wells Team is not in the real estate business because we needed a hobby! This is how we make our living!

For some reason many people cannot make the same conclusion. As far as they are concerned we are a service they want to avoid using because of the commission. At the same time they have no problems asking us to use our limited free time to assist them in the selling of their For Sale by Owner property.

We also see no end in sight to the request to cut our commissions by 1 point which equates to a 33% overall commission cut!

Our marketing expenses, board dues, gas, desk fees, and marketing have not declined by 33%!

Simple conclusion: If we take the commission cuts that are requested and work for free, then why continue in the real estate business? A simple solution would be to ask for non profit status. At least we get a tax break!

FSBO vs LISTING WITH AN AGENT IN THIS MARKET!

Despite this tough real estate market we continue to meet sellers who want to sell their home themselves!

Why???

Their responses:

Your market analysis shows me that I have to price the home lower in order to sell!
I am not going to "give away" my home!
I can negotiate more effectively because I do not have to pay a commission!
I do not want to pay any commission to anybody!
We will put up a sign and come to show the property when we receive a phone call!
We will have an open house and sell it!

Here are a couple of points from The Wells Team

The market analysis shows the actual market in your neighborhood. You cannot change that by listing the home by yourself!
If you are "giving away" your home then you should strongly reconsider keeping your home off of the market. Again the market dictates the price of your home!
There is a very good chance that you will be working with a buyers agent. If you do then you will be obligated to pay them a commission for all of their work. How much will you actually save by not involving agents!
Are you really ready to show your home on a moments notice? What if you miss the call?
The percentages of selling your home at an open house are extremely small.

What The Wells Team is seeing in this market

Buyers are seeing the homes on the real estate websites
Buyers are working with agents to show them properties
Buyers that drive by our listings are not calling like the past. They pull a flyer and leave.
We have lower turnouts at our open houses
Buyers want to see more information about the home before they take a look.
What The Wells Team brings to the market
3 members who answer their phones 24/7!
Extensive internet marketing on all major real estate websites
Strong market analysis of your property to assist in pricing
Good working relationship with other agents
Redesign services to assist in marketing your property
Representation for you when working with a buyer

In the toughest market in recent history continues why would you want to do this yourself?

Give us a call!

The Wells Team of The Norton Agency

770-313-5792, 404-642-1968

www.randywellsteam.com

SPEND THE MONEY FOR A HOME INSPECTION!

There is nothing worse for The Wells Team that to receive this phone call: We are having _______ problem with that house you recently helped us purchase!
Our heart begins to race, the throat constricts, and sweat starts to form on the forehead.
Then we ask ourselves the following:
Did we encourage them to get a home inspection?
Did we give them multiple home inspectors to interview?
Did we suggest a home warranty?
Did we give our "home expertise" on home issues that we are not qualified to do so?
Why do our buyers worry about the price of a home inspection as a percentage of the purchase price of their home?
The Wells Team would make a couple of points when it comes to inspections:
Receive multiple names of qualified inspections.
Call each inspector and interview them.
Hire additional inspectors for specialty items, ie septic systems, pools, roofs
Purchase a home warranty keeping in mind that it does not cover every item. If you have a specialty item buy additional coverage.
Without a doubt this is the largest investment that you will make. It is a product with lots of parts, many that cannot be seen.
Take the time and money to have it looked at by home professionals. Do not rely on the real estate agent for advice on home systems.
If you find yourself in the Norton Atlanta Metro area give The Wells Team a call. We were #5 out of approximately 130 Norton Agency agents for 2009. With a combined 41 years in the area we truly are your neighbors!
Check out our website at http://www.randywellsteam.com/