So the other day I am making coffee. I fill the pot with water, carefully measure out the coffee beans for grinding (or just dump them in until it looks right), grind the beans and add them to the filter basket, add the water to the pot, replace the carafe and then walk away...
Almost an hour later, when I get a minute to go pour a cup, I realize that I never started the coffee maker. A simple push of the button never happened. All of the preparation and no results. Was I too preoccupied with other business? Is my memory really that short?
It made me think about buyers and investors. They do their research on the web, then they call a Realtor to show them the houses, and then they go home to think about it, and think about it....and then think a little more...and then "maybe we should see a couple of other homes that I just found while thinking about all of the others we looked at today. After all, the perfect house may still be there."
As a buyer, if you never "hit the button" i.e., make a written offer on a home, you miss out on the opportunity to enjoy that cup of coffee in your new kitchen.
If you were planning on going to Corn Dawgs Corn Maze in Walnut Grove this weekend, they have postponed the opening until Friday, September 25, 2009 due to the rainy weather. Be sure to come out next weekend, though, for all the fun.
Your admission includes access to our main maze, junior maze, pedal racers, hay jump, mountain slide, tile maze, labrynth maze, barrell train, hayride, and more.
We have recently updated our website to simplify searches for foreclosure and short sale properties. You can now search each county in the Metro Atlanta area in different price ranges with just the click of a button! Please come check it out.
Today I wanted to talk about the the market in Newton County.
As you can see from the chart, there has been a pretty significant decrease in active listings over the last several months. In September 2007, there were over 2,500 single family homes on the market. Now, we have less than 1,400 homes for sale. In addition, Chart 2 indicates that there as been a leveling of Average Sales Price. Does this mean that we have hit the bottom.
We really don't know at this point. Unfortunately, the crystal ball is on the blink. However, it is encouraging to see some slowing in declining sale prices.
So what do the pretty charts mean? Will prices start going up and keep going up? Have foreclosures and short sales gone away or will the banks flood the market with more houses?
Now is still a great time to buy and there are some great deals out there! If inventories continue to decline,we will see sales prices increase! Don't miss out on an opportunity because you are trying to time the market, waiting for the bottom? Get in the game now.
If you are looking for something Fun And Free to do this weekend, then come out to the Square in Covington, GA this Friday.
General Mills is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its Covington, GA plant on Friday September 4, 2009 at 7:00 PM on the Square in Downtown Covington.
Hosted by General Mills celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Covington Plant & Main Street Covington
Almost half of US Americans have credit scores that are not so great or even good and these consumers will not qualify for preferred interest rates when buying a home. Depending on the consumer's credit profile, the consumer may not qualify for the home loan at all. The biggest challenge to consumers is that many don't know exactly how their credit profile will affect their ability to buy a home or get preferred interest rates.
Here are some tips that may help you understand and improve your credit profile:
* The maximum amount of your monthly credit line for you to have the best credit profile impact should be 50%.
* The top contributing factor that makes a good credit score is your payment history.
* As soon as you pay off one of your high-interest credit cards, you should continue using it occasionally, but minimally.
* Remember that applying for credit cards just to receive a free gift will have an impact on your credit. So, be careful and sign up for credit cards that you really need.
* Rewards points on your credit card are usually a good deal when you carry no balance each month.
* To even have a credit score, you must have at least one creditor reporting some type of activity on your credit report for six months.
* Remember: banks and credit card companies do not think you are credit worthy by how many credit offers you receive in the mail.
* Credit scores are mainly used by lenders to predict how likely you are to repay your loan on time.
* Credit bureaus who manage your credit report and scores are just regular business corporations. So, when there's a glitch on your report, contact them to get it resolved. They are not government entities.
* Here's a little pop quiz for you to test your knowledge: If you were to pay 2% a month on your credit card, how long would it take you to pay off a $3,000 balance with an interest rate of 10%?
If you found that you really are confused about your credit profile, there's good news. It's not too late and, with proper guidance and understanding, you can begin to effectively manage your credit profile. By the way, the answer to the pop quiz is that it would take 18 years to pay off.
1. Your photos are unimpressive. The vast majority of home buyers start their search for a home on the Internet, your house had better look great in print. Not just nice... downright fabulous. Today we are considering internet views as a 'virtual showing'... if your house gets past that, then they might (just might) make an appointment to see it in person... We consider that your SECOND showing. Today's buyers are expecting good quality photos (and lots of them... just 1 shot from the street won't cut it!), a virtual tour, maybe even a floor plan, if applicable.
2. It's overpriced. You've got to view your own property as objectively as possible. Look at the home like a "buyer"... if necessary, go out with your Realtor and view other homes that are priced comparably to yours. Be objective. Given the other options on the market (and yes, you DO have to include short sales and foreclosures on your list... your potential buyers are!), would YOU buy your home, over the others on the market?
If no, then you either have to "update" your home to meet or beat the competition... or lower your price to adjust for it. if you can't afford to sell for the price, that you KNOW it sell for, you may want to consider just removing it from the market.
3. It shows poorly. This could mean almost anything... from the barky, barky dog, to the smell of the diaper pail. Maybe the carpeting is a bit worn, or the woodwork shows a lot of wear. All things that don't show up on the internet, but whoa.... once you get inside the house... they show up, like a cat-urine-smell on a 95 degree day in New Orleans!
4. You're invisible. Today's buyer comes from the internet, almost exclusively. Have you (or your agent) simply plopped the property on the MLS, and started praying? Are you on all the websites...(Trulia, Zillow, Craig's List, Google Base, etc...) all the places that buyers are searching? If not, you want to be.
5. Your listing is tired and stale on the market. Okay... yes, you overpriced your home initially when you first came on the market 2 years ago. But since then you have reduced your price almost monthly... constantly chasing the market down.... Now, finally you're truly priced where you should be... but your listing is tired and stale. Everyone looking for your type of property (ie: 3br/1.1 bath) in your area has already seen it, sometimes twice... and they remember that there was "something" about it that they didn't like... but what they don't remember is... what they didn't like.... was the price. Time to take the listing off market. Let it cool off (3-6 months), and bring it back on fresh in the Spring. Yeah, you'll have 6 mos. worth of holding-costs... but you'll more than make up for it in your purchase price.
btw... Avoid the temptation to bring the house back on at a higher price, than when you left the market. Just "don't do it"!
6. Your house won't appraise. The house looks great... you've finally gotten someone to bring you a bid on your slightly over-priced, but beautiful pied-a-terre. But the bank appraiser says it's worth $20,000 less than what they've agreed to pay. Heavy sigh... bite the bullet.... negotiate with them. If you have to drop the price $20,000 to make it work.... "make it work"... chances are, anybody else trying to buy your house will run into the same problem.
Lately I haven't felt like a failure... I know that is a good thing... but at times in my life I do… and why is it that when you are down it is like a magnet that pulls more bad things to you… it seems like you just keep spinning in that vortex and can’t get out of it… How do you get it to stop????
A friend posted this in Facebook one day and made me think…..
Failure: The most important step in overcoming failure (which can be setbacks, mistakes, challenges, or just plain screw ups) is to understand “failure is an event not a person”. It is something that happens to you – but it is not YOU! To put it simply, failing to achieve does not make you a failure. There is only one way to fail and that is to stumble and not look beyond the failure to the next adventure.
Wikepedia defines failure as to the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective. The criteria for failure are heavily dependent on context of use, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. A situation considered to be a failure by one might be considered a success by another, particularly in cases of direct competition or a zero-sum game. Similarly, the degree of success or failure in a situation may be differently viewed by distinct observers or participants, such that a situation that one considers to be a failure, another might consider to be a success, a qualified success or a neutral situation. There are different types of failure. Some examples are (1) Failure to anticipate, (2) failure to perceive, (3) failure to carry out a task.
So in light of the definition above if I set a goal to make $3,000,000 in sales this month and I only make $2,900,000 am I a failure? Or are there levels of failure…. Like I reach for the stars but landed on the moon so I am only a little bit of a failure…. Or 3rd place failure….
I think there are times that we just give up or we don’t start something because we are afraid of failure. Well every time a baby falls when learning how to walk is a failure. Should that baby just give up because he has had those failures… or should he get back up and start again?
It is the same thing with all of us… whether you are in sales or having issues in your personal life…. Stop, breath, assess the situation and get back up and try again.
Understand it is not the failing part that gets us. It is the quitting involved when we experience a failure. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately so is quitting. If you tenaciously persist, you will succeed. When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and climb upward. You will eventually reach the top.
There are new federal regulations for lenders that have been put in place to protect buyers and while they may put a kink in your closing they are for the best. With these changes your closing dates may change also. These regulations could affect how quickly a closing can happen and what type of delays that can happen...
Here are a couple of things to consider under the new regulations when scheduling a closing:
1. You can put a closing date of tomorrow in your purchase contract, but if the buyer is financing, the earliest it can close is 7 business days after they receive the initial disclosure from the lender.... So if you lender doesn't get the disclosure to the buyer in a timely manner... you have time on your hands...
2. The new homebuyer has to receive the appraisal of the home they are buying at least 3 days before closing. If they don't, guess what??? Move that closing date...
3. If the APR on the buyer's loan increases more than .125% of the initial Truth-In-Lending Disclosure and they buyer isn't notified with a new disclosure prior to 3 days before closing.... Guess what???? Move that closing date...
So the summary of all of this is buyers are getting there due diligence no matter how the contract is written. You had best have the lender on speed dial to make sure everything is where it needs to be or your closing is going to go south..... This is to PROTECT the buyer and this is a good thing.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
1. Your photos are unimpressive. The vast majority of home buyers start their search for a home on the Internet, your house had better look great in print. Not just nice... downright fabulous. Today we are considering internet views as a 'virtual showing'... if your house gets past that, then they might (just might) make an appointment to see it in person... We consider that your SECOND showing. Today's buyers are expecting good quality photos (and lots of them... just 1 shot from the street won't cut it!), a virtual tour, maybe even a floor plan, if applicable.
market?
5. Your listing is tired and stale on the market. Okay... yes, you overpriced your home initially when you first came on the market 2 years ago. But since then you have reduced your price almost monthly... constantly chasing the market down.... Now, finally you're truly priced where you should be... but your listing is tired and stale. Everyone looking for your type of property (ie: 3br/1.1 bath) in your area has already seen it, sometimes twice... and they remember that there was "something" about it that they didn't like... but what they don't remember is... what they didn't like.... was the price. Time to take the listing off market. Let it cool off (3-6 months), and bring it back on fresh in the Spring. Yeah, you'll have 6 mos. worth of holding-costs... but you'll more than make up for it in your purchase price.
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