Atlanta Real Estate BlogRecently posted or modified blog postshttps://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/blog/Copyright PremierAtlantaRealEstate.com2024-03-08T07:47:15-07:00tag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:6287Expect Multiple Offers and Hyper Appreciation This Spring<br /><br />Transcript From Video
Today I'm going to show you why you should expect multiple offers and super high appreciation going into the Spring and the Summer real estate market at least here in Metro Atlanta. What I'm going to show you is a chart that has an activity index and an absorption rate. The activity index is a leading indicator and the absorption rate is a lagging indicator. It uses sold homes in the past to determine what's going to happen in the future, whereas the activity index shows pending homes versus the active listing so it gives you an idea of what's going to happen in the future. When you look at a long-term chart like this one that goes back 5-6 years, you'll see consistently that the activity index predicts what's going to happen about 60 days in advance, and, if I go ahead and I zoom in on the end of this you'll see that the activity index is falling out of the sky very quickly.
<a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/">View Atlanta Real Estate Listings Now</a>
This means that the absorption rate is going to follow and that means that the supply of homes is very quickly going to fall under 3, maybe down to 2 again and it's going to mean hyper-appreciation and it's going to mean multiple offer terms that favor sellers - all the things that we've seen over the past few years. Interest rates have not fallen and don't look like they're going to fall. So, if you're on the sidelines waiting for the interest rates to drop you're going to miss out on so much appreciation that it's going to offset your monthly cost that you would have saved by a lower interest rate and you will have lost all of the cash and equity that you would have gained if you just go ahead and buy the home now. It makes a lot more sense to get in the market now than it does to wait.2024-03-08T07:46:00-07:002024-03-08T07:47:15-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:6241Waiting To Buy Does Not Usually Make Sense Financially<br /><br />Transcript
Today I'm going to show you in 90 seconds why it makes more sense to purchase a home now financially than it would be to wait so I created this spreadsheet here that compares now and sometime in the future. In this example we're looking at a $500,000 house and comparing to waiting two years to purchase the house so in today's scenario it's a 7% interest rate with a 5% annual appreciation which is pretty that's pretty normal and that gives us a $2,661 a month principal and interest payment. Over the course of two years of ownership from now until the future I will have made $51,000 in equity due to the 5% appreciation rate and I will have saved $8,400 on my principal balance that's been paid down. Fast forward two years and I buy the house then instead of now the purchase price is $551,000 versus $500,000 due to that appreciation and so my loan balance is significantly higher and even though my interest rate now in this scenario is also 1.5%, lower I'm only saving $157 a month on my principal and interest. So, over two years I've saved $3,800 or so in my principal and interest payments, but I've lost $8,000 that was paid down. I've also lost $51,000 in equity that I did not gain because I didn't own the home over the course of two years. So after two years, my net loss by waiting is $56,000 so you can see financially it makes much more sense to purchase now under almost all scenarios than it would if you were to wait.<br /><br />
<a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/">Click here to search homes for sale in Atlanta</a>
2024-02-22T13:29:15-07:002024-02-22T13:46:49-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:6237Waiting To Buy A Home Will Cost You More In The Long Run<br /><br />I get concerned when I hear buyers say that they want to wait for interest rates to come back down before they buy a house and, there's a really good reason why - because appreciation is outstripping any savings that you might have had if you waited for interest rates to drop. So, I'm going to show you a quick chart that I did and this is Metro Atlanta average home prices over the past 10 years and you will see that every year there is a peak in the summer and every following year it is higher than the previous year and so with the exception of a crash in the real estate market, which is almost impossible at this point, we just simply don't have enough homes available for the market to crash, it would be very difficult to see that prices will drop sufficiently to wait on the sideline and miss the appreciation so that you can have the average monthly payment drop by waiting for the interest rates to go down. If you look a little bit closer here, you can see that the red trend line would have been what happened pre-COVID, the yellow is what the hyper-appreciation was doing on when interest rates were super low. But, now that they've doubled, we can see the last couple of years prices have stabilized, inventory is stabilized, and demand has stabilized. So under the current set of circumstances, it's probably much better to go ahead and buy now than it is to wait for interest rates to drop.2024-02-21T11:39:16-07:002024-02-21T11:55:51-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:6214The Benefits of Living in a Golf Community in Roswell, GA
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2024/country-club-of-roswell.jpg" width="525" height="350" class="img_box_left" />Roswell, GA, located in Northern Fulton County, is known for its rich history, vibrant downtown area, and several golf communities. These neighborhoods provide more than just excellent golf courses; they embody a lifestyle that fuses relaxation, comfort, and amenities in one close-knit environment that is not only convenient but also fosters real community among the residents and members. If you are considering moving to Roswell or living in a golf club community in Roswell.
Why Choose a Golf Community in Roswell?
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2024/golf-course.png" width="400" height="711" class="img_box_left" />Easy Access to Golfing Facilities - for those living in a golf community in Roswell, access to top-notch golfing facilities is a major perk. Whether you're a dedicated golfer or someone interested in picking up the sport, living close to a golf course lets you practice and play whenever you like. Communities like <a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/willow-springs-homes-for-sale/">Willow Springs</a>, <a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/horseshoe-bend-homes-for-sale/">Horseshoe Bend</a>, and <a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/brookfield-country-club-homes-for-sale/">Brookfield Country Club</a> feature golf courses that offer fun and challenging courses for players at any level.
A Center for Social Life - golf communities are more than just places to play the game; they're lively centers for meeting people and making friends. Residents can take part in a range of events, from golf tournaments to holiday celebrations. These gatherings are great ways to connect with neighbors and become part of a tight-knit community. The clubhouse is often the heart of the community, providing a friendly space for hanging out, dining, and entertainment.
Nearby Can Be Just As Good - it's also important to keep in mind that many gold clubs are privately owned and living in a neighborhood near a club can offer many of the benefits the club has to offer at different price points and styles of homes.
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2024/tennis.png" width="1024" height="1024" />
Amenities Beyond Golf - golf communities in Roswell offer a wide array of amenities to suit many interests and hobbies. From fitness centers and swimming pools to tennis and pickleball courts and walking trails, these neighborhoods make it easy to stay active and healthy. These amenities go beyond just "activity" and are designed to improve residents' lifestyles and sense of community.
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2024/family-photo.png" width="1200" height="630" />
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2024/gathering-1.png" width="300" height="431" class="img_box_right" />
Privacy and Security - living in a golf community often means enjoying more privacy and security. Residents typically have Facebook groups to alert neighbors of suspicious activities, cameras at entrances keep an eye on coming and going and street lighting in these neighborhoods also helps to keep important areas well-lit.
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2024/gym.png" width="300" height="533" class="img_box_left" />Natural Beauty - the beauty of living in a golf community in Roswell is undeniable. These areas are designed to complement the surrounding landscape, offering stunning views of golf courses, lakes, and forests. It's an ideal place for those who love being close to nature and enjoy the peace it brings. It's common to have significantly more deer, birds, foxes, and other animals because the environment is more in keeping with natural habitats than many other subdivisions and neighborhoods.
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2024/pickleball.png" width="512" height="512" class="img_box_left" />
Good for Investment - buying a home in a golf community in Roswell is also a wise investment choice. Homes in these neighborhoods often keep their value well, thanks to the ongoing demand for properties in exclusive areas with lots of amenities. The well-kept surroundings and community management help keep the area attractive and maintain home values. Houses tend to be well kept and many of these neighborhoods have sections that lend themselves to a wide variety of buyers. You will often see homes on larger than average lots and other sections of smaller homes woven into these neighborhoods. This variety creates a visual that is very different from most surrounding neighborhoods and can feel cookie cutter by comparison.
Convenient Lifestyle - a golf community lifestyle in Roswell means convenience and ease. It's undeniable that the convenience of in-neighborhood golf, swimming, tennis, pickleball, a gym, and dining make for a lifestyle that has most of what the vast majority of buyers want surrounding their home. Combine that with a community that is created from the residents who will then, by the very nature of using the amenities, be more familiar with their neighbors and you have a perfect storm for creating lifelong relationships that are harder to cultivate in other environments.
To sum up, the advantages of living in a golf community in <a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/roswell/">Roswell, GA</a>, go beyond just enjoying the sport. These neighborhoods offer a lifestyle marked by comfort, community, and convenience. With a variety of amenities, secure environments, and natural beauty, residents can enjoy a high quality of life. Whether you're a golf enthusiast or just looking for a welcoming place to live, Roswell's golf communities provide an exceptional living experience.
Search Golf Course Homes in Roswell2024-02-15T07:45:00-07:002024-02-15T07:47:45-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:6203Real Estate Agents Reflect Optimism For 2024<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2024/real_estate_market_optimism_in_atlanta_small.jpg" width="400" height="290" class="img_box_left" />During January and February, I conducted a survey that was emailed to over 11,000 licensed real estate professionals in Metro Atlanta to get a sense of what we, as industry professionals and experts forecast for the year ahead. The results indicate an overall positive outlook on what we as a group think 2024 will bring.
While no one can predict with certainty how any segment of an economy or market will ultimately turn out, I find it illuminating to find out from industry professionals how they foresee the future unfolding in their area of expertise. I hope you do as well...
Do You Think 2024 Will Be a Better Time to Buy a House Than 2023?
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2024/Better_Buy.jpg" width="1200" height="679" />
76% of respondents said that buying a home in 2024 will be better than last year while roughly 11% feel it would have been better to buy in 2023.
Do You Think 2024 Will Be a Better Time to Sell a House Than 2023?
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2024/Better-sell.jpg" width="1200" height="600" />
88% of the agents who responded see the 2024 real estate market as a better time to sell than in 2023.
What Do You Think Will Happen to Home Prices in 2024?
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2024/Home_Prices.jpg" width="1200" height="600" />
71% believe that prices will be up while roughly 29% feel prices will either be flat or down some.
What Do You Think Will Happen to Interest Rates in 2024?
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2024/Interest_rates.jpg" width="1200" height="639" />
86% answered the question about what they think will happen to mortgage interest rates by saying they believe these rates will fall this year.
How Many Sales Do You Think You Will Have Compared to 2023?
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2024/transations.jpg" width="1200" height="639" />
This was quite an enthusiastic number and reflects the optimism and sentiment we are seeing and feeling in the market. 94% of real estate agents believe they will sell more homes in 2024 than they did in 2023!
Only One Side of the Story
This is, of course, only one side of the story but it is a story I believe is important to tell and often overlooked in the "predictions" we see in both news stories and social media posts.
Fundamentally I tend to agree with the sentiment we see in this short survey and the early winter leading indicators of the soon-to-come Spring market do show them to be correct. It's early in the year but I give the correction to the agents this time!
2024-02-08T09:50:09-07:002024-02-08T10:30:39-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:6093Why Roswell is the Perfect Place for Outdoor Enthusiasts<a id="top"></a>Highlighting Local Trails, Parks, and Outdoor Activities
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2024/roswell-kayaker-chattahoochee.jpg" width="1280" height="718" />
Nestled in the northern suburbs of Atlanta, Roswell, Georgia, offers a unique blend of natural beauty and outdoor activities that make it a haven for outdoor enthusiasts. From its well-maintained trail systems to its scenic parks and Chattahoochee riverside activities, Roswell stands out as a prime destination for those who cherish the great outdoors and living in Roswell makes it easy to access this outdoor lifestyle.
Extensive Trail Networks for Hiking and Biking
Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area - Roswell is home to this national park, offering over 48 miles of riverfront trails ideal for hiking, biking, and wildlife viewing. The trails range from easy to moderate difficulty, catering to all skill levels.
Vickery Creek Trail - A highlight for hikers and those seeking moderate to intense trail runs, this trail features a 5-mile loop that passes by a historic mill, waterfalls, and wooden bridges, offering a picturesque and tranquil setting. You feel miles away from the city when you are there and it's typically not heavily trafficked helping to create the experience of getting away without having to leaver to do it.
Abundant Green Spaces and Parks
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2024/playing_baseball_in_a_roswell_park.jpg" width="1280" height="931" />
Roswell Area Park - spanning over 60 acres, this park is a central spot for family-friendly activities, including playgrounds, picnic areas, and a large pond. It's also host to various community events throughout the year.
Azalea Park - located along the Chattahoochee River, Azalea Park is perfect for fishing, kayaking, and canoeing. Its serene environment provides a peaceful escape from city life.
Additional Parks - Old Mill Park, Riverside Park, East Roswell Park and Garrard Landing Park
Riverside Recreation and Activities
Chattahoochee Nature Center - a 127-acre preserve that offers educational programs, wildlife encounters, and a boardwalk that meanders through wetlands and woodlands.
River Paddling and Fishing - the Chattahoochee River offers excellent opportunities for paddling sports and fishing, with local businesses providing equipment rentals and guided tours.
Roswell Real Estate
Roswell has a wide variety of homes, townhomes, and condos that spread almost the entire price range of homes in Metro Atlanta. View all <a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/roswell/">homes for sale in Roswell in more detail on this page</a> or just check out some of the available listings below:
<br /><br /><a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/top">Back to top...</a><br /><br />Community Focus on Outdoor Lifestyle
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2024/cyclists.jpg" width="800" height="800" />
Roswell Cycling Festival - an annual event that celebrates the city's biking community with rides and races catering to all ages and skill levels.
Outdoor Fitness Programs - the city offers various outdoor fitness programs in its parks, including yoga, boot camps, and tai chi, encouraging a healthy, active lifestyle.
Commitment to Environmental Conservation
Roswell's Green Initiatives - the city has a strong commitment to preserving its natural spaces, with ongoing projects in habitat restoration and conservation education.
Wildlife Sanctuaries - several areas in Roswell are designated as wildlife sanctuaries, protecting local fauna and flora, and providing unique opportunities for nature observation.
<a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/blog/living-in-roswell-3-areas-pros-and-cons/">Living in Roswell, Georgia</a>, is more than just moving to a suburban city near Atlanta; it's a destination where the beauty of nature and outdoor activities merge seamlessly. With its extensive trails, diverse parks, river-based recreation, and a community committed to outdoor and environmental well-being, Roswell stands out as an ideal location for outdoor enthusiasts. Whether you're a seasoned hiker, a casual biker, or someone who simply enjoys a peaceful walk in a scenic setting, Roswell offers an array of options to connect with nature and indulge in outdoor pursuits.2024-01-09T07:08:00-07:002024-01-09T07:31:58-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:6066The Ultimate Guide to Buying Your First Home in Alpharetta<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2023/moving-to-alpharetta.jpg" width="500" height="286" class="img_box_left" />Alpharetta, one of Metro Atlanta's larger northern suburbs is a vibrant, growing community that's become a sought-after destination for first-time homebuyers. Known for its beautiful neighborhoods, schools with high test scores, and thriving business environment, <a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/alpharetta/">Alpharetta</a> offers the perfect blend of suburban charm and modern amenities. This guide is designed to walk you through the journey of buying your first home in what is now the 12th largest city in Georgia and the "Technology City of the South".
Understanding the Alpharetta Real Estate Market
Alpharetta's real estate market is characterized by a diverse range of homes, from charming historic properties to modern new builds. Recently, the market has seen a trend towards sustainable living and tech-friendly homes. The downtown area has grown into one of the most popular areas in Atlanta that even has infill new construction typically only seen inside the perimeter of Atlanta. Combine the downtown area with the amenities in <a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/avalon-homes-for-sale/">Avalon</a> and you will quickly see the allure. As a first-time buyer, it's crucial to understand these trends and how they impact property values and living experiences.
Preparing Financially for Your First Home Purchase
One of the most important steps in buying a home is financial preparation. Start by setting a realistic budget and stick to it. Saving for a down payment can be challenging, but it's essential for securing a favorable mortgage. Speaking of mortgages, explore your options and get pre-approved – this not only gives you a clear idea of your budget but also makes you a more attractive buyer. Once you have decided that Alpharetta is where you want to live, the very next step is securing the financing needed to make that dream come true.
The Home Buying Process: Step by Step
The journey to owning your first home in Alpharetta starts with finding the right real estate agent, someone who understands your needs and knows the local market inside out. Once you've teamed up with an agent, the search for your dream home begins. Remember, it's not just about the house itself, but also the neighborhood and its amenities. Don’t skip on home inspections and appraisals – they are crucial for ensuring you're making a sound investment. We are professional real estate agents who know the Alpharetta market. Our office is located in Alpharetta and we live and do life in the area.
Finding Homes to See
It's easy to find homes online today and we often see buyers get ahead of themselves. I recommend sitting down with one of our seasoned agents before you start viewing homes. This step ensures that you and your agent have thought of all of the items that will be important to you in your new home. My personal experience here is that 9 times out of 10, this step makes the biggest difference in the overall experience and helps with choosing the right home more than any other.<br /><br />Making an Offer and Closing the Deal
When you find the perfect home, it's time to make an offer. In a competitive market like Alpharetta, you need to act quickly but thoughtfully. A Premier Atlanta Real Estate agent will guide you in making a competitive yet fair offer. We will look at the local market statistics, combine that with the house and others that are similar, and empower you with this information so you are informed about your options. Understanding the closing process, including the associated costs, is also vital. This is the final step where your dream becomes reality.
Settling into Your New Alpharetta Home
Congratulations on your new home! Now comes the exciting part – moving in and making it your own. Now it's time to explore your new community! Alpharetta is known for its welcoming atmosphere and community spirit with year-round activities.
Getting Started - Next Steps
Buying your first home is an exciting journey, especially in a city like Alpharetta. With the right preparation and guidance, you can make informed decisions and find a place that you'll love for years to come. Remember, Premier Atlanta Real Estate is here to help you every step of the way. Welcome home!<br /><br /><a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/top">Back to top...</a>2023-12-28T08:30:00-07:002023-12-28T08:45:16-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:5985Atlanta Real Estate Market Remains Healthy Despite Higher RatesNow that we have most of the November market data, we can see the effect higher interest rates have had on the local real estate market. The overarching worry surrounding affordability has helped to stoke fears that the housing market is in a bubble leading some to think prices have nowhere to go but down. Combine the increased home values since the pandemic with the higher interest rates we have seen in 2023 and you can see why some have said the real estate market is due for a correction.
Real Costs For Housing Have Gone Up
According to FMLS, the average price of a home in Metro Atlanta in October of 2023 is $498,499. At recent interest rates of 7.75% for a 30-year mortgage, the principal and interest payment alone is $3,571.31. Compared with recent interest rates at 3% with a principal and interest payment that was $2,101.69 there is a real cost of $1,469.62 per month more for the same house. This is a 69.9% increase!
With a change in payment like this, it's clear that some people have been priced out of some areas in the local market. However, that doesn't mean people have necessarily been priced out of the market altogether. It means that they have been priced out of the highest demand areas but this happens everywhere and all the time. There are still incredible areas for all people to find affordable housing in Metro Atlanta.
While affordability does remain a concern for the long-term health of the real estate market and perhaps a problem woven into the larger economy, it does not appear to have a measurable impact on the overall real estate market in Atlanta.
Available Inventory
One place to look for signs of a change that may be on the horizon is the inventory of homes. You can see on this chart that inventory levels of homes available for sale is lower this year than it was at the same time last year by 6%. In November of 2022, there were 16,117 homes available, and at the same time this year, we have 15,138 homes available. It's hard for prices to go down when supply is going down.
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/stats/2023/December/Monthly_Available_Inventory_Year_Over_Year.png" width="887" height="548" />
New Listings Entered
Trends and cycles are real. The chart below shows just how these trends and cycles work. You can see four consecutive years of data overlayed on this chart and the lines show the same thing every time. New listings entered trend down at this time every year and contribute to an environment of continued low inventory which helps to stabilize prices as well.
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/stats/2023/December/New_Listings_Entered_Year_Over_Year.png" width="887" height="548" />
Pending Sales Down
This chart does show that pending sales are down and they are down by more than new listings are down - but not by enough to make any appreciable difference in the overall supply/demand relationship. We also know the main reason for the larger than normal drop in pending sales is due to the interest rates at the time these homes went under contract were at the peak. Since that time, the 10-year treasury yield has dropped some 50 basis points and the interest rates for 30-year mortgages have dropped as well. There does not appear to be any economic data on the horizon that would push those rates back up to their peak.
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/stats/2023/December/Pending_Home_Sales_Year_Over_Year.png" width="887" height="548" />
Historical Perspective
The next two charts go back to 2012 and I think, really help to put the current market into perspective. This first chart shows the active listings by month. We've been in some kind of seller's market since around 2015 in Metro Atlanta and the supply is a critical component of why that has been the case. A quick look at the current inventory compared to the past decade shows just how much inventory would need to change for prices to drop.
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/stats/2023/December/Active_Listings_in_Metro_Atlanta_-_Historical_View.png" width="887" height="548" />
Active and Sold Chart
I really like this chart because it visually shows the unsustainable time we just came through where there was little difference between active and sold. you can also see we are still below what would be a historical norm and how far we would need to go to get to a place where prices were falling.
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/stats/2023/December/Active_Listings__Sold_Listings_Comparison.png" width="887" height="548" />
What Does The Future Hold
Of course, none of us know for sure but the right data and interpreting that data does leave strong clues. Combine what we see in the data with what we forecast to happen in 2024 with interest rates and the economy and it's not hard to imagine a scenario where buyers are in multiple offer scenarios again and paying significantly over asking price with terms that favor sellers. On the other hand, it is almost (but not entirely) impossible to see a scenario where prices fall and it becomes a buyer's market. This is the likely scenario:
We are setting up for a very strong Spring real estate market for sellers unless current forecasts change dramatically. Interest rates are predicted to continue to fall and that will result in higher demand in a market with inventories that continue to stay lower year over year leaving us in a severe shortage. This will cause prices to increase at rates that are above average and include all of the scenarios of the recent hyper seller real estate market.2023-12-04T13:15:00-07:002023-12-06T05:32:32-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:5942Will Cooling Weather Slow The Hot Real Estate Market In Atlanta?<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2023/atlanta-real-estate-update-11-2023.jpg" width="400" height="400" class="img_box_left" />I spend a lot of time collecting, reviewing, analyzing, and trying to make sense of the real estate market. I have a passion for real estate and I can't imagine trying to advise clients without having command of the topic. Whether I'm playing golf, at a party, hanging out with friends, or find myself chatting in the checkout line at the grocery store, when people find out I'm in real estate, they have one question - "how's the market?" - and I should be able to answer it!
The real, long answer, is that it depends on whether you are a buyer or seller, your motivation, goals, etc., and without knowing all of that, it's impossible to give you a bespoke answer. I can tell you what the market says it's doing, what happened, and what that means going forward with context and we can pick it up from there so let's dive in together!
The Fall/Winter 2023 Atlanta Real Estate Market
First up you will see that the supply of homes (inventory level or absorption rate) is lower in October of 2023 than the same time last year. Higher interest rates have slowed sales but what is often overlooked is that higher interest rates also slowed supply levels since many homeowners are unwilling to give up their extremely low interest rates from the past several years. As a result, we remain in a market with tight (low) inventory. We currently have 3.36 months of supply this year compared to 3.41 months of supply at the same time last year. It is essentially, unchanged and just slightly lower.
Absorption Rate
This first chart takes the available inventory of homes and the average number of sales per month and determines how long it would take to sell all of the available listings at the current rate of sales. The baseline says that if there is less than a 6-month supply, it is a seller's market and if there is greater than a 6-month supply, it is a buyer's market. It is true that the number of months is somewhat price sensitive. For example, higher priced homes can have more months of supply and still be in a seller's market whereas lower priced homes may be slightly less than 6 months to be in a seller's market. We keep charts on differing price points as well and may share those in subsequent updates.
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2023/Year_Over_Year_Supply_Absorption_Rate_-_Metro_Atlanta_Oct_2023.png" width="863" height="532" />
What Does It Mean?
Any discussion of a chart that shows supply, or the absorption rate, should also recognize that it is considered a lagging indicator since we are looking back at what happened rather than forward at what will happen. This is why we show multiple years so we can see patterns and likelihoods. If the pattern doesn't continue as expected, we dive deeper into why that might be to see if we can figure out what change is coming. This chart looks to be following the expected trends.
Average Home Prices
With supply and demand close to what we have seen over the past few years, it follows that prices are still rising. Metro Atlanta real estate market prices are higher month over month and year over year. I would expect them to drop over the next 2-4 months and then rise again through the traditional housing cycle. Remember too that looking at average prices is also a lagging indicator and is historically lower in the coldest months of the year.
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2023/Average_Home_Prices_Year_Over_Year_-_Metro_Atlanta_Oct_2023.png" width="869" height="536" />
What Does it Mean?
With inventory levels low going into the cooler months and prices that still have the upward momentum of summer even as we enter Fall, it looks like this market has finally moved past the trends we saw in COVID times and reverted back to historical cycles.
Get In or Stay Out of the Market?
The best time to plant a tree or buy a house was a long, long time ago. For most people, the next best time is still right now. I hear radio pundits, including some locally, like Clark Howard, say that now is the time to wait but I don't see any statistical or financial data that would support that recommendation. We should never buy, sell, or invest based on how something feels - and I realize it doesn't "feel" like the best time to buy with the higher interest rates we are seeing.
However, if history serves as any sort of predictor of future outcomes, now is certainly a better time than waiting. If rates do go down as the economy and forecasts are predicting, waiting will cost even more because there is growing pent-up demand from people who have been sitting out the last year due to higher rates. Once they get back in the market and with inventory rates that are low, prices and bidding wars are likely to be the outcome again.
Interest rates look like they will fall for several economic reasons unrelated to real estate from what we can tell right now. The jobs market shows signs of cooling, the 10-year Treasury yield has come down and the spread between the 30-year mortgage rate and the 10-year yield is currently much higher than we have seen in the past. This is due in part because banks know many people getting these loans will refinance out of them as soon as they can. Interest is frontloaded so the banks are trying to make sure they don't lose money when homeowners refinance out of them. If the spread were to go back to historical norms, we would already have interest rates in the low 6% range.
Stick With "Why" You Want to Buy or Sell
I can't time the market and neither can you. If you are thinking about buying, selling, or both, you can certainly look at the data and see what it says. You will find that at almost every point in history, it would be better to buy at that time than to wait for something to change that you think would turn the market in your favor.
For now, the real estate market is providing clear signals. Waiting to buy will more than likely cost you more money than buying now for most people.2023-11-21T06:39:01-07:002023-12-04T05:41:37-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:4444Atlanta Real Estate Market Update August 2022<br /><br />With all of the changes happening in the market, many people are talking about a housing crash. It's keeping buyers on the sidelines...but, should we be worried? In this video, I talked about housing prices and recessions and included some historical charts and custom charts I've created on my own to watch the market as it changes here in Atlanta. Hopefully this brings some accurate context to what is taking place.<br /><br />Charts From Video
These are the charts in the video above so you can see the data more easily.
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2022/1_Ave_Sales_Prices.png" width="2903" height="1459" />
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2022/2Supply_of_homes.png" width="3044" height="1080" />
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2022/3_Showings_per_listing.png" width="3082" height="1091" />
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2022/4_All_Active_Listings_By_City.png" width="1057" height="653" />
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2022/5_All_Active_By_Date.png" width="1057" height="653" />
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2022/6_All_Pending_vs._Date.png" width="1057" height="653" />
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2022/7_All_Reduced_Listings_Percentage.png" width="1057" height="648" />
More Atlanta Real Estate Market Information
More information can be found on the <a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/atlanta-real-estate-market-change-statistics/">Atlanta real estate market update page located here</a>.2022-08-11T07:02:00-07:002023-11-21T12:05:54-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:4250The Changing Real Estate Market - Correction or Crash?2022-06-17T12:01:00-07:002023-11-21T12:09:47-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:3146How To Write Great Contracts - New Contract Forms Explained!<br /><br />Let's write better contracts! The Georgia REALTORS® Forms Committee recognized that in this hyper seller's market, buyers are requesting that their agents draft special stipulations to make their offers more attractive to help become the winning offer. Sellers want their agents to ensure that with these high offers and new special stipulations, they are protected as well. Not all stipulations are written well and agents and brokers should NOT be practicing law.
The Forms Committee created TWO sets of documents to assist. As always, please speak with your broker before using any of the materials. Although the Forms Committee has provided these materials, your broker will always have the final say on what they deem appropriate for their agents to utilize in their transactions.
<a href="https://pareoffice.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Disclosure-to-Buyers-Purchasing-Property-in-a-Sellers-Market-Standalone-Acknowledgement.pdf" target="_blank">Disclosure to Buyers</a>
<a href="https://pareoffice.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Disclosure-to-Buyers-Purchasing-Property-in-a-Sellers-Market-Exhibit.pdf" target="_blank">Disclosure to Buyers (Exhibit to BBA)</a>
<a href="https://pareoffice.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Special-Stipulations-for-a-Sellers-Market.pdf" target="_blank">Special Stipulations</a>
2021-05-23T06:20:00-07:002023-11-21T12:12:01-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:3054How To Show Value To Clients Using Statistics - Absorption Rates<br /><br />Sometimes, the best way to demonstrate value when someone asks the question “how’s the market?” is by using custom statistics. Today I’m going to show you how to find the absorption rate and relate it into meaningful information that shows your professionalism and expertise to win a new client and you can do this literally in less than 10 minutes<br /><br />Not everyone wants to know all the details when you dive into real estate market statistics so first make sure you know your audience. It can demonstrate your professionalism and your expertise for some and it can bore someone else to death.
This is something that is relatively easy to do and once you are proficient, it can be done pretty quickly so let’s get started.
I’ve got a hypothetical potential client that’s on the fence about selling his home and buying a new one. He’s asked me about the market and heard it’s a good time to sell. I’ve already asked what it would take to get him to sell and he’s unsure. Since he hasn’t made a decision about selling or even to use me as his agent, I’m going to position myself as his go-to expert for all things real estate. I’ll use market statistics specific to his situation and relate it to the surrounding market as an opportunity to further our conversations and demonstrate my expertise and value to help secure this person as a client. If I can demonstrate, objectively, that this is a good time to sell and not just because I say so, I build trust and rapport because I get to keep communicating with him and I give him something he currently doesn’t have - market statistics which are repeatable, provable and objective to decide if it’s a good time to sell.
The first thing I need is the location of the house where he lives. Since these stats are custom, you’ll need to decide on some of the parameters for your stats. It can be cities, neighborhoods, school districts, price point, or something else and it will usually be an area + a price point.
When I sit down at the computer to do this, I’ll usually start with the neighborhood if possible and work my way out until there is enough data to be meaningful. If the neighborhood is large, you may have all you need. If not, you may need to look within a mile of the home or something different, like the high school district. Try to keep this part small if possible.
This is the data I need to get started: # of active listings, # of under contract listings, and # of sold listings (I like to use 3 months back if possible but it can be different, and most real estate is seasonal so think about that also) and make sure you are using a bracketed price range around your client’s price.
I’ve gone to my MLS and looked at his neighborhood and his price point and I don’t have enough data to be meaningful so here is what I used for my example:
I extended my search to the high school district and price point and found there are 8 homes for sale, 8 more under contract, and 10 sold in the last 3 months. I’m going to write this down somewhere so I don’t forget. Now I need to find the absorption rate for homes like his. This is also known as the supply of homes or inventory levels. This is the time it’ll take to sell the current active listings. Remember, 6 months or less is basically a buyer’s market, and 6 months or more is a seller’s market for most homes here in Atlanta but it may be different for you and it changes for the luxury market as well. To find the absorption rate, you take the number of available homes divided by the average sales in a month.
We know that in the last 3 months, 10 sold so 10/3 = 3.3 homes sell on average every month.
Stay with me here…
Remember that we found that there are 8 homes available and now we know that 3.3 sell each month. Simply divide those 2 numbers and you’ll have your absorption rate so 8 active listings / 3.3 sales per month = 2.42 months of inventory and now we know it’s a seller’s market for this home and homes near him that are at his price point.
You could stop here but in my experience, you will be making a mistake if you do. When working with small data sets, it’s possible that an outlier can dramatically alter the reality of what’s really going on so we need to repeat these steps on a larger and comparable sample to verify that what we found is in fact correct. By doing so, you increase the likelihood that your stats are correct.
Since we used a high school district for our starting numbers, now let’s use the entire city and compare it to the high school stats.
So, the same thing here again, but more quickly this time. In my example case, the logical next larger size up from the high school district is to use the entire city so that’s where I’ll start. But wait - when I ran the city numbers at the price point, there were only 17 homes available. I’d really like a sample that’s bigger than that since it isn’t really much bigger than my original sample in the school district. Only you can figure this part out because you are the expert in your area. For me, I’m going to draw a map search in my MLS of what I know to be a mostly homogenous housing stock so I can get more data.
So in my bigger “example” area, there are 50 active, 72 pending, and 74 sold homes at his price point in the last 3 months which is 74 homes/3 months=24.67 sales/month. Divide 50 active by 24.67 and we see an absorption rate of 2.02 months. Even lower than in our small sample.
What we’ve done is confirm the small market is probably accurate for what’s really going on anywhere near my potential client’s house and I can inform him that it’s a seller’s market and a great time to capitalize on selling.
Now, if you were paying attention, I had you pull pending listings also and I haven’t talked about those yet.
Remember these 2 statements:
Closed sales are lagging indicators<br />Pending sales are leading indicators
One is based on the past (closed sales) and one on future sales (pending).
In our larger sample area, we had 50 active listings and 72 more under contract. If the number of pending sales is greater than the active listings, it’s likely to continue as a strong seller's market. This is additional information you can use to illustrate “how’s the market?” Answer.
When I go back to him with this information, I’m going to explain that I ran some custom statistics on homes like the one he owns and compared it to the larger market around their home to be sure that we had some very accurate information that’s critical to helping him decide if now is a good time for them to sell his home.
I'll explain what an absorption rate is and let him know that with only about 2 months of inventory, now is as good of a time to sell as we’ve seen historically. It could stay like this for the next several months or it could change. None of us are smart enough to truly predict what will happen in the future but we do know what’s happening now and that’s the best way to make an informed decision.
So that wraps up a quick how-to on generating custom market statistics for clients to demonstrate your expertise and value.
If you can learn how to run these stats for your clients, you’ll be seen by them as a trusted ally and someone who’s a true professional and worth doing business with.
I hope you found this video helpful and if you did, please consider subscribing to my channel so you will get notified of more videos like this one. Thanks for watching!2021-03-01T04:35:00-07:002021-03-01T04:43:17-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:3048Living in Roswell - The 3 Areas - Pros and Cons<br /><br />Video Transcript
My name is Ryan Ward and I’m the broker and owner of Premier Atlanta Real Estate. On this channel, I talk about all things real estate relevant to the Atlanta and the national real estate markets and I provide tips, training, and education helpful to consumers and real estate professionals alike. So if that’s of interest to you, consider subscribing to my channel and hit the bell icon so you’ll get notified when I post a new video!
<a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/roswell/">View Roswell homes for sale</a>
Before moving to Roswell I think it’s really important to get a good idea about the different areas because each has its own unique characteristics and you should know about all 3 before choosing which one is right for you.
Roswell is located along the GA 400 corridor of North Fulton County. Georgia 400, runs north/south splitting Roswell into an east and a west section. The east Roswell side of Georgia 400 is simply referred to as East Roswell and the west side is split into West Roswell and Downtown Roswell.
From Georgia 400 and Holcomb Bridge Road, you are about 30-45 minutes away from any of the major Atlanta employment centers. Alpharetta and the Top End Perimeter area of Sandy Springs/Dunwoody are the 2 closest with commute times of about 15-20 minutes. However, go too far east or west in Roswell and that commute can get quite long - especially if you have to go all the way to Midtown or Downtown Atlanta.
So just a quick bit of history...Roswell is named after a man named Roswell King, and the city essentially started as a small mill town with water power from Vickery Creek and the Chattahoochee Rivers running what was called the Roswell Manufacturing Company. The ruins of some of the mills and the dam built to harness the power of Vickery Creek can still be seen at Old Mill Park. It’s one of the most photographed areas in Roswell and very popular for wedding and engagement photoshoots and it’s really cool to see in person too! In fact, we have quite a few photos there too, like these!
I think most people living in Roswell would agree that Roswell has some of the best parks in Georgia and they’re everywhere in Roswell. Regardless of which section of Roswell you live in, this is one thing all three areas have in common. There are sports complexes convenient to everyone like East Roswell Park and the Roswell Area Park on the west side that’s convenient to Downtown and to West Roswell. There are amazing running trails at Vickery Creek Basin and bike paths and parks that run along Riverside and Azalea Dr all along the Chattahoochee River and these are convenient no matter which section of Roswell you live in. But when it comes to enjoying the outdoors, I have to say it’s a tie between East Roswell with access to Big Creek and the proximity to the Chattahoochee parks along with Downtown Roswell. If you live in West Roswell, you’ll probably find yourself driving into downtown for the outdoor spaces.
Next up is retail shopping and it differs depending on where you are. The west side has all of the major retail stores along Crossville Rd you might want and for day-to-day shopping at something like Target or Chik-Fil-A or Home Depot, west Roswell beats out east Roswell. This is an area where East Roswell lags behind the other two areas. But, North Point Mall is on the east side and is convenient to Roswell but it’s located just north, in Alpharetta. It’s not far away, it’s just not Roswell. That said, this is definitely an area where Downtown Roswell begins to show its unique local charm, and the walkability and diverse shopping wins the day even though North Point Mall is technically not in Roswell, it offers east Roswell residents more shopping than is available in west Roswell. So for shopping, I give the nod to Downtown and then East Roswell, and last place goes to West Roswell.
Before going too far, I do want to spend just a minute on Downtown Roswell as it is one of the coolest downtown areas anywhere in Georgia. The main thoroughfare running through downtown is Canton St and it’s loaded with amazing restaurants and boutique shops and it’s is full of rich history and points of interest. If you live in Roswell, you’ll eventually need to do some of the tours offered at places like Barrington and Bulloch Halls and you have to take a walk down to the old mill and waterfall and across the covered bridge at Old Mill Park. Downtown is the only truly walkable area in Roswell so if this is important to you just know that this is the only place it’s possible. During the summer months, Roswell hosts what’s called Alive in Roswell which is a free festival held on the 3rd Thursday of the month from April through October. There is something for everyone at the event and it’s been a staple in Downtown Roswell for years.
Restaurants - this one is easy. Downtown Roswell is the clear winner with more options for food than either East or West Roswell. You can get a sandwich for lunch, or tacos anytime and the restaurants range from very casual all the way up to one of the best steak houses anywhere in Metro Atlanta. I have to say as a bit of a foodie, that East and West Roswell do have some excellent restaurants as well just not the diverse options available in Downtown Roswell and especially not within walking distance of each other.
Next, let’s talk real estate. Real estate prices are similar on the east and west side and generally, more expensive near downtown.
View All Roswell Real Estate Listings<br /><br />Roswell is a very sought-after suburb on the north side of Atlanta and has 3 distinctly different areas you should learn about before moving to Roswell and today I’m going to go through some of the pros and cons of living in these 3 different areas all within the city of Roswell...<br /><br />The east side of Roswell is mostly subdivisions and it has two large and very well known golf & country club communities; The Country Club of Roswell - Willow Springs and Horseshoe Bend Country Club. It also has another very large, sought after neighborhood called Martins Landing that has its own outdoor area right on the Chattahoochee River.
Downtown Roswell, like many downtown areas in metro Atlanta cities, has the most sought after location of the three sections of the city and the highest price per square foot. Just about anything within walking distance to Canton St is likely to get multiple offers and if it’s an older house, it will probably be completely renovated or torn down and replaced with new construction over a million dollars.
Homes for sale in West Roswell closely match prices in East Roswell but West Roswell has a bit of a different feel than East Roswell does because the homes tend to be just a bit more spread out. Brookfield Golf and Country Club is on the west side if you prefer the west side and are also looking for a golf community. The downside for West Roswell is that it generally takes longer to get to the highways and for a commute to work and just getting to other areas of Atlanta takes more time from West Roswell.
East and West Roswell are both mostly subdivisions, many of which are swim/tennis and Downtown is made up of a number of older neighborhoods with fewer swim/tennis options. There are luxury homes and townhome communities in all 3 sections.
The average cost of a home in Roswell is similar to the surrounding cities of Johns Creek and Alpharetta and lower than neighboring Milton and Sandy Springs. Overall, it’s also about 30% higher than the Metro Atlanta average.
As for housing, I give the nod to East Roswell because I think you can get a little more house for your money than you can in the other two areas. However, if you value walkability, then downtown will be the better choice for you.
A very small side note and something else that we get asked about from time to time is libraries and each area has a public library that’s easy to get to so no winner in this category.
Now, I wouldn’t be giving an objective comparison if I didn’t mention traffic. Another point that is pretty much a tie, and a con for all three areas and certainly not a great selling point is that no matter where you are in Roswell, you’ll probably find a good bit of traffic. Holcomb Bridge Rd runs east and west across Georgia 400 and pretty much always has heavy traffic. If you live in Roswell and commute to work, there’s a good chance you’ll need to take Georgia 400 which backs up in the morning and in the afternoon. If you live on the west side, there are no major highways anywhere near you so your commute will either be back roads or a long trip just to get to either Georgia 400 or I-75. If you live on the east side, it’s either Georgia 400 or backroads. If I had to pick a winner here, I would say that Downtown Roswell has the most ways in and out to avoid traffic.
A quick note about schools. It’s definitely not my place to determine what school is best and I wouldn’t dream of picking a winner here. Public schools in Roswell are part of the Fulton County School system and test scores are above average pretty much across the board. There are also several private schools located on the east and west side of GA 400 so there should be a good school choice for anyone looking at Roswell because of schools.
So that about sums up some of the strengths and weaknesses of each of the different areas you should know about before choosing an area and living in Roswell. Driving through each area looks different visually so I absolutely recommend you check out all 3 areas in a car before making a decision. We all have our own list of important considerations and I certainly haven’t answered every question you may have. Please feel free to reach out to me directly or leave a comment or a question and I will do my best to answer it for you!
Thanks for watching!2021-02-25T08:01:00-07:002024-01-31T07:40:38-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:3000The Booming Roswell Real Estate Market in 2021<br /><br />My name is Ryan Ward and I’m the broker and owner of Premier Atlanta Real Estate and on my channel, we talk about local and national real estate news and we dive deeper into local cities, neighborhoods, and things that make our local real state markets tick like restaurants, things to do and other points of interest. If that’s of interest to you, please make sure you subscribe to my channel and you’ll get notified when we post a new video like this one here.
<a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/roswell/">Search Roswell homes for sale here</a>
Let’s dive right in…all real estate markets come down to supply and demand. As a general rule of thumb, we say that a 6 month supply of homes is a “balanced” market. More than 6 months, is a buyer’s market and less than 6 months is a seller’s market. This is true locally for homes in Roswell up to about $750,000 or so and then “a balanced market” goes up a little. So for say a home that is $1,000,000, we might consider a balanced market of 9 months of inventory. This can change even within different areas of the Metro Atlanta market and it’s closely tied to median sales prices for the hyperlocal area.
A quick note on months of inventory. This is sometimes discussed as absorption rate, the months supply of homes, or months of inventory. Let me give a quick example. Let’s say in your market there are 100 homes for sale. In the last 3 months, 30 homes sold so we are currently averaging 10 home sales per month. At the rate of 10 sales per month, it will take 10 months to sell 100 homes. We have 10 months of inventory. The absorption rate is 10 months. There is a 10 month supply of homes. We then compare our 10 month supply of homes to our previous rule of a balanced market being 6 months of inventory and see that in this example, we are in a buyers market. Hopefully, that makes sense!
As a side note here, it’s been a long time since we have seen 10 months of inventory in Roswell. In fact, the last time we even had over 6 months of inventory was February 2015! 6 years ago. Wow. Sorry, I digress. Ok, we can’t know where we’re going until we know where we are right now so let’s dive in and see what’s actually going on in the local Roswell market.
Today, at the beginning of February 2021, there are 79 homes for sale and 140 more homes under contract. That’s an activity index of 1.77 where anything over 1 indicates more homes are selling than are available. It’s a leading indicator that tells us inventory is still shrinking - and by quite a bit! Looking at the last 3 months of sales (and knowing they are some of the slowest months of sales in the whole year), we see that we had 283 sales and are averaging 94 sales per month. With 79 homes for sale and 94 sales per month, we see we have a .84 of one month supply of homes. Less than a month! That’s using previous sales volume and we know that sales heat up over the next few months. This means the true inventory of single-family homes in Roswell right now is probably closer to one-half of one month's supply of homes. This is incredibly low. Crazy low.
It explains why prices are increasing, it explains why we have so many multiple offer scenarios and it is something we as real estate professionals must be able to explain to our clients so we can properly educate them on the current state of the market. This goes for buyers and for sellers alike. What this means is appraisals can’t keep up with sales prices. It means buyers with homes to sell get beat out by buyers with no contingencies. It means more than one person wants to buy every good house on the market.
You know what it doesn’t mean? It doesn’t mean that all homes sell. In fact, in Roswell, in the last 30 days, 20 homes came on the market and then came off without selling. That’s 25% of homes in this crazy market still didn’t sell for one reason or another. Seems impossible, but it’s true! These levels are unhealthy and create a volatile real estate market as prices outpace other economic metrics for extended periods of time.
Two things can happen to change the balance of the market; more inventory can come on the market or fewer home sales can happen or both. If sales volume stayed the same, we would need 564 homes for sale instead of 79 to reach a balanced market. That’s more than 7 times the current inventory levels. Alternatively, we could cut sales from 94 per month to 13. That would also give us a balanced market. However, that’s absurd to think we could only have 13 sales.
It’s these reasons that I give to you here that means in my opinion, there is no way we see a crash in the real estate market. Supply and demand are so far out of balance it would take something extraordinary and completely unpredicted to crash the market. It also means that in no way, shape or form can forbearance that leads to foreclosure destroy the market. The math simply doesn’t exist to allow for it. It means that interest rates would need to run to levels higher than would be possible to slow sales enough to crash the market and the Fed has said they are keeping them low into 2022.
It also means that if rates rise and foreclosures do come into the market, we still won’t be back to a buyers market. We are that far out of balance the other way right now. As a side note, there will be no foreclosure crisis in 2021. The moratorium extensions and the time it takes to foreclose and get them into the market takes longer than there are months left in 2021. When they come, they will be predicted and absorbed before the market can shift that far. It is true that some of the low inventory levels can be directly attributed to COVID. Because this is the case, we can safely say that at some point in 2021, probably by the start of the 3rd quarter, we should see more people willing to list their homes for sale. This will ease some of the pressure but it will be too late in the year to create a slowdown.
The economy is poised to operate fully once the vaccine is distributed, jobs will return, banks will recast and modify loans and set up repayment plans for people in forbearance and we will move on. That’s how it works. What I do think will happen is that we will go back to a more normal real estate market in 2022 when we see 4-6 months of inventory and prices level off for a while. This will be welcome news for many.
This is just my opinion and I no more have a crystal ball to see into the future than anyone else so take it for what it is. If you’re sitting on the sideline as one says you’re going to wait for the crash, by all means, wait. For the rest of you, in my opinion, now is probably the best time to buy and sell real state in your lifetime. Rarely is it both great to buy and sell at the same time. Get out there and seize the opportunity! Once again thanks for watching and if you enjoyed this video, make sure you subscribe to my channel so you’ll get notified of other videos like this one. Until next time, thanks for watching!<br /><br />The Metro Atlanta real estate market has seen prices increase that are consistent with, if not higher than, many major cities around the country. Today I want to take a few minutes and look at the Roswell real estate market which sits on the north side of Atlanta along the Georgia 400 corridor. We’re going to look at where it is now, where it’s likely to go in 2021 and what outside influences may have an impact on the supply and demand which will ultimately determine if this market is here to stay a while longer or if we are on the verge of a crash like many are predicting.2021-02-09T04:38:00-07:002021-03-01T04:47:53-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:2995Make The Most Money With Staging To Sell Your Home<br /><br />Click Below To Subscribe To My Channel:
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Edited Transcript:
Here at Premier Atlanta Real Estate, we think staging is so important, we offer a complimentary staging consultation for all of our seller clients. An objective and trained stager will be able to improve the presentation of a home, and help to sell the home for more money and in less time than a home that’s not staged properly. A recent study from the National Association of Realtors found that 83% of buyer’s agents interviewed said that a staged home made it easier for a buyer to visualize the property as their future home and according to buyers surveyed, the 3 most important rooms that needed to be staged are the living room, master bedroom, and kitchen.
Along with staging, we typically find there are a few additional basics that need to be addressed including; decluttering, professionally cleaning the inside of the house, sprucing up the curb appeal, and addressing any deferred maintenance items. We can generally help with getting professionals to get these items completed for our clients if need be. In addition, we offer our Premier Design and Remodel Service for those that want to take it to the next level and transform their property to ensure it sells for top dollar. I’ll post a link to that video series for you as well.
Q. Ok Lisa, I have a few questions for you and the first is…what is home staging to you - and how is it different than decorating a home?
A. When we are designing a home for a homeowner, we are specifically choosing colors, and design for the homeowner and their tastes only. But when we are staging a home for sale, we must take an opposite approach and open up the design to appeal to the largest group of people, which usually means, a less specific design and a more neutral palette.
Q. When you meet with a client for a consultation, what’s the first thing you do and say? What does the process look like from your perspective?
A. When I meet with a client I make sure that they know that everything I advise them is completely optional, however, the more of the things on the list they do, the higher the probability of them selling the home quickly for the most amount of money. I am there to help them obtain their goals!
Q. How much money does a seller have to spend to get their home ready for sale?
A. Obviously that depends on the condition of the home, however, sometimes, it's literally all just lots of labor! Decluttering and getting a jump on packing up is key to staging your home for sale, and that doesn’t cost a thing! However, sometimes a home needs a deep cleaning or carpets cleaned or some fresh paint, so it is anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand. But anytime we invest in the appearance and modernization of the home, it usually is an investment and helps get the home sold easier!
Q. Can’t a seller just declutter to get the home looking good for buyers?
A. Yes, as I said, a home that has been maintained well and is already somewhat updated can certainly just be decluttered, some furniture rearranged or removed and some nicely staged décor items added and be perfectly ready for pictures and showings!
Q. What if a home is vacant? What do you do or recommend?
A. For a vacant home, I am not usually an advocate for bringing in furniture, which can quickly get very expensive and start cutting into your profits. However, it's key that a vacant home is very clean because there is no hiding anything with rugs or furniture. I usually bring in some nice décor items to brighten up the bathrooms and the kitchen on a vacant home, maybe a pop of color. We can also do some virtual staging, where we digitally add furniture, and rugs, and décor to a picture of an empty room to help buyers be able to picture the potential of a room.
Q. What are the 2 most important rooms to get right in your opinion?
A. The heart of the home is the kitchen. It’s key that there is no clutter in the kitchen, we want clean surfaces to show off the counter space. Hide the trash cans and all the extra appliances. The master bathroom is also an important room, make sure all personal items on not on display while other people are touring your home, this includes your soaps and shampoos and daily used items that you may normally just leave in there, make sure to remove all of that stuff. And of course, the main living area, which makes the first impression!
Q. What can a homeowner do before you arrive to prepare for a staging appointment?
A. When I arrive, I am going to ask you to give me a tour of the home, then I like to be able to walk around the house alone freely and take my time to make notes of what I may advise you to do. The best way to prepare is to simply open your mind, and know that your home is beautiful, I am just trying to help you make it appeal to the most amount of people we can to get those people into your home so you can get it sold quickly!
Q. 2 things I notice many sellers overlook in the presentation of their home is the lighting, or, color of the lighting, and the curb appeal from the street to the front door. How important are these items and what are some easy fixes homeowners can do to get this right?
A. Great point! There are so many different light bulbs out there today, different hues of color, blue light, white light, yellow light, soft light….I usually advise making sure all bulbs are replaced and working and make sure they are all the same color and temperature! Two or three different hues in one room can make walls and cabinets appear to be different color tones and an array of lighting colors can ruin the appeal of a room. And curb appeal is a definite must, the first impression is from the curb, so freshen up your pine straw, or mulch, mow the lawn, pressure wash the house. Make sure your home is gleaming when that buyer steps out of their car.
Q. Why do you think staging a home actually works?
A. Staging a home is imperative to get the home ready, removing “you” from the home and helping to make buyers comfortable and to be able to picture themselves in the home is key to helping them make the decision to purchase your home!
Q. Do you have any final thoughts or advice for a homeowner getting ready to put their home on the market?
A. Remember, you are selling the home, not you and your family and your furniture, so we have to focus our marketing on the home itself! This is how staging the home helps accomplish that! This is great advice.
Thank you Lisa for sharing your expertise with everyone today and thanks to all of you for watching. As with all of my videos, if you enjoyed this video please make sure you hit the like button and <a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/Premieratlantarealestate?sub_confirmation=1">subscribe to my channel</a> for more real estate content like this and if you’re local and are thinking about selling your home, drop a comment below or give us a call. Thanks for watching!<br /><br />Today we’re gonna talk about getting your home ready to sell and specifically staging your home so that when it sells, it does so for the highest possible price. My name is Ryan Ward, I’m the broker and owner of Premier Atlanta Real Estate and I’m going to be joined by my wife, co-owner and design and staging specialist, Lisa Ward to discuss the most important items we recommend every homeowner get right before listing their home for sale.2021-02-02T09:39:00-07:002023-03-24T06:37:20-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:2975Housing Market Crash In 2021 - What The Media Missed!<br /><br />Click Below To Subscribe To My Channel:
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Transcript of video:
My name is Ryan Ward, I’m the broker and owner of Premier Atlanta Real Estate and I’m going to try and add the proper context around these housing market stories so you can have the correct perspective and be better able to draw more accurate conclusions about what may or may not happen in the real estate market so you can feel comfortable and confident buying, selling or investing in real estate.
News and conventional media are still important sources of current information. Just be aware that context matters and news media, no matter how hard they try, are not really experts at anything including the real estate market. Their job is to report what they believe to be important stories - which is fine. However, if you see or hear something on the news of interest or concern, I recommend further investigation into what all of it means before drawing conclusions. There are plenty of people, including myself with an opinion of what the future holds, and the truth is, none of us really know for sure what it will look like but reading the tea leaves and gathering all of the pertinent information correctly can at least give us a more educated prediction than a journalist reporting a story.
The most frequently cited reasons concerning a pending crash basically revolve around a few basic ideas:
Home prices are rising too fast and they are becoming unaffordable
Unemployment is/was through the roof and too many people are in forbearance and that will lead to a wave of foreclosures that will flood the market causing prices to plummet
Rising interest rates could kill the market
Recent citations of increasing mortgage rates and news stories of month to month sales slowdowns
In a previous video on the Atlanta real estate market, I looked at a Freddie Mac study about forbearance that provides a great deal of evidence that we will ultimately have far fewer foreclosures than some will lead you to believe. When you look at all of the available information on forbearance it’s pretty clear it won’t happen the way worst case scenarios play out unless something unforeseen takes place to alter our economy in ways we can’t yet imagine. We’re literally months away from the country and the economy reopening fully and even places with the most severe shutdowns are now coming out with statements about the need to reopen as soon as possible. The latest Mortgage Bankers Association report shows a reduction in the total number of homeowners in forbearance and I think it’s reasonable to expect that number to shrink as the vaccine gets implemented and more of the economy opens and more jobs return. I’ll post a link to the section in my last video and to Freddie Mac’s article if you would like to learn more about it. Just know there will be no foreclosure wave in 2021 especially with the extension of the foreclosure moratorium through the end of March.
In my intro, I noted that many are throwing around the words bubble and crash. For some, it’s just a headline grabber to get views and ratings and for others, I think there’s a sincere belief we are currently in a bubble. I’ve been selling real estate since 2004 and have had a team of agents since 2006 and we experienced the real bubble, first hand. Back in the last housing crash, under qualified owners became speculators because basically, if you could fog a mirror, there was a lender ready to give you money and the rush was on and demand soared. What happened then was that underqualified owner-speculators and over-easy credit guidelines set the ball rolling for the bubble in 2006-2007. There were of course more intricate and nuanced reasons related to the mortgage and finance industries but the easy credit led to a speculative frenzy.
It’s very different now. There’s no speculative frenzy and there aren’t any over-easy credit opportunities occurring like last time and, speculation really is one of the requirements and main ingredients for a bubble. However, prices really are rising and doing so fast so it’s very easy to see how it feels like a bubble. It’s at this point you start to look for statistics that confirm your belief, confirmation bias sets in, and some objectivity is lost.
For example, the chart you see here shows housing prices calculated with inflation. This is a scary chart and if you look, you do see what appears to be a bubble. I really think it lacks some context because it’s missing how important interest rates are when we think about the housing market. John Wake of Real Estate Decoded has a great article on this and I’ll post a link to his analysis for you. He created a chart that shows something very different than the first scary chart I put up after you adjust for rising prices, inflation, and interest rates. Surprisingly, he found that if you have a mortgage today, your payment is lower today than it was in 1990. Hard to believe this could be the case and makes it that much harder to believe we are in a bubble as well.
The next thing you may have heard is that sales are down for 3 consecutive months. You know what? They are supposed to be. It’s not a news story!
Here’s an important tip:
Anytime I hear sales data in a format that compares one month of sales to the previous month, I get a little suspicious and you should too. A better measure is to look at current sales in a month vs the same month one year earlier because it accounts for the real estate sales cycle. Market predictions can’t be made in a meaningful way comparing a month to the next month alone. Instead, We would compare June with the previous June. Or the last 3 months with one year to one year and three months back. This gives us better data to assess what’s actually happening.
Nobody should be surprised that November sales are lower than October sales or that January is slower than December. This seems to me to be hijacked data to sell you ideas based on what might be a faulty premise. I would again suggest you check with a local real estate expert to see what’s really going on. Let me give you an example:
The Atlanta housing market sales cycle looks like what you see here in this graph. Slow at the beginning of the year and picks up in March through June-July and slows down through November and picks up in December and slows in January. It’s consistent. It does this every year. Imagine if I tried to tell you the market was going to crash because sales were down from July to August to September. It’s missing the needed context that it does this every year and it is expected and it doesn’t mean there is a problem or even a change in what is expected in the market! With that in mind, here’s some actual real estate data that shows there’s no trend of negative sales on statistics that actually matter here in the Atlanta real estate market:
There were 7,201 sold homes in December 2020. There were 6,548 sold homes in December of 2019. That’s actually a 10% increase in sales year over year and definitely not a slowdown. Sales are a lagging indicator and so to look ahead we can use the leading indicator of pending sales. December 2020 is the last full month of data and we see that in December of 2020 there were 5,650 pending sales and in 2019 there were 4,638. That’s a 21.8% increase in pending sales compared to what happened the previous year so it doesn’t look like we are heading for that slowdown we heard about from leading indicators either.
Different regions run in different cycles. Warmer climates may have more sales in the winter months compared to colder climates. I don’t know how it happens in your local market and this is exactly why I recommend you get your information from a local real estate expert.
Interest rates will have to rise at some point as the economy opens up and we begin to see real economic growth. It’s going to happen at some point for sure. Freddie Mac suggests it won’t happen too soon though saying: “This low mortgage interest rate environment is projected to continue through 2021 and 2022 as the Federal Reserve has voted to keep the interest rates anchored near zero for a longer period of time if needed until the economy rebounds. With mortgage interest rates averaging around 2.8% in the fourth quarter of 2020, it is forecasted to average around 2.9% through the end of 2021.”
It’s true that eventually, more inventory will come into the market as well and that will help bring a little better balance to the market but it’s going to take a lot of inventory for that to happen. The truth is we are already in a real estate crisis. It’s an inventory crisis and it’s too low. It’s so low that inventory could triple and we would still be in a seller's market here in Atlanta and as long as rates don’t double at the same time it’s difficult to imagine a scenario that would see prices decline let alone crash. With more people receiving the vaccine, confidence should return for sellers to let buyers back in their homes and that should help bring additional inventory to the market which, I believe, , will be healthy. Just ask any buyer fighting for a home right now.
Maybe the advice regarding what we hear on the news is this: when we seek real estate information, the news media can’t be your only source. Especially in the world we live in today where headlines often don't even match the stories and those headlines are often created just for clickbait and to sell ads. As is usually the case, your best source of information is likely going to be from an expert in the real estate market, locally. Even when a news story interviews an expert on a news show, they’ve usually sought out an “expert” that already fits the narrative for their “news” story.
With that in mind, as we move into the new year with the election behind us, the vaccine being distributed, and the economy poised to rebound, it’s my opinion that there will be no housing crash in 2021 and probably not at all even farther out into the future.
If you enjoyed this video, please make sure you give it a like and <a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/Premieratlantarealestate?sub_confirmation=1">subscribe to my channel</a> so you can be notified when I upload a new video. Until next time, thanks for watching!<br /><br />The national news media continues to push the narrative of a housing crash looming just beyond the horizon and they feed the flames of fear by pushing information that appears to indicate that the real estate market has peaked and is about to decline rapidly. They use trigger words like “bubble” and “crash” and headlines like “pending home sales fall for 3 straight months” that seem to indicate it’s already starting to happen. If you like to stay informed about real estate, whether it’s the Atlanta real estate market or somewhere else, you can’t help but find these stories.2021-01-22T08:47:00-07:002021-03-01T04:49:30-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:29537 Strategies To Win With Multiple Offers<br /><br />The best homes for sale in the Atlanta real estate market and around the country frequently have multiple offers. This added competition makes it difficult to get your offer accepted by a seller. In this video, I will share with you the 7 very specific strategies we discuss with our clients to give them an advantage and win the house.2021-01-12T08:49:00-07:002021-02-04T08:39:51-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:2932Boom or Bust for Atlanta Real Estate in 2021?<br /><br />Video link referenced in this video on the national real estate market is right here: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jhe4a7aQPzE">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jhe4a7aQPzE</a>
Full Transcript From Video:
Hey everyone, it’s Ryan Ward with Premier Atlanta Real Estate and today I’m going to answer the question of whether now is a good time to buy real estate, sell real estate, or both, here in Atlanta. It’s certainly unusual circumstances in the market and that’s led to some people making predictions based on anecdote and fear and these are never good methods to make a decision. Watch through and find out for yourself what I think is the right move in the Atlanta real estate market now.
Georgia was the first state to reopen after the shutdown in April 2020 and the real estate market in Metro Atlanta reaped huge benefits as a result. In my last video, I shared my thoughts on why I don’t think it’s possible to see a national housing crash in 2021, and today we are going to look closely at Metro Atlanta. If you haven’t seen that video, you can check it out here. Nationally demand for homes rose about 1% in 2020 while, in Atlanta, demand was up 5% over 2019. That’s a lot more than the national average! So, is this a housing bubble in the Atlanta real estate market? Can we absorb increased inventory - if and when foreclosures and forbearance problems hit the market? Will that even happen in 2021? And, the biggest question of course - is now a good time to buy or sell a home?
We were fortunate to have a phenomenal real estate market in Atlanta during 2020 that otherwise saw some economic sectors get completely demolished. It’s been difficult to watch the retail, restaurant, and music industries hurt so bad and hopefully, the vaccine will help revitalize these important parts of our economy and our culture. It’s critical that it happens. Let’s jump right in and answer the question of whether now is the right time to list or buy a home in Atlanta or if we need to worry that foreclosures will hurt or even crash the Atlanta real estate market. The most common concern I’ve heard and read is that the millions of people who elected forbearance won’t be able to get caught up on their payments and it’s going to cause a massive wave of foreclosures. I certainly understand the concern especially since there are so many more homeowners in forbearance than during more normal times. Since this seems to be the biggest cause for concern, let’s try to understand it better. Freddie Mac did the best study I can find on forbearance during COVID and found from historical forbearances, that the higher your monthly payments, the higher your loan to value, or the lower your credit score, the more likely you were to default. It just so happens that right now, forbearances due to COVID match closely to a recent time of increased forbearance during the storm season of 2017 but the number of forbearances is lower than in 2017 as the loan to values increase suggesting there may be fewer foreclosures as a percentage of loans currently in forbearance than at that time. While the study can’t predict the future, it does provides a great deal of insight as to who is in forbearance and what is likely to happen based on real world past examples.
In my opinion, the most telling statistic is that, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, 32% of homeowners who are in forbearance right now are actually still on time with their payments. Right off the bat, 32% of borrowers in forbearance are almost off the table as potential foreclosures. That’s almost shocking and great news at the same time! Also, there is a Federal foreclosure moratorium for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae loans through January 2021 and the moratorium runs through February for FHA loans. There is a possibility that one or both will be extended even further depending on how the market is holding up. So let’s review, how the foreclosure process works in Georgia because a “wave of them” isn’t going to happen in 2021 no matter what anyone tries to tell you.
So, Georgia is a non-judicial foreclosure state which means lenders don’t need to go to court first to begin the process of foreclosure. This means in Georgia, foreclosures happen faster than in some other states so if foreclosures are coming, we will see them here before many other places around the country. A foreclosure starts with a default on payments of a minimum of 2 months typically before a lender will start with a notice of intent to foreclose. Law requires notice to be given at least 30 days before the foreclosure sale. There are lots of other steps involved but we are just looking at time since that’s the biggest concern. This means we are at least 2-3 months out before the foreclosure sale can even happen at the courthouse. At that point, the home will either get auctioned and purchased at the courthouse or go back to the bank. As a side note here, it never hits the “market” if it gets purchased at the courthouse. Now, if the home doesn’t sell at auction, it goes back to the bank and to an asset management department. Then it gets evaluated, priced, inspected and sits around in a file on a desk of an asset manager who has way too much work to process these things quickly. You’re looking at 6 months at least before they hit the market after the 3 months at the beginning in a fastest case scenario in a time of more normal amounts of foreclosures. It’s more likely going to take a year or more if banks start needing to foreclose in large numbers.
This timeline means that there is no real way for foreclosures to affect the market in 2021 since they won’t even enter until the very end of the year at the earliest. By then, everyone will have the vaccine, all business will be reopened and as Americans, we will be getting back to life as we knew it before COVID which means the economy will be operating on all cylinders for the first time in a while. Remember, we’re also in a market with supply that is so low that it’s the low supply that’s the actual housing crisis. Another thing to consider...before the government and lenders let these homes go to foreclosure, there will be a full effort made to set up repayment plans and allow for loan modifications before we start getting into massive numbers of defaults which will take even more of these homes out of potential foreclosure status. Please understand that banks don’t want to foreclose on homes. It isn’t their business model. As we’ve already seen, 32% of homeowners aren’t even late, other people will figure out how to get caught up, others will sell at market prices or otherwise solve this problem because most homeowners have enough equity to sell, unlike in the real housing crash in 2007. This doesn’t leave enough foreclosures to crash the real estate market in Atlanta.
Here’s why. Everything about the real estate market starts and ends with supply and demand. We saw that demand in Atlanta outpaced the national average with 5% year over year increase in the number of sales. A significant reason is that Atlanta has been one of the top 5 fastest growing cities in the country for the last 5 years for net migration according to the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. If everything else stays the same, we actually need to sell even more homes just to keep up with growth. Another reason demand will stay high in 2021 is that we know interest rates are going to remain low. The Fed has already told us this and they’ve even indicated that they are likely to stay low beyond 2021. These two reasons alone should ensure that demand stays high and there is nothing on the horizon to change it. Now to supply - if there is a housing crisis, it’s this -supply is too low. In my opinion it’s at an unhealthy low and it would actually be a relief to the market if we could see more supply. As an example, an agent on my team representing a buyer just made an offer on a home, in January of 2021, in the Cumming area on the north side of Atlanta and that home had over 80 showings and 25 offers in 3 days. Consider for a moment how low supply is if there were 25 people who wanted that house and couldn’t get it. This is a story that plays out all across Atlanta and at all price points. Last year we had multiple offers on 2 properties over a million dollars, every home we listed after the shutdown that sold in 2020 had more than one offer and this chart shows you exactly what I mean when I say inventory is too low. It would be impossible for inventory to rise to levels that would cause prices to fall when we see what demand is likely to be and how low the supply is currently.
Look, if demand was cut in half and supply tripled, we still wouldn’t be in a buyers market in Atlanta. We have about a one month supply at the time of this recording. So, should you buy a home right now? If you want to buy before prices get higher, if you want to buy while interest rates are low and your buying leverage is high and you can find a home you like, yes, in my opinion, you should buy right now. At the end of the day, none of us know exactly what the future will bring and we do know what is happening, right now. In the current environment, now is as good a time to buy as there has ever been. So, should you sell? Well, if what I am saying here holds to be true, waiting may cause your home to be worth more in the future so maybe you should wait and hold out for a higher sales price, except...the house you will be purchasing later is also going to cost you more! Why wait on any sort of uncertain future outcomes when you know what an amazing time it is right now to sell your home due to low inventory levels and how incentivized buyers are due to low interest rates? I understand, it’s rare to be able to answer the question of “how’s the market” with an answer of “great” that applies to both buyers and sellers simultaneously, but if you are in the Metro Atlanta market including the suburbs, now is the time to buy and sell. At some point in the future, one side will not have the leverage it has right now. Some of you will wait while others will capitalize. Which side of the decision will you be on? Finally, if you have enjoyed this video, please make sure to subscribe and hit the bell icon to get notified when I upload new videos to my channel. Thanks for watching and I’ll see you soon!2021-01-05T11:25:00-07:002021-03-01T04:44:05-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:2911The Housing Market Crash Of 2021 - Can It Happen In Atlanta?<br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/Premieratlantarealestate?sub_confirmation=1"><img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/subscribe.png" width="288" height="84" /></a>
Full Transcript:
Home prices were through the roof in 2020 despite everything else the year gave us. Since the beginning of the COVID crisis, our team has had a ton of buyers put off buying a home and the concerns they had were more or less, the same - we want to wait to see what happens, we think prices are going to come down, there’s going to be a wave of foreclosure deals if we wait a little longer, why buy now at the top of the market, this feels like a bubble and I want to wait until it pops, I can’t find anything I like at my price - and various other concerns like these. Now, these are legitimate concerns and I understand why people have them. You’ll find plenty of headlines that play into this idea of a bubble or a market crash as well. Admittedly, it can be difficult to see prices rising and rising and rising with no end in sight. It can be disheartening. It’s also true that there will be something of a foreclosure crisis at some point in the future but there isn’t any evidence that there will be enough foreclosures to swing the market in the other direction. Interest rates are also artificially low and could go back up as well and this would weaken buying power which would put downward pressure on prices. This idea of a crash or price drop seems to me to be part fear and part cherry picking of relevant data points though. Nevertheless buying a home is one of the biggest decisions that most of us make in our lifetimes so it’s an important conversation but what if I told you that it is very unlikely we see a price drop in 2020?
I mean, we all know there are ups and downs in the real estate market and it would be great if we could predict the bottom, buy at the low point and sell when the market crests thereby maximizing our profits and minimizing our risks. It’s a great plan and I can see why many people adopt this as one of the main decision points when buying and selling real estate.
I want to weigh in here with my opinion of what I think is going to happen in 2021. It’s an important topic as we end 2020 because it’s likely you will hear louder and louder warning sirens that the market is going to shift and prices are going to drop. Then, you may end up being like the people I described earlier and remain sitting on the sidelines looking back a year from now and only then realizing you should have bought a house 2 years ago at the beginning of the crisis. You will have lost 2 years of significant appreciation and equity building along with the additional tax benefits that come with home ownership and paying down of the principal balance banking yourself even more equity and security.
There’s a lot to look at here so let’s start with where the market is right now and how the market has changed over time. This chart shows the median price of a home in the United States since 1980. As you can see, there is really only one significant period of price decline in the last 40 years and that took place from the summer of 2007 through the 1st quarter of 2009. So really, the worst case in the last 40 years saw prices that declined for 2 years. It did take about 6 years for the prices to get back to pre-housing crisis levels but this is only for a very small group of people who bought that summer...so there are a couple of important points here. 1. We have to recognize that prices have fallen in the past and that makes it easier for people to think it can happen again. 2. In my opinion it is a near impossibility that the 2021 financial situation could even remotely resemble anything like what was happening back in 2006-2008. This is not a world financial crisis like what happened then - which actually began in the housing sector with over-extending credit. Instead, what is happening today is caused by COVID - a non-financial, temporary outside influence that will begin dissipating because of the vaccine as we move into 2021. Here in Atlanta, we can see the same pricing trends, generally, that we see across the country. The only difference here is there is even less fluctuation, a bit more stable in what we have seen. These aren’t the kind of charts that indicate prices are about to drop. We certainly need more information to draw a responsible conclusion and we’ll use this as one of our data points.
Next I think we need to really address just some basic fundamentals, supply and demand.
Supply has been dropping consistently since 2010 and continued to drop throughout 2020. We know that when COVID became our reality, supply was still dropping. It shrank further and immediately once many sellers decided to keep their homes off the market. It’s certainly understandable that sellers were worried by having people in and out of their home during a pandemic. As we end 2020 and 2021 begins, we have COVID case numbers higher than at any other point. We are still months away from full distribution of that vaccine at the earliest so this means supply will remain low. Here in Atlanta, we have the lowest supply on record and basically shrunk every month since the shutdown. We currently have about a one month supply of homes at the Metro Atlanta at almost all price points.
The flip side is demand. Admittedly, back in March of 2020, I don’t know of many people who believed demand for housing would be anywhere near as high as it turned out to be. In fact, most reasonable people felt as though it would be lower. In reality, demand for housing in 2020 outpaced the demand for housing in 2019. It’s hard to imagine that demand could be higher in 2021 than in 2020 but there are certain indications that will make it possible! The Fed pledges to keep interest rates near zero and many members say it may stay that way as far out as 2023. Low interest will help to keep demand high.
So the fundamentals will make it very hard to see any path that leads to prices dropping when we look at supply and demand. Here’s a real world example of what I mean. You can see here that as of the time of recording today, we have about 7800 active listings and also a one month supply. To reach a balanced market (neither a buyer or seller market), we need about 6 months of inventory. Put another way, if 2021 sales approximate 2020 sales volume, we will need 6 times the number of listings to have a balanced market. Instead of the 7800 listings available, it would need to grow 6 fold to well over 46,000 listings!
Now, there are some things that will happen beginning in the second half of 2021 that may begin to play into the market cooling some but not changing the balance. We’ve seen some states lift the foreclosure moratoriums and that means sometime late 2021 or maybe into 2022, we may see some of those properties make it into the market. This will increase the supply a little, but not too much. Another group of people - those that chose forbearance and are unable to get caught up, may find themselves in a situation where they need to sell their homes as a last resort to save their credit so they may also sell - however, don’t expect them to be short sales or even distressed properties, really. I don’t expect anywhere near enough of them to happen to shift us to a buyer’s market. Even if they hit the market, they will sell quickly and most if not all of these homeowners have equity - and this is an important point going back to something I said earlier and that this is very different than what happened during the financial crisis.
So if you are holding out, waiting for prices to drop and eventually decide to buy, there is a good chance the market will have pushed prices higher. What that means is that the money you spend in the future will buy less of a house than you can buy today or you will spend more money to buy the same house.
You know, there really is one more important takeaway that I have to include as relevant information here and that is that we, as a society, are resilient. We find ways to adapt to changes. We always have and we always will. It’s a reason to be optimistic about outcomes. History proves this out over and over and we literally witnessed it happen in 2020. Demand outpaced virtually all early projections of what might happen. In fact, as we end 2020, it appears there will be about 1% more sales in 2020 than there were in 2019. Lower supply and more demand for housing is an equation that simply can’t lead to lower prices.
So if you are considering buying a home and you’re on the fence, I am definitely of the opinion that waiting will cost you more money than buying now and that prices are much more likely to rise than to fall. It is my opinion that there will be no housing market crash in 2021. Interest rates are also hovering at an all time low and they fluctuate up or down a little daily so you can’t know when they will be the lowest until the time has passed.2020-12-31T11:21:00-07:002021-03-01T04:44:18-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:2780Redfin Accused of Redlining, Pending Sales Dip Locally & Nationally But That's the Wrong Measurement - News Roundup<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2020/redlining.png" width="500" height="443" class="img_box_left" />Redfin basically says they don't make enough money selling low priced homes and they are entitled to run their business how they want as a fair housing group accuses them of <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/redlining.asp" target="_blank">redlining</a> and files a complaint (can be found in the linked story below) in court in Seattle. It seems to me, a discount model, however idealistic, proves once again to be bad for the consumer. Questions surrounding this practice apparently show up in cities across the country where they won't offer to show houses in lower-priced areas. A quote from the Refin CEO expresses their position:
“The challenge is that we don’t know how to sell the lowest-priced homes while paying our agents and other staff a living wage, with health insurance and other benefits. This is why Redfin agents aren’t always in low-priced neighborhoods.” - Glenn Kelman, CEO, Redfin
In other real estate news; the media is trying to convince you of impending doom in the real estate market, and once again, they misinform (I'll tell you how below) and Zillow Offers cuts 80 jobs from another real estate model that's great for them and bad for the consumer.
<a href="https://apnews.com/article/race-and-ethnicity-discrimination-lawsuits-seattle-real-estate-brokers-b834276621c7e604a1b03c8c142a0c6e">From AP - Fair housing groups: Redfin ‘redlines’ minority communities</a>
<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/29/surprise-drop-in-september-home-sales-as-buyers-get-priced-out.html">From CNBC - National Association of Realtors reports drop in September pending sales of 2.2%</a>
<a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/#atl-pending">Atlanta real estate market sees a larger slowdown than nationally month over month but up huge year over year and that's a better measure</a>
<a href="https://www.housingwire.com/articles/zillow-offers-cuts-80-jobs-cites-realignment/">Zillow Offers cuts 80 jobs, cites realignment</a>
<br /><br /><a id="atl-pending"></a>Pending Sales in Atlanta Surge Compared to Same Time Last Year
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2020/Year-to-Year-Percent-Change.jpg" width="460" height="390" class="img_box_right" />You may have seen the news about <a href="https://www.nar.realtor/newsroom/pending-home-sales-falter-2-2-in-september">pending sales being down 2.2% month over month from August to September</a>. It's supposed to be big news in the media and surely a sign that the end of the excellent real estate market is near if you read CNBC's version of the story. In fact, here in Atlanta, pending sales are down even further month over month. So what? Seriously, so what?
Every year statistics have been tracked, pending sales have been down in the month of September compared to August. Real estate is seasonal so it doesn't really provide meaningful information to look at numbers this way. A better measure is to compare the number in a month of this year to the same month the year prior. Year-over-year rather than month-over-month. It tells us how we are doing relative to the same cyclical changes that happen every year in real estate.
The important numbers that they should be reporting tell a very different story than the CNBC headline, or, even the article itself. It's as if they started with a faulty hypothesis and then went out and dug up data to fit the faulty narrative. September 2020 saw 7,804 pending sales in Metro Atlanta in 2020 while there were only 6,376 during the same period last year.
The headline should actually read "Pending Sales Up 22.4% in September Compared To Last Year"
<br /><br />That would be important news for you to know and gives an accurate measure of meaningful statistics. The media doesn't care about that, or, they genuinely don't know what they should know if they are going to be reporting on these stories. I can't say. Either way, you should know...2020-10-30T05:06:00-07:002020-10-30T06:46:05-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:2568Roswell Towneship Townhomes Near Downtown Roswell
<br /><br />About Roswell Towneship
Roswell Towneship is a newer, gated luxury townhome community near Downtown Roswell with a number of different floorplans and architectural styles. Located on Crossville Rd just past Crabapple, the community is near to the historic area, local parks, the Chattahoochee River, GA400, and a short drive to Avalon and Downtown Alpharetta. The community was built in 2017-2018 by The Providence Group.
Search Homes For Sale
Prices in the neighborhood range from the high $400,000's up to about $600,000 at the time of this writing. You can view <a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/roswell-towneship-townhomes-for-sale/">Roswell Towneship townhomes</a> here.
Amenities
Amenities include a gated entrance, pond with walking trail, sidewalks and private courtyards. If you are considering a move to Downtown Roswell and looking for a well-built, luxury style townhome, Roswell Towneship should be on your list.2020-07-28T05:19:00-07:002021-02-25T08:13:09-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:2496Make The Highest Profit On The Sale Of Your Home<br /><br />Premier Design And Remodel Service
If you are like most people we talk to about selling their home, you want the highest profit on that sale. Unless your home is brand new, you may need some, or, even a lot of updates to achieve that goal. The video above is part one in a series of how we will manage the process and make it happen for you.
Video Transcript
Most people want to make the most amount of money, or, the highest profit on the sale of their home. The problem is, you typically don’t have the latest styles and trends needed to find a buyer willing to pay a top price. This is where we come in. Every home and situation is different and in this case, we have a substantial update to show you so you can see what difference the Premier Design and Remodel Service can make.
Today we are in Alpharetta at the beginning of a new project to show some before scenes of this home as we begin and lay out our plan to make this homeowner a much higher profit on the sale of the home than if sold without our Premier Design and Remodel Service.
Our team, led by Lisa will manage the transformation and create a modern, move-in ready home with today’s most sought after styles and trends and so much more. We’ll advise you on what it will take to sell your home for top dollar and consult with you on how to make it happen.
Moving can be stressful and a lot of hard work by itself so we handle this whole process. Staging, contractors, design choices, shopping, quality control, timelines, and most of all, budget management.
You’ve seen this on all your favorite flip and remodel shows, but this is real. And you can do it. We have a clean slate here to help you imagine the possibilities. Let’s take a look at this house and we’ll show you what we mean.
Interested?
Fill out the form below and we can discuss which options might be best for you.
2020-07-02T06:43:00-07:002020-12-28T19:58:27-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:2437Atlanta Real Estate Market, May 2020<br /><br />Video Transcript Below:
The month of May has provided us with deeper insights into the Atlanta real estate market as we rebound from COVID-19. I believe this information is useful enough to now make sound predictions for the rest of the year.
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2020/June_2020_market_update_1.jpg" width="400" height="225" class="img_box_left" />We talk to a lot of consumers about real estate and the question is no different now than any other time, we just hear it a lot more now, and that is...how’s the market???
So let’s take a minute and see if we can answer a few quick questions because it seems many people are wondering and need this information to help make more informed decisions about the Atlanta real estate market:
1. How’s the market?<br />2. Are prices going down?<br />3. Are we going to see more foreclosures and short sales?
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2020/June_2020_market_update_2.jpg" width="400" height="225" class="img_box_right" />The Market
Let’s start with the market...first, inventory levels tell us it’s a seller’s market so it’s an excellent time to sell! With interest rates this low, it’s also an amazing opportunity to take advantage of inexpensive financing and buy a home with your increased buying power. So really, it’s an opportunity for buyers and sellers.
Prices
Prices - will they go down? The short answer is no, they are actually still rising because fundamentally, it’s determined by supply and demand. According to the latest Chartmasters report with data from FMLS, the median price of a home is 5.5% higher than last May. If supply shifts and we drift into a buyers market, it will likely happen first in the condo market and the median price for condos is even higher at 6.8% more than last year!
Foreclosures and Short Sales
Are we going to see more foreclosures and short sales? It does not look like that will happen. Equity positions for most homeowners will allow them to sell instead of walking away or having the need to sell short. <a href="https://www.housingwire.com/articles/will-coronavirus-induced-foreclosures-hit-great-recession-levels/">Housingwire</a>, <a href="https://www.curbed.com/2019/8/29/20837282/millennials-recession-homebuying-prices-coronavirus">Curbed</a>, and <a href="https://www.keepingcurrentmatters.com/2020/03/19/are-we-about-to-see-a-new-wave-of-foreclosures/">Keeping Current Matters</a> have great articles on why it won’t happen. I’ll have links to them on my website.
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2020/June_2020_market_update_3.jpg" width="400" height="225" class="img_box_left" />Listen, when it comes to real estate, I urge you to forget the hype you see on the news or hear through the grapevine. Real estate is likely to be the largest investment you make. You should only get your advice from an expert in the real estate market. So call me, or call the best agent you personally know and ask them to give you the market update you need, for any upcoming real estate decision you plan to make. It’s too important to handle any other way.
Thanks for watching and/or reading. Please let me know if you have any questions about the <a href="http://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/">Atlanta real estate market</a>!2020-06-04T07:12:00-07:002020-06-05T05:07:35-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:2380Different Prices Affected Differently By COVID-19<br /><br />Full Transcript:
If you are looking for information about how COVID-19 may be effecting the real estate market, how you should make an offer, or if you should sell your home, the info in this video may be helpful for you.
My name is Ryan Ward and I'm the team leader at Premier Atlanta Real Estate. In previous videos, I've indicated effects may be different based on hyperlocal areas or price points due to COVID-19. Today, I chose a few areas to compare against last year and also broke down Metro Atlanta by price to see what I could find.
In an effort to keep the video short, the first part of what I see is that the difference seems related more to price than to area as it relates to COVID-19.
In all markets, hyperlocal information remains essential to make any informed real estate decision and doesn't seem to be uniquely impacted by the virus. Here is what I found looking at single family homes that went under contract from April 10 - April 29 this year vs the same time last year.
Total pending sales this year were 3,974 and 5,153 last year which is a drop of 23% and consistent with what we have seen in previous weeks.
Here is how it breaks down by price bracket:<br />100K-200K = 960 vs 1268, 24% Down<br />200K-400K = 2275 vs 2798, 19% Down<br />400K-600K = 589 vs 784, 25% Down<br />600K-800K = 146 vs 271, 46% Down<br />800K-1000K = 68 vs 89, 24% Down<br />1000K-Up = 61 vs 104, 42% Down
As you can see if you paused the video, broken down this way it's difficult to find a pattern. Here is a cleaner way to view and understand it:
Homes under $500,000 are down 21%<br />Homes over $500,000 are down 36%
From this we can now clearly see that the market above $500,000 has been impacted more adversely by COVID-19 than homes under $500,000. It's outside the scope of this video as to why that is the case and we do see a natural break at around $500,000.
Based on this information and from what we are seeing in the field in the last week for our team and other active agents I’ve spoken with, I would expect to see homes sales under $500,000 to start trending up to volumes closer to last year beginning now.
For the segment of homes over $500,000, it may take another month before the market will resume pre COVID-19 sales volume. If this is the case, I believe the market will be able to absorb the hit as we begin to open the economy back up.
If you have any questions, drop a comment below, call or text me or shoot me a message. Until next time, thanks for watching and stay healthy!2020-05-01T09:29:00-07:002020-05-01T09:35:55-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:2370April 22 2020 Market Update<br /><br />Full Transcript:
The ebb and flow of the real estate market have not stopped with the "shelter in place order" and at the same time, the market is not immune to the changes happening around us. We have many more insights now than we did at the beginning of April and here are the big takeaways I've found that are important for buyers, sellers and those waiting to see what's going to happen.
If you have any questions, please call, text me or drop a comment below...
For now, let’s compare the first 3 weeks of April to the same time one year ago and see what we find. I’ve used single family homes for this analysis.
This year, 5074 homes came on the market. Last year, 7,540 came on. That's 33% fewer new listings than last year and the same percent as was the case when I looked at this 2 weeks ago. Consistency is a good thing here. So far this month, 3,498 houses are under contract and last year, 5071 homes went under contract. That’s 31% fewer pending sales or, 1,573 homes. That's pretty close to how many fewer new listings have come on the market. The pending to active ratio, which we use as a leading indicator is 69% now and 74% last year. This is also good news, all things considered. There are certainly fewer pending sales and there are also fewer new listings with a difference of 1576 more new than pending. There are also 1,401 withdrawn and expired listings so far. So we have 5074 new listings - 3,498 pending sales - 1,401 off-market homes leaving a net increase of 175 single family homes. That's an increase of about 1%.
It's hardly enough to affect the short or long term supply of homes and therefore should have no long term negative impact on prices.
In other words, we are not really adding more homes than we can sell and that should mean that when the market reopens completely, it doesn't look like we will have shifted into a buyers market.
Earlier this month, I recommended waiting a little while longer to list your home if you were able. Since then, we have had new listings receive as many as 15 showings and multiple offers in a weekend and other listings with low showing activity. There are some trends developing with this so my advice now is that we have to look more deeply at the hyperlocal level to find out whether it's a good time to list. For some, now is the time, for others, it might be a couple more weeks out. That's an improvement in the recommendation from just a couple of weeks ago and positive for the coming months!
For now, financing is still readily available so it is a non-issue at the moment. As before, if things reopen for the most part in early May, the real estate market should be fine. I2020-04-22T16:06:00-07:002020-04-22T16:31:12-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:2286COVID-19 Affect on the Atlanta Real Estate Market April 1-7
Full Transcript Here:
We're certainly all in unique times and the real estate market is not immune to the changes happening around us. Many buyers think now is the time to make low offers and many sellers are waiting on the sidelines - for the "right time" to list their home. In the meantime, the market is moving along - faster than you might think. I'm Ryan Ward with PARE and I'm going look at the numbers and see if we can get a little perspective on all of this in just about 2 minutes!
If you have any questions, please call, text me or drop a comment below...
For now, let’s compare last week to the same week one year ago and see what we find. I’ve used homes between $100,000 and $1,000,000 for this.
Last week, 1604 homes came on the market. Last year, 2,410 came on. That's 33% fewer new listings than last year and this is actually good news!
Last week, 1,203 houses went under contract and last year, 1,643 homes did. That’s a drop of 26% from last year and a smaller drop than the drop for new listings. The pending to active ratio, which we use as a leading indicator is 75% now and 74% last year. More good news.
Fewer pending sales should be expected during this time. However, since fewer new listings are entering the market than are selling, inventory is actually reducing. To further help keep the supply in check, more homes are coming off the market than last year as well. Last week there were 648 withdrawn and expired listings. Last year at the same time there were 434. More good news. New listings - pending sales - off market = 247 fewer homes than we started last week with. That means supply is not outstripping demand. This should mean that when the markets reopen completely, it doesn't look like we will have shifted into a buyers market.
Since demand is simply down and showings are down, I still wouldn't list my house unless I really had to sell though. Just wait a few more weeks. When the market reopens fully and demand comes back, it's unlikely prices will see any long term downward pressure - unless this continues all the way through May. If things reopen for the most part in May, we should all be fine.
For now, thanks for watching and stay healthy!2020-04-07T15:00:00-07:002020-04-07T15:22:15-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:2258Atlanta Supply & Demand During Covid-19<br /><br />Full Transcript of the Video Here:
If you are like most people, you know several real estate agents and see our posts on Facebook, get our emails and take our phone calls. As a real estate agent myself, I have hundreds of friends on sending these messages. For the last week, I’ve seen diametrically opposed messaging from the agent community about how COVID-19 is affecting the market. Obviously, they all can’t be correct!!!
If you have any questions about any of this, please call or text me or drop a comment below…I’ll help any way I can.
For now, let’s compare last week to the same week one year ago and see what we find. For this analysis, I’ve used homes between $100,000 and $1,000,000.
Last week, 2,111 homes came on the market. Last year, 2,343 came on. That’s 9.9% fewer new listings this year.
Last week, 1,337 houses went pending and last year, 1,740 homes did. That’s a drop of 23% and a larger drop in new under contract homes than the drop for new listings. The pending to active ratio, which we use as a leading indicator is 63% now and 74% last year. The higher the number the better.
This should be expected given the global crisis. If we stopped here, we might think this is going to have a significant long term effect on the market and supply and demand would shift too fast for the market to handle. If it continued for a few months, that might be true. Prices would drop and the conversations would certainly change.
There’s more going on though and to jump to that sort of conclusion would be irresponsible.
Inventory is coming off the market quickly as a result of the crisis. Even people that came on the market recently are removing their homes just as quickly.
The number of withdrawn listings is growing fast. Last week there were 334 and last year there were 267. Expired listings are higher also and we don’t expect as many people re-list quickly given the current conditions. This will help keep inventory levels from rising too fast and absorption rates shifting us into a buyers market. For now.
Tomorrow, I’ll share some thoughts on what all this means for buyers and sellers and what I think you should be doing right now to be prepared and touch on the virtual this and that (hint: none of the virtual stuff is new or difficult for us to do for you). Call or text me with any questions.
For now, thanks for watching and stay safe!2020-03-26T08:07:00-07:002020-04-08T11:21:53-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:2259What Does The Market Look Like Today?<br /><br />Full Transcript of the Video Here:
Well, life as we know it is on a temporary hold. I say temporary because at some point relatively soon, this will all be over and our hopes, plans and dreams will be back on track, and, what happens right now will have an impact on the trajectory of the real estate market when this is all over.
My name is Ryan Ward and I'm the team leader at Premier Atlanta Real Estate
I have a unique window into what's happening right now because Premier Atlanta Real Estate has been on the leading edge of the technological revolution in real estate longer than anyone else in Atlanta. We have insights others simply can't see. We are the only company, local or national that has been on the first page of Google for "Atlanta real estate" for over a decade and that type of exposure and website traffic gives us deeper insights into consumer behavior.
The first item I've seen is that the number of people visiting our website, surprisingly, is actually higher than last year at this time. We are all living in a virtual world for the moment, but only for the moment and people know it. The second change is that more people are signing up on our website than at this time last year. This is a voluntary step that shows intent to continue with life after COVID-19 and indicates that, as a group, we will still move forward with our plans. This is only a pause. We should do what we can to stay in the present moment and use this time extra time to spend with our families, tie up loose ends we've been to busy to do and continue to work if we can. Prepare now so that when this is over, you'll be ready to get your home listed or get in the market and buy before the rest of the buyers do and you will have a better chance of getting your new home. There very well may be a slingshot effect coming out of this. The human spirit is stronger than this virus. You know it, I know and the whole worlds know it. We can get through this together. Thanks for watching and stay strong!2020-03-24T08:11:00-07:002020-03-26T08:13:50-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:14519 Metro Atlanta Farmhouses You Can Buy Right Now
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/farmhouse.jpg" width="785" height="393" />
Fixer Upper is over but Chip and Joanna have forever left their mark on the housing market with their varied modern/rustic/farmhouse designs. Below is a handpicked list of what we think are the 9 best Farmhouse (or variations thereof) style homes you can buy today. <a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/farmhouses-for-sale/">Search all Farmhouses for sale in Atlanta here</a>.<a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/#about"><br /></a>2019-10-24T04:03:00-07:002020-03-26T06:49:49-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:1890Roswell Real Estate Market Updates
Roswell Market Report May 2019
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2019/May-_Roswell-statistics-2019.jpg" width="1024" height="3072" />
What Do These Statistics Mean For Roswell?
Still A Seller's Market
While we do see signs of change possible on the horizon in the overall real estate market in Metro Atlanta, it remains a seller's market for the majority of price points in Roswell and all of them under one million dollars. The Active/Pending ratio, which is a leading indicator, is lower for the second straight month at 47.1% compared to 54% that we saw last month. June is historically the busiest month of the year for real estate sales in Roswell and all of Atlanta. We would really like to see this number above 50%.
Demand For Homes In Roswell Is Strong
There were more sales this year in May at 168 than last year at 157 and this broke what looked like the beginning a slowing trend from the previous 2 months.
<br /><br />Roswell Market Report April 2019
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2019/Roswell-real-estate-statistics-april-2019.jpg" width="1024" height="3072" />
What Do These Statistics Mean For Roswell?
Still A Seller's Market
First of all, it remains a seller's market. Inventory is rising slowly but sales were very strong in April - this is the first month in the last 6 where there has been a statistically relevant increase in year over year sales. The Active/Pending ratio, which is a leading indicator, is lower at 54% compared to 63% that we saw last month. This could mean May sales are ultimately lower than last year.
Average And Median Prices Down And Why
Perhaps the most noteworthy bit of news is that the average sales price in Roswell is down 10.9% to 438,933 from April of 2018 which was $492,829. It's important to note here that the median price is also down 9.5%.
The biggest factor? In 2018 there were 6 sales ranging from $900,000 to $1,700,000. In 2019 there were no sales above $900,000.
Remember, there were actually more sales this year in April than last year in Roswell so we must be mindful that one month does not make a trend. One month does make you pause and take special note of the numbers from next month to see if a trend is coming and we will keep an eye on the market!
<br /><br />Looking To Buy A Home In Roswell?
Jump over to the <a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/roswell/">Roswell real estate</a> page and let us know how we can help!
Ready To Sell Your Home? Call Us At 770-604-1860
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2019/pare-sold-sign-small.jpg" width="210" height="200" class="img_box_left" />Let's talk. Understanding the market is one component in positioning your home correctly. You'll need premier marketing to be sure your home will stand above the competition. Local knowledge is essential so you can be sure the important features and benefits are presented correctly to buyers. Staging, photography and presentation are critical to showcasing your home in the best ways possible. Set up a no-obligation meeting to discuss selling your home. Call us at 770-604-1860 or fill out the form below!
Contact Us With Questions And Comments
<a name="roswellrealestatecontact" title="Roswell real estate contact"></a><br /><br />
Roswell Market Report March 2019
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2019/Roswell-statistics-3-19.jpg" width="1024" height="3072" />
Roswell Real Estate Market Update: March 2019
Main Takeaways:
The pendulum continues to slowly swing away from an overheated seller's market towards balance. It is still a seller's market even as the trends show moderate slowdowns compared to last year.
Key Points:
March of 2019 was similar to March of 2018 in many ways.
Demand is flat with 92 sales in March of 2019 and 93 sales in 2018
Median days to sell is up 100% from 16 days to 32 days meaning half of the homes in Roswell sold in 32 days or less while half took longer than 32 days
Inventory was slightly higher at 4.1 months yet still a seller's market
Overall Metro Atlanta Market Effect
The majority of indicators still show slowing through the month of April compared to last year. This is a trend that actually started in July of 2018. Price is a lagging indicator and we are still seeing them rise, just at slower rates. Inventory continues to go up monthly and demand is consistently slightly lower than the year over year monthly comparison. This chart from the Keller Williams Chartmasters presentation of the overall Metro Atlanta market shows a slowdown that simply can't be ignored:
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2019/atl-market-stats.png" width="806" height="499" />
Is It A Shift Or A Correction?
Right now, it's a correction. When the bottom fell out during the last downturn, the circumstances were very different. Currently, this is still an excellent time to sell your home. Prices are still rising, the economy is strong and there is no lending crisis.
<br /><br />Spring Market of 2016
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/rising_interest_rates_400.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="266" class="img_box_left" />In our last market update when we looked at the <a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/blog/alpharetta-real-estate-update-spring-2016/">Alpharetta real estate market</a>, it appeared that we were starting to see signs that a pricing correction may be on the horizon. With the overall economy stable, and in an election year, there really shouldn't be too many outside factors that will influence the real estate market. Except for one major influence - the Federal Reserve. There is a strong possibility that the Fed will raise rates.
Rising Interest Rates Make Homes Less Affordable
In recent weeks, the Fed has been hinting at the idea of raising interest rates and if they do, it will have an impact on the market. If interest rates rise, your buying power decreases because it makes it more expensive to buy a home. When this happens there will be a smaller pool of buyers for homes thus lowering demand and in turn lowering housing prices.
So Should You Wait to Buy?
It all seems so easy - we predict prices to go down so we automatically think the right thing to do is to wait until they do before we buy a home. It's a natural conclusion to draw. However, it really is more complicated than that. First, there is no guarantee that prices will drop and if they do, there will still be certain areas that see very modest, if any price drops. In the higher demand areas, we may only see a leveling off of prices or perhaps an overall drop that only amounts to a few percentage points. That generally isn't enough to draw the conclusion that the right decision is to wait.
How Will it Affect Homes in Roswell?
Roswell is a great example of an area that will have a very small impact in the event that prices to decline as a result of diminished pent up demand and higher interest rates. This is due in large part to the demographics of the area, the schools, the lifestyle and the location. All of these factor into the equation because demand will always be higher in areas like this than the overall real estate market. The best thing we can do is look to see what's happening in the market now, compare it to what it was in the previous year and extrapolate what impact a minor slowdown would have on the area. We can also look back and see how an area like Roswell was impacted during the most recent severe slowdown that began here in 2007. Areas on the north side of Atlanta were not as severely impacted as other areas. We should expect that will be the case again as well.
The Roswell Market - Right Now and Last Year
There are currently 356 homes for sale in Roswell
There are 332 homes under contract above the 356 listed for sale
In the last 90 days 442 homes sold - last year there were 533 or a 17% drop
In the last 6 months 768 homes sold - last year there were 850 or a 9.6% drop
Sales per month are averaging 128
The absorption rate, or months supply of homes, is 2.78 months. Technically it's a little higher because not all of the homes under contract will actually sell
You can see from these numbers that the biggest slowdown from last year has taken place in the last 3 months because the percentage drop is much higher in the last three months than for the last 6 months. While this seems disconcerting to some degree, it is offset by the extremely low inventory. The overall Roswell real estate market is a strong sellers market. This brings us back to what will happen in a slowdown. Well, if the slowdown does occur, and it is likely to happen, it would bring us more in line with a balanced market and not throw us into a strong buyers market. Under this scenario, we would see prices level off more so than for them to drop.
Roswell Market
So with all of that said, I would still be of the opinion that if you are thinking about buying or selling, I don't see any reason to wait. There isn't anything on the horizon that looks like it will have a major impact on pricing - at least in the Roswell area. You can search all <a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/roswell/">Roswell real estate</a> for sale on our website and if you see something you would like more information on, just ask and we will be happy to help.
<br /><br />If you are looking for current and past information on the Roswell real estate market, you can find it here. Check back frequently to learn the latest. This post contains both current and past information about the Roswell real estate market. If you would like or need specific or additional information and context for news and other media, <a title="Roswell real estate agent" href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/#roswellrealestatecontact">fill out the contact form below</a> or call us directly and ask to speak with Ryan Ward at 770-604-1860.2019-06-20T04:28:00-07:002020-07-28T05:44:26-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:1818Thinking Of Transitioning To An Active Adult Community?While moving into a smaller more comfortable home might be the right decision, downsizing can be challenging, but it doesn't have to be! Join us, at Vickery Rose in Roswell to learn simple steps to sell your home and how to simplify the process.
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2019/Lunch_and_Learn_Flyer.jpg" width="2550" height="3300" />
Please Fill Out The Form For More Information
Vickery Rose is located at 295 Crossville Rd, Roswell, GA 30075. We look forward to answering your questions!<br /><br />2019-05-01T14:24:00-07:002019-05-01T14:35:56-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:1747Martin's Landing Market Minute, February 2019<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2019/Martins_Landing_Mar_Min_Feb-new.jpg" width="1200" height="600" />
It's no secret that the overall real estate market slowed last fall on a national and local level. However, the market in Roswell and specifically at a hyperlocal level in Martin's Landing remains extremely strong. There are 15 homes for sale in Martin's Landing right now (February 8th) and of those 15 homes, 7 are under contract! Keep in mind also that January and February are the slowest months of the year...
Two January Sales in Martin's Landing
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2019/sold.png" width="250" height="194" class="img_box_left" />Last year in January, 8 homes sold and while this year's number looks low, there were only 3 sales in February last year. Based on current pending sales, we will double or triple that this February. The January 2019 sales in Martin's landing were 11200 Martin Ridge Rd for $308,000 and 100 N Pond Ct for $242,000. Another home, 360 Spring Lake, was scheduled to close January 31st and it hasn't updated in the system yet. I'm not sure if it closed or had the closing pushed out a few days. I'll report it next month either way...
Martin's Landing Real Estate Agent
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userFiles/678/image/pare-stats.jpg" width="110" height="134" class="img_box_left" />If you are ready to sell your home in Martin's Landing, contact us. The first step typically starts with getting an idea of what your home will sell for in today's market followed by finding out what marketing techniques will get your home sold for the most amount of money in the least amount of time. Fill out the form below or give us a call for a no-obligation consultation.
2019-02-08T08:43:00-07:002019-03-05T08:55:41-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:17462019 Premier Atlanta Real Estate Casino Party2019-02-08T06:02:00-07:002019-05-02T04:36:06-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:1660Martin's Landing Market Minute, 2018 Recap<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2019/martins-landing-market-jan-2019.jpg" width="1200" height="600" />
December will close out a strong month and a very good year for real estate in Martins Landing. As of December 17th, 61 homes sold and 5 more are slated to close before year-end. It will be just a few short of the number of homes sold in 2017, which is consistent with what we are seeing across Roswell and all of Metro Atlanta,
The average price of homes sold in 2018 is $337,197 with average days on market of 35 and homes selling at just over 97% of the original asking price. In 2017 there were 72 closings with an average price of $332,985 when the average days on market was 32 and right at 97% of the original price.
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/2019/search-martins-landing.jpg" width="1200" height="200" />
<a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/property/8900-martin-rd-roswell-ga-30076/pid-11652985/?tlid=fa21cd2be9d74130be9d4090d7e21d51&regtype=out" target="blank"><img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/8900_martin_rd.jpg" width="300" height="200" class="img_box_right" /></a>Most Expensive Sale of the Year
The most expensive home to sell this year was <a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/property/8900-martin-rd-roswell-ga-30076/pid-11652985/?tlid=fa21cd2be9d74130be9d4090d7e21d51&regtype=out" target="blank">8900 Martin Rd that sold for $500,000</a> and it only took 3 days to go under contract in April. The agent representing the buyer and the seller were out of 2 different Keller Williams offices. The list price was $499,000 and it sold for $500,000 with the seller contributing $10,000 toward the buyer's closing costs.
Current Martin's Landing Inventory
***Multiple Offers Received***<br />Below is our featured Martin's Landing home for sale and all other homes for sale in Martins Landing. Jump over to the<a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/martins-landing/"> Martin's Landing page</a> to learn more about the neighborhood.<br /><br />Martin's Landing Real Estate Agent
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/pare-stats.jpg" width="110" height="134" class="img_box_left" />If you are ready to sell your home in Martin's Landing, contact us. The first step typically starts with getting an idea of what your home will sell for in today's market followed by finding out what marketing techniques will get your home sold for the most amount of money in the least amount of time. We can help with all the way around! Just fill out the form below or give us a call for a no obligation consultation.2018-12-16T15:34:00-07:002020-07-28T05:45:03-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:16102018 Premier Atlanta Real Estate Fall Festival, Thank You!2018-10-31T13:28:00-07:002019-02-08T06:04:57-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:1334Do Your Homework!It’s hard to believe, but the beginning of a new school year is just around the corner! Although I am sure your kids are still enjoying their summer vacation, it will be no time before they have picked out the perfect backpack and stuffed it with all the essential school supplies.
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/education-school-apple_800.jpg" width="800" height="450" />
One of the top search criteria I hear from buyers is schools. Schools can be a primary reason for moving and a major deciding factor for the home you choose to buy. First and foremost, parents want the best schools for their kids - that is a given. But beyond that, the school district where a home resides can determine the market value of a home and it’s potential to gain value in the future. And, the sought after schools can also help you down the road when it comes time to sell your home - making it more desirable to potential buyers.
Looking for a home in a particular school district? On the Premier Atlanta Real Estate site, we have an awesome tool to help you search for available homes located near the most popular schools in the area. Check out this link:
<a title="Homes For Sale By School District" href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/homes-for-sale-by-school-district-in-atlanta.php" target="_blank">https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/homes-for-sale-by-school-district-in-atlanta.php</a>
Want to do some more homework? Request a copy of the Atlanta Business Chronicle annual school guide. When doing research on schools, I recommend reviewing test scores and visiting schools in person to speak with staff who can then provide you with more information about each school. A good place to start is with the annual Atlanta Business Chronicle School Guide. Send me an email at <a href="mailto:marci@premieratlantarealestate.com" target="_blank">marci@premieratlantarealestate.com</a> to request a copy and I will mail you one directly.
Are you are ready to start looking for a home and schools are important to you - I can help! Give me a call and let’s talk about how I can help find you find a great home in the desired school district and make the process hassle-free!2017-07-13T11:14:00-07:002017-08-11T07:35:53-07:00Marci Chambers Smithtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:1328What's The Real Story? It's Probably Pricing!Time and again, I come across a home listing that is well kept, with awesome features, in a great neighborhood... but it just isn't selling.
Buyers will ask, "why has is been on the market so long?" Sellers will ask, "why isn't my house selling?"
And the answer is usually: PRICE.
My job, as your highly skilled real estate professional, is to do the research and give you the tools and information to price your home properly, or to make the appropriate offer on a property. To get that information, I look at factors such as style, size, features, geographic location, schools, etc. in comparison to comparable recently sold (in the last 3 - 6 months) properties. I don't set the price - you don't set the price - THE MARKET SETS THE PRICE.
The goal is to sell the property in the least amount of time for the most money. And your pricing strategy will have a direct effect on your success of selling for the most money in the least amount of time. Statistics show that if you price your property too high, you risk sitting on the market for months. And in the end, you will probably be selling for less than if you priced properly from the beginning, because you will need to do price reductions to offset the perception that there is something wrong with the property. Price your property too low, and you aren't maximizing the potential profit from the sale - and the bidding war you hoped to achieve may never materialize.
Take a look at the snapshot below which demonstrates the effect price has on sales vs. listing price and days on market. Getting the price right from the beginning, is your best bet for selling your home for the most amount of money in the least amount of time.
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/pricing_info_graphic_2000_02.png" alt="" width="800" height="2000" class="img_box_center" />
Are you ready to have a chat about selling your home? I would love to meet with you to discuss how Premier Atlanta Real Estate will help you market, prep and price your home so that you can sell with success. Give me a call at 404-561-1842!2017-05-03T12:17:00-07:002017-08-11T07:33:42-07:00Marci Chambers Smithtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:1327A Tale of Two Markets - Don't Be Fooled!<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/chart-up-down_350_01.png" alt="" width="350" height="350" class="img_box_right" />If you watch the news, read Facebook or know a real estate agent, you've probably heard abut how amazing this real estate market is and how much prices have gone up and it's a great time to sell. Did you also know that certain segments of the market are actually far more favorable to buyers than to sellers? Read on to learn what's really going on in the market...
The market really is actually split into two segments. For one segment, it's a sellers market and for the other, well, it's a buyers market. Do you know which is which?
There is a natural break in the real estate around the $500,000 home price mark. In large part this is because conventional financing in Atlanta goes up to $424,100. If you want to buy a $500,000 home and avoid a jumbo loan with higher rates, you need to put down $75,900 plus you need money for closing costs. This generally means that buyers must have a 20% down payment for loans on purchases over $500,000 and that limits the number of buyers and therefore demand and therefore prices.
The difference between the $500,000 and below market is staggeringly different from the $500,000 and up market. I'll show you 3 different markets in Metro Atlanta that point to this difference and if you jump into this market as a consumer, you need to be armed with this information because it could cost or make you 10's of thousands of dollars.
Point to Remember: If there are less than 6 months of inventory of homes, it is a sellers market and above 6 months of inventory it is a buyers market.
North Fulton
In North Fulton, it is a very strong sellers market below $500,000 and a buyers market for homes above $500,000. Let's look at the numbers:
Below $500,000:
Active listings - 335 homes
Sold listings in the last 3 months - 576 homes
Average number of sold homes per month - 192
Inventory of available homes - 1.75 months of inventory
What this means: With under 2 months of inventory, this is a very very strong sellers market.
Above $500,000:
Active listings - 847 homes
Sold listings in the last 3 months - 263 homes
Average number of sold homes per month - 87.66
Inventory of available homes - 9.66 months of inventory
What this means: With over 9 months of inventory, this is a strong buyers market. Homes are overpriced, there are too many available and buyers have a strong position to purchase homes at a discount.
Cumming
In Cumming, the numbers are not as strong for sellers even under the $500,000 but especially on the west side of Georgia 400 where there is so much new construction being built it's actually very hard to estimate the true amount of inventory.
Below $500,000 West Side:
Active listings - 292 listed homes but unlisted new construction and lots ready to build everywhere. This number is probably closer to 400
Sold listings in the last 3 months - 256 homes
Average number of sold homes per month - 85.3
Inventory of available homes - 4.69 months of inventory (conservatively low based on the true number of listings)
What this means: Homes are sitting longer than in North Fulton. 100 of the 292 available listings have had price reductions and are still not under contract. There is an over saturation compared to what you may hear reported by news or many other real estate sources.
Below $500,000 East Side:
Active listings - 192 active listings
Sold listings in the last 3 months - 187 homes
Average number of sold homes per month - 62.3
Inventory of available homes - 3.1
What this means: Homes are sitting longer than in North Fulton but without the massive amount of new construction, the east side of Cumming is still a strong sellers market.
Above $500,000 - all of Cumming:
Active listings - 279 homes
Sold listings in the last 3 months - 91 homes
Average number of sold homes per month - 30.3
Inventory of available homes - 9.2 months of inventory
What this means: With over 9 months of inventory, this is a strong buyers market. Homes are overpriced, there are too many available and buyers have a strong position to purchase homes at a discount. Numerous price reductions.
East Cobb
East Cobb is similar to the other northern markets in Metro Atlanta but with more contemporary style homes in the under $500,000 market.
Below $500,000:
Active listings - 361 homes
Sold listings in the last 3 months - 556 homes
Average number of sold homes per month - 185.3
Inventory of available homes - 1.95 months of inventory
What this means: With under 2 months of inventory, this is a very very strong sellers market. Buyers will need to pay at, near or above list price on the best homes if they want to purchase one.
Above $500,000:
Active listings - 373 homes
Sold listings in the last 3 months - 129 homes
Average number of sold homes per month - 43
Inventory of available homes - 8.67 months of inventory
What this means: With almost 9 months of inventory, this is a buyers market. Homes are overpriced, there are too many available and buyers have a strong position to purchase homes at a discount.
Who is in the Best Position in This Market?
Well, this is a great time to sell if you are in the sub $500,000 price point and looking to move up to a bigger home above $500,000. There probably won't be a better time to sell and it's a great time to leverage the market in your favor to get a move-up home where you have the leverage to buy.
Who is in the Weakest Position?
New construction anywhere in North Atlanta because it's all over $500,000 and sellers looking to downsize from resale homes. The available inventory is beginning to push prices lower although there is strong resistance from sellers in the resale market who aren't quite ready to believe this. Homes above $500,000 are sitting longer and to sell, you must compete on price so this is where the reports of a strong market couldn't be farther from the truth.
What Should You Look for as a Consumer?
If you are thinking about buying or selling, make sure you understand these differences. The true real estate market is far more nuanced than any headline you read and far too complicated to get pricing information from sources such as Zillow. If you are getting into this market as a buyer or a seller, ask questions of your agent to make sure they understand these differences and if they don't make sure you find one who understands, can articulate and consult you on how to position yourself for success in this market.
Comments or Questions?
As always, leave a reply below and we will be happy to help you any way we can. Thanks for reading and have a great day!2017-05-02T07:32:00-07:002017-05-19T05:56:01-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:1326Keys to Successful House HuntingUse the tried and true newspaper reporters tool to have a fabulous home buying experience! Answer these five Ws and one H to buy your next home with confidence and success!
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/key-metal-home-security-67609_800.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="531" class="img_box_center" />
Why Do You Want A New Home?<br />The first, and most important question you need to ask yourself is “Why do I want to move?”. Your reason or motivation for moving will drive the rest of the process and will help you answer the rest of the questions. Maybe you are taking a new job in a new city. Maybe you want to be closer to the grandkids. Maybe your family is growing and you need more space. Or maybe you are just ready for new home. Whatever the reason you have for moving, it is the right reason, and it will play a key role in helping you make those key home buying decisions. Figure out your big “WHY” and then keep that as the focus during your house hunting.
How Much Do You Want To Spend?<br />This will be one of the most expensive purchases you will ever make so you need to begin with a discussion about financing. ALL HOME BUYERS NEED TO MEET WITH THEIR BANKER OR A LENDER BEFORE LOOKING AT ANY HOMES! Pardon my “shouting” - but having your financial ducks in a row before embarking on the home buying process is a crucial step you should take to ensure you start off the process on the right foot. If paying cash, your banker can discuss the status of your accounts, your budget, and provide you with a letter verifying you have the funds available to purchase a home. If financing with a mortgage, the lender can help determine your budget and provide information on the various loan programs available to you, as well as providing documentation of your pre-qualification. The professionals can also help you determine if it is not quite the right time, financially, to purchase a home. Take all the great info you glean from your visit to the bank and use it to set realistic expectations and a sensible budget for your home purchase. And as an added bonus, getting your financing locked down, puts you in the perfect position to act quickly when you find your dream home. In this fast moving, low inventory market, being ready to make an offer is essential to getting the house you want.
Where You Want To Be?<br />You probably have heard the adage “The three most important things in real estate are location, location, location.” Figuring out WHERE you want to live is vital to buying a house. What state, city, town, school district, neighborhood? Do you need to be close to work or other family members? Do you want your home to face a certain direction? Do you want to live on a cul-de-sac or near the freeway? Would you like to be within walking distance of entertainment or public transportation? If you need some guidance, ask family, friends and co-workers to give you recommendations. Your professional real estate agent is an excellent source for community and school information. Your budget can often impact where you will be looking for a home, so it is important to research the price-points of the areas where you are interested in living. Knowing where you want to be is paramount to conducting an efficient and effective home search.
What Do You Want?<br />When buying a home, the options can seem endless and overwhelming. It is important to wrap your head around WHAT you want before you start looking. First you need to ask yourself what features are the most needed and the most wanted, and why. Make a list of your top five necessities in a new home. Buying a home with someone else? Have all parties make a list of their top fives, and then compare notes and discuss. Come to an agreement on those items that will be deal breakers and the things that would be “nice to haves”. No house will have everything on your wishlist - so you need to be ready to decide on which items you are willing to compromise.
Here is a shortlist of things to think about:<br />Style: ranch, traditional, contemporary, colonial, cape cod, farmhouse, etc.?<br />How many bedrooms?<br />Do you need a basement?<br />How many garage spaces do you need?<br />What type of kitchen do you want? Gas or electric cooktop?<br />Do you need to accommodate any current or future mobility requirements?<br />How important is a yard? How much yard do you need?<br />What types of finishes and fixtures do you like? <br />(always remember, finishes, fixtures and paint can be changed!)
When Do You Want To Move?<br />Timing is everything! The timing of your move can be affected by many of the factors we have previously discussed. You may need to relocate in time for the start of a new job. Is there a house to sell first? You might need to complete your taxes to maximize your financing options. Is there a baby on the way requiring a move in nine months or less? Or maybe you need to wait til the end of your current lease. Think about the optimum time to be in your new home - you will want to start home hunting at least three to four months before that time. Also, it is necessary to study the current market. We have been experiencing low inventory nationwide, making it challenging for home buyers to find homes to purchase. Because of that, it may take a little longer to find the right home. If you have very specific needs regarding location or features, your search may take a little longer, as well. Being flexible regarding the timing of your move will give you many more options for potential homes to purchase and will work to your advantage in the negotiation stage. Before commencing your home search, you need to make sure you know when the TIME is right for your move.
Who Do You Want To Work With?<br />Buying a home can be challenging, whether you are a first time homebuyer or have several house purchases under your belt. Every transaction is unique. You need a REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONAL on your side to help you navigate the entire process. A great agent not only works with you to find the right house, but also helps you negotiate a solid contract and completes all the necessary details to see the whole process through to the closing table. Look for an agent that is a good communicator, detail oriented, a strong negotiator, and swift in taking action or responding to requests. But most importantly, your agent should be focused on your needs and should look out for your best interests. Get recommendations from family, friends and valued advisors. Chat with potential agents to see if you “click” and to see how they operate. A great agent is knowledgeable and forthright and willing to hunt down the answer to any of your questions. Remember, you are working with a professional - they have first hand knowledge and expertise regarding the market, best practices, and how to make your transaction have the best outcome. Listen to your agent’s experienced advice and work together to find and purchase a wonderful new home!
Give me a call today to chat about finding a new home that fits the who, what, when, where, why and how much. Let’s discuss how I can help you find a property that will fit your needs as well as check off items on your wish list. I want to make sure your next home purchase is an enjoyable and rewarding experience!2017-03-29T11:39:00-07:002019-06-14T03:41:11-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:1325Your Guide To Home InspectionsYou have searched and searched and finally found that perfect home to purchase... what is the next step? As soon as you have a property under contract the next important step in the home buying process is conducting an inspection of the property. A home inspection is a valuable tool in evaluating the condition, soundness and safety of the property. The resulting report is a fantastic source of information about the home you are buying, and can highlight items that need to be addressed prior to purchase.
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/home-inspection_800.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="433" class="img_box_center" />
A home inspection should be conducted by a professional, licensed, experienced and highly recommended home inspection contractor. As in every industry, there are good and bad home inspectors. Ask for recommendations from your real estate agent - they have worked with many inspectors and have valuable insights to help with the selection process. Your agent will know which inspectors will provide the best and most useful information and provide excellent customer service, all for a reasonable price. You can also ask trusted family and friends for inspector recommendations. Once a professional is selected, your agent will schedule the inspection, coordinating with the listing agent and home seller.
A home inspection is usually paid for by the buyer. On the day of the inspection, the buyer (along with the buyer's agent) is invited to walk through the property with the inspector so they can verbally discuss and visually point out any findings . The inspector will also provide a written report for the buyer and agent to review, documenting all the things they observed while evaluating the property.
What is usually evaluated as a part of the inspection:<br />• Structure of property, including foundation and framing.<br />• Exterior features such as siding, soffit, porches, decks, walkways, and driveways.<br />• Roof system including shingles, flashing and skylights.<br />• Electrical system including service panels, breakers and/or fuses.<br />• Plumbing systems including pipes, drains, water heating equipment and sump pumps.<br />• Heating and cooling systems.<br />• Interior features including walls, ceilings, floors, windows, doors, stairs and railings.<br />• Insulation and ventilation including those in the attic and other unfinished spaces.<br />• Fireplaces including chimneys and vents.
Additional items that may be included - check with the inspector:<br />• Kitchen appliances and central vacuum systems.<br />• Lawn sprinkler systems.<br />• Fire and smoke detection and suppression systems.<br />• Detached structures like a garage or shed.<br />• Code compliance.
Items that usually require a separate evaluation by your inspector or from another contractor:<br />• Environmental hazard report like radon, asbestos or lead.<br />• Well systems.<br />• Termite and pest report.<br />• Hot tubs and swimming pools.<br />• Alarm/intrusion detection systems.<br />• Television antenna or satellite dishes.
So what should be done with the information received from a home inspection? Inspection reports can be quite lengthy, covering dozens of items observed about the property. The information overload can often be mind-boggling to buyers. Try to not be overwhelmed. When walking through the property with the inspector, ask them to point out the items they think are most notable from a safety, structural and condition standpoint. When reading the report, critically note the items that are of a significant concern versus those that are meant to be informational in nature. Discuss the report with your real estate agent - they are an excellent source of knowledge and resources for answering questions raised by the inspection.
Remember, first and foremost, the inspection and resulting report are meant to be a tool to inform you about the property. No property is in perfect condition. If the inspector identifies problems, it doesn't mean you should or shouldn't buy the house, only that you will know in advance what to expect. And as I always say - the inspection report is NOT a punch list of items to fixed by the seller. Use your inspection to realistically and reasonably address concerns about the property you are about to purchase and to be more fully informed as you make your home buying decision.
One last tip - keep your inspection report handy once you move to your new home. The report is an excellent reference for planning routine maintenance and future improvements to your home.
For more information about standards, ethics and policies in home inspections, visit the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors. <a href="https://www.nachi.org/" target="_blank">https://www.nachi.org/</a>2017-02-27T12:56:00-07:002017-08-11T07:36:37-07:00Marci Chambers Smithtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:1324Will You Be Early Out of the Gates?<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/horses_starting_gate_steve_fitzpatrick_800.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="548" class="img_box_center" />
You have probably heard lots of advice about the best time of the year to put your house on the market … “Spring! Sell in the spring, it’s the best time” they will say. But getting a jump on the real estate market may be your best opportunity to come up a winner when selling your home. Here are just a few of the ways listing your home in January and February can benefit you in the home selling race.
Inventory is Low
The holidays did little to slow down the robust real estate market and we find ourselves still deep into a Seller’s Market. What that means is inventory is low and there are not enough homes to meet the demand of the buyers in the current market. This is the case both nationally and locally. According to realtor.com, on a national level, active listings are down a staggering 11% when compared to 2015.* Here in Atlanta, intense demand is resulting in a 12.1% reduction of listings compared to this time last year.
So who remembers their Economics 101 class? Bueller? Bueller? When demand is high and the inventory is low, it is the BEST TIME TO SELL! As long as you follow the professional and knowledgeable advice of your carefully selected listing agent, you will likely be able to get more for your home and sell quickly.
As we head in to the spring months, inventory will inevitably increase. Your home will have more competition, you will have to work extra hard to get the attention of the buyers out shopping. That may mean pricing lower than the house for sale around the corner, making extra updates to your home, and dealing with fickle buyers. Be the star of the show by listing your house in January or February reap the rewards!
Serious Buyers
People who are house hunting in January and February are usually serious buyers. Whether it is job, family or school related - house hunters that are looking early in the year are ready to buy and have a sense of URGENCY. As a seller, you want those serious buyers to give you serious offers because those offers have a better chance of making it to the closing table.
Spring Fever
I don’t know about where you live, but it is already heating up here in Atlanta. And when the temps go up, the buyers start buying. Even if you are in colder climates, buyers start doing their research online right after the holidays. Why not have your stellar listing pop up on their screen so that they can’t get it out of their mind and HAVE TO BUY NOW! Take full advantage of the spring fever and be the house they fall in love with.
Movin’ On Up
Chances are you will be selling your home to move on to something bigger and better. Timing the sale of your home to optimize the purchase of your next home can be tricky. The best advice I can give you is START EARLY and have a great real estate agent to coach you through the challenges. You want to be ready to buy with confidence, a great offer and the most options.
Will you be early out of the gate? Fast off the starting line? You need a professional agent with outstanding marketing, customer service and negotiation skills to help you list your home and cash in on the opportunities of the early spring housing market. Give me a call!
<a href="http://public.tableau.com/views/ECONDB_REDSHIFT_TEMPLATE_MarketSpotlight/Dashboard1?:embed=y&:loadOrderID=0&:display_count=yes" target="_blank">* Real Estate Trends</a>2017-01-18T16:30:00-07:002017-08-11T07:37:19-07:00Marci Chambers Smithtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:1323A New Home for Christmas? <img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blog/christmas-present-housesm_300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" class="img_box_right" />Have you been thinking about buying a new home, but planning to wait til spring? You might want to consider doing your home buying during the holidays... this can be a fantastic time of year for you to find that dream home and get a great deal! Who says the best presents come in small packages? How about a two story with a pool and a fireplace sized package? Let’s talk about a home shopping during the holidays.
Deals! Deals! Deals!
Let’s face it, no one really wants to put their house on the market during the holidays. Listing your home usually means the hassle of prepping the house for sale, and keeping it clean for showings, and scheduling open house events. Now try doing all that while putting up festive decorations, hosting special events, attending school programs, wrapping gifts, and still finding time for work and family. So a seller who has decided it is time to sell is probably finding that prospect a necessity, whether for a employment relocation, a family need, or any number of other reasons.
This is where you, as the buyer, can have some purchasing power. Homes on the market during this time may be ripe for offers under the list price, due to the urgency of the seller to sell. Sellers may be more willing to take care of those inspection items because they need to get moving. And if you have the ability to move quickly, sellers may be very happy to oblige a short escrow period. (one caveat - check with your lender to check for any delays the holidays pose regarding time needed for closing the transaction).
Houses that have been on the market a while will likely try to price drop before or during the holidays to get some action on the home and get it sold before the end of the year. With fewer buyers in the market, sellers are trying everything they can to get more traffic to their property.
In the market for a new home? Many builders are anxious to get their spec homes (completed new homes) off the books for the current year, to clear the way for upcoming construction projects. This can mean close-out pricing and added incentives, such as basement completion or add-on allowances, to get those homes sold. December is a great time to buy a spec home!
What competition?
During the hot selling season - usually in the spring, possibly longer - buyers can often find themselves up against several other buyers vying for a home - especially the really great homes in great locations. This can make the home buying process frustrating. Potential new homeowners get their hopes up and then face defeat and frustration as they are beat out in a bidding war. And that happens over and over again. But during the holidays, there are definitely not as many buyers in the market. This can mean much less frustration for buyers with the home shopping process AND less need for bidding wars and over-inflated offers to beat the competition - YEAH! Win-Win!
Oh, and you can get some tax benefits too!
Purchasing a home before December 31 can help you come tax time - you can deduct property taxes, mortgage interest, origination points on your loan, and interest costs. Every little bit helps when April 15 rolls around. Check with your preferred tax professional to explore your tax savings options.
Lenders Lull
It’s a slow time for mortgage bankers too, so loan officers may be offering special incentives and possibly waiving or reducing origination fees. With less transactions happening during the holidays, underwriting may be able to provide a quicker turnaround time than possible during the busy season. Before looking at homes, make an appointment with a lender to chat about your budget and finances, as well as any perks they are offering for buyers during the holiday season.
Let’s find a place to hang some mistletoe!
So what do you say? Want to get a new home from Santa? I may not be an elf, but I can sure help you find a wonderful home and will work hard to get you a fabulous deal. Give me a call to help you find that perfect picture window in the perfect house for your family Christmas tree.2016-12-06T11:59:00-07:002017-08-11T07:37:58-07:00Marci Chambers Smithtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:1322Willow Springs in Roswell - Market Update<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/willow_springs_old_alabama_entrance_copy_960.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="346" class="img_box_center" />
Willow Springs is one of the largest and most popular neighborhoods in Roswell. It consists of approximately 680 homes and is also home to the Country Club of Roswell. Sales in Willow Springs are historically high for a number of reasons including the location and proximity to Georgia 400, shopping, dining as well as NorthPoint Mall and Avalon.
Willow Springs Market Update
This year (as of this writing in November) there have been 35 sales in Willow Springs. The most expensive sale was $750,000 and the least expensive sale was $278,000 so home prices, depending on style and location within the neighborhood vary with options for most buyers looking for the lifestyle offered in Willow Springs. Here are the statistics for Willow Springs
There are currently 13 homes for sale
There 8 additional homes under contract
The average price for sales is $452,404
The average days in market for homes to sell is 60 days, but for those home which were priced correctly and did not require a price reduction the days on market dropped to 39
The median days on market, where half the homes took longer and half the homes sold faster is 29
The median sales price is $410,000 where half the homes sold for more and half the homes sold for less
The original list price to sold price is 95.46% for all homes sold and the list price to sold price for homes priced correctly was 97.89%
Compared to Roswell in the Same Area
When we compare Willow Springs to Roswell in the same are and price range you can get a feel for how it stacks up to surrounding neighborhoods. There are of course, other factors besides just the statistics that come into play but it still gives a baseline for comparison.
In this area of Roswell at the same price point:
Average sales price is $411,270
Average days on market is 46
The median price is $393,000
With these numbers you can see that on average, homes in Willow Springs are worth more than the surrounding areas. One thing that is hard to quantify is that within Willow Springs, there is a large variation of architectural styles - greater than in the surrounding neighborhoods. The lots also tend to be larger as well. However many of the surrounding neighborhoods have swim/tennis facilities that are less expensive than those found in Willow Springs so there may be some motivation to look elsewhere unless golf is also an important component in your decision making process.
All in all, Willow Springs has long been considered one of the premier neighborhoods in Roswell and if this is an area you may be considering moving to, you should definitely look at what Willow Springs has to offer. With a very active and social homeowners association as well as swim/tennis/golf and country club options if you so choose, Willow Springs may be the right neighborhood for you.
You can view all <a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/willow-springs-homes-for-sale/">Willow Springs homes for sale</a> on our website and we can also set up a time for you to tour the Country Club of Roswell.
As always, leave a comment below if you have any questions!2016-11-04T07:10:00-07:002017-05-19T02:26:54-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:1321Alpharetta Market Update - Things are Changing...Summer is over and school has started and that means we run into the beginning of the fall cycle of slower home sales through November and the typical uptick in December before the slowest two months of January and February. Inventory is still very low and fully one third of all homes currently listed for sale are under contract but change is coming - it's just a matter of when we see a change and no longer if we see it.
Check out the infographic below for the big numbers:
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/august-alpharetta-stats-blog_1560.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="1560" class="img_box_center" />
What Does This Mean?
I don't think I would read too much into the slower sales for a couple of reasons. First, most new home sales are not accounted for in any database so it's difficult to get a totally clean number. Second, even if we do see a little slowdown in the sales, there still isn't enough inventory to drag us into a buyers market. At least not yet. There are of grumblings from buyers about homes being priced too high in their opinions and as an agent, I would agree with certain homes but that's anecdotal and not marked by any substantial evidence. to the contrary, we still see very low days on market for homes that are updated well and priced accurately. There is no shortage of buyers just a shortage of good homes.
When the market does shift, I wouldn't expect any change until the fall of 2017 at the earliest in Alpharetta and when it does if there is a price correction it would be my best guess that we may see a small, 4%-5% downturn in prices that won't last long as long as nothing radically changes in the overall economy.
Questions or Comments?
As always, we welcome feedback as long as it's respectful. Leave a reply below!<br /><br />Related Links<a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/alpharetta/" target="_blank">Alpharetta Real Estate</a>2016-08-19T10:46:00-07:002017-05-19T02:26:57-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:1320Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, Houses are Beautiful But Not in That Hue!As a homeowner, real estate agent and a potential homebuyer in the coming months I've come across some extreme examples of what not to do with paint when you have your home for sale. First I would say that what people do inside of their homes really is their business. We all have different tastes and colors we prefer and we often use our home as a primary tool to express those tastes. However, when you make a decision to sell your home and the interior photos are out there for world to see and you are trying to make a great impression on a potential buyer, there are some things that you should never overlook. Bold color is at the top of that list because it's impossible to ignore.
If you want your bedroom painted a soft red/pinkish color, by all means slap some paint up on the walls and enjoy it for all that it's worth to you. But seriously, don't post a photo of it online as part of a commodity for sale that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. It's going to immediately cause an objection and will certainly leave some buyers flipping to the next listing without even giving your home a chance. Here's an example I came across this morning. I'm sure they love it and that's fantastic. But now they want to sell it and it's a great example of how to list a home and not sell it:
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/pink-bedroom_600.png" alt="" width="600" height="381" class="img_box_center" />
The number of people looking for a home that matches this criteria and price that want their bedroom painted this color in the city you live in and in the location you live in and the price your home is for sale for is zero. This really needs to be painted neutral.
Here's a kitchen - please overlook the clutter momentary (if that's possible and could be another ranting blog posts about what sellers aren't doing that they should be) - can we call this one the Christmas kitchen? How could a buyer possibly make sense of what it would be like to make dinner in here?
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/christmas-kitchen_600.png" alt="" width="600" height="433" class="img_box_center" />
I mentioned blue too so let's look at another bold color that just really doesn't work. Honestly, it isn't nearly as bad as if we all had to gather for Christmas dinner in the kitchen above but it illustrates another example of losing buyers if you have your home for sale. This room works, technically, but not for most people. Why limit your opportunities? Aren't you trying to sell your home? Light blues are ok but stay away from dark colors if you are selling:
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/blue-wall_600.png" alt="" width="600" height="382" class="img_box_center" />
Back in the 1990's red was THE color for a dining room. Does anyone still use that room anyway? Well, I don't know but most homes still have one so it's gonna need some paint...this isn't the time to be proud. It's the time to think about positioning your home in the best light for the largest number of buyers. Paint the red dining room!
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/red-dining-room_600.png" alt="" width="600" height="380" class="img_box_center" />
Don't leave red pant in your home office either!
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/red-office_600.png" alt="" width="600" height="387" class="img_box_center" />
Take Some Time, Do it Right
What I'm trying to say here is that when you leave these colors that are not in the current trends or appear to be dated, you are making a statement to potential buyers whether you intend to or not - and it isn't one you want them to hear you say.
If you don't take the time to prepare the item your are trying to sell (which costs hundreds of thousands of dollars) you are essentially saying to a buyer "yeah, I know it isn't what it should be but you do it. I'm just trying to sell it and it's going to be your problem now" and that isn't going to sit well with most buyers. It says you aren't willing to commit to doing what is necessary to get your home in the best possible condition to sell. That will cost you money. Or it may cost you a sale. It certainly will not help you sell your home.
Selling a home is serious business. Many homeowners understand this but there are far too many that could heed this advice. Go the extra mile. Take the time to prepare your home for sale. It can make the difference between selling your home and moving on to the next phase of your life, selling your home for less than it might otherwise sell for or not selling at all.
If you've decided to sell your home, do it right!2016-07-29T05:16:00-07:002017-05-19T02:26:57-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:1319Ranch Homes Near Downtown Alpharetta are Sizzling Hot!It's true that the real estate market in the general vicinity of Downtown Alpharetta is about as strong as anywhere in Atlanta right now but the market for ranch homes near downtown is particularly strong. There are a number of reasons that make this submarket of homes particularly hot...
Walk to Downtown Alpharetta
If you haven't been through Downtown Alpharetta recently you've missed a considerable transformation. A ride down Academy Street or Cumming Street off of Main Street or even up Canton Street parallel to Main Street is showing some big transformations and that's due in large part to the proximity to all that Alpharetta has brought into the downtown area. There is something going on every weekend and Thursday nights and to be able to walk to the events is a huge selling point - it's what every suburban city is trying to achieve but Alpharetta has accomplished this in a way that many other areas have not yet been able to do and because it's Alpharetta, it makes the area all the more in demand.
Affordability
Home prices in Alpharetta are as high and demand for the area is strong. To find a renovated ranch home for under $400,000 is an attractive option. New construction starts in the $600,000's and that's just simply out of reach for most homeowners. I think the days of huge homes as status symbols is winding down and people are more interested in lifestyle than 5,000 square foot homes that do nothing but collect dust. It's a more practical approach to home ownership and quite frankly, I welcome it!
Large Lots
You know the saying - they don't build them like they used to...well, I don't necessarily agree in terms of construction quality but they certainly don't give you lots like they used to. Most of the ranch homes in Downtown Alpharetta are older neighborhoods from the 1960's and 1970's and they have wonderfully large and level lots perfect for pools (which you might be able to afford since you aren't buying an $800,000 house).
So What Do You Get for Your Money?
Ok so let's look at a few of the homes that have recently come on the market and look at what they might have cost just a couple of years ago and we'll also look at how fast they are selling.
Here is a 3 bedroom 2 bath home on Cumming Street about half a mile walk from downtown at 145 Cumming St. It was listed for $399,000 and went under contract in 3 days. Nicely updated but really it's on something of a busy street. I think that issue is offset by the location:
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/alpharetta-cumming_st-front_793.png" alt="" width="793" height="528" class="img_box_center" />
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/alpharetta-cumming-st-kitchen_796.png" alt="" width="796" height="534" class="img_box_center" />
This home 4 bedroom 2 bathroom home located at 160 Pebble Trail was listed for $339,900 and sold for $337,000 in 3 days! It was modestly updated and clean but was not a whole home renovation.
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/160-pebble-trail_719.png" alt="" width="719" height="460" class="img_box_left" />
This home at 170 Crestwood Court off Academy Street is an updated 3/2. It was listed for $295,000 and sold for $279,000 in 18 days with an unfinished basement. It was marketed as an "Avalon" home - which goes right to the point of location:
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/170-crestwood-court_445.png" alt="" width="445" height="322" class="img_box_center" />
Ok so these are some examples of renovated homes but depending on what you are looking for, it's still possible to find some exceptional deals if you are willing to put in the work. Check out this home that just sold on Denna Place for $309,000. It was purchased in January of 2015 for $187,000.
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/81-denna-place_721.png" alt="" width="721" height="458" class="img_box_center" />Can You Still Find a Deal?
Don't think you can still get a deal? Sure you can. There is a 3 bedroom 1 bath home at 193 Pinetree Circle that is listed for $165,000. Imagine the equity when they get it renovated! We just created a page on the website that will allow you to search <a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/ranch-homes-for-sale-in-alpharetta/">ranch homes for sale in Alpharetta</a>. go ahead an have a look. I bet you will find something you like!
Have a Comment or Question?
We would love to hear from you. Leave a reply below and we will get back with you promptly :)2016-06-22T08:22:00-07:002017-05-19T02:26:53-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:1317Alpharetta Market Update Spring 2016I think you will agree with me when I say:
Home prices, on their face, seem to be high for what you can get in some areas of town. Now it looks like the market may be on the verge of agreeing as well...
There was a lot of optimism going into 2016 for the real estate market to continue with higher prices and higher sales volume. Some of that optimism was due to it being an election year and they tend to be good years for real estate and also with the economy not hitting any speed bumps recently it shaped up to look like it was going to be a banner year.
Where are we now?
January of this year started off a little slower than in 2015 with 78 sales in Alpharetta compared to 84 in 2015 or a 7% decline. In 2015, the median price for a home in Alpharetta (the number where half the homes sold for more and half the homes sold for less) was $308,000. In 2016 the median price was $365,000, or, up 19.5%. The price increases fueled optimism. But February sales were also lower by 28% in 2016 than they were in 2015 and while two months don't quite make a trend, we in the industry started to take notice that demand was lower than expected. March sales were also down 17% year over year and then we started to see a trend. Three months in a row sales were down when compared to the same time period a year earlier. You can see by this chart that year to date in 2016 the sales volume lags behind 2015 for the most current statistics.
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/2016_ytd_sales_alpharetta_627.png" alt="" width="627" height="523" class="img_box_center" />
<a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/alpharetta/">Alpharetta real estate</a> sales tend to be more stable than some of the surrounding areas in Metro Atlanta because of the strong local economy, good schools, lower crime statistics and demographics so if we are seeing lower trends here, we would likely see them in other areas of Atlanta as well. But there is more going on here. While sales volume is down, we can see that prices have continued to rise by looking at the chart below.
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/2016_ytd_price_alpharetta_615.png" alt="" width="615" height="595" class="img_box_center" />
Something is going on...
So we see sales volume (demand) is down but prices are still going up. This is counterintuitive since we know that supply and demand are inextricably linked. Supply isn't high as you can see from the chart below so it's my opinion that something else is about to change.
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/supply_alpharetta_628.png" alt="" width="617" height="628" class="img_box_center" />
We know demand is down and supply is not up but prices have continued to rise thus far this year. Even with lower demand it seems that price may be a lagging behind as indicator of what is currently happening in the market since they are still rising. If the trend of lower demand continues, we are likely to see more supply remain on the market and more homes with reduced prices and listings that fail to sell. When that occurs, prices will likely begin to level off.
Another way to look at it...
Just taking the anecdotal approach to all of this, and talking to agents and buyers in the market, we seem to feel that it's difficult to find homes for buyers and buyers (at least the ones my team are working with) seem to have a hard time finding homes at prices they feel represent a good value. All in all there doesn't seem to be any reason for panic but maybe it's time for a slight correction in the area of price. More and more buyers looking at homes in the range of the median price in Alpharetta are having a hard time shelling out the money for homes at current prices. We hear more buyers saying they will wait. Prices seem too high for what they are seeing in the market.
No one can say for sure what the future holds but the statistics indicate a change is coming and that change may just be some price adjustments to the inventory of homes not only in Alpharetta but in the other major sub-markets of Atlanta.
Tell us what you think in the comments below!2016-05-17T08:21:00-07:002017-05-19T07:30:35-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:1316Highland Park in Johns Creek<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/highland_park_johns_creek_800.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="534" class="img_box_center" />
Highland Park Entrance
Highland Park is one of the hottest neighborhoods in Johns Creek and has been for quite some time. Home prices in Highland Park hover right around the average price for all homes in Johns Creek, but the location, to the west side of Johns Creek gives homeowners a little easier access to Georgia 400 than many other neighborhoods and that shorter commute.
In 2015, only 6 homes came on the market in Highland Park and they sold very quickly. The average days on market was 24 days and that was brought up by one home that was initially overpriced and then reduced. Once it was priced correctly, it sold in about 20 days also. What this means is that the average days on the market for the neighborhood is really about 18 days! The most recent home to come on the market was only on the market for 3 days.
<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/map_to_highland_park_800.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="353" class="img_box_center" />
Map to Highland Park
With a convenient location to GA 400 and homes that sell quickly, if you are looking for a home in Johns Creek, check out the <a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/homes-for-sale-in-highland-park/">homes for sale in Highland Park</a> or you can use this link to check out all of the <a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/johns-creek-real-estate/">homes for sale in Johns Creek</a>.2016-03-11T08:37:00-07:002022-11-08T04:06:09-07:00Ryan Wardtag:premieratlantarealestate.com,2012-09-20:1315How to Win if You Are Buying in This Market<img src="https://assets.site-static.com/userfiles/678/image/market-on-fire_800.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="492" class="img_box_center" />
If there is one thing we are hearing consistently it's that there aren't enough homes on the market - or - that buyers feel like homes are overpriced. You know what? It's the same thing just coming at it from different angles.
Really, it's this: there aren't enough homes to fulfill the needs of the true buyers that are earnestly looking to buy a home. That means sellers can get more for their homes than buyers think they should which makes them APPEAR to be overpriced to buyers who haven't quite accepted the new realities of the market (that's most buyers). It's old news to those of us in the business working with buyers...
First, we tell them that the market has changed, then they find a house they want to buy only to lose it to another buyer because they made a lower offer. It's likely the other buyer lost one too and finally realized they needed to listen to their agent!
Then, we can't find them another house for a month because inventory is so low that most buyers actually have very few homes to choose from.
So, How Do You Win if You Want to Buy in This Market?
Lots of homes are available to buy, but there is a general feeling from buyers in the market that homes are overpriced or they can't find what they want. You need to shift your thinking somewhat so that you are inline with the changing realities of the market if you want to win the best deal on your new home in this market.
Understand this is a Seller's Market
Unquestionably so! There are no more "deals" as defined by what we have seen in the past few years. If you want the new version of a deal, you need to understand what that looks like today.
This is a seller's market which is traditionally defined as any point where the supply of homes is under six months - what this means is that it would take less than six months to sell all of the homes currently available for sale. For areas north of I-20, it would take anywhere from 1 to 3 months to sell all of the homes currently available for sale. This is a supply and demand issue. Because the supply is so low, the demand for the available inventory is relatively high. Just because one buyer thinks a home is overpriced, somewhere out there is someone who has to buy a house so it will sell. By definition, this means the home is not overpriced. That becomes the new normal and the cycle continues. This leads to increasing prices and that means that the longer you wait to buy, the more you will pay for the same home. In your mind, based on what you think you know of the market, you may truly believe that the home is overpriced. Unless you come to believe this is the market we are in, it will be very difficult for you to purchase a home.
Therefore, if you are really looking to buy a home, the best deal you are going to get is to buy. Yesterday.
Here is an Example:
You have specific needs/wants for your home - you go out and look at homes and find that none of them make you excited or want to buy them. I assure you the home you want is available, but probably not at the price you thought or maybe in the location you want.
At this point, we usually hear "if we can't find the right house, we will wait" and I understand why. This process can be deflating, frustrating and disappointing. I understand. Really.
But, what happens if you decide to wait? Well, we already talked about increasing prices so if you wait, say, 6 months, your buying power will be lower than it is today. We can help though.
Waiting Will Cost You Money, Not Find You a Better House
Typically, you will be better off flexing a bit than waiting. Trying to discover what is really important to you may be the best option. Perhaps we can work with your lender or <a href="https://www.premieratlantarealestate.com/atlanta-mortgage-broker/">you can work with ours</a> to see if we can find a better rate and a better loan so you can afford to spend a little more or maybe moving to a slightly different area will be all that you need to do. One thing we know for sure, if you aren't flexible and hold fast to your current wants/needs, you will pay more, or get less.
Finally, please, listen to our advice. We really aren't here just to make a paycheck. If we were, we would have been out of business when times got hard a few years ago. We know what we are doing and we know how to write the best offer to get you the best house for you. Times have changed but now really is a better time to buy than waiting. No, we probably can't negotiate you a deal on a home when you want to pay 90% of the asking price because no seller will sell it to you and you wouldn't sell your home to someone else that way either, but we can get you the right home with the best possible terms. We do it everyday. We will give you all of the information you need to understand the market and craft an offer that will be acceptable to a seller.
But, you will not win the best deal on a home by waiting...2014-03-25T08:02:00-07:002017-05-18T11:07:00-07:00Ryan Ward