Atlanta New Homes Sales - Is it Smart to Be An Atlanta New Homes Agent?   Sometimes I think the answer is "No!"   There are many areas in life where when I look the return on investment ROI it is easy to see why an investment makes sense.  There are other times I have to stop and ask myself "What is the point of this?"  I decided to write this Atlanta new homes blog after visiting an Atlanta new homes community recently.  This is a small perhaps 15 homes community that has 5 new homes standing unsold for over a year and a half.  The other lots are plumbed for sewer and utilities, but the construction has stopped over a year ago, and the weeds nearby are starting to look like trees.  The interesting thing is that each weekend the listing agent holds the homes open both Saturday and Sunday religiously.  There are balloons, rider signs, directionals and still no sales.  Recently I decided to stop into the community and look at the homes.  They were average in my own opinion and not grossly overpriced, but it was hard to get excited about a ho hum home!

What bothers me more is that the agent that I had the conversation withlives on the other side of the moon.   Her commute is 50 miles each way.  So 100 miles a day, and at least twice a week.  200 miles a week and times that by 50 weeks a year, and they have been on the market almost 2 years.  The agent is commission only and this does not seem to me like a productive use of time.  In fact it is a waste of time when you consider that not 1 home has been sold.  The longer homes go unsold, the greater the downward pressure on the home price and more dicey the negotiations.  There is also a greater chance the builder will go out of business and declare bankruptcy, and there will be no check at all.  This is a greater reality and happening every month here in Atlanta.  So then the total time invested for the Atlanta real estate agent is a bust!

So when I consider all the gasoline spent, the wear and tear on the car, the wear on your car tires and a total loss of productive time...I am at a loss why anyone would want to sit a new homes subdivision.  Real estate to me is a profession not an aspiration.  It is supposed to provide my personal income, and it isn't a status symbol.  If I find an activity unproductive, it is time to drop it like a hot potato and move on to more profitable activities ASAP.  I feel sorry that the obvious escapes so many in the Atlanta real estate profession.  It seems that they do not understand the fundamentals of profitable activity and those that are not.