It used to be a hobby of mine to go and stop in at some open houses.  OK, to tell the truth, my husband and I would ALWAYS visit those held open that we could never afford! :>

If you are an unrepresented Seller aka For Sale by Owner, here are some things you probably DON'T want to do at your open house!

1. DON'T leave a messy home.  Buyers don't want to have to imagine what the house would look like without all the dust bunnies :>  And they will also wonder if there are maintenance problems that might have to be addressed. (paraphrased from Inman News)
   
2. DON'T leave any items of value in sight.
   
3. DON'T leave pets unattended and roaming free.  Not everyone is a pet lover:> 
   
4. While we are on the subject of pets - and other odors that might be offensive, have a friend do the "sniff" test and if there is some noticeable odor; DON'T cover it up with air freshener - try baking something simple (cookie dough cut into slices and baked) just before the open house.  That should make potential Buyers drool! (paraphrased from Inman News
   
5. DON'T leave clutter all around.  This would be a great time to get the kids to put their toys away.
   
6. DON'T leave clothes hanging around. 
   
7. Give your counter tops a "look-see" and evaluate whether they can be cleared a little bit.  You DON'T want the the potential Buyer to think "gee, there's no counter spacer," when in fact there is!

The next sign you want to see in your yard is this one:

Hello my fellow Active Rainers from one of the leading foreclosure states - Georgia.

It is my opinion that we could be (or already are) in for a bumpy ride for our low income and credit challenged Buyers.  Couple that with the fact that we are (and have been ) in a Buyer's market for a few years now and it's no wonder my hair gets grayer by the minute (but only my hair stylist knows for sure :>).

Here's today's scenario for me.  I have Buyers coming in from FL this weekend with some credit challenges.  They are paying out-of-pocket for their moving expenses and although they will be reimbursed, it cuts their savings down to nothing.

With sub-prime sources drying up all over the place, and regulations tightening, mortgage brokers are having one heck of a time getting ANYONE to approve these kinds of loans.  The mortgage banker I am working with for this couple sent credit info out to multiple sources and actually was able to get ONE approval - a first at 9.25% and a 2nd somewhere around 12-13%.  Anyone having flashbacks to the '80's?

Over this past weekend, I had the opportunity to be a vendor (under the Keller Williams logo) in a Home and Garden Show at North Point Mall in Alpharetta, GA (a "Class A" Mall).  The Show took place over 3 l o n g days! lol

Although the advertising or rather the lack of advertising and a Mall sign had somehow miraculously appeared pretty much in front of our display cut down visibility substantially there were some definite advantages to having participated in this event.

Also on-hand at this display were a mortgage banker, an appraiser and a financial service specialist.  Advertising handouts were available in other relevant areas of real estate (pest control, closing gift ideas, etc.)

Although we did not get the traffic we hoped for, the synergy between my alliance partners was fantastic.  As dedicated professionals we were all there for a common purpose and we were able to effectively work together  to "give the people what they wanted."

We were also fortunate enough to have enlisted Sears to loan us a 50" TV to use for our power point presentation!

We are in the midst of following-up on our leads and I will keep you posted on the results.

I came across an article in Innan News by Matt Carter (might only be viewable by subscribers) from last October which really hit home, especially in the Metro Atlanta market where we have a very large standing inventory of homes for sale (10+ months).  The gist of the article is based around the growing nationwide rise of housing inventory and the fact that the Feds have left interest rates alone for quite some time.

With those thoughts in mind, today's Buyer may be thinking that the "best buy" is just around the corner and with fairly stable interest rates, there's not the same sense of urgency as in a more stable housing market.

Carter has a few suggestions on what an agent might do if they find a property that meets the Buyer's needs, is fairly priced and the Buyer "remains on the fence"?

Buying a house (as we all know) is extremely stressful for a Buyer and one of their main concerns is financing.  One way to ease their minds and build confidence is to go over the numbers first.  Have them speak to a lender to find out just how much house they can comfortably afford (standard operating procedure, right?).

In our initial contact with the potential Buyer, consider doing a Buyer's analysis of their housing needs that can be used as a checklist as the process moves forward.  I have found this to be a great tool when a Buyer is waffling just a little.  The checklist gives us a clue as to whether the hesitation on making an offer is rational or emotional.  We all know that the Buyer knows "the right house when they see it" right?

The article goes on to talk about educating our Buyer clients/customers that "homes tend to be good investments and the only way many Americans ever save any money."  

The article also touches on the "renters" market and indicates that it is rapidly shrinking.  When we educate Buyers as to how much they can "save" by owning a home, it opens up that whole target market.  The question is, at least for me, how to reach that transient market.

There are 3 parts to the total article and IMO, worth a look-see

As always, comments and questions are welcomed.

As of earlier today, the AJC  reported that a "boil water advisory" remained in effect for a small area of Sandy Springs in Fulton County.  It is anticipated that the advisory will remain in effect until at least tomorrow morning.

The problem that initially caused the advisory to all of Sandy Springs was due to a water-main valve that cut pressure to the main line serving the city of 86,000 people.  That low pressure allows for the possibility for "contaminants into the water supply," said Janet Ward, a spokeswoman for the Atlanta Department of Watershed Management.  "The advisory will be lifted only after lab tests determine that there are no contaminants remaining in the water."

Watershed workers will be visiting homes in Sandy Springs today to ask for water samples, Ward said.

Residents who have not lost water (or got it back) are being asked to conserve that water usage to ease the pressure problems.

Earlier this week, I completed and e-filed my 2006 Income Taxes (what a joy and a pleasure that was).  Although I track my figures throughout the year, I was absolutely blown away when I looked at my 1099 from Coldwell Banker where all of my closed transactions had been from relo business and saw what I actually had earned (can I hear an ouch?).  I do state up front that I was fully aware of the terms involved.  Relo charges had increased up to 35-40%.  Now that's a lot of money when you consider you still have your broker split to consider.  In April of 2006, I left CB and joined KW where I no longer do relo! LOL

I came across an article in Inman News from 2/13/2007 which seems to be right on point.  The article addresses how relo fees have "risen over time from 15 percent to 20 percent of a real estate agent's share of a home-sale commission to 35 percent or more -- several real estate professionals told Inman News that relocation company fees can exceed 40 percent.  This is causing lots of real estate folks to "just say no" to relo,

IMO, there;s also the age old question, why do they (relo companies) charge so much when WE do so much work to close the deal.  On this listing side, the paperwork alone is time consuming, on-going and tedious.  Some of that work (BMA's, EMC's) has to be done before you even get the listing and if you don't get it...time spent=money lost.

The article is well worth a look see.

Disclaimer:  Writer acknowledges that she has not yet had a 2nd cup of coffee :>

There was a not so flattering article on February 12th in the on line version of USA Today (brief synopsis provided) about the Atlanta housing market.

Mike Wright of the Atlanta Board of Realtors is cited in this article.  He states that we have a saturated 11.2 months inventory of homes and condos on the market as compared with 7.2 months of inventory in December.  He fails to state the average months of inventory on a yearly basis for 2006.  It was predicted that our inventory would grow from approximate 10 months for 2006 to 12 months for 2007. 

IMO the full title of this article (Atlanta:  Saturated market, mortgage fraud fallout has flattened home prices) gives misleading information to the public.  Is it really mortgage "fraud" that has caused a tremendous jolt in our foreclosure rate and hence the number of homes on the market? 

Might it have started in the aftermath of 9/11/2001 when the "2nd home" market became flooded?  Might it be that the "interest only" mortgage loans that were so popular only a short time ago are a strong contributing factor?  Or, might it also be the changes in the rate of transferees into the Metro Atlanta area?

Forsyth County initiated a 90-day (renewable) building moratorium on residential rezoning last month in an effort to help the County keep up services for the growing population and to review its failing infrastructure.

Is our market "saturated" truly because of foreclosures and mortgage fraud, or is the continued over-building of residential properties a very large factor?

Disclaimer:  Writer takes no responsibility for random thoughts written before 6:00 a.m. on any given day :)

Just my .02 folks, thoughts???

In reading and re-reading the new Purchase and Sale Agreement, I just want to clarify a point that was previously posted in terms of the financing contingency.  There has been no change in the form regarding a Buyer losing his/her earnest money if the Buyer finds out that a property doesn't appraise. **

Either the Seller reduces the sales price to reflect the appraisal, another appraisal is obtained, the Buyer decides to pay the difference or the contract is void and the Buyer gets his/her earnest money back.

For our newer agents :> although we are still very much in a Buyer's market, IMO it is usually best to make the offer as "clean" as possible.  Usually, a Buyer can get through the financial process in less than 10 days (much less with my preferred Lender! lol), so if I am using the "due diligence" clause (and depending how soon the closing date is) I would probably use a 10-12 day window in total. 

If we think of it from the Seller's perspective, why would they want to have their property off the market for a longer period when the Buyer can walk away for any reason at all.

Just my .02...comments, questions, suggestions are always welcome.

Laurie

 **during the financing contingency period

I don't know about you, but when I am focusing on what I am writing and not always the spelling of words that my fingers seem to run away with.

As we all know, all blog formats are not equal and not all have spell check.  I'm sure I got this tool from someone, probably on RealTalk, an absolutely wonderful web based real estate community.  Anyway, there is a handy little tool called ieSpell - a spell checker for Internet Explorer.

It's easy to install and to use and has certainly helped me countless times.  Too bad it doesn't check grammar too! lol

If you try it, let me know what you think.

Laurie

 I am in the process of reading the book "Realty Blogging" by Richard Nacht and Paul Chaney.  The overall premise of this book is to "build your brand and outsmart your competition."

A really terrific feature of a blog is that it allows for a dialog between you and a client or prospect to increase your opportunities to build long-term relationships.  "Blogs provide a low-cost, high results to for community building competitive differentiation marketing, sales, customer relations management, media contacts and corporate collaboration."  In effect, a blog is like sending out an email to everyone!

A topic that caught my eye was the concept of "niche" blogs.  As I understand it, niche blogs are "well suited to creating your own market.  These blogs enable you to reach that target market more 's effectively."

I will report more when I get further into the book.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has read the book and learned from it (or not) and of course and comments.

Have a great day!

Laurie