Atlanta Condos For Sale

Understanding the Atlanta Real Estate Market

by

Atlanta Real Estate MarketYou’ve heard it. Or maybe you’ve read it somewhere. “It’s a Buyer’s market,” or “It’s a Seller’s market.” Some of will even say the “market is on fire!” But what do those statements REALLY mean? Knowing that information will be a big help to you if you are buying or selling by Understanding the Atlanta Real Estate Market.

The Housing Market

This term references the overall real estate market, referring to houses (and condominiums) being bought and sold between buyers and sellers. While most of these sales are happening with the assistance of a real estate agent, their are those sales happening directly between owners. (We call that a For Sale By Owner or FSBO). As with any product, the market is dictated by the inventory of the product, a.k.a. Supply and Demand. If we have high demand for a product, and low inventory, the market appreciates. But if demand is low, and inventory is high, the market depreciates. 

Inventory in the Housing Market

Supply and demand in the housing market is related to the number of homes on the market, or the inventory. And we measure the market like this….If no other homes were to come on the market after today, at the current pace of sales, how long would it take for ALL the homes to be sold? If the inventory is high, the prices go down, as you compete to find a buyer for your home. 

So What is a Buyer’s Market and a Seller’s Market?

When you have high inventory, it is considered a buyer’s market, because the homes are on the market longer, and the supply is greater than the demand. The longer a home is on the market, the more a seller is willing to negotiate. (Or, in a worse case, they take their home off the market and wait) During this market, the buyer wins by getting a good deal on a house, or they enjoy a buyer’s market. 

But when we have less inventory, and a large number of buyers, the seller’s market kicks in..and it is the seller who is in the driver’s seat with their price. Mind you, you can ask whatever you want for a price on your home, but it will have to appraise if the buyer is getting a mortgage, or the buyer will need to have the financial means to make up any difference between the agreed sales price and the appraisal price, if there is a difference. (Oh, and yes, that does happen…and happens OFTEN!)

talking atlanta real estate
“Let’s grab a coffee and talk real estate!”

Take another example….if the new iPhone was not popular, and they were not selling, you would see the price come down. Apple would have all this inventory that is not moving, and they’d be adjusting prices to move it. On the flip side, if there are lines to buy the latest iPhone, rest assured, the price will be right up at the limit.

You have to remember that markets, especially real estate, have cycles. There will be a time of rapid appreciation, then stable markets, and then the potential for another decline. (UGH!) Thankfully, are price appreciation HAS slowed down, the market is stable, and homes are selling at a fast pace…hence the seller’s market we are currently in. 

You can find many real estate tips for both buyers and sellers in the blog posts on our site. If you have questions about your specific building (prices DO vary from building to building) or in your neighborhood, why not contact us to get a more detailed market analysis that tells you about YOUR real estate market! 

5 Tips for First Time Home Buyers

by

No matter how much time you spend on researching and educating yourself about your home purchase, it’s hard to cover every detail. Here are a few tips for avoiding rookie mistakes with your first home purchase.

5 Tips for First Time Home Buyers

  1. First Time Home Buyer tipsSave as early as you can: Even if you think you’re years away from buying your first home, try to start saving for your down payment. It makes a huge difference in your monthly payments, and helps avoid paying Private Mortgage Insurance.
  2. Be thorough with mortgage shopping: There are countless resources out there that can help you get the best terms for your mortgage. It may seem like a lot of work to shave less than a point off your mortgage rate, but it’ll save you thousands in the long run. If you are looking for a good lender, check out MyMidtownMojo’s Team Lenders HERE!
  3. Consult a skeptic: You’re likely to fall in love with a home, and that can make it difficult to take problems seriously. Bring along a skeptical friend or family member who can give you an honest opinion. A word of caution here….don’t bring the ENTIRE family or you will never find your new home!
  4. Be patient with getting settled: You’ll be anxious to make your new home your own, but take some time to see how your budget truly shakes out. In other words, hold off on big furniture purchases and remodeling projects. I always tell my buyers to “get the feel” for the house or condo, then look at things you might want to change to make the home function better for your life style!
  5. Make sure you’re happy with the neighborhood: The house may be perfect, but don’t discount the surroundings. You don’t want to end up in the suburbs if you’re going to miss walking to your favorite coffee shop, and you don’t want to settle for the city if you’re looking forward to some peace and quiet. If you are planning on a family soon, schools will be important, and will factor into where you want to live. If you are single, or no children…that elevator ride to the street might be the living concept for you! 

We LOVE working with first time home buyers. We have some other great resources and tips at our Intown Atlanta Real Estate Buyers Guide.  But we are happy to sit down and talk about any part of the home buying process, and in fact, that a big part of our initial consultation with new buyers! We are here to help! 

Call us now at 770.713.1505 or complete our Buyer Questionnaire to help us understand what you are looking for in your new home! 

Let these Tips for First Time Home Buyers help you get started!

Just give us a call and we can schedule a time to meet! 

Home Renovations for the Golden Years

by

Home Renovations for Golden YearsWe never like to think about it…but face it….we all are and will get older. It’s a fact of life we can’t deny, or stop! 

If you live in a home and you are at the stage in life that you think this is your “forever home” then as you remodel, you may want to think about how that home will work “forever” for you if you have health issues in the future. 

Instead of just thinking about granite choices, or paint colors, think long term about choices that could help you stay in your home longer. Everything from grab bars to open kitchens to stairs are certainly a factor. A walk-in shower as well as a tub…with a wide ledge to sit on….and then get into the tub…all things to consider NOW as you make renovations. 

Access in the kitchen might include a movable island for when there may be a need for wheelchair access. 

And if this is not your stage in life, you might have to be assisting a parent with these choices…so some good information to help you help them. 

Here is a great article in the New York Times, titled Home Renovations for The Golden Years that goes into more detail about this subject. 

Coming Soon! 2017 Georgia Real Estate Contracts

by

Coming Soon! 2017 Georgia Real Estate Contracts

Georgia Real Estate ContractToday, I was looking at some of my past blog posts and pages here at MyMidtownMojo.com. I’m always working to put out NEW content, but it’s well worth my while to go back and look at some of my old content. 

I’m getting ready to launch a new website that is more encompassing of the Atlanta real estate markets I serve. (Never fear, MyMidtownMojo is not going anywhere!!!!) So I’m looking at content here that I can share on the new site. Afterall, I’ve spent many an hour creating everything that you read and find here! 

But as I looked over some of the older posts, I realized that one subject I had not looked at in a few years is the various forms we use in buying and selling real estate in Georgia. In fact, many of my posts are dated from 2011!! Shreek…that is FIVE years ago! Our Georgia Association of REALTORS (GAR) contract and forms have certainly undergone some changes since then. 

So, the new contracts and forms will be released in the coming days. And with that, I’ve got a whole heaping lot of writing and reviewing to do with you and help you be a more informed real estate consumer. 

So, stay tuned! We will start the series, probably during the holiday week, but there will always be links to find any posts that you may have missed as well as where you can find the information here on the site. 

Coming Soon! 2017 Georgia Real Estate Contracts

Thinking About Buying Soon? Make Sure Your Credit is in Order

by

There’s no more important time to work on your credit score than when you’re about to apply for a mortgage. Improving your credit can save you a ton of money—we’re talking about thousands of dollars over the life of the loan. Here are the actions you can take that will have a notable impact on your score.

Thinking About Buying Soon? Make sure Your Credit is in Order

Make Sure Your Credit is in OrderPay down your credit card balances Credit utilization is one of the biggest factors in determining your credit score. Your credit utilization should at least be less than 30 percent of your limit, and it’s even better if you can get it below 15 percent. This rule applies to both individual cards and your overall credit limit.

It may even be worthwhile to use some of the cash funds you were planning to use for a down payment to pay off credit card balances.

Do no harm While you certainly want to improve your score if possible, at the very least you’ll want to keep it steady. Avoid opening new lines of credit if you’re applying for a mortgage in the very near future. This will cause a hard inquiry to show up on your credit report. Like don’t start shopping for a new car, or a TV or furniture until AFTER you buy your home!

Take care of negative items It’s good practice to check your credit report for negative items a few times a year—you can get one free report from each of the three major bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) per year.

If you find any negative items (collections, late payments, etc.), write a letter to the original creditor. Explain the circumstances that led to the negative item, and request that it be removed from your report. It can be surprisingly effective, and removing a negative item will improve your credit score in a hurry. You can find some good templates for a request letter online.

These are good things to look at, and look at LONG before you start the mortgage application process. This way, you can make changes as needed and be ready to get the needed pre-approval letter from the lender so we can start shopping for your new home!

 

Why Does It Take You So Long to Do Market Reports?

by

Why Does it take you so long to do Market ReportsA post of a personal nature…but a question asked. Why Does it take you so long to do Market Reports?

I’m in the process of getting Market Report posts done for September, 2016 numbers. A person who follows my blog regularly, asked the question yesterday,

“Why is it October 28 and you are still doing SEPTEMBER Market Reports? It seems like this is already old news. Why don’t we see them on September 1 or 2?”

Ok. That’s a fair question that needs an answer.

The easy answer would be, “They are a lot of work.” Well they are!

But the truth is there are several factors at play. First, I wait until the 15th of the following month, to make sure that the MLS has been updated with all the closings for the month I’m writing about. So, I don’t start on September reports until October 15.

Why Does it take you so long to do Market ReportsSecond, I have TWENTY-TWO, yes 22 major condo buildings in the Midtown area. I’d probably push 35 or more if I did ALL the condo buildings!!! That’s some serious buildings to pull numbers for.

Third, there is more to a market report, than just throwing numbers out there. I believe my readers expect some type of analysis of the information. Often, it’s pretty straight-forward. Not much inventory, some are Under Contract, and some have Sold…and the Days on Market are short and sweet.  But not always. Take the September, 2016 Market Report for Viewpoint Midtown.  One of the Sold listings had been on the market for some 110 days!!! That’s crazy in this market. So I had to take further time to look into that specific listing and be able to offer up an explanation of what happened. I can usually look at a listing and tell what the issue was. In this case, it was a Seller who had a tenant that wanted to stay in the condo, and they were looking for an investment buyer vs. an owner-occupied buyer. And that took some time.

I get a lot of great feedback on my Market Reports. These are not those “zestimates” that you hear about….this is an actual real estate agent, that works in the market on a day-to-day basis, looking at the activity, not in a high-reaching view, but building, by building. What sells down the street may have some impact on your value, but it’s more important to know what is happening right in YOUR building. As that will have a more direct impact on your value if you are planning to refinance or sell.

So, it takes time to write some 22 blog posts about all the Midtown Atlanta condo buildings. In fact, for September, I may have to condense some of the buildings into a multi-building post, just so I can get the info out there.

I hope it’s information you find helpful when YOU have a question, “How’s the real estate market?”

Now, let me get back to Market Reports!!!

Thom Abbott

Associate Broker, REALTOR(R)
905 Juniper Street, NE Suite 110
Atlanta, Georgia 30309
770.713.1505 Direct
404.876.4901 Office

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

HomeSmart