homes in henry county: CTW in Henry County Proves the Prudence of Buying a Home - 01/29/18 06:13 AM
If you find yourself in a quandary over whether to jump into buying a home now or waiting for a clearer signal that the time is right, there is one method you can use to inject some hard numbers into your decision. It’s called the CTW.
CTW stands for “Cost to Wait.” It attempts to approximate the money saved or lost if buying a home today is postponed until a later date. The most reliable CTW calculations are based on what have proved to be the most accurate projections. For this example, we rely on quasi-governmental mortgage guarantor Freddie Mac for interest … (1 comments)

homes in henry county: Selling Your Mcdonough Home: Project Wrangling Tips - 01/25/18 06:31 AM
If you are planning on selling your Mcdonough home—perhaps as early as this spring—you’ve already begun to give thought to getting it in shape for photography and showings. Some of the most obvious projects will be the most important (cleaning and de-cluttering are among those). You might tackle some of the areas that will require deep cleaning early on, but for the most part, those activities can be scheduled closer to launch: the day when your agent posts your Mcdonough listing.
On the other hand, there are some projects you can think about tackling right away. Depending on your own DIY enthusiasm, … (3 comments)

homes in henry county: Will Bitcoin Fever Affect Henry County Homeowners? - 01/22/18 06:16 AM
“Bitcoin Fever Hits US Real Estate Market” screamed last week’s headline—but like most of the other news stories about bitcoin, the details were less than convincing. Certainly, Henry County real estate has yet to be diagnosed with a serious case of bitcoin fever.
Yet, if you are a local homeowner who has begun to wonder if one day you might see “bitcoin accepted” messages in Henry County listings, you may have been tempted to check into what the hubbub is all about. Is bitcoin some get-rich-quick Ponzi scheme cloaked in technological mumbo-jumbo? Or is it destined to be the dominant exchange … (2 comments)

homes in henry county: More Future Stockbridge Real Estate Features Include Electronics - 01/19/18 06:23 AM
 
In Stockbridge real estate, it’s the steak—not the sizzle—that draws serious offers.
Even so, every year about this time it can be useful (and great fun!) to watch what comes out of Las Vegas’ CES gathering. This year’s edition of the Consumer Electronics Show—the annual trade extravaganza that grabs headlines for its bounty of new electronic product unveilings—unveiled a number of smart home tech debuts. Some were, as commentators noted, “weird and wonderful”—while others were potentially important incremental steps toward what will eventually become everyday household necessities. Among those that caught my eye:
         Echo Plus-connected gadgetry: Amazon’s ubiquitous wifi-connected digital … (0 comments)

homes in henry county: Why Selling Your Henry County House Goes Smoother…with Kids! - 01/18/18 09:17 AM
If a National Association of Realtors® expert is to be taken literally, there is one unlikely factor that could lessen the stress level associated with selling your Henry County house.
Just have some kids around.
That may not sound logical—but weirdly enough, it really could make sense. The expert whose thoughts spawn this deduction is the home improvement specialist writing for the NAR’s magazine. Last week, Stephanie Booth observed that sometimes “raising kids actually makes your house cleaner” (Ms. Booth’s italics). I have to agree.
If you have small kids, you’re already thoroughly familiar with the accompanying housekeeping side effects. Ms. Booth recalls … (0 comments)

homes in henry county: Imagining the Unimaginable Rebound in Home Equity - 01/16/18 06:08 AM
We’ve all witnessed the remarkable rebound in real estate values—and last week, the scale of that recovery was the subject of a CNBC commentary. “A growing number of homeowners are in the money,” it found; then, “Homeowners are sitting on trillions in tappable home equity.”
Trillions? That’s a number that sounds quite impressive—but also hard to grasp.
To get a handle on the scale of the nation’s real estate recovery in terms that are more meaningful to Mcdonough readers, it calls for some imagination. Here’s a try:
If you think of a $345,000 home (today’s U.S. average)—and then of a neighborhood with 30 … (2 comments)

homes in henry county: Pointing Toward the Best Henry County Retirement Properties - 01/12/18 06:08 AM
Whenever you set about planning for a move to a new home, particularly if you are an experienced homeowner, you usually don’t need to create a whole new priority list of factors you’ll be looking for.
But by the time you have capped off a full career—when retirement is definitely part of what your future holds—you’re well advised to give added weight to factors that weren’t key considerations in previous house hunts. One source of advice for Henry County residents intent on finding the best retirement property is the NAEBA—a real estate association for exclusive buyer agents. Admittedly, their list of seven … (1 comments)

homes in henry county: TV Brings “Bomb Cyclone” into Stockbridge Living Rooms - 01/09/18 06:18 AM
They called it a “bomb cyclone”—a name hardly intended to bring peace of mind to those experiencing the worst of it. In essence, it was a remarkable surge of bitter arctic air that tore through much of the Great Lakes and East Coast. Improbable images from the South proved to the rest of the country that even great swaths of Dixie wound up momentarily sheathed in ice.
If you think of Stockbridge’s weather as being one of our most livable attributes, you probably have in mind a lovely spring day or golden autumn afternoon. Stockbridge residents can be forgiven for overlooking … (1 comments)

homes in henry county: Are Stockbridge Real Estate Appraisals Going to the Robots? - 12/29/17 06:03 AM
Some predictions for New Year 2018 may be controversial, but one trend is beyond question: almost every sector of everyday life in Stockbridge will continue to be transformed—either incrementally or massively—by automation of one sort or another.
Hordes of self-driving cars and trucks aren’t likely to take over Stockbridge streets this year, nor will Robocops start patrolling our neighborhoods. But one area that’s being affected more quickly than expected comes in the realm of Stockbridge real estate appraisals.
Needless to say, since Stockbridge appraisals establish the collateral value of any piece of real estate, that’s a change that could affect both Stockbridge … (1 comments)

homes in henry county: News Nudges Henry County Renters Toward Homebuying - 12/28/17 06:37 AM
Last week’s “Moneywatch” article on CBSNews.com was a surefire attention grabber. It promised to reveal a single “must do” tip for first-time homebuyers. The main point covered familiar ground—but within the supporting information were some facts that could nudge some Henry County renters into becoming first-time homebuyers.
 Although the headlined “Don’t Buy a Home Without Doing This First” tip was good enough advice (“build your budget”), the details for how to accomplish that were hardly groundbreakers:
 
 
         Experts advise holding mortgage payments to a maximum of 28% of gross income.            Budget for more than just the mortgage amount: allow for … (0 comments)

homes in henry county: For Mcdonough Real Estate, Optimism Peaking in 2018 - 12/27/17 06:17 AM
It’s irresistible: peering into the new year, trying to guess what the Mcdonough real estate landscape will look like in the coming 365 days. At the close of an outstanding 2017, although it’s always a little foolish to assume too much about details in a world that changes as rapidly as ours does, I think there are some more-probable-than-not real estate good news/bad news scenarios likely to come our way:
GOOD NEWS:
         New-home sales increased an astounding 17.5% in November, creating “the exact kind of new-home sales numbers the market has been desperate for” according to Economist Aaron Terrazas. Builders report … (1 comments)

homes in henry county: A Magic Trick to Help Sell Your House in Henry County - 12/21/17 06:20 AM
To sell your Henry County house for the best price in the shortest amount of time is a goal that can be advanced by a particular kind of homeowner flexibility. It’s a trait somewhat out of phase with other attributes that generally belong to people who succeed in owning their own Henry County home.
Okay—admittedly, you can’t really characterize all Henry County homeowners except in the vaguest of terms. But many do fall into the same categories that describe successful people of all stripes. More than the average, they are self-reliant. They draw satisfaction from pride of ownership. As a rule, … (4 comments)

homes in henry county: Brightening Prospects for Buying a Home in Stockbridge - 12/19/17 06:12 AM
Because buying a home has long been a hallmark of success in America, whenever that possibility seems to weaken for the average Joe (or Josette), it comes as sobering news. Back in June, CNN Money ran a downbeat story focused on how the rising cost of housing had been “putting a major squeeze” on some Americans. For Stockbridge readers who took it to heart, that kind of grim analysis could have been enough to cause them to reassess their own prospects.
But now there is evidence that the “squeeze” may be losing its grip.
The CNN story focused on what most experts agree … (2 comments)

homes in henry county: The State of Mind Called “Christmas” - 12/18/17 06:19 AM
This holiday season finds Mcdonough’s streets and stores humming with as much activity as has been seen for some time—which brings us to a particularly upbeat year’s end. Whether it’s Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa that’s spelled out in overhead banners, this is the one time of year when the commercial activity that marks all the big holidays is accompanied by a special spiritual overlay.
The hustle and bustle that’s led up to this week may have kept most of Mcdonough’s parents, grandparents and everybody else busy collecting gifts and preparing for the gatherings we reinvent annually, but it’s nearly impossible not to … (3 comments)

homes in henry county: Mcdonough Home Appraisals in a Rising Market - 12/14/17 05:54 AM
The week’s news about the continuing moderate rise in home values will certainly bring a smile to Mcdonough homeowners. But, as seems to be true for just about everything, there can also be some unintended consequences.
One group so affected are the folks who labor in the home loan industry—particularly when it comes to home appraisals. Mcdonough appraisals come into the forefront when lenders are formulating their mortgage offers. Home appraisals are professional estimates of the value of the homes being collateralized. Lenders count on their accuracy to backstop a loan—to make its value recoverable in the event a borrower fails to … (2 comments)

homes in henry county: Value Rise has Henry County Real Estate Implications - 12/11/17 06:15 AM
Last week’s real estate news didn’t rate front page headlines, but I spotted three items of interest—two of which have implications for Henry County real estate values. Both fall in line with upbeat news about the economy that permeated the airwaves. Holiday shopping (online and otherwise) was strong as consumer optimism peaked—probably related to expectations for a tax break.
The two stories that related to Henry County real estate values stemmed from the periodic HPI report. That’s the “Home Price Index” put out by researchers at CoreLogic. Last week’s announcement showed national single-family residential sales and prices rising in October. That made … (0 comments)

homes in henry county: Henry County “Listing Stalking:” a Sport with Wide Appeal - 12/08/17 09:21 AM
It was right there in the entirely respectable Architectural Digest’s site: an article championing late-night stalking. Happily, it wasn’t the kind of stalking that winds up in a courtroom. The non-crime being confessed to on AD was writer Isabel Galupo’s “addiction” to late night stalking…through the real estate listings.
The author admits to not being at all ready to actually buy a house. She is terrified by the prospect of permanent roots and doesn’t even really understand how a mortgage works. Thus, her nightly browsing is strictly recreational. She can’t resist fantasizing about spacious Spanish colonials in Santa Barbara or quaint little … (1 comments)

homes in henry county: Best of the 5 Seasons for Buying Stockbridge Houses - 12/04/17 06:19 AM
 If you are a well-organized prospective Stockbridge house buyer, you have been weighing many factors as you prepare to start serious house hunting. One of the factors to consider is seasonal: that is, which of the five seasons is most favorable for buying a house?
It’s a fact that the most heavily favored among the seasonal choices is the traditional “peak selling season,” Spring-into-summer is the traditional busiest period for Stockbridge residential activity—and logic dictates that there must be persuasive reasons why so many Stockbridge house buyers opt to make their offers then. But persuasive counter-arguments also abound—both for selling and buying … (2 comments)

homes in henry county: A Single Piece of Advice from Buyer’s and Seller’s Agent - 11/30/17 05:49 AM
The dual nature of Henry County real estate agents is unlike most other professions. A medical doctor who is a family physician in the morning doesn’t switch hats and become a surgeon in the afternoon—any more than a lawyer who pleads in court for a defendant can decide to become a prosecuting attorney that afternoon.
On the other hand, Henry County Realtors® may begin any single day in negotiations representing a seller, then spend the afternoon escorting a buyer client through a series of Henry County home showings. I’m happy to say this isn’t evidence of a split personality disorder. It’s perfectly … (2 comments)

homes in henry county: Approximating Mcdonough Mortgage Refi Requirements - 11/28/17 06:39 AM
If you use a credit card or Mcdonough bank checking account’s online system, you may have noticed the appearance of a free service: FICO score tracking. You find it as a clickable area with a link title like “Your FICO® score” or just “FICO®.”
For many years, each of the major credit reporting agencies was mandated by law to honor any consumer’s request for a copy of their credit scores—but it was a once-a-year deal. For access to regular updates, you had to pay for a subscription. Particularly for consumers working to improve their credit scores, the paid services became a … (2 comments)