land: "Beware the Appraisal"
- 05/15/19 07:28 AM
The sun is shining and the spring real estate market is here. We are definitely enjoying a seller’s market, and the time it takes to sell homes is much improved.
You’ve decided to sell your home, so you do all the things you need to get it ready for the market and select a Realtor®. You have always been very proud of your place, like most homeowners, and you probably like to think it’s worth more than it is, like most homeowners. The agent has done his homework, and says your home’s market value is $300,000, but you were certain it would … (2 comments)
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land: Interest Uptick
- 01/04/16 10:31 PM
We now have an entire generation, born since the middle ‘80’s, that believes they are entitled to mortgage rates just above free. Ironically, they were actually born when mortgage rates ran as high as 18%! During the Carter administration, if you had a 7% mortgage, you were not only lucky, you were considered to be a financial genius. That would now be considered highway robbery. They were stunned when the federal rates went up a quarter percent recently.
They will likely wait around for rates to go back down. They also waited around for all the cheap houses to disappear before starting … (0 comments)
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land: Laryngitis and Listings
- 12/09/15 09:34 PM
I’ve had laryngitis for a couple of days. I only had it once before in my life, and that was in high school. It’s rather inconvenient, especially for someone who supposedly talks to work.
Since I’m not contagious, I decided to go ahead with a prelisting appointment.
I found out that I learn more when I talk less! I asked a few questions, got the answers I needed, answered a few questions, and by the end of an hour they were lauding how much experience I had!
… (3 comments)
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land: Are You Violating the Law or Ethics?
- 11/01/15 09:06 PM
Between real estate law and the code of ethics, it’s very easy to step out of your comfort zone.
Does anyone remember the part about putting your client’s best interest above your own? How about the part on staying within your field of expertise? If you do single family residential homes as your main service, are you even qualified to do large tracts of land? What about a multiunit apartment? What about a warehouse or big box anchor shopping center?
Many people think land would be easy. After all, it’s just lying there, right? How tough is that? Do you understand mineral rights? … (81 comments)
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land: Churn Butter, Not Listings
- 11/14/14 08:41 PM
Aside from “how is real estate doing?”, the question I’m probably asked most is “when should I try to sell my house?” The answer is pretty simple … whenever you get serious about selling instead of trying to play games. Make sure you are committed to the process instead of fishing.
Autumn in Pickens tends to be a good selling season, followed closely by spring and summer. Winter tends to slow down. However, houses in Pickens still sell in January. When I first started out, one of the early contracts I wrote was on New Year’s Day at … (2 comments)
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land: Someone Still Has to Sell Something ...
- 10/19/14 09:06 PM
I saw a post several days ago about do's and don'ts in real estate.
Generally I agreed with the content until it was mentioned that when choosing an agent, the public would be best served to avoid anyone using an actual paper contract. Carrying a file folder is tantamount to showing clients around in a horse and buggy. (Actually, that might be cool.) Without going into a disertation on it, that thought is just absurd. Most generalizations don't work for all applications.
There are any number of fine agents in our area who are technically challenged. It makes them awkward to … (36 comments)
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land: Grace and Dignity
- 04/25/14 10:22 PM
It's been several years since the real estate business in our area was brisk, but even before that I noticed what I thought was a disturbing trend. Agents were being increasingly rude to each other and even the public in a couple of cases. I even remember one agent who told her client, when he asked why the house wasn't selling, to go to an extremely warm place because he caused her discomfort in a southerly area of her anatomy ... or something like that ...
Then we went through the long period when agents would strut in with buyers, preening … (1 comments)
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land: Note to "Big Box" Attorneys
- 04/08/14 08:48 PM
I have a local real estate attorney that handles most of my work when I have a choice. He actually has three offices, but he stays in close touch with all of them. He is honest, accomodating, and does practically flawless work. The girls treat me like a personal friend, to the point where I think they actually like me!
Recently, because I primarily work listings, a buyer chose a large law firm to handle the closing. Nothing wrong with their reputation, but they are very large and not very reasonable. (But hey, it's their money, right?)
The firm is not … (1 comments)
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land: Use All the Tools
- 04/02/14 10:04 PM
It is surprising how many agents do not include all the information for a listing.
The most common failure is to leave the tax identification number as "0". I can only guess that they want to make it harder to find out who the owner is when the property expires. Why not try a little harder to sell it rather than have it expire? Anyone who knows how to dig into tax records can find who the owner is with maps or addresses anyway.
Our MLS lets us include 25 photos. The public real estate sites often rank listings by the … (1 comments)
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land: "This Feels SO-O-O Much Better"
- 03/14/14 11:35 PM
I just got my second full price contract in a row, both within the last two weeks!
Neither just marched right up and offered full price, but when I held my ground both caved in because they knew the price was more than fair, and the market is changing rapidly in our county. If they didn't pay full price, someone else would!
I love to negotiate and fancy myself as pretty decent at it, but for the last several years I feel like I've spent more time giving listings away that not. Sure, the sellers were happy to unload the burden, … (3 comments)
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land: Don't Do What You Don't Know
- 02/27/14 09:09 PM
Okay, I've been in real estate awhile. I don't have a three digit license number or anything, but I consider twelve years a considerable chunk of a life not getting any shorter. Ergo, I get upset when people waste my time because they are lazy or uneducated. If you're new in the business, that might include you, but if you have done your homework, probably not.
With that said, agents should never try to do what they don't know. If you do residential, don't do commercial or land. You will likely make a fool of yourself, and you may end up … (1 comments)
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land: Crazy Market in Pickens
- 02/21/14 09:20 PM
This is a crazy market we have in Pickens County. Last week we put a home under contract at full price plus closing costs. Also taking place last week was a bank auction where my partner bought a nice three acre lot, very close to where I live, for $1250! Lots in the area typically go for $30-50,000! Caught me snoozing or I would have bought it myself.
I don't think there is any doubt that residential real estate is getting better by the minute here, although we are still lagging metro Atlanta as usual. Land and lots are finally starting … (0 comments)
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land: "Know When to Hold 'em, or Fold 'em"
- 11/09/13 09:40 PM
A friend of mine has been investing in land around our area. He has purchased several tracts at "amazing deals" over the last several years.
No one has said anything about it yet, but his name was in the newspaper foreclosure publications this week. One of his properties will be sold at auction. I have a feeling more will follow. The only thing I can say is I'm glad I was not chosen to handle any of his "amazing deal" transactions. Not that I wasn't asked, but when the query came up, I told him the truth, which is I did … (1 comments)
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land: Stop Killing Snakes!
- 09/15/13 09:58 PM
In behalf of all the people who are scared of rats, please stop killing snakes! Snakes are beneficial creatures who kill rats, mice, and a lot of other critters who are far more harmful. There was a period of time when I used to kill all of them too, but then I learned about the "beneficial" ones that are not poisonous, so I stopped killing them. But guess what ... they're all beneficial! You just have to watch out for that pesky poison thing!
I found this guy on my deck a couple of weeks ago. He's a corn snake, which … (3 comments)
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land: Real Estate Is “Local”
- 08/03/13 10:11 PM
All real estate is local by nature. The physical characteristics of any given property are that it is immobile, indestructible, and unique. Our country is unique compared to others, our state is unique, our mountains are unique, our county is unique, and the land, lots, and buildings here are all unique to each other. Two identical floor plans built next door to each other are different in some way. It may be so subtle that it is basically meaningless. Perhaps the lots are shaped slightly differently, or one house has a squeak in the bedroom floor, but the fact remains they … (0 comments)
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land: "It's a Rainy Night in Georgia"
- 05/19/13 10:11 PM
This is the wettest year I can ever remember in my Georgia lifetime since 1975. We haven't had a week without rain since the new year. Just got through getting five inches over the weekend. A few years ago we had drought, with wells and lakes running dry.
Can't wait until August so we can all complain about the dry weather!
But I didn't start this to complain about the weather.
This year we have a lot of rain, but we always have a lot of trees. It is not unusual for a home here to have 5-10 acres, like we … (1 comments)
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land: Happy Endings
- 05/17/13 10:58 PM
Every now and then, there is a deal that comes my way that makes all the negative in this business seem worthwhile! Anyone who says they enjoy handling foreclosures and short sales has a morbid sense of humor or a masochistic approach to life, in my humble opinion. Most closings lately are fraught with tension, anxiety, acrimony, and all the other things most people try to avoid in life.
Last week I had a closing where I listed a little farm of 40 acres for a couple. He is now 85, but can keep me hustling to keep up with him … (2 comments)
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land: Be Thankful It’s 2012
- 11/20/12 09:04 PM
As I write two days before we carve the bird, I am pondering the things I should be thankful for that happened this year. I survived back surgery, have generally good health, and feel better than I have in a long time. I have a great family and a lot of friends to share life and bring me happiness. There is much more, but let me get to how our real estate market “is doing”.
I went back to October of each year since 2007, which is when the market bombed. The findings are almost frighteningly good! The accompanying chart … (0 comments)
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land: Montana and her daughter
- 04/24/12 11:07 PM
Here are a mare and philly owned by my clients in Floyd County, GA. Two very sweet ladies. Eighty beautiful acres for sale.
… (3 comments)
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land: Mortgage Rates - Interesting
- 06/05/10 01:11 AM
A couple of weeks ago, I made a statement reflecting analyst predictions that interest rates would reach 6% by year end. I'm not even sure the ink is dry on that one, and now interest rates are trending lower. Now before you make fun of me, I can explain.
Here is what happened. Greek President George Papandreou didn't give me or anyone else any indication that the Greek economy was about to tank, and spank the Eurodollar around in the process. All of Europe is nervous about all the loans made to Greece, who has been on a borrow and spend … (2 comments)
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The sun is shining and the spring real estate market is here. We are definitely enjoying a seller’s market, and the time it takes to sell homes is much improved.
;)
;)
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