What are Short Sales?
Current mood: accomplished

And the bad news just keeps coming- Home prices keep falling, foreclosures keep rising, a gallon of gas keeps getting more expensive, food costs keep increasing, the stock market keeps falling, and we all keep wondering when will it end?

I would like to talk to you about Short Sales. Many lenders are realizing that they'll save money the sooner they can get a property off the books. So, when they fear a homeowner may be headed for foreclosure they may fix a sales price lower than the mortgage balance, and put the property on the market for a quick sale.

Short Sale opportunities are on the rise and if you are fearful of foreclosure, I encourage you to talk to your lender. Did you know that two thirds of homeowners in default never even contact their lender?

If the lender does agree to a Short Sale, it can work to everyone's advantage. The homeowner avoids foreclosure, the lender avoids the carrying costs, the neighborhood avoids another abandoned property on the block and a professional real estate agent can provide a beneficial service to a grateful consumer.

As a purchaser, here is a great opportunity to get a great deal on a home, without waiting for a foreclosure.  Also you get the property faster than if you had to negotiate with the overworked foreclosure department of the lender.

Most short sales are now being stated in the description of the property on mush website.  Your real estate agent can also search for these types of listings.  Just contact one of our agents here at RE/MAX Executives, and we will help you find the deal.

RE/MAX Executives – N Druid Hills, Atlanta, GA  -  404-325-5900

RE/MAX Executives – Northlake Parkway, Atlanta, GA  -  770-496-9600

RE/MAX Executives – Church Street, Decatur, GA  -  404-378-9300

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How Is Your Housing Market?
Current mood: fabulous
Category: Goals, Plans, Hopes

Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, expects a "soft" first half of this year for housing and the economy and then "notable improvement" in the second half of the year. But U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. notes in a recent speech that "most forecasters expect a prolonged period of adjustment" in housing.

Who's right? In the long run, both comments may prove prescient because the national housing market is more than large enough to encompass a wide variety of trends in different places and on different timelines. And that means, at the end of the day, you'll need to rely on your own best judgment to make decisions for yourself and your family.

So how can you figure out when home prices and sales hit bottom and begin to recover in your neighborhood? You may need to do your own research to find the answer. Dig up facts and figures about your own city or town and then combine that data with information about national trends to formulate your own conclusions.

Plenty of data are as close as your keyboard, though the process of sifting through it may take quite a lot of time and thoughtful analysis.  You can instead contact a good real estate agent and ask a few questions about the market.  There are a few other key facts to know:

1.  Local information and stats are the key.  Learn your area, not just Georgia or Atlanta, but your community.

2.  One of the single most important factors is the supply or inventory of homes on the market. If you are selling, found out about your competition.  How are they priced?  What do they offer?

3.  Remember in housing markets you will be using years of data and not just a few months.

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First Time Home Buyer Tips
Current mood: busy

First time home buyers have a lot to think about when they make that decision to start looking. But the process can be made much easier if they use a licensed real estate agent. The biggest challenge is finding one that will guide you through the process while working for you.

Don't just use the agent that is a relative or the one the neighbor recommends. You get to interview them to make sure you will work together well, but you need to do that before they start taking you around and showing you homes. An agent only gets paid if the deal is completed and they are spending their money, in gas and time, trying to help you find the right house.

There are some down payment assistance programs out there like Nehemiah, so if you qualify this could really help you. You can find out more about this program at http://www.getdownpayment.com/.

Another think to start with is getting pre-qualified for the loan. This is especially true if you are trying to get a foreclosure property. The banks only want to deal with people that have or can get the money. So pick a mortgage lender and get the pre-qualification. It doesn't hurt your credit to be run by the same type of business, so don't stress about how many times it will be pulled by the bank. Another important thing to realize is that your pre-qualified offer on a home carries a lot more weight, in case the sellers get multiple offers.

If you want more information or tips, feel free to contact one of our agents at www.AtlantaGAHomes.com. They work the entire Atlanta area with special knowledge of Midtown, Buckhead, Toco Hills, Decatur, Avondale Estates, Tucker, Stone Mountain, and a lot more. Also, since they are RE/MAX agents and REALTORS® you know you will be working with a real professional.

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Another News Article
Current mood: fabulous

I have been writing about news articles I have read and will continue to do so when I spot them, but I would also like to give out some tips on how to find a great home.  So be on the lookout for my next blog, but for right now look at this one:

Home sales unexpectedly rise in April

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer

"Sales of new homes rose in April for the first time in six months although the unexpected increase still left activity near the lowest level in 17 years.

The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that sales of new homes rose 3.3 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 526,000 units.

The Commerce report on new home sales showed the April rebound was led by a huge 41.7 percent surge in sales in the Northeast. Sales were up 8.3 percent in the West and 5.8 percent in the Midwest. The only region which saw a decline in sales in April was the South, where sales fell by 2.4 percent."

Looks like we are already starting to see signs of the housing market working itself back to a normal level, which is great!  And since there are still lots of homes out there and some you can get for less than a car, I think I will be looking at some for investment oppurtunities.

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The Media Is Starting To Understand
Current mood: determined

I just read a great article about the data we have been getting about real estate.   It was written by Chris Pummer who writes for Los Angeles Times and the San Jose Mercury News.  It is titled "Home-price data has its flaws.  You can read the entire article at http://www.marketwatch.com, but here is just a few paragraphs I that were very interesting.

"Commonly cited measures of U.S. home prices are overstating the degree to which the vast majority of Americans' home values have declined in the last year, producers of two of the most widely tracked indexes acknowledged this week.

Top officials with the National Association of Realtors and Standard & Poor's, which issues the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, agreed this week their monthly reports are giving imprecise readings of price changes at all levels -- national, state and regional -- due to rare market conditions that are skewing survey results.

The S&P/Case-Shiller index, which Tuesday posted a 12.7% decline for February, is skewed for two reasons of its own -- it tracks just 20 major markets, many among the hardest hit, and its "repeat sales" survey by design pulls in individual homes both bought and sold in the last few years. Many of those are now being dumped by distressed homeowners and investors who bought at peak market prices and face higher mortgage-rate adjustments.

"Just like saying the average nationwide temperature today is 57 degrees doesn't tell you anything, the same is true for real estate prices, NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said. "The only way to tell what your own home is really worth is to look at local-market conditions, do Internet research and utilize professionals (such as licensed appraisers) to help determine the value of your home."

If you would like a professional opinion of the value of your home in the Atlanta market, please feel free to contact one of our Realtors.  You can reach them at any of our three offices.  Just visit our website at www.AtlantaGAHomes.com for phone numbers or to send us an email message.

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Who is Robert Shiller and What Does He Know About Real Estate?

Who is Robert Shiller and what is the Case-Shiller Index?  You may not really know the answer off the top of your head, but if you have read any news articles on how bad the real estate market is, they normally quote figures from the Case-Shiller Index.  Robert Shiller is half of that index.

Why do people listen to him and his proclamations?  Well he has strong credentials.  He's a Yale economist and he correctly predicted the stock market bubble bursting in 2001.

But here is the other side of the story that you may not have read about.  Shiller's index is used to help securities investors buy hedge funds against housing prices.  The more people are afraid, the more money Shiller makes!

According to the National Association of Realtors, the housing slump of 1.2 percent for 2007 still represents the fifth best sales record in history.  Sales reported for March continue to be down over last year, but 73 of 150 reported gains and home sales are still holding their own with recent record-breaking years.

RE/MAX Executives is a leading real estate company in the Atlanta metro area. With three Atlanta metro locations, two in Atlanta, Georgia and one in Decatur, Georgia, we are well suited to handle your real estate needs. Not only can we handle your real estate needs in Atlanta, Decatur, Midtown, Downtown, Buckhead,  Avondale Estates, and Druid Hills but we can help you anywhere in Georgia and beyond. You can visit us and search for homes at www.AtlantaGAHomes.com

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Headlines In The Paper
Current mood: curious

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I Want To Buy At the Bottom
Current mood: chipper

So many times we hear buyers saying they want to buy at the bottom of the market.  We will be happy to help you do just that, but you have to tell us when the bottom is here.

You can't know it is the bottom until the market has gone back up!  Knowing the bottom of the market is always something that is in the past.

The good thing about the market is that you can make some money.  Want to know how?  Most people selling their home are looking for another home that is bigger and worth more money.  They are trading up.  So let's say you have a home that was worth $400,000 but now is worth $360 (10% less) because of the current market.   Some may say that they have lost $40,000 dollars, but let's take a closer look.

You wanted to buy a home that was $600,000, but now the market has it at $540,000 (10% less).  If you had bought that home and sold your home at the top of the market it would have cost you $200,000 ($600,000 minus $400,000) to move up.  But now that you have waited, you can make that same move for $180,000!  ($540,000 minus $360,000)  You just saved $20,000!

You don't have to know the bottom of a market to get a great deal.  There are great deals out there right now!

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It’s A Buyers Market
Current mood: working

I always take the time to read the newspaper or watch the news especially when I hear news about the real estate market.  I understand that as professional journalists they have a job to do, but I have been a little frustrated by media coverage of what was first referred to as a "bubble," then a "mess" or "meltdown," and finally a "crisis."

Reports like this may actually serve to prolong the situation, because buyers get nervous and stay out of the market. They worry that prices may continue to drop or interest rates will get better.

How does this happen? The media says the market is "bleak and grim," the buyers sit it out, inventory rises, and prices drop. Then, the media reports that it's getting worse! The cycle just repeats itself!

Real estate markets are local. It's hard to deal with "averages." And markets are cyclical, they're always changing.

The change we see right now does point to a flattening out. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Existing Home Sales have started to rise, foreclosures are coming down in many markets, and we hope these become trends. For many cities, towns and neighborhoods there's never even been a downturn.

The important point to keep in mind, is that most of us have never experienced a "Buyer's Market" like we're seeing right now: tremendous inventory, historically low mortgage rates and reduced prices. Many investors are now recognizing this situation and taking advantage of it, as well.

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