How Home Sellers Can Limit Appraisal Issues

Atlanta home buyers and sellers know the chess game that the '20-'21 real estate market has been and continues to be. The shortage of housing inventory around the greater Atlanta market is well known; there's no cavalry on the horizon. Buyers are bruised and beaten, just about all having lost more than once during multiple offer situations. The idea of offers over list moved from "only if we need to" to "how much over". Sellers should be loving it, but there's one catch; appraisals. If the appraisal comes in low, that big seller payday may not materialize. Sellers have to nail that back door shut and keep buyers from playing games.

Under List? Surely You Jest

Let's all acknowledge that the greater Atlanta real estate market (2021) is about as strong…

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How to Limit Contract Disasters When Buying or Selling a Home

Finding and buying a home, especially during record low inventory and a pandemic, isn't always enjoyable. Neither is selling one. Knowing how to avoid contract disasters when buying or selling a home can not only preserve ones' sanity but preserve the wallet as well. Buyers and sellers are their own best assets here; an understanding of the process, the documents and the involved players are key to success. Perhaps the important players are the respective agents; skilled agents avoid or get most potential issues addressed early in the process. Unfortunately, the influx of hobby agents during the pandemic and the growth of “minimal service” and "rebate" brokerages, do not. Add to the mix that Georgia is a buyer beware state, the seller is expected to be…

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The Real Estate Sales Industry and Low Appraisals

Appraisers are an easy target, but the real estate sales industry is a huge contributor to appraisal problems. Appraisers are downstream from the sales process; working with the data produced while writing reports that must conform to underwriting requirements. Appraisers use what data is available, they have no control over any of it. That data stream is controlled by the real estate industry and the multiple listing service. The economy  the volume of sales, agents influence the quality of information in the multiple listing service; which is the primary information source for appraisers. 

Why Are There So Many Real Estate Agents?

How can there be more agents than homes for sale? Consider this…

Then consider that not all agents are members…

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Escalation Clauses Should be Avoided

Escalation clauses should be avoided by both buyers and sellers. In tight real estate markets, buyers want to have their offer selected and sellers want to maximize sale price. Having the offer price automatically “escalate” seems like a winner for both parties, but there is no chicken dinner and many say only chicken...

What is an Escalation Clause?

An escalation clause is a stipulation inserted into a buyer’s offer to ensure it remains competitive. It's typically considered in highly competitive, multiple offer situations. It is not a guarantee; with or without an escalation clause, a seller is free to accept the offer they consider best. Sellers can (as many do) instruct the listing agent to notify buyers that escalation clauses will not be…

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These Charts Show How Few Homes are For Sale Around Atlanta

How bad is the current housing inventory shortage in the greater Atlanta area? It resonates when presented graphically; hearing about it is one thing but seeing the precipitous drop visually drives the point home. Why the shortage? We see several factors. The most important one is a shortage of inventory. Huh? While it may be easy to sell fast and at a significant premium, how many sellers want to become buyers right now? Record numbers refinanced over the last couple of years and over the pandemic, many renovated and completed projects while locked in, why move? For those that do, many are looking for the next house before they list, trying to avoid the mad scramble. In some cases, homes never hit the market. Word of mouth, off market sales are up as…

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If a Buyer or Seller Defaults on a Real Estate Contract, Can You Sue?

If a buyer or seller defaults of a real estate contract, can you sue? The answer is of course, it depends. The typical Georgia purchase and sale agreement has a number of standard contingencies; buyer financing and inspection the more obvious. There are also any number of specific contingencies that might be written into an agreement. But what happens if after everything is completed, the buyer or seller just doesn't want to close? In Georgia options are very limited, other states may be different but here the reflex answer of "we'll sue" doesn't broadly apply.

If a Buyer Defaults on a Real Estate Contract

There are many possible reasons that a buyer might not close, contracts can contain different clauses and stipulations. Properly written…

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Do Busy Roads Matter When Buying a Home?

As housing density increases, so does the impact of traffic and daily activity. Most people wrestle with the desire for a quiet home but one within close proximity to service and support facilities. Urban residents are well acquainted with the sounds of city life, the rural markets attract residents happy to drive for residential solitude. The suburban residents often ask about the impact of busy roads when buying a home; the answer (of course) is that it depends. Variables include buyer requirements, types of roads, amount of traffic and characteristics of comparable areas. So to, does the proximity to commercial uses like shopping centers and strip malls.

Traffic and Influences not Thought About...

Everything is relative so not all things…

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How Do Driveways Impact the Value and Appeal of a Home?

Consider the lowly and unappreciated driveway, a bland slab of concrete void of character and charm...but used all day, every day. It's typically one of the first things we see with the home, part of the critical first impression. Everything and everyone in and out of the home traverses this hard slab; the ultimate role player like an offensive line for an MVP running back or quarterback. All is good, unless something shines a light on a shortcoming. Sometimes, there hints but the scope of the problem may not be fully understood until regular use.

Driveways must be functional and compliment the home. Ideally, they will be ample in width, level to generally level and wide enough to allow easy ingress and egress to the home. They will have easy curves…

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Housing Market Review for 16 Cities North of Atlanta

Atlanta is a recognizable location, but the housing market for the many cities north of Atlanta is significantly different. From Smyrna to Woodstock to Alpharetta to Cumming to Johns Creek, they share little in common besides the Georgia connection. Below we compare housing prices between 16 cities broken into 4 regions.

2020 was a crazy year for residential real estate. Despite everything, the housing markets around north Atlanta treated sellers exceptionally well; buyers...not so much. Inventory was scare and competition fierce, multiple offers continue to be common. Many factors combined for this; mainly historically low interest rates and a global plague. In short, buyers exploited rates that make ownership more attractive than renting and the…

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We Want Your Home, How Much?

Home buyers constantly balance emotion and data; heart vs head. During times of low housing inventory, the heart can be rather convincing and the result might be a disaster. Over the last decade, public home sites and social media changed the “traditional” ways to find a home. Pocket listings – homes marketed outside of the MLS – have become much more popular and some sellers find success just informally tossing their home out there. Buyers, eager to secure a home, find them and dive right in. This is the time for the head to keep the heart in check. This is the time for an experienced buyer's agent to refocus the buyer.

Why Consider a Pocket Listing?

In most cases, buyers chasing an off market home are either enamored with it for a certain reason…

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