Your Loan Officer Shouldn't Be In A Different Time Zone

We've been blessed to close a lot of Atlanta Short Sales in the past few years and there's a few things that we've learned.  One of them is value of a good loan officer.  A good one can make the buying experience less stressful overall.  Their savvineess when it comes to short sales and foreclosure properties can save a client money or some cases save the client the home.  Likewise a lame duck loan officer like the ones at Capital Lending Group could make more than just a buyer homeless in the case of a short sale situation.

So how do you go about finding a great loan officer?  To me there's a few qualities that they need to have:

• Local! - I can't stress this enough.  Sorry Maria, but your in a different time zone and I bet you've closed GA Homes before but I bet you've not closed more than I have.  That's a problem. A good loan officer will close more than any agent in a given year. 
• Experience - A quick, "how long have you been with this company?" will reveal just about everything you need to know.  Although not a deal killer, the HINT on this question is that the answer to "why did you move" should be "to close more deals."
• Do they know what to do when it hits the fan?  Bigger ain't better folks, sometimes your sweet loan officer is hamstrung because their processing happens in another state ... yes in a different time zone.

With that being said two of the best in the Atlanta Area are:

Craig Berry at Access National 404-642-6700 and Jim Duffy at Brand Bank (678) 362-8156.

Yes, based on my office's location you know I know Duluth Real Estate but I'm also a short sale specialist so this listing should come as no surprise.  It's a great former model home in Canton GA 30114.

154 Fred Bishop Lane is in the Summer Walk Neighborhood and is in walking and viewing distance of the playground, pool and the lake! Inside you'll find every upgrade you can imaging from granite and hardwoods to an intercom system. The home has been well cared for and comes complete with the appliances.  This 4 bedroom and 2.5 bath home with huge square footage is ready to move in once the short sale is complete.

Swimming Pool Home in Seven Oaks In Johns Creek

If you've live in or around Johns Creek for any length of time you likely have driven by Seven Oaks.  Seven Oaks is located in Johns Creek (30005) and features a wonderfully kept swim tennis feel. It's gt a country club feel without the country club or gates!

I'm proud to present our exclusive listing of 12535 Sunset Maple Way in Seven Oaks.  This home has some amazing features but the one you will like best is that it's at least $200K under market!

Feature List

• In Ground Swimming Pool
• Hot Tub with Waterfall
• Full Finished Basement with Kitchen!
• Hardwoods Throughout
• Sun Room - Keeping Room Addition! Adds Balcony and Square Footage! Must See!
• Master with all the trimmings! Sitting Area, Huge Master Bath, Walk In Closet with Built in Storage!
• And More, see the video!

Seven Oaks Home Tour Video

I've started a best real estate buy list and e-mail my clients every week about what's the best deal on the market.  This week, I actually think out of all the Lawrenceville homes for sale, my listing is the best deal!! This home pictures located at 981 Sunhill Court, features 5 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, a full finished basements, updated "amenities" and hardwoods throughout.  What you might not know is that it features one of the nicest, largest, most private backyards I've ever seen, period.  All of this on a cul-de-sac lot inside  swim and tennis community located right off of HWY 124.

One of the reason I think this is a best buy is not because it's short sale, but rather because the size is so large for the money and the condition is so good and the lot is frankly so unique, it could sell for quite a bit more.

Suwanee Short Sale Approved In The River Club

If you're shopping for River Club homes in Suwanee Real Estate then you owe it to yourself to take a look at this home located at 902 Little Lost Landing.  This home was approved for a short sale price of $910,000 after several offers.  Unfortunately, we're at the end and need to sell this home for what amount almost EXACTLY %50 of what was purchased for.  This of course excludes the upgrades the owner has put into the home.

This short sale is approved, only has one loan and we can get a decision (now that several offers were made to get here) relatively quickly.  Bring your buyers, or your offer or call us at 770-406-6123 to schedule a showing of this awesome property.

Search Suwanee Real Estate Listings.

What Is A Deal Breaker For Short Sales?

It happens all the time around the real estate water cooler, agents talking about how much they hate short sales and why they won't take them. It's a shame too, because there are agents out there on the other end of the spectrum that are taking short sale listings when they shouldn't, especially those that claim to have some sort of certification that they simply bought so they could say it.

Still, a good short sale specialist will have a qualification list of what short sales they will take.  Here's our list of potential deal breakers for us to be able to help.  This doesn't mean we won't help, but that it'll be a lot tougher.

1. A sales price of less than $100,000 - banks work in percentage world, so if you're negotiating $5,000 with a buyer that's a lot of money at this price point and it's 5% to the bank.
2. More than 2 liens.  We can handle 2, but more than that is excessive.
3. Poor conditioned property in combination of these things.
4. Certain banks (but none of the big ones)
5. Your home is located in either a condo complex or a very, very rural area.

Typically it takes more than just one to be a deal breaker but if you have all 4, there's not much anyone can do.

Bank of America just announced support for several programs and an encouragement for homeowners, if you are a home owner facing foreclosure and your bank is Bank of America, it's time to do a Bank of America Short Sale.

Start now. 

It could mean up to $3,000 in relocation assistance for short sale clients serviced by Bank of America. 

Bank of America has worked with their own guidelines to develop short sale programs in which details of the sale are agreed upon before listing the home. Agreeing to these terms early creates transparency and speeds up the process. The following benefits may also be available:

• Pause in the foreclosure process
• Up to $3,000 in relocation assistance for your homeowner
• Deficiency waivers that provide peace of mind
• An upfront, agreed-upon list price 

Get more inforamtion at our Bank of America Short Sale Page.

Last time you visited you could have seen our Bank of America Short Sale resource page announcement. Now we are blessed to announce our new Wells Fargo Short Sale site as well. We spent a lot of time to provide information about the procedures, the application and the approval. Our Experience is there as well. You can see the video here, or go directly to youtube, however, the contact information has been updated on the site.

Wells Fargo short sales are more bearable because Wells Fargo has decided to be proactive. In addition, there's only one number to contact for almost all short sale related things. Our experience has been that if you are a short sale specialist then Wells Fargo might be your choice bank to work with.

Sugarloaf Country Club Golf Homes Frequently Asked Questions

I often get a lot of questions about Sugarloaf Country Club Homes as it relates to the Golfing that can be had in this neighborhood.  So here's a quick FAQ for those that love golf and Sugarloaf Country Club homes for sale!

Who Designed Sugarloaf TPC (Tournament Players Club)?

Greg Norman, "The Shark" designed this course and it was his first course and has stood the test of time over the years.

What was Sugarloaf Country Club Real Estate, before they built the course?

Originally owned by the Rollins family, Sugarloaf Farms raised horses and cattle.   Their estate's "Southern Classic" architecture from the 19th century was retained for the club house.

Is the course Public or Private?

It's definitely a private club

What's the average price of a homes in Sugarloaf Country Club?

Although you can find homes as low as $500,000 they tend to average $800,000 or more.

Search for Sugarloaf Country Club Homes Here.

Short Sale Agents Can Not Negotiate?

In the state of Georgia a Short Sale Specialist is someone who is not allowed to - by law - negotiate a short sale.  Have you ever heard of anything more ludicrous?  The truth is the law, but let's look at the different parties the state of Georgia thinks is more qualified.

Short Sale Attorneys - most attorneys get into short sales to supplement their income from their failing real estate or bankruptcy practice.  Unfortunately for the attorneys that try to "negotiate" they are only "exceptioned" in the law and really shouldn't be negotiating.  Of course, the real truth is that I have not met an attorney yet that actually gets on the phone with the bank, so I guess they're safe.

Mortgage Brokers - This is who Georgia law makers think is best suited to negotiate short sales.  The problem is that most mortgage brokers want to write new mortgages not get involved in shorting them.

Short Sale Real Estate Agents - Nope, these guys aren't supposed to negotiate at all.  Period.

Here's the problem with this, is that only one "group" out of this list that has any financial incentive to do any of the negotiating. That is the agent!  Sure you could try to get money through other means, but they have laws about tha too.

For us, we'll continue to process the short sales and come up with creative ways to call what we do ANYTHING but negotiation to sell these Georgia Homes, but I think we all know what's going on.  The people who make the laws, the people in our associations, on our boards, are not the people doing the work out in the field. Reminds me of the political system.   HMMM...