Category Archives: business of real estate

Tweaking Time…

Monday, 14 January 2013 08:00

Written by Lane Bailey

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Reports (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You may have noticed that the order for the Market Reports has changed. We will also be rolling out a monthly newsletter in the next few weeks. One of the newsletter features will be faster access tot he Market Reports. We will try to drop in a few other cool features, too.

Later in the year we will be rolling out a few subdivision specific reports, as well as some profiles. There will also be some specific property profiles of homes an the market.

There might be some more video, too.

There are some other changes in the works as well… stay tuned.

As always, there will be some real estate opinion and comment on current topics.

London remembers ‘spectacular’ 2012 (standard.co.uk)

Foreclosure Paint…

Wednesday, 01 August 2012 08:00

Written by Lane Bailey

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Real estate agents wander through a lot of houses. Since we see so many, sometimes we come up with back-stories for the homes… what the sellers or previous occupants were like… or why the homes are on the market. Some of those back-stores start to get familiar.

Paint is a huge clue. For me, seeing “Trading Spaces” designs is pretty common in distressed properties. I loved watching the show, but it seems like people with properties that were in trouble liked quick and easy design tips. That doesn’t mean that people that like quick and easy design tips all have homes in trouble, though… Could just all be a coincidence…

Want to Look at Foreclosures?

Wednesday, 25 July 2012 08:00

Written by Lane Bailey

1 Comment

Are you sure?

As a Real Estate Agent, I see a lot of foreclosures and talk with a lot of people that want to (or think they want to) buy foreclosures. In fact, even more buyers target foreclosures than short sales. But a lot of times, the buyers really don’t want a foreclosure… they just want a deal and think that the foreclosure search is the way to find it.

There are some pros to foreclosed properties:

They are available to close in a reasonable time-frame.
They are what they are.
Often, they are priced pretty attractively.

But, it isn’t all roses and honey… there are some drawbacks:

They are what they are.
The selling group usually won’t do (or even allow) work on the property to pass lender inspections.
When they are over-priced, the seller often takes forever to negotiate.
Offers may not be answered in a timely manner.
There might be a lot of hoops to just through.

Often, buyers go into the process with buying a foreclosure not knowing what to expect. They expect it to be like buying their last house… which probably wasn’t a foreclosure. They don’t know know to expect the peculiarities of dealing with a bank or other agency… Freddie Mac, HUD, etc.

If you are thinking about looking at foreclosures in order to find a deal, give me a shout… We can talk about what kind of strategy will get you the deal you are looking for. It might be a foreclosure, or a short sale, or just an aggressively priced traditional sale.

Foreclosed homes: Now, they’re hot properties(csmonitor.com)

How Does the Market Look?

Monday, 09 July 2012 08:00

Written by Lane Bailey

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The regular market reports will resume on Friday, but for today I just wanted to expound on the general market a little.

Things have really changed in the last few months. Just 4 or 5 months ago, I was constantly looking for “follow through” on strong numbers for almost every market segment. There would be a good month or two, but then there would be a lousy one to cast doubt into the recovery process.

There were programs designed to “bring back the housing segment”, and while some of them did manage to move the market for a short time, for the most part, they only seemed to steal from future sales. Sales that would have happened regardless were moved up in order to qualify for government subsidies or more favorable tax treatment. But over the long run, they didn’t create many sales that wouldn’t have happened over the follow couple of months.

After all of that worked through the system, and consumers were more certain that there wouldn’t be future inducements, sales started picking up again… but the real boost to the sales numbers has been inventory reductions. And while there are still rumors of a “tidal wave of foreclosed properties”, those same rumors have been around for 3+ years, always with the tidal wave 4-6 months away. There could indeed be a wave of foreclosed properties poised to hit the market, I wouldn’t bank on it. And the market does seem ready to absorb some more inventory, especially on the entry level end of the spectrum.

The bottom line is that the real estate market is getting back to normal. In fact, under $200k in most of Gwinnett, it is well into Seller’s Market territory. From $200k-$400k, it is mixed. Above that, it is still pretty much a Buyer’s Market, but not to the extent it has been for the last few years.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the market when the general economic recovery starts in earnest. I am still of the opinion that the best stimulus for the housing market is a recovery in the jobs market. While the unemployment rate has gotten better, the labor force participation percentage rate hasn’t budged much. The unemployment rate discounts workers that give up or time out on unemployment, while the labor force participation rate includes everyone that could be in the labor force.

I’m firmly of the belief that many buyers are reluctant to make a 30 year plan (buy a house and get a mortgage) when they are worried about the security of their job over the next year.

Stay tuned to see how it all shakes out…

Brace Yourself, Real Estate Prices Are Going Back Up – Bloomberg(bloomberg.com)
Why anti-foreclosure laws are ruining the U.S. recovery(business.financialpost.com)

How to Get THE Best Deal…

Monday, 11 June 2012 08:00

Written by Lane Bailey

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Every buyer in the market has one goal in mind… get the best deal possible on the exact house that they want. Of course, there are a few problems… but like most problems, there ARE solutions.

exterior (Photo credit: lane.bailey)

The first problem is understanding value… To begin with, the quality of the deal is NOT measured by sale price v listing price. The list price and the value are NOT directly related. You might actually have a better deal in your hand at full price… or even above… with one property, while another might be over-priced at half of the list price. Compare the price you are getting to the value of the comps. Don’t forget to subtract (or add) for needed improvements, updates and other differences. That is what real estate agents do when they create a Comparative Market Analysis.

The second problem is being realistic… Sure, there is a chance that you might be able to get a property that has a realistic worth of twice what you will pay for it, but don’t expect it. Especially if you are looking for a property YOU are going to live in. If you are looking for a rental/investment property, then you don’t need to worry as much about the particulars of living in the property… only how it will work financially.

Third, learn the real market… You need to have a heart to heart with your real estate agent. You need to talk openly about the area values and trends. Not the national values and trends, not the state… not even the city or ZIP code, but the area… subdivision or neighborhood, as well as the price range. In the market areas I monitor, I see instances where the direction of the market in one price range is opposite that of the adjacent price range. The same thing happens with locales.

English: To Let in Dover As the estate agent would say , 'A property with potential'. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The fourth problem is REAL big. Don’t “just toss something out there as a starting point”. This one is huge. I see it all of the time. Buyers toss out an incredibly low offer “to get the ball rolling”. BUT, when working with an actual human seller, it often only serves to anger them and get them to dig in their heels. When dealing with an institutional seller, it makes them think the buyer isn’t serious. In either case, what ends up happening is that the chance of a deal gets slimmer… and if there is a deal between the buyer and seller, it might end up not being as good of a deal as if the buyer had made a higher initial offer. (BTW Sellers… this one works both ways… pricing too high often leads to a lower selling price in the end).

Finally… Be READY to act when you find what you want. It isn’t a deal if you leave it laying on the side of the road.

If YOU are ready, give me a call. Lane 678-200-5895…