Thursday, October 18, 2012
Is it location or price that drives your market success? It might be both.
Now that the market is trending more towards the favor of sellers, it might be a good time to talk to your real estate professional about listing your home for sale. If you’ve wanted to downsize or even upsize or just simply want a different home than the one you have now, the best way to determine marketability is to consult with an expert. The following is a list that we provide to clients at Maximum One Realty that we believe can be very helpful in helping a seller understand what he or she can expect from the process. We refer to these as key market factors. It’s important to keep all of this information in mind both before and during the marketing of your home for sale. The time it takes to sell a home is specific to the individual …
Thursday, October 11, 2012
What to do in a multiple offer situation
It’s been another very busy week at the iDeal REP office, and we’re very grateful so many of you have trusted us with your real estate needs. We certainly aren’t the only professionals that have been busy, and that’s very evident by the continued lack of inventory on the market. What properties are available are moving quickly, most times with multiple buyers vying for the same opportunity. With that comes a sometimes frustrating development to both buyers and agents. The multiple offer situation can lead to the dreaded call for highest and best offers. Some of our clients have been confused by the concept of highest and best, although it is just what the name implies. The call for highest and best offers is when the seller has received …
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Granite countertops are just one kind of home improvement.
Last Saturday I had the pleasure of working with dozens of locally owned businesses and a small army of volunteers at a benefit for a Paulding county citizen who is battling a grave illness. Renae Hudgens is the wife of Paulding County Sheriff’s Deputy Mitch Hudgens. The event was sponsored by many of the county’s small business owners in an effort to support one of our neighbors in need to raise money to offset Mrs. Hudgens’ mounting medical bills. After a long and yet rewarding day of live auctions, raffles, motorcycle stunts, bands, bingo and barbecue, I went to bed that evening with a renewed sense of community and a greater understanding of the value of service. We often hear about what makes a strong community. Is it the businesses, …
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Improving you curb appeal is easier than you think.
This week we welcomed my second favorite season when autumn arrived over the weekend. While spring remains my favorite time of year, autumn brings with it a hearty helping of fall festivals, county fairs and of course delicious holiday food. Autumn also brings buyers to the local real estate market and with them an opportunity to help your property stand out as the most attractive in your neighborhood. This is traditionally one of the busiest times of the year as buyers are looking for great deals after the summer rush season and still want to be in their new home for the holidays. Inventory is still low for our area and it is a great time for sellers to entice buyers, but that doesn’t mean sellers can ignore their property condition. Even…
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Single-family home starts also were strong, according to the latest figures.
There’s more bright news to report this week and we couldn’t be happier that the statisticians are finally reporting what we’ve been telling you for months—the market is on a definite upswing. Existing home sales were up in August year over year to 7.2 percent, the highest levels in nearly three years. That definitely falls in line with what we’ve been seeing at street level from one year ago. It’s also great to have the national media backing us up. All of the talk about a shadow inventory has been just that, a lot of talk. The banks have been warning of a massive wave of foreclosures that’s due to hit the market any day. Some say just after the presidential election in November. Some say in the early months of 2013. To quote the tag line…
Thursday, September 13, 2012
The rest will follow.
It’s often said that real estate agents wear many hats. While our main objective is to represent our client, there are many ways in which we do so. One of the more unusual tasks we sometimes take on is that of psychotherapist. The buying and selling process can be wrought with emotion and while we do strive to lighten the drama load, sometimes that requires a bit of extra finesse. We are in fact therapists in every sense of the word when a buyer or seller allows their emotions to overtake their logic. There are many reasons emotions are allowed to cloud an otherwise sane person’s judgment. Probably the most frequent example of emotional warfare we encounter is from sellers that refuse to mentally accept they are in fact selling their home…
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Don't sabotage your success—follow these tips to make sure your loan process is as smooth as possible.
A few weeks ago we discussed the loan process as it exists in the current market. The do’s and don’ts, if you will. This week we’re bringing you information direct from one of our preferred lenders, Stephanie Kyle with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. Stephanie wants to help you to not sabotage your loan process. When you apply for a loan and gain approval, the lender is basing that approval on the financial and personal information you provide. You will be asked for supporting documentation for verification. If the lender finds a discrepancy, you could lose your approval. If that happens while you’re under contract, you’re also potentially jeopardizing earnest money or other financial commitments you’ve made such as a home inspection or an …
Thursday, July 19, 2012
How will prospective buyers vote when they see campaign signs on your property? Our resident real estate expert gives his take on yard signs and other decorations around and in your home.
It’s election season, and a person would be hard pressed to miss the abundance of campaign yard signs that are blanketing the county. While we are all proud to live in a country where one can freely express political points of view, there comes a time when the visible support of a favorite candidate or political party should be considered with caution. We all know how contentious and zealous some people become when expressing political opinions—entire families can be split by a single issue. The accepted societal practice is to never discuss politics or religion in mixed company. Common sense would then dictate that political signage could be a turnoff to a prospective homebuyer. We always explain to our listing clients that one of the …
Thursday, June 28, 2012
That new home smell is luring a lot of buyers back to new construction
I've been telling you for a while about changes in the market due to lack of inventory and increasing prices. There was a report out last week that home sales were down in May from the same month in 2011. I sort of chuckled to myself and thought, "Of course home sales are down over last year. there's much less inventory than there was in 2011." Just as that statement formed in my mind I heard the news reporter make essentially the same statement. I was shocked to hear that. Finally, a member of the news media was reporting the complete story. I don't recall hearing that much truth reported since the housing bubble popped four years ago. One of the byproducts of the lower inventory is the slight surge in new construction in parts of the …
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Should the real estate agent you choose be totally familiar with the area in which you are looking? Should buyers let the sellers' agent represent them as well? See what our resident agent has to say.
I was involved in an online discussion recently regarding the state of the local market. One of the participants shared his advice and tips on home buying. While some of it was dead on, other assumptions he made were off base. I shared what I know to be true of the market and I thought it was worth sharing with a wider audience. The following is the exchange presented in a semi conversational style. “You really should have an agent who is familiar with the area in which you're looking. You don't want an agent from Dallas if you're looking in Douglasville, or an agent from East Cobb if you're looking in Paulding.” That's true to a degree. But I can assure you that even if an agent's office is located in East Cobb, I bet you dollars to …
Laurie Penney
8:37 pm on Thursday, October 4, 2012
Thank you Mark with the contributions and hard work of volunteers like yourself, we were able to raise over $8000.00 for the Hudgens family. I am proud of Paulding and the people that live here. We made a difference in the life of 2 very deserving people that have served us through law enforcement for many years. more ›